Scottish police receive thousands of reports after new hate crime law
London, UK Reuters Scottish police said on Wednesday they had received more than 7,000 online reports of offences in the first week since the introduction of a new hate crime law that opponents say could curb free speech and waste police time. The law, brought in by a devolved government controlled by the centre-left pro-independence […]
Gazans live on memories of past Eid festivals as war ruins special day
Gaza Reuters Palestinians visited the graves of loved ones killed in the Gaza war and prayed beside the wreckage of a mosque and in shattered streets as the devastating conflict cast a pall over the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Millions of Muslims around the world are observing Eid, marking the end of the fasting month of […]
A Sustainable Life: If you’ve got a dark roof, you’re spending almost $A700 extra a year to keep your house cool
Writing in the Australian context, SEBASTIAN PFAUTSCH and RICCARDO PAOLINI, in an article first published on The Conversation, look at the impact dark rooves can have on power costs…
Elephant deaths trigger Kenyan call for Tanzania to curb hunts
Amboseli, Kenya Reuters In the rolling grasslands of the Amboseli wildlife park, conservationists fret about an emerging threat to Kenyan elephants that are crucial to its tourism business: licensed hunters across the border in Tanzania. The two East African neighbours manage elephant herds differently. Tanzania issues some trophy hunting licences to wealthy sport hunters every […]
South Korea opposition wins landslide parliamentary vote in resounding blow to Yoon
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea’s liberal opposition parties scored a landslide victory in a parliamentary election held on Wednesday, dealing a resounding blow to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his conservative party but likely falling just short of a super majority. The Democratic Party (DP) was projected to take more than 170 of the […]
Ecuador’s ex-Vice President Glas attempted suicide, on hunger strike, former president says
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas attempted suicide earlier this week and is now on a hunger strike at a prison in Guayaquil to protest his arrest, his lawyer Sonia Vera and former President Rafael Correa said on Wednesday. Glas, already twice convicted of corruption and now facing fresh charges, was arrested […]
Voters in many countries sceptical of democracy, poll shows
Stockholm, Sweden Reuters Voters in many countries are suffering a crisis of faith in their democracies and institutions, a survey by a governance watchdog showed, painting a bleak picture in a year in which more than half of the world’s population holds elections. With the United States, India, Britain and the European Union going to […]
Russian forces stage deadly attacks in southern, northern Ukraine
Reuters Russian forces launched deadly attacks on Wednesday on frequent targets in the south and north of Ukraine, in Kharkiv and Odesa regions, killing seven people and injuring many more, officials said. In Odesa district in the south, an early evening missile attack killed four people, including a 10-year-old girl, and injured 14 more, regional […]
‘Slow-motion disaster’: Panama’s Indigenous leave home as sea levels rise
The Guna people of Panama’s sinking Gardi Sugdub island are planning to move to the mainland to escape rising sea levels. ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Russians flee “very unusual” floods in boats clutching valuables, food, pets
Orenburg, Russia Reuters Residents of the flood-stricken Russian city of Orenburg arrived at evacuation points on Wednesday by inflatable boat, carrying whatever they could grab from their homes in small bags. One elderly woman in a life-jacket clutched a terrified-looking cat as she descended from a boat onto dry land. Residents and Russian Emergencies Ministry rescuers […]