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The first image of Imelda Staunton portraying the Queen in the fifth series of The Crown has been released. Netflix released the picture via their Twitter account, saying it was an "early glimpse" of the new monarch in the royal drama. Staunton, 65, takes on the role played by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, as the latest series follows the royal family in the 21st century. Netflix said the drama's sixth and last series will end in the early 2000s.
Source: bbc.com
The United States imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders on Friday in response to the Havana government's crackdown on protesters, and President Joe Biden promised Cuban-American leaders more actions were coming. The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions, which appeared to be largely symbolic, were a reaction to "actions to suppress peaceful, pro-democratic protests in Cuba that began on July 11."
Source: reuters.com
An Afghan police guard was killed Friday when a United Nations compound came under attack in Herat, officials said, as fighting raged between government forces and the Taliban on the outskirts of the western city.
Source: france24.com
Japan’s prime minister has warned the country’s health system could collapse if Covid infections continue to spread at their current rate, as he extended and expanded a state of emergency. Yoshihide Suga also issued new pre-emergency measures as daily Covid-19 infection rates climbed above 10,000 cases for the first time since the pandemic hit in early 2020.
Source: independent.co.uk
Netflix will air a documentary series on Formula One great Michael Schumacher from Sept. 15, the online streaming platform said on Friday. Approved by his family, "Schumacher" features interviews with his wife and children, including F1 racer son Mick, and other past and present drivers, Netflix said. Schumacher, 52, who won a record seven F1 titles since equalled by Briton Lewis Hamilton, has not been seen in public since suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in 2013.
Source: reuters.com
Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare has been provisionally suspended for doping just hours before the former World Championships silver medallist was due to run in Saturday’s semi-finals of the women’s 100 metres at the Olympics. Okagbare tested positive for human growth hormone in an out-of-competition test on July 19, four days before the Olympics opened, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said, prompting a mandatory provisional suspension.
Source: aljazeera.com
A "unique" Anglo-Saxon coin found in a field in south Wiltshire is expected to fetch up to £200,000 at auction. The Gold Penny, or Mancus of 30 Pence, was unearthed by a metal detectorist in a field near West Dean in March 2020. Weighing 4.82g, it was struck between 802 and 839 during the reign of Ecgberht, King of the West Saxons. Thought to be the only late Anglo-Saxon gold coin in private hands, it is expected to fetch between £150,000 and £200,000 at auction on 8 September.
Source: bbc.com
The U.S. State Department said on Friday it has approved the potential sale of 18 CH-53K heavy lift helicopters to Israel in a deal valued at up to $3.4 billion. The package would include engines, navigation systems, weaponry, support equipment, spares and technical support. Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N)and General Electric Co (GE.N)are the prime contractors on the deal. Despite the approval by the State Department, the notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.
Source: reuters.com
Flooding and landslides have left thousands of refugees cut off from food supplies in Ituango, the conflict-strewn municipality in north-western Colombia. Roads have been blocked by mud and debris after heavy rains, while helicopters have been unable to land. As a result, the delivery of food and medical supplies has been stymied, and communications cut off. More than 4,000 people have fled the violence of militias operating in the resource-rich region in recent months. Bringing only what they could carry with them, entire families have fled from their homes in rural hamlets to the urban hub anchoring the region. According to the UN, 1,300 of those displaced are children.
Source: theguardian.com
Two crew members of an oil tanker managed by a prominent Israeli businessman's company were killed off Oman in what appears to be a drone attack, the vessel's London-based operator and the US military said Friday, with Israel blaming Iran.
Source: france24.com
An Illinois woman has been charged with disturbing wildlife after she was filmed approaching a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. A widely shared video showed Samantha Dehring approaching the bear and two cubs to take a photograph. Ms Dehring only walks away after the mother bear runs at her. She now faces several charges, as well as "violating closures and use limits". She has faces federal charges under a federal law that bans "feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentional disturbing of wildlife nesting, breeding or other activities".
Source: bbc.com
The United Nations children's agency said on Friday that more than 100,000 children in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray could suffer life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, a 10-fold increase to normal numbers. UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said that one-in-two pregnant and breastfeeding women screened in Tigray were acutely malnourished.
Source: reuters.com
AWorld War II Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot's uniform is set to be sold at auction after it was discovered wrapped in newspaper dating back to 1951. The "mystery" parcel containing the jacket and pants was found in a house in a village in East Staffordshire, England. It had been unopened for 70 years, Hansons Auctioneers said in a press release.
Source: cnn.com
China’s military and state media have warned the UK against provocation as it sent a carrier strike group, led by a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, through the contested South China Sea. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defence, Wu Qian, said it respected freedom of navigation but firmly opposed any naval activities that aimed to provoke controversy.
Source: theguardian.com
A security guard has been jailed for more than five years for stabbing 16 cats in a series of night-time attacks. Steven Bouquet killed nine cats around Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019. Seven more were injured. The 54-year-old had denied 16 counts of criminal damage and possession of a knife but was found guilty in June. Bouquet, who has been dubbed the "Brighton cat killer", was sentenced to five years and three months in prison at Hove Crown Court.
Source: bbc.com
Monsoon floods and landslides have cut off more than 300,000 people in villages across southeast Bangladesh and killed at least 20 people including six Rohingya refugees, officials said Friday. The region along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border where nearly one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are in camps has been battered by torrential rain since Monday.
Source: france24.com
Novak Djokovic's hopes of winning a 'Golden Slam' are over after he lost to Alexander Zverev in the Olympic tennis semi-finals. Serb Djokovic, the world number one, was bidding to become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal in the same year. But German Zverev, 24, came from a set down to win 1-6 6-3 6-1 at the Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo. The fourth seed will meet Russian Karen Khachanov in Sunday's final.
Source: bbc.com
The National Gallery of Australia announced Thursday that it will return more than a dozen "culturally significant" artworks to India due to the items' alleged links to looting and trafficking networks. Thirteen of the works, which include bronze and stone sculptures, historical photographs and a painted scroll, had been purchased directly from the disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who stands accused of smuggling thousands of antiquities from across Asia. A 14th item, acquired from the late dealer William Wolff, will also be repatriated.
Source: cnn.com
The first flight evacuating Afghan interpreters and others who worked alongside the United States forces in Afghanistan has landed at Washington Dulles International Airport, the US government has announced. An airliner carrying 221 Afghans, including 57 children and 15 babies, according to the internal document obtained by The Associated Press, touched down at the airport early on Friday morning.
Source: aljazeera.com
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Tuesday that a global chip shortage that has bit into its ability to sell Macs and iPads will start to affect iPhone production and forecasted slowing revenue growth, sending its shares lower. Apple executives said revenue for the current fiscal fourth quarter will grow by double-digits but be below the 36.4% growth rate in the just-ended third quarter. Growth will also slow in Apple's closely watched services business, they said. Executives also said that while the impact of the chip shortage was less severe than feared in the third quarter, it will get worse in the fourth, extending to iPhone production.
Source: reuters.com
A rare first edition of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in "exceptional condition" has sold for a magic £80,000 at auction. The book was one of 500 hardback copies printed in its first run in 1997 and bought from a Nottingham bookshop. On the book's copyright page, the world famous author is credited simply as "Joanne Rowling". Auctioneers Tennants, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, had estimated the volume would sell for about £20,000-£30,000.
Source: bbc.com
US President Joe Biden has called for states to offer $100 (£71) to the newly vaccinated in an effort to address flagging jab rates amid virus surges. The president also issued a strict new vaccine requirement for US federal workers, the nation's largest workforce with some two million people. The order requires employees to show proof of vaccination or be subjected to mandatory testing and masking. Just under half of the US is fully vaccinated, according to official data.
Source: bbc.com
Peru's President Pedro Castillo on Thursday named a prime minister from within his Marxist-Leninist Free Peru party -- 41-year-old Guido Bellido who first became a lawmaker six days ago and has never held public office. Inaugurated in Lima himself just Wednesday, Castillo presided over Bellido's swearing-in at the Pampa de la Quinua, site of the 1824 battle that ended Spanish domination of Peru and South America at large. Bellido, an electronic engineer, vowed he would represent the interests of all Peruvians and advance "the fight against corruption."
Source: france24.com
Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over its decision to release superhero movie "Black Widow" on streaming at the same time as in theaters, alleging a breach of contract which cost the star millions of dollars. Johansson, one of Hollywood's biggest and top-paid stars, was entitled to a percentage of box office receipts from the much-anticipated Marvel film, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday at Los Angeles Superior Court.
Source: france24.com
Japanese officials are sounding the alarm as Tokyo reports record-breaking coronavirus cases for the third straight day with the Olympics well under way. Tokyo reported 3,865 new cases in the past 24 hours, up from 3,177 on Wednesday and double the numbers a week ago.
Source: aljazeera.com
PBS Kids plans to end the long-running children’s series after 25 seasons, said an original developer of the show during a podcast released Wednesday. The final season will air in 2022. Kathy Waugh, who was a guest on the Finding DW podcast, said the animated series is no longer in production. She said the show’s wrap party was two years ago. The series, which first aired in 1996, is based on the popular book series by Marc Brown, who created the Arthur character in 1976. It stars the aardvark character along with his family and friends.
Source: apnews.com
French President Emmanuel Macron is suing a billboard owner who depicted him as Adolf Hitler to protest COVID-19 restrictions. Michel-Ange Flori, who owns about 400 billboards in the southern département of the Var, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: "I have just learnt that I will be heard at the Toulon police station tomorrow following a complaint by the president of the Republic." "So in Macronia you can make fun of the prophet's ass, that's satire, but to make the president look like a dictator is blasphemy," he added.
Source: euronews.com
The UK is already undergoing disruptive climate change with increased rainfall, sunshine and temperatures, according to scientists. The year 2020 was the third warmest, fifth wettest and eighth sunniest on record, scientists said in the latest UK State of the Climate report. No other year is in the top 10 on all three criteria. The experts said that, in the space of 30 years, the UK has become 0.9C warmer and 6% wetter.
Source: bbc.com
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday to deepen cooperation in security and pandemic recovery, after Washington vowed support for Southeast Asian nations embroiled in territorial rifts with China. Vietnam and the Philippines, Austin’s next stop, are among China’s fiercest opponents in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has ignored neighbors’ protests and has constructed several islands equipped with airstrips and military installations.
Source: apnews.com
Malaysia's embattled leader was accused of treason and urged to quit Thursday after the king denounced his crisis-hit government for misleading parliament, a rare public rebuke from the revered monarch. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin leads a scandal-plagued coalition that seized power last year without an election, but his government is on the verge of collapse after allies withdrew support.
Source: france24.com
Archaeologists in Morocco have announced the discovery of North Africa's oldest Stone Age hand-axe manufacturing site, dating back 1.3 million years, an international team reported Wednesday. The find pushes back by hundreds of thousands of years the start date in North Africa of the Acheulian stone tool industry associated with a key human ancestor, Homo erectus, researchers on the team told journalists in Rabat.
Source: france24.com
A prominent Chinese billionaire has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, the latest in a string of punishments against outspoken corporate bosses. Sun Dawu runs one of the country's largest private agricultural businesses in the northern province of Hebei. Sun, 67, was found guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" - a charge often used against activists. Other charges against him include illegally occupying farmland, assembling a crowd to attack state agencies and obstructing government workers from performing their duties. He was also fined 3.11 million yuan ($478,697).
Source: bbc.com
A Palestinian boy wounded by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank has died from his injuries, the Palestinian health ministry has said. Mohammed al-Alami, 12, died in the town of Beit Omar, to the northwest of Hebron, after he was shot in the chest while travelling in a car with his father, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Source: aljazeera.com
Fossilised structures discovered in northwestern Canada may be from sponges that lived in oceans as long as 890 million years ago, making them the earliest known animal life on Earth, research showed on Wednesday. The findings also challenge the long-held idea that animals did not arise on Earth until after a major infusion of oxygen into the atmosphere and oceans. Sponges are simple animals with an ancient history. Genetic evidence gathered from modern sponges has shown they likely emerged between 1 billion and 500 million years ago.
Source: france24.com
British girl band Little Mix joined the starry line-up at Madame Tussauds in London on Wednesday, with the wax museum unveiling the chart-topping group's replicas to mark their 10-year anniversary. Ex-member Jesy Nelson, who quit the band in December, joins singers Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall in having their wax likenesses created based on the band's 2019 "Bounce Back" music video.
Source: reuters.com
The United States on Wednesday said it imposed sanctions on eight prisons run by Syria's intelligence apparatus, some of which featured in graphic images by a former Syrian military photographer codenamed "Caesar" that show brutal torture. The Treasury Department also slapped sanctions on five Syrian officials who directed the prisons, Syrian armed rebel group Ahrar al-Sharqiya and two of its leaders to try to hold to account those responsible for human rights violations in the country's decade-long civil war.
Source: reuters.com
U.S. President Joe Biden met with Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Wednesday and expressed support for democracy and human rights in the former Soviet republic. "I was honored to meet with @Tsihanouskaya at the White House this morning. The United States stands with the people of Belarus in their quest for democracy and universal human rights," Biden wrote in a Twitter post.
Source: reuters.com
An ancient Roman vessel dating back to the second century BC has been discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palermo. The ship lies 92 metres deep in the ocean, near Isola delle Femmine, and from the first images taken by a submarine robot it was carrying a copious cargo of wine amphorae.
Source: theguardian.com
"Robot, stand up" - Oscar Constanza, 16, gives the order and slowly but surely a large frame strapped to his body lifts him up and he starts walking. Fastened to his shoulders, chest, waist, knees and feet, the exoskeleton allows Oscar - who has a genetic neurological condition that means his nerves do not send enough signals to his legs - to walk across the room and turn around.
Source: reuters.com
Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk collapsed on the show’s New Mexico set on Tuesday and had to be hospitalised. Crew members called an ambulance that took the 58-year-old actor to a hospital, where he remained Tuesday night.
Source: theguardian.com
Turkish authorities have intercepted a boat carrying more than 200 Afghan migrants in the Aegean sea heading for Europe, Turkey's coastguard and the International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday. The interception near Turkey's western shores came as hundreds of Afghans cross into eastern Turkey from Iran, after a rise in violence in their own country as the United States and its NATO allies withdraw and Taliban fighters seize territory.
Source: reuters.com
Historic graves have been uncovered at a cemetery in Co Cork after sheep were "hired" to make over the cemetery by eating the overgrowth around headstones. Last summer Fianna Fáil Councillor Audrey Buckley brought goats into St Matthew's graveyard in Crosshaven after seeing the potential for "goatscaping" when she was on a trip to Wales. Using goats and sheep in this way is perfect for old graveyards which have delicate headstones. Sheep, which are being used this summer, recently uncovered the grave marker of a two-year-old girl who died on 7 October 1872.
Source: rte.ie
The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been awarded Unesco world heritage status and dubbed “a masterpiece of human creative genius”. Chankillo in Peru features 13 stone towers built in 250 to 200 BC that functioned as a calendar by marking the rising and setting arcs of the sun.
Source: theguardian.com
Martial artist and actor Chuck Norris awarded an elated 83-year-old Utah grandmother a fifth-degree black belt in karate. Carole Taylor began practicing martial arts 15 years ago when she was 68, after she started taking her 11-year-old granddaughter to lessons.
Source: foxnews.com
A nine-member Taliban delegation is on a two-day visit to China where they met the foreign minister for talks on the peace process and security issues, the group said on Wednesday. Taliban spokesperson Mohammed Naeem added that the group, led by Taliban negotiator and deputy leader Mullah Baradar Akhund, was also meeting China's special envoy for Afghanistan and that the trip took place after an invitation from Chinese authorities.
Source: reuters.com
At least 18 migrant workers died after a truck crashed into their bus in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Their 1,300km-long journey from Haryana to their home state of Bihar was cut short when the bus broke down in Barabanki district. Some of the workers were still in the bus while others were sleeping next to it when the accident happened in the early hours of Wednesday. The bus probably broke down because it had about 140 passengers when its capacity was just 65. At least 30 people, some of whom are critically injured, have been admitted to hospitals in Barabanki.
Source: bbc.com
France's financial crimes unit said Tuesday it had charged prominent rightwinger Rachida Dati, a former cabinet minister and close ally of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, over her dealings with disgraced former Renault chief Carlos Ghosn. She is accused both of "passive corruption by a person holding an elective mandate" and of "benefiting from abuse of power" in relation to consulting work she did for Ghosn from 2010 to 2012, when she was also an MP in the European Parliament. According to a source close to the investigation, Dati received 900,000 euros ($1.06 million) in lawyer's fees during that period.
Source: france24.com
Manchester United has announced an agreement to sign center-back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid. The 28-year-old French international’s pending arrival follows United’s signing of winger Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund last week. The Spanish team also confirmed the transfer agreement. Financial details were not disclosed.
Source: apnews.com
At least 57 people have died after a migrant boat capsized off the Libyan coast, taking the total death toll in the central Mediterranean in 2021 to almost 1,000 – four times as many as in the same period last year. Flavio Di Giacomo, Italy’s spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said the shipwreck raised the death toll to 987. “Last year there were 272. We must no longer hesitate, and do everything to strengthen the system of patrols at sea,” he said.
Source: theguardian.com
Tunisian president Kais Saied has announced a month-long curfew as he appeared to tighten his grip on power in the north African country one day after he dismissed the prime minister. Tunisians will wake on Tuesday to draconian restrictions including a nationwide curfew from 7pm to 6am, and a ban on gatherings of more than three people in public places. The new restrictions, announced by presidential order late on Monday, prohibit the movement of people between cities outside times of curfew, except for basic needs or for urgent health reasons.
Source: theguardian.com
One person died and 16 people were injured Tuesday following an explosion at a chemical park in Leverkusen, Germany, the site operator said as residents were urged to stay indoors because of black smoke rising from the area. The blast happened at around 09:40 am (0740 GMT) "for still unknown reasons", Chempark operator Currenta said. At least two of the injured were in a serious condition, and four workers were missing, it added.
Source: france24.com
Indonesia reported a record 2,069 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours Tuesday as the Southeast Asian nation faces its deadliest Covid-19 surge since the pandemic began. Tuesday's grim tally was nearly 600 deaths higher than the previous day and topped last week's daily record 1,566 deaths, the health ministry said. New infections also shot up to just over 45,000, from about 28,000 on Monday.
Source: france24.com
Sri Lankan authorities say the world's largest star sapphire cluster has been found in a backyard - by accident. A gem trader said the stone was found by workmen digging a well in his home in the gem-rich Ratnapura area. Experts say the stone, which is pale blue in colour, has an estimated value of up to $100 million in the international market. The cluster weighs around 510 kilograms or 2.5 million carats and has been named the "Serendipity Sapphire".
Source: bbc.com
Fresh off his trip to space, Jeff Bezos on Monday offered to cover up to $2bn in Nasa costs if the US space agency awards his company Blue Origin a contract to make a spacecraft designed to land astronauts back on the moon. Nasa in April awarded SpaceX, owned by rival billionaire Elon Musk, a $2.9bn contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2024, rejecting bids from Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics. Blue Origin had partnered with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper in the bid.
Source: theguardian.com
Britney Spears has officially asked for her father to be replaced as her conservator, 13 years after he assumed control of her life and finances. The star's new lawyer petitioned the court on Monday, a month after Spears broke her public silence on the arrangement, calling it "abusive". In court papers, Mathew S. Rosengart described the conservatorship as a "Kafkaesque nightmare". He asked for accountant Jason Rubin to be named conservator of Spears' estate.
Source: bbc.com
The Cuban Embassy in Paris said on Tuesday that its building had been attacked with petrol bombs, causing serious damage but no injuries to diplomatic staff.
Source: france24.com
Arabica coffee prices rose 10 percent more on Monday, after jumping nearly 20 percent last week, to their highest in nearly seven years as unusually cold weather threatens coffee crops in the world’s largest producer, Brazil. Severe frosts last week damaged a large part of the fields in Brazil’s main coffee belt and a new polar air mass is forecast to move over the same areas later this week, the third strong cold front to hit crops this year.
Source: aljazeera.com
The family of the final victim unaccounted for in a deadly apartment block collapse in Florida say her remains have been found and identified. The discovery ends a weeks-long wait for the family of 54-year-old Estelle Hedaya, who had been missing since her building collapsed on 24 June.
Source: bbc.com
North and South Korea said Tuesday they had restored cross-border communications, more than a year after Pyongyang severed all official hotlines between the two rivals, who technically remain at war.
Source: france24.com
A French court on Monday threw out a case against bullfighting brought by animal rights campaigners, saying local traditions trumped concerns about animal cruelty. The Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) had filed a case against bullfight organiser Lea Vicens and the southwestern city of Nimes, a bullfighting hotspot, saying the practice was "shocking and barbaric". But the court in Nimes, following several previous rejections by courts of complaints filed by SPA, threw out its case and ordered it to pay 4,000 euros ($4,700) in legal costs.
Source: france24.com
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