The former leader of Northern Ireland’s most prominent pro-union party, Jeffrey Donaldson, will stand trial over allegations of historical sex offenses including one charge of rape. Donaldson stepped down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in March after he was charged with 11 sexual offenses. The politician has since been charged with a further seven offenses. The 18 alleged ...
In a landmark decision, Japan’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to pay damages to people who were forcibly sterilized under a now-defunct eugenics law, ruling the practice was unconstitutional and had violated their rights. The Eugenic Protection Law, in place from 1948 to 1996, allowed authorities to forcibly sterilize people with disabilities, including those with mental disorders, hereditary diseases ...
Iran’s snap presidential election will head to a second vote on Friday, with a reformist and conservative hardliner facing off to replace Ebrahim Raisi amid unprecedented voter apathy. After none of the four initial candidates secured more than 50% of the vote on June 28, reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili emerged as the two ...
Eyewitnesses have recounted scenes of chaos and confusion after a religious festival in northern India ended in tragedy when scores of people were killed in a crowd crush. At least 121 people died – almost all of them women – and 35 others were injured when overcrowding at a sermon in Mughal Garhi village in Uttar Pradesh led to the deadly ...
Hurricane Beryl, an early-season storm super-charged by abnormally warm ocean temperatures, is tearing through the Caribbean. Grenada’s Carriacou island was “flattened” when Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Several charities are actively distributing aid throughout the region. If you’d like to help victims, click here or use the form below. This post appeared first on cnn.com ...
France’s most streamed singer Aya Nakamura has joined the chorus of voices calling on the French electorate to vote against the far right in Sunday’s high stakes election. The National Rally party, which is slated to win big in this Sunday’s second round of voting, has drawn criticism and concern from French celebrities of dual nationality, worried about the impact ...
Israel and Hamas appear to be on the brink of a framework agreement for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, an Israeli source familiar with the negotiations said. Israeli officials believe Hamas’ latest response will enable the two parties to enter detailed negotiations to reach an agreement, the source said. A deal, however, is still not finalized nor is it ...
Google has admitted its greenhouse gas emissions have risen 48% over the past five years – largely because of artificial intelligence – scuppering its climate aims. AI systems require intense levels of computational power, and this has piled pressure on the tech giant’s data centres around the world. In its latest environmental report, Google went on to warn that reducing ...
The world’s biggest gaming championship kicks off today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Around 1,500 global esports champions are heading to Boulevard City, competing for eight weeks for a record prize pool of $60m (£47m). “The Esports World Cup is a major moment in esports history,” said Ralf Reichert, chief executive of the Esports World Cup Foundation. “It’s a historic culmination ...
Tiny fragments of glass fibre widely used to make small boats around the world have been found in the marine food chain for the first time. Scientists at the universities of Portsmouth and Brighton found the glass shards, just a fraction of a millimetre long, in shellfish caught off the south coast of England. The needle-shaped fragments of fibreglass, or ...