Travellers say they faced ‘absolute chaos’ as they were forced to flee with luggage still at hotels
Dean Mason, 56, from Rothley in Leicestershire, described getting caught up in the Rhodes wildfires as a “near-death experience”.
Mason arrived at a hotel in Kiotari beach a week ago with his wife, daughter, and four-year-old granddaughter.
Continue reading...South Korean armed forces condemn the two launches as a ‘grave provocation’
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, adding to a recent streak of weapons testing that is apparently in protest against the US sending naval assets to South Korea.
In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said early on Tuesday local time. It said the missiles travelled about 250 miles (400km) before landing in waters off the Korean peninsula’s eastern coast.
Continue reading...Constitutional crisis on cards as supreme court justices are asked to consider curbing their own powers
Israel’s supreme court has begun hearing challenges to the first plank of the far-right and ultra-religious government’s wide-ranging changes to the judiciary passed by the Knesset in July: abolishing the court’s power to overrule government decisions.
A full-blown constitutional crisis is now on the cards as the justices weigh in on legislation curbing their own powers, while government ministers have indicated they will not comply with any ruling striking the law down.
Continue reading...Roars and cries from demonstrators as bill passes 64-0 after opposition politicians leave plenum in protest
Israel’s far-right, ultra-religious government has succeeded in passing a key part of the coalition’s judicial overhaul, seven months after introducing the legislation, in the face of widespread, sustained opposition from protesters.
The bill abolishing the “reasonableness” clause that allows Israel’s unelected supreme court to overrule government decisions was passed into law by a final vote of 64-0 in parliament on Monday. Every member of the coalition voted in favour, while opposition lawmakers abandoned the Knesset plenum in protest, shouting “Shame!” as they left.
Continue reading...Brazil federal police say Maxwell Simões Corrêa helped plan 2018 assassination; two former police officers are already awaiting trial
Brazilian police have arrested a new suspect over the killing of the Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco, the first major development for some years in a murder case that shocked Brazil and prompted international outcry.
Franco, an outspoken defender of marginalised populations, was killed with her driver Anderson Gomes in a drive-by shooting in March 2018. Two former police officers accused of carrying out the murders were arrested a year later – but they are yet to stand trial by jury and an investigation into who ordered the assassination has dragged on slowly ever since.
Continue reading...Latest news: Kyriakos Mitsotakis tells parliament ‘we are at war’ as nearly 2,500 people evacuated from Corfu
Ludovica Gazze, an associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick, says the pollution from the wildfires is likely to have an effect throughout Greece – and beyond.
The economic costs of wildfires are substantial and widespread. There are the immediate and visible costs of healthcare and assistance, as well as forgone tourist income.
There are also the invisible costs of the pollution caused by wildfires, which can travel hundreds of miles as we saw in the case of the Canada wildfires in June. Pollution worsens health, cognition, and productivity.
There’s no coincidence at all that climate change has driven these higher temperatures, and the higher temperatures are causing the fires that are spreading.
The only way to tackle this is deep and rapid emissions reductions. In terms of greenhouse gases, we have virtually doubled the amount of greenhouse gases compared to the pre-industrial level.
Continue reading...About 7,500 firefighters trying to bring blazes under control and 1,500 people evacuated as heatwave spreads
Thirty-four people including 10 soldiers have been killed by wildfires in the mountainous Béjaïa and Bouïra regions of Algeria, as a heatwave spreads across north Africa and southern Europe.
About 8,000 firefighters were trying to bring the flames under control, authorities said, adding that about 1,500 people had been evacuated.
Continue reading...Almost 60% of people support players receiving equal pay in the Women’s World Cup
More than 40% of Australians agree with Daniel Andrews’ controversial decision to scrap the Commonwealth Games, with his home state most supportive of the move, new polling shows.
While critics bemoaned the decision as “an international embarrassment”, the latest Guardian Essential poll found Australians were less invested, with 41% of those polled agreeing with the Victorian government’s decision, while 36% disagreed and 24% were unsure.
Continue reading...Peace between Hemedti’s RSF and Sudan’s army will not end war crimes. As UN security council president, Britain must act
As conflict in Sudan escalates, it is becoming clear that the Rapid Support Forces has returned to Darfur to complete the genocide it began 20 years ago. The RSF is the Janjaweed rebranded, the “devils on horseback” used by the Sudanese government from 2003 to implement widespread and systematic crimes against non-Arab communities across Darfur. The RSF was, and still is, commanded by Gen Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.
In recent weeks, what we knew was coming has been confirmed. Yale University’s Conflict Observatory, which uses a combination of satellite imagery, Nasa thermal-detection data and open-source analysis, found evidence of the “targeted destruction of at least 26 communities” by the RSF between 15 April and 10 July. Mass graves have been discovered, and satellite imagery shows entire urban neighbourhoods and villages have been burned down.
Continue reading...Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, daughter of wanted pro-democracy activist Elmer Yuen, taken for questioning, according to local media
Hong Kong national security police have reportedly detained the daughter, son, and daughter-in-law of a wanted activist, in the latest move targeting the families of pro-democracy figures in exile.
Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, the daughter of Elmer Yuen, her brother Derek, and his wife, the legislator Eunice Yung, were taken for questioning on Monday morning, according to local media. Sing Tao Daily reported Mimi had only arrived from Los Angeles on Monday morning.
Continue reading...António Guterres calls on Moscow to return to deal allowing safe export of Ukrainian grain; US citizen working for AFP hurt in Bakhmut attack
Russia’s overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees, Reuters reports Ukraine’s southern military command as saying.
Based on preliminary information, three drones were destroyed in the attacks, the command said on social media.
These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.
It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking, I think, at several months.
And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: The country’s conservative parties were meant to romp to victory in snap elections, but with 100% of the vote counted, neither the left or right blocs have secured a majority
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A few days ago it seemed a foregone conclusion that a coalition of rightwing parties were going to win Spain’s snap elections. A huge majority was not a guarantee, but most of the polls were in their favour. Election night, however, told a different story.
Health | Most NHS staff think they have too little time to help patients and the quality of care the service provides is falling, a survey reveals. Medical and nursing groups said the “very worrying” findings showed that hard-pressed staff cannot give patients as much attention as they would like because they are so busy.
Environment | Firefighters in Greece were struggling to contain 82 wildfires burning across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far. As well as huge blazes on the island of Rhodes, which forced 19,000 to flee, wildfires also broke out on the islands of Evia and Corfu. Travel firms and airlines are now being urged to reimburse passengers who decide against flying to Rhodes.
Politics | Rishi Sunak is being urged by senior Conservatives to go for a spring election next year, with the plan said to be “gaining traction” among campaign strategists who believe it may be their best chance to stem losses.
Nigel Farage | Britain’s biggest banks will be summoned to a meeting with the City minister, as he raised “significant concern” over the recent closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account with Coutts. Andrew Griffith will send a letter to the bosses of 19 banks including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest to warn the government is prepared to “take the action necessary” to protect freedom of speech.
Cinema | Vue cinema chain has reported its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic, thanks to the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office. The chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill.
Continue reading...Boats ready to pick up evacuees on Corfu as heatwave continues and firefighters tackle blazes on Rhodes that sparked Greece’s largest wildfire evacuation
Firefighters in Greece were struggling to contain 82 wildfires burning across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far.
As well as huge blazes on the island of Rhodes, which forced 19,000 to flee, wildfires also broke out on the islands of Evia and Corfu.
Continue reading...Party chair says since act was passed by party in 2004, there is now a ‘much better understanding of the barriers trans people face’
Labour will overhaul an “outdated” law to make it easier for transgender people to transition while maintaining protections for single-sex spaces, the party’s chair and shadow equalities secretary has said.
Writing in the Guardian, Anneliese Dodds accused the Conservative party of seeking to stoke “culture wars” by pinning its hopes for electoral success on “demonising vulnerable LGBT+ people”.
Continue reading...Defence ministry blames Ukraine for drones that hit non-residential buildings in the Russian capital and says there were no casualties
Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.
Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Continue reading...Trafalgar Square monument would stand in ‘stark contrast’ to treatment codebreaker received in his lifetime
An LGBTQ+ armed forces charity has backed proposals to erect a statue of the second world war codebreaker Alan Turing on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth – a high-profile platform for contemporary art commissions.
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, originally made the suggestion in the House of Commons last week in response to an independent review into the service and experience of LGBTQ+ veterans who served under the pre-2000 ban on homosexuality in the armed forces.
Continue reading...PM recovering from pacemaker operation amid street protests over judicial overhaul plan and Biden call to scrap vote
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has arrived at parliament for a key vote related to his government’s bitterly contested judicial overhaul, only hours after being discharged from hospital after an emergency heart procedure.
Thousands of demonstrators who marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last week remained camped out outside the Knesset on Monday before two votes on the plenum floor, in which the “reasonableness” clause allowing the supreme court to overrule government decisions is expected to be abolished.
Continue reading...Government blocks event after release of publicity featuring Susan Taslimi in 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd
Iranian authorities have banned a film festival that issued a publicity poster featuring an actor who was not wearing a hijab, state media has reported.
The move came after the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) released a poster for its upcoming short-film festival featuring the Iranian actor Susan Taslimi in the 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd.
Continue reading...Authoritarian ruler said voters who destroyed ballot papers will face legal action
Cambodia’s authoritarian leader has warned voters who destroyed their ballots to turn themselves in or face legal consequences, as he claimed victory after running virtually uncontested in a one-sided election.
Hun Sen, 70, who has governed for almost four decades, said in a Telegram post on Sunday night that unofficial results showed his party had won 120 seats and a royalist party had won five.
Continue reading...Government claims 98% success rate for cloud seeding but critics urge improving irrigation and water supply systems
Amid a historic heatwave and months of drought, Mexico’s government has launched the latest phase of a cloud seeding project it hopes will increase rainfall.
The project, which began in July, involves planes flying into clouds to release silver iodide particles which then, in theory, will attract additional water droplets and increase rain or snowfall.
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