Category Archives: World News

Greece passes intelligence bill banning the sale of spyware

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Vote comes as government tries to mitigate impact of a phone-tapping scandal involving Pasok party leader

Greece’s parliament has passed a bill overhauling the country’s intelligence service (EYP) and banning the sale of spyware, as the government tries to mitigate the impact of a phone-tapping scandal still under investigation.

The case has turned up the heat on the conservative government, which faces elections in 2023. It emerged in August when Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the socialist Pasok party, Greece’s third-largest, claimed the EYP listened to his conversations in 2021.

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Celebrity chef among suspects in Germany rightwing coup plot

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Ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities also linked to foiled Reichsbürger plan

A celebrity gourmet chef whose daughter is the girlfriend of the Real Madrid footballer David Alaba and an ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities from terror attacks are among the latest figures to have been linked to the foiled Reichsbürger coup plan in Germany, with further arrests expected as investigations continue.

Details emerging after the biggest ever national police operation against rightwing extremism indicate that suspects may have been informed in advance of the raids, in which 3,000 police officers targeted more than 150 addresses across Germany, and in Austria and Italy, making 25 arrests.

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Notre Dame’s uncovered tombs start to reveal their secrets

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Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier

Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on Friday.

The first contains the remains of a high priest who died in 1710 after what experts say appeared to be a sedentary life. The occupant of the second has not yet been identified – and may never be – but is believed to be a young, wealthy and privileged noble who could have lived as far back as the 14th century.

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Excitement and apprehension as China loosens zero-Covid measures

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Some people are keen to enjoy their new freedoms, but others are fearful of a major wave of infections

China’s scaling back of its zero-Covid regime has left its population reeling. Some are embracing their new freedoms, while others are struggling to overcome their fears of being infected after three years of tough restrictions.

Frustration at protracted lockdowns and mass testing boiled over in late November into widespread protests, the biggest show of public discontent in decades.

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Canada: hopes rise for landfill search where Indigenous women’s bodies believed to be buried

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Manitoba site pauses operations, raising prospect that search for bodies of Long Plain First Nation women could be possible

Operations have paused at a Canadian landfill where the bodies of at least two Indigenous victims of an alleged serial killer are believed to be buried, amid mounting frustration that authorities are not doing enough to recover the bodies.

Police in Winnipeg announced last week they had charged Jeremy Skibicki, 35, with the murder of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, of Long Plain First Nation, months after he was accused of killing Rebecca Contois, 24, from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.

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Two Bangladeshi opposition leaders arrested in government crackdown

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Seven killed and thousands arrested as Hasina regime continues repressive campaign against opponents

Two top leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party have been arrested amid a violent crackdown on government opponents during which at least seven people have been shot dead and thousands arrested.

Over recent weeks, Sheikh Hasina’s government has launched a repressive campaign against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), which has been holding rallies calling for her resignation.

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White House says Sinema defection ‘does not change Democratic Senate control’ – as it happened

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As we’ve mentioned Republican criticism of Joe Biden for trading basketball star Brittney Griner for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, here’s Florida senator Marco Rubio’s considered opinion:

“We have to recognize, even as we’re happy an American’s coming home, it does incentivize the taking of more Americans,” he told reporters on Friday morning.

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Kyrsten Sinema goes independent days after Democrats secure Senate majority

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Arizona senator changes party affiliation and says she will not caucus with Republicans

The US senator Kyrsten Sinema has switched her political affiliation to independent, leaving the Democratic party just days after it won a Senate race in Georgia to secure a 51st seat in the chamber.

“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent,” she said in an op-ed for Arizona Central, a local media outlet.

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Chester zoo hails birth of rare Malayan tapir as ‘important moment’

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Female calf named Nessa will help efforts to protect species, of which fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild

An endangered Malayan tapir has been born at a UK zoo, in what the zoo said was an “important moment” for conservation.

The female calf, which zookeepers have named Nessa, was born weighing 9kg on Wednesday at Chester zoo, one of only two places in the country to keep tapirs, a species related to the horse and the rhinoceros.

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Brittney Griner arrives in US after prisoner exchange with Russia

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Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout

The American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the US early on Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange from nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.

The deal, in which she was swapped for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for Joe Biden. But Washington failed to win freedom for another US citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.

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Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin jailed for denouncing Ukraine war

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Politician sentenced to eight and a half years over series of posts about atrocities in Bucha

A Russian court has sentenced the opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison, in the most high-profile case to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine.

Yashin was tried on charges of spreading false information meant to discredit the Russian army, under a law introduced after Russia launched its invasion, due to a series of posts in May about the murder and torture of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops in the town of Bucha.

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All South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system scrapped

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June will mark end of system that deemed newborns to be a year old, with a year added every 1 January

South Korea is to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard – a change that that will knock one or two years off people’s ages on official documents but could take time to seep into daily life.

South Koreans are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January. The unusual – and increasingly unpopular – custom means a baby born on New Year’s Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

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Weather tracker: Heatwave sweeps South America as Argentina hits 43C

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Weather warnings issued as worshippers brave temperatures to celebrate Catholic holy day

A heatwave has hit parts of central South America this week, coinciding with the Immaculate Conception pilgrimage attended by Catholic worshippers.

A sizzling 43.5C was recorded in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, on Wednesday, a day before the holy day. Weather warnings for extreme heat were issued by the Argentinian and the Paraguayan national meteorological services this week, as temperatures rose 10C above the seasonal norm for several days in many places.

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Pakistani journalist’s killing in Kenya ‘a pre-meditated murder’

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Fact-finding team sent by Pakistani government finds contradictions in reports on Arshad Sharif’s death

A team set up by the Pakistani government to investigate the killing of a well-known Pakistani journalist in Nairobi said it found several contradictions in the version given by Kenyan authorities, and believes it was a case of pre-meditated murder.

The TV journalist Arshad Sharif, who had fled Pakistan citing threats to his life, was shot dead in Nairobi in October. Kenyan officials said it was a case of mistaken identity and that police hunting car thieves opened fire on his vehicle as it drove through a roadblock without stopping.

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Macron announces free condoms for 18- to 25-year-olds in France

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President hails ‘revolution for contraception’ as government seeks to curb STIs and unwanted pregnancies

The French president has said condoms will be made available for free in pharmacies for 18- to 25-year-olds in an attempt to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people.

“It’s a small revolution for contraception,” Emmanuel Macron announced during a health debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb of Poitiers in western France.

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Putin suggests possibility of settlement to end war in Ukraine

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Russian president still claims ‘special military operation’ going to plan during Kyrgyzstan press conference

Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.

“The settlement process as a whole, yes, it will probably be difficult and will take some time. But one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground,” the Russia president said during remarks at a press-conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

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Without effective vaccines, China’s economy may not heal

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Changes to zero-Covid policy could prove insufficient if lockdowns are expected to continue

China’s nearly three-year policy of enacting strict lockdowns to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 came with a heavy price for the world’s second largest economy.

The question for its president, Xi Jinping, and his inner court of advisers is whether a sudden relaxation of lockdown rules brought in this week will both prevent a recurrence of the shockwave of protests across the country and turn the economy around.

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Markets optimistic as China eases Covid rules, but experts warn of danger ahead

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Amid signs that supply chain woes are improving, economists remain uncertain that China is ready to live with Covid

Global shares and the price of some key commodities have risen on hopes that the easing of China’s strict zero-Covid measures would help to bring down inflation, even as some experts warned that the country was not prepared to live with the disease.

China’s government on Wednesday announced a significant shift towards living with the virus. People with Covid-19 who have mild or no symptoms can quarantine at home, while officials have been instructed to stop launching temporary lockdowns. Testing will no longer be required for “cross-regional migrants”.

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Christchurch attack inquiry: coroner declines to remove lawyer after request from families

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Senior lawyer assisting coroner will not cross-examine police witnesses after bereaved families objected to her law firm’s work with the police

The coroner leading an inquiry into the 2019 terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques has ruled a senior lawyer assisting her investigation will not cross-examine police witnesses or give advice on officers’ conduct, after bereaved families called for her removal over her law firm’s close work with the police.

But coroner Brigitte Windley said in a ruling published on Friday that there was no allegation of misconduct by the lawyer, Alysha McClintock, who is also a Crown prosecutor. Windley declined the families’ application to remove McClintock from the inquiry altogether, rejecting their arguments that she might face real or perceived conflicts of interest when questioning officers at an inquest.

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Harry Dunn’s mother calls killer’s failure to appear in court ‘despicable’

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Charlotte Charles pleased to have kept promise to son, but says US government still has questions to answer

The mother of the British teenager Harry Dunn has said her promise to win him justice has been fulfilled after his killer was sentenced, but said it was “despicable” that she had failed to appear in court.

Although Anne Sacoolas, a US citizen who was driving on the wrong side of the road when her car struck the young motorcyclist in 2019, avoided jail, she received an eight-month suspended sentence and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

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