Deadline has passed for Beijing to appeal against Tower Hamlets council’s rejection of plans
China has temporarily shelved plans to build a new embassy in London, angrily accusing the British government of not doing enough to force through planning permission for the project.
China had been given until Thursday to file an appeal to Tower Hamlets council in east London after the proposals for the embassy were rejected.
Continue reading...North of continent records unusually wet and windy summer conditions while Portugal and Spain battle flames
Floods struck northern and central Europe last week. Some areas of Slovenia recorded more than 200mm of rain in 12 hours on Thursday and Friday, causing extensive flooding across two-thirds of the country. Many buildings and roads were damaged, at an estimated cost of €500m (£432m), and six deaths were reported.
Storm Hans hit the Baltic region a few days later. Hans originated as an area of low pressure over eastern Europe, but quickly deepened as it travelled northwards towards the Baltic Sea. The low was unusually deep for a summer storm, and led to daily rainfall totals of 80 to 100mm in parts of southern Norway and Sweden earlier this week.
Continue reading...Campaigners say efforts to stamp out custom of banishing girls and women during menstruation have been set back by Covid
A 16-year-old girl from Nepal has died as a result of the illegal practice of chhaupadi, where menstruating women are forced to stay in huts outside their homes.
Anita Chand, from Baitadi district, in the west of the country, bordering India, is understood to have died on Wednesday from a snake bite while she was sleeping. Her death is the first reported fatality from chhaupadi since 2019 and campaigners fear progress to eliminate the practice is being eroded.
Continue reading...State media urges citizens to focus on ‘ensuring the safety’ of propaganda relating to the Kim dynasty
North Koreans have been told to do everything possible to protect portraits of the Kim dynasty, as the country braces for heavy rain and strong winds caused by tropical storm Khanun.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Korean Workers’ party, said people’s “foremost focus” should be on “ensuring the safety” of propaganda portraits of its current leader, Kim Jong-un, his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
Continue reading...The pandemic, cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency are influencing responses to the largest-ever survey of young people
Getting a good education and a job are the top priorities for 10 to 24-year-olds, according to the preliminary results of the largest-ever global survey of young people.
More than 700,000 were asked what would improve their wellbeing. About 40% cited education and work, while 21% said safety and 16% good health and nutrition.
Continue reading...Federal funding made available on Thursday; emergency teams searching areas impacted by fires after at least 36 people were killed
ABC is reporting that the US national weather service has canceled all high wind and red flag warning alerts for Hawaii as wind speeds are expected to decrease slightly on Thursday.
Gusts of 25-35 mph (40-56 kph) are still anticipated, which could still hamper fire containment efforts, but is much lower than the last couple of days, which have seen wind speeds on Maui reach as high as 67 mph (107 kph).
The Old Lahaina Courthouse roof is entirely gone. And so is the beautiful heritage museum we had there. The top floor had ancient Hawaiian things, things from the monarchy and plantation and whaling periods, objects from all of Lahaina’s eras.
Continue reading...Officials warned death toll could rise after wildfires left dozens of people injured and homes and businesses destroyed
At least 36 people have died in ferocious wildfires that have ravaged the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii, as crews continued mass evacuation efforts and desperate searches for survivors.
Officials warned on Thursday that the death toll in the blazes on the island of Maui could rise. Search teams spread out to charred areas on the island at first light.
Continue reading...Six individuals were aboard VSS Unity space plane, including first mother-daughter duo to venture to space together
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity, the reusable rocket-powered space plane carrying the company’s first crew of tourists to space, successfully launched and landed on Thursday.
The mission, known as Galactic 02, took off shortly after 11am ET from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Continue reading...Shock and horror after Fernando Villavicencio, who campaigned on tough-on-crime platform, killed in burst of gunfire in Quito
Ecuador’s terrifying descent into violence and criminality has reached a new low with the assassination in broad daylight of a presidential candidate campaigning on a tough-on-crime and anti-graft platform.
Fernando Villavicencio, a former journalist who had collaborated with the Guardian, was shot and killed in a burst of gunfire on a street in Quito as he left a campaign rally on Wednesday evening. Gunfire broke out as the candidate approached his car, sending supporters screaming and diving for cover.
Continue reading...Ecowas says force is a last resort and would prefer diplomatic means of reinstating President Bazoum after army coup
Leaders of a powerful west African regional bloc have ordered the activation of its standby force, increasing the pressure on the senior army officers who deposed Niger’s democratically elected leader last month but leaving the door open for a diplomatic solution.
Speaking after an emergency Ecowas summit in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria warned that “no option is taken off the tables including the use of force as the last resort”.
Continue reading...Indian opposition hope to open voters’ minds to idea that PM is actually responsible for societal problems
During his near-decade in power, as India has convulsed with sectarian riots, mass protests at government policies, or popular rage at heinous crimes, Narendra Modi has hewed closely to playbook: say nothing, and stay above the fray.
The Indian prime minister has never taken questions at a press conference in the country, declines interviews with critical journalists, and leaves daily commentary to his lieutenants or an army of online trolls. The grubby cut-and-thrust of electoral politics is for others; Modi instead is cast in loftier terms as the “messiah of the poor”.
Continue reading...Move could indicate start of a possible prisoner swap between US and Iran, though negotiations for release of the five are continuing
Five US dual citizens detained by Iran have left Tehran’s Evin prison and are now under house arrest, in a move which could indicate the start of a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.
The Iranian Americans include the businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58, as well as the environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who also has British nationality, said Jared Genser, a lawyer who represents Namazi. The identity of the other two US citizens has not been made public.
Continue reading...British man found not guilty of murdering wife faces further legal proceedings and possibility of jail
A British pensioner found not guilty of the premeditated murder of his cancer-stricken wife faces further legal proceedings – and potentially jail – after Cyprus’s highest legal authority appealed against the decision of a district court that allowed him to walk free.
In a shock move, initiated at the 11th hour, the office of the island’s attorney general announced on Thursday it would appeal against the sentence and acquittal of David Hunter.
Continue reading...Governor updates death toll to two killed in Ukrainian shelling of Chausy village in the Bryansk region; drones downed in Moscow area, mayor says
Suspilne offers this morning round-up of latest news about the war:
At night, the Russian army released ten “Shahed” drones over Ukraine. The air force reported air defence managed to destroy seven.
Air defence was active in Kyiv region at night. There were no hits, no casualties. Air defence forces also worked in the Khmelnytskyi region.
Continue reading...PM attacks opposition parties during no-confidence motion called to force him to address ethnic violence in far-east
Opposition parties have walked out of the Indian parliament in protest at the refusal of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to address ethnic violence in the state of Manipur – a situation that has been described as being close to civil war.
The opposition had tabled a no-confidence vote in Modi largely to force him to appear and speak about the three-month-long crisis, about which he had refused to say more than a few words.
Continue reading...Court rules judge can hear case that alleges appointment of Mary Simon violates constitutional rules for bilingualism
A group of Quebecers have cleared a major hurdle in their efforts to have Canada’s governor general removed because she does not speak French.
A Quebec superior court judge ruled that it could hear the case, which asserts that Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 appointment of Mary Simon – Canada’s first Indigenous governor general – violates constitutional rules for bilingualism.
Continue reading...Despite gains, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar warns of ‘nightmare’ situation farther north in Kharkiv
Ukrainian forces have recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and are successfully encircling Russian troops in the city, a defence minister in Kyiv has said.
Hanna Maliar also warned of a “nightmare” situation farther north after 12,000 civilians in the Kharkiv region were ordered to evacuate.
Continue reading...Riad Salameh accused of corrupt actions to enrich himself and associates ‘contributing to breakdown of the rule of law’
The US, Britain and Canada have announced sanctions against the former governor of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salameh, accusing him of corrupt actions to enrich himself and his associates.
Salameh, in messages to Reuters, denied the allegations made by the three sanctioning countries and said he would challenge them. Some of his assets had already been frozen in previous investigations, he said.
Continue reading...Environmental experts say proposals are too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs
Environmental experts have criticised the Swedish government’s plan to build at least 10 nuclear reactors in the next 20 years, more than doubling the current number, saying it will be too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs.
The climate minister, Romina Pourmokhtari, announced on Wednesday that in order to meet its climate goals Sweden needed to double electricity production in the next two decades.
Continue reading...The Luna-25 mission will seek to land near the south pole of the moon, seeking signs of water or its components
Russia hopes to launch its first successful lunar landing mission for nearly 50 years, with a long-delayed takeoff from the far east of the country scheduled for early on Friday morning that the Kremlin aims to tout as a new achievement in space exploration.
The Luna-25 mission will seek to land near the south pole of the moon, collecting geological samples from the area, and sending back data for signs of water or its building blocks, which could raise the possibility of a future human colony on the moon.
Continue reading...