The involvement of overseas foes in ‘anomalous health incidents’ suffered by US diplomats and spies was deemed ‘very unlikely’
The mysterious set of symptoms known as “Havana syndrome” was not caused by an energy weapon or foreign adversary, US intelligence has concluded.
The assessment concludes a multi-year investigation into approximately 1,000 “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) among US diplomats, spies and other employees in US embassies and missions around the world.
Continue reading...President says ‘we are mainly mourning young people’ after collision in which 43 have been confirmed dead
The death toll from the head-on collision of two trains in central Greece is likely to rise with officials acknowledging that scores of people have yet to be accounted for nearly 24 hours after it left at least 43 dead and many more injured.
Rescue services worked against the clock to find survivors as by late Wednesday it became ever more apparent the country was dealing with a train crash the likes of which had not been seen in Europe in decades. Many of the dead were students. By midmorning 35 bodies had been taken to the general hospital in Larissa, the nearest town, some burned beyond recognition, forcing relatives to give DNA samples.
Continue reading...Designer Julien Dossena thanks maison’s founder, who died last month, for his ‘radical expression’
In silver chainmail hoods and Perspex dresses, aluminium-foil suiting and gleaming white space boots, the faithful came to pay their respects. At the first Paco Rabanne catwalk show since the founder’s death last month at the age of 88, the loyal clients and fans who packed the front row alongside the eminent designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Nicolas Ghesquière mirrored a newly minted catwalk collection which was packed with dazzling silver and rustling tinsel in tribute to the futuristic fashion that made Rabanne famous.
Fake fur skirts and trousers made from shards of crystal rustled and shimmied in homage to Rabanne’s delight in fashioning clothes from unlikely materials. The delicate chainmail evening bags which have been a signature and house bestseller for decades made several appearances.
Continue reading...Study adds to fears Amazon is approaching tipping point after which it will not be able to generate its own rainfall
For the first time researchers have proven a clear correlation between deforestation and regional precipitation. Scientists hope it may encourage agricultural companies and governments in the Amazon and Congo basin regions and south-east Asia to invest more in protecting trees and other vegetation.
The study found that the more rainforests are cleared in tropical countries, the less local farmers will be able to depend on rain for their crops and pastures.
Continue reading...Camel, toffee and charcoal feature in Ukrainian collection created under Russian bombs
You would never guess from the immaculate tailoring and finely turned silhouettes of the Litkovska collection shown at Paris fashion week that its production was frequently interrupted by air-raid warnings, which forced the 23-strong team of tailors and stylists to flee the design studio for a bomb shelter. It remains the only Ukrainian brand on the Paris catwalks and is still designed and produced in Kyiv by Lilia Litkovska and her team.
The bombardments are just one of the logistical challenges faced by the designer and her team in Kyiv. “There are problems every day, but we find solutions every day,” said Litkovska backstage before her show.
“We are very lucky because our studio is close to a good bomb shelter,” added Olena Iakovenko, one of four team members who travelled to France with Litkovska to stage the event.
Continue reading...Closing arguments to be delivered in gripping case of prominent state attorney, accused of killing wife and son at family estate
After six weeks of testimony, including 62 prosecution witnesses and 14 for the defense, including the defendant himself, the closing days in the double-murder trial of Richard “Alex” Murdaugh has resembled a fairytale of dynastic corruption and deep south Gothic horror.
As the last prosecution witness stepped down from a South Carolina courtroom stand on Tuesday, closing the rebuttal phase of the trial, jurors on Wednesday headed off to tour the 1,700-acre country estate where Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul were found dead on 7 June 2021.
Continue reading...Alexei Moskalyov charged with ‘discrediting Russian army’, while daughter taken into care
A Russian man has been detained for making anti-war statements and his 12-year-old daughter temporarily taken into state care after the family faced pressure from authorities for drawings the girl made at school depicting Russia bombing a family in Ukraine.
Alexei Moskalyov, a single parent from the town of Yefremov, 150 miles south of Moscow, has been arrested for making anti-war statements on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social network.
Continue reading...Officers says they expect to make more arrests over violence described by Israeli general as ‘pogrom’
Israeli police have arrested five suspects over a Jewish settler rampage in the occupied West Bank earlier this week that an Israeli general described as a “pogrom” and which followed a deadly Palestinian gun attack.
Shops in the Palestinian village of Huwara remained closed on army orders on Wednesday amid a heavy Israeli military presence, residents said. A Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli brothers there on Sunday, prompting assaults by settlers on houses and cars during which one Palestinian was killed.
Continue reading...In a country where gay sex is already punishable by life in prison, campaigners have condemned proposed new law as ‘demonisation’
MPs in Uganda have reintroduced a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill, with one describing homosexuality as a “cancer”, attracting strong condemnation from rights campaigners.
Asuman Basalirwa, an opposition MP, made the remark as he tabled the draft law [pdf] which seeks to punish gay sex and “the promotion or recognition of such relations”.
Continue reading...‘Relay loans’ that can pass on to children follow other moves to make borrowing more flexible
In an attempt to stimulate China’s flagging housing market, banks in some cities are extending the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 and 95.
Although not a national policy, banks in Beijing, Hangzhou and other big cities have started offering “relay loans” to elderly customers, which pass on to their children in the event that they cannot repay.
Continue reading...Sunak’s government has refused to echo assertion that Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detained
Rishi Sunak and the Foreign Office appear to be scaling back the UK’s support for Jagtar Singh Johal, the British Sikh activist held in an Indian jail for five years, his family and Keir Starmer have said.
Sunak’s government has refused invitations to echo Boris Johnson’s assertion that the Indian government has arbitrarily detained Johal, a term seen as significant because it means the UK does not recognise there is a proper legal basis to hold him.
Continue reading...Ukraine officials say ‘epic’ fight on plain near Vuhledar produced the biggest tank battle of the war. This live blog is now closed
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv region, has posted to Telegram to say two people were injured in Chuhuiv as a result of Russian shelling. He wrote:
According to the information of the regional centre of emergency medical assistance, a 52-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy were injured as a result of the morning shelling of Chuhuiv. The man was hospitalised with shrapnel wounds. The boy has minor injuries, was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalisation.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Continue reading...Patients in New Brunswick with array of symptoms ‘show signs of exposure to glyphosate’, says neurologist
A neurologist who believes his patients are suffering from a suspicious illness has pleaded with the Canadian government to carry out environmental testing he thinks will show the involvement of the herbicide glyphosate.
For more than two years, dozens of people in the Canadian province of New Brunswick have experienced a distressing array of neurological symptoms, initially prompting speculation that they had developed an unknown degenerative illness – and that figure is believed to be far higher than official reports.
Continue reading...‘We do not want a war within the PRC, a clash of civilizations,’ says ranking Democrat as new committee holds first hearing
Congress must act urgently to counter economic and national security threats posed by China, lawmakers on a newly created special House committee warned in its first primetime hearing.
China and the US are locked in an “existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century”, the Republican chairman, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, said.
Continue reading...Former Lagos governor polled ahead of Abubakar and Obi in Nigeria’s most competitive election since end of military rule in 1999
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was on Wednesday declared winner of the presidential election, after defeating two of his closest rivals in the most competitive election for decades.
Tinubu’s victory after the weekend vote signalled the continued dominance of the established political elite in Nigeria. Analysts had described the poll as a potential “inflection point” for Africa’s most populous country, which is struggling with economic turmoil, widespread violence and corruption.
Continue reading...Up to 60 people missing as rescuers continue efforts to find survivors of head-on crash near Larissa
The death toll from the head-on collision of two trains in central Greece has risen to at least 40 people, with many more missing, according to the state broadcaster, while several of those wounded remained in a critical condition.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) reported that 50-60 people were still unaccounted for after the crash in the town of Tempe.
Continue reading...Construction begins on fence along part of 1,340km boundary amid fears Moscow could weaponise mass migration against Helsinki
Finland has started construction of a fence along parts of its 1,340km (830-mile) border with Russia to boost security and tackle any attempt by Moscow to weaponise mass migration as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
Finland announced the start of construction on Tuesday. Terrain work would begin “with forest clearance and will proceed in such a way that road construction and fence installation can be started in March”, the Finnish Border Guard said in a statement.
Continue reading...Beijing propaganda includes messaging aligned with Moscow on Ukraine war, says James Rubin
The west has been slow to respond to China spending billions globally to spread poisonous disinformation, including messaging that is completely aligned with Russia on Ukraine, a US special envoy has claimed.
James Rubin, a coordinator for the Global Engagement Center, a US state department body set up to “expose and counter” foreign propaganda and disinformation, made the remarks during a European tour this week.
Continue reading...EU and parts of US already block access to Chinese-owned app amid concerns over data privacy and security
Canada has joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he said.
Continue reading...Suspected attack on students in city east of Tehran is latest in spate of incidents over past three months
Dozens of schoolgirls in Iran were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after a mysterious poisoning, an Iranian news agency has reported, in the latest in a spate of suspected attacks.
Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among Iranian schoolgirls, mainly in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospital treatment.
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