Denis Sharonov is part of a historic exodus as hundreds of thousands of Russians seek to escape Vladimir Putin’s war
The former minister drove his big white truck north until he reached Michigan. The Great Lakes provided a welcome relief from the scorching Texas heat.
After years navigating the byzantine corridors of provincial Russian power, Denis Sharonov now works as a truck driver, steering his way through the vast highways of the US.
Continue reading...Counterfeits are the bane of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, which is now trialling tech in the rind
When is a cheese not what it seems? When it’s a fake parmesan.
Italy’s renowned parmigiano reggiano, favoured for finishing off bowls of pasta and rocket salads, is one of the most counterfeited cheeses in the world. Now its manufacturers have found a new way to hit back against the lookalikes: by adding microchips.
Continue reading...Harmful language and stereotypes about women can lead to distortion of law, says chief justice of India
India’s supreme court has issued a handbook for judges urging them to shun words like seductress, vamp, spinster and harlot when talking about women.
Archaic terms that disparage women and perpetuate gender stereotypes can still be routinely heard in Indian courts long after falling into disuse in other countries. It is not unusual for a wife to be described as chaste or ladylike, and sexual harassment is routinely trivialised as “Eve-teasing”.
Continue reading...Secretary of state Antony Blinken confers ‘full support’ for transfer of F-16s and training of pilots
The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands as soon as pilot training is completed, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, says in a letter seen by the Reuters news agency.
Washington will expedite the approval of transfer requests for F-16s, the letter – sent to Blinken’s counterparts in Denmark and the Netherlands – was reported to say. The US must approve the transfer of the military jets from its allies to Ukraine.
Continue reading...Propaganda video shows troops running past anti-landing barricades similar to those that dot Taiwan’s coast
China’s army released a propaganda video showing soldiers preparing for a conflict in what appears to be the Taiwan strait.
The one-and-a-half-minute video, published on the Eastern Theatre Command’s official WeChat account on Thursday, is titled “Reading the Strait” and shows soldiers in combat gear doing press-ups under crashing waves, a tank battalion driving into the sunset and troops running up sandy shores past anti-landing barricades, similar to those that dot Taiwan’s coast.
Continue reading...Talks in Riyadh declared successful by Tehran after years of hostility between regional rivals
Iran’s foreign minister has visited Saudi Arabia, the first such trip in years, marking the continuing thaw in relations between two powers who recently have been locked in destabilising competition.
The visit by Hossein Amir-Abdollahian comes as the countries have been trying to ease tensions including over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and security across the region’s waterways.
Continue reading...At least 177 officials reportedly under investigation amid revival of Xi Jinping’s decade-old anti-corruption drive
China’s graft-busters have set their sights on the country’s healthcare sector, in what has been described as the biggest crackdown on corruption in the history of the industry.
At least 177 hospital bosses and Chinese Communist party (CCP) secretaries have been placed under investigation this year according to local media reports – more than double the number last year. In a press conference on Tuesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said the campaign would focus on people who had used their position to procure kickbacks and corruption in the pharmaceutical sector, the state tabloid the Global Times reported.
Continue reading...Threat raised to second-highest level as prime minister says country has thwarted planned attacks
Sweden has raised its terrorist threat level to the second-highest number possible, as the prime minister said the country had thwarted planned attacks.
The move comes amid heightened security fears following a string of Qur’an burnings that have caused outrage around the world.
Continue reading...Suspects accused of using chemicals to destroy locks of apartment doors during 90 break-ins
Five people have been charged over 90 burglaries in the Paris region in which acid was used to break the locks on apartment doors.
Four of the suspects have been held in pre-trial detention since Wednesday and the fifth is being monitored by police, prosecutors in Nanterre, north-west of the French capital, told AFP.
Continue reading...Worst wildfires in the Canary Islands in at least 40 years drawing closer to the capital Santa Cruz
More than 7,500 people have been evacuated or ordered to stay indoors as the worst wildfire in at least four decades ravages the Canary island of Tenerife, burning through 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) of land and drawing closer to the capital, Santa Cruz.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional president of the Canaries, said more than 250 firefighters – backed by military emergency crews and 17 aircraft – were working to tackle the fire, which broke out in the north-east of the island on Tuesday and which currently has a 32km (20-mile) perimeter.
Continue reading...More than 20,000 residents given until noon on Friday to leave home in face of advancing wildfire that could arrive by weekend
Long lines of traffic have clogged the only road out of the Canadian city of Yellowknife, after authorities ordered the first ever evacuation of a capital in the face of an advancing wildfire.
More than 20,000 residents – the entire population – have been given until noon on Friday to leave their homes, as water bombers flew throughout the night and authorities warned that the fire could reach the city by the weekend.
Continue reading...Ecowas says it is ready to restore democracy and describes president Mohamed Bazoum as a hostage
A west African regional political grouping has reiterated it is prepared to intervene militarily in Niger following last month’s coup, describing the country’s detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, as a hostage.
Ecowas’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, made the comments as military chiefs of staff from the bloc met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Thursday and accused Niger’s military junta of “playing cat and mouse” with the grouping by refusing to meet its envoys.
Continue reading...Eight onboard and two motorists on ground killed as aircraft comes down in Elmina
A light plane crashed into a street in Malaysia’s central Selangor state on Thursday, killing eight people on board and two motorists on the ground.
“For now, I can say at least 10 people were killed in the plane crash. Two passing motorists – one in a car and one on a motorcycle – also perished together with the eight onboard the plane,” said the local police chief, Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim.
Continue reading...Jimmy Chérizier, ex-police officer known by nickname ‘Barbecue’, also urges Haitians to mobilize against government
Haiti’s most powerful gang leader has warned that he and his gunmen would fight any international armed force deployed to the Caribbean country if it committed any abuses.
Jimmy Chérizier, a former police officer known by his nickname “Barbecue”, also urged Haitians to mobilize against the government. “We are asking the population to rise up,” he said at a news conference.
Continue reading...If cutting continues along its current pace, most of the Moskitia forest – and the way of life it sustains – could be lost by 2050, much sooner for many parts
Several hours down a clandestine road that slithers through the rotting remains of what was once protected rainforest in north-eastern Honduras, a rusted bulldozer overgrown with vines and a locked gate appeared ahead.
A vinyl banner hanging from a wooden fence advertised the sale of cattle for breeding. Behind, a palm tree stood above an empty corral like a watchtower. The driver got out to retrieve a key, a pistol tucked inside his belt.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here
The US has sanctioned three entities accused of seeking to facilitate arms deals between North Korea and Russia as Washington tightens its restrictions on support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The US treasury department said in a statement that Russia was continuing to use up munitions and lose heavy equipment in Ukraine, forcing it to turn to its small pool of allies, including North Korea, for support.
This action is part of the continuing US strategy to identify, expose, and disrupt third-country actors seeking to support Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.
The United States continues to root out illicit financial networks that seek to channel support from North Korea to Russia’s war machine.
Alongside our allies and partners, we remain committed to exposing and disrupting the arms trade underpinning Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: As the upstart media company faces bankruptcy, it has developed strong ties with the country, leaving some to question what compromises companies are willing to make to do business
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It’s hard to put into words the transformation that Saudi Arabia has undergone in the past six years.
Mohammed bin Salman, commonly referred to as MBS, was appointed the crown prince in 2017 and is now the de facto ruler of the kingdom. There have been notable reforms under his new regime. Women are allowed to drive; the guardian system – under which men have legal powers over women – has been relaxed; and cinemas reopened after 35 years.
Continue reading...20,000 residents of capital of Northwest Territories ordered to leave after forecast that wildfire 11 miles away could arrive by the weekend
An evacuation order has been issued for Yellowknife in the north-west of Canada as a wildfire comes closer, with a local minister saying: “The fire now represents a real threat to the city.”
Shane Thompson, the environment and climate change minister for the Northwest Territories, said on Wednesday night that the fire could reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend and was about 17km (11 miles) away.
Continue reading...Sixteen freight carriages run off rails, tearing up eight kilometres of train track and leaving engineering marvel inaugurated in 2016 unable to take passengers
Train passengers between north and southernmost Switzerland will have to skip the world’s longest train tunnel and go back to the longer scenic route for months, rail authorities have said, after a freight service derailed and tore up the track.
Sixteen cars that jumped the tracks in last Thursday’s derailment remained stuck inside the 57km (35-mile) long Gotthard base tunnel in the southern Ticino region, national railway operator SBB said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Nato official apologises for saying Ukraine could give up territory to Russia; Russia shoots down Ukrainian drones near Moscow
A senior Nato official has apologised and clarified his comments, a day after he said publicly that Ukraine could give up territory to Russia in exchange for Nato membership and an end to the war. Stian Jenssen, the chief of staff to the Nato secretary general, said “My statement about this was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and I shouldn’t have said it that way. It was a mistake.”
Ukraine’s forces have entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Urozhaine after recapturing the settlement in the Donetsk region from Russian forces, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said. Hanna Maliar posted on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday morning that the village had been liberated, adding that offensive operations continue.
Ukraine’s air force on Wednesday said a large group of Russian army drones entered the mouth of the Danube river and headed toward the Izmail river port near the border with Romania. The governor of southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, asked residents of Izmail district to take shelter at about 1:30 am and cancelled the air raid alert one hour later.
Russia’s defence ministry said Wednesday it shot down three Ukrainian drones southwest of Moscow, the latest in a surge of aerial attacks near the capital. Ukraine launched the attack at 5:00 am using “three unmanned aerial vehicles on objects in the Kaluga region”, the ministry said on Telegram.
Russian authorities refused to renew the visa for Dutch journalist Eva Hartog, who has lived and worked in the country for 10 years, and gave her six days to leave Russia, she said in a column published Wednesday. Her effective expulsion is one of several in recent years and comes amid a months-long crackdown that the Kremlin has unleashed on independent journalists, critical news outlets, opposition activists and human rights groups.
The United States condemned Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure in a state department statement on Wednesday, as it called for Moscow to return immediately to the grain deal. Russian president Vladimir Putin does not care about global food security, state department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters after Ukraine earlier on Wednesday said Russia had attacked its grain storage facilities overnight.
Kyiv said a civilian cargo vessel had exited its southern port of Odesa on Wednesday despite warnings from Russia that its navy could target ships using Ukraine’s Black Sea export hubs.
Ukraine will not be able to operate US-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday. “It’s already obvious we won’t be able to defend Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets during this autumn and winter,” Ihnat told a joint telethon broadcast by Ukrainian channels.
Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to hold a meeting with Russian policymakers on Wednesday in order to discuss reintroducing some capital controls to help prop up the struggling rouble. Citing a Russian finance ministry proposal, the Financial Times said large exporters could be forced to convert up to 80% of their foreign currency into roubles in order to raise demand for the currency.
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