List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Italian lawmakers on Monday began debating a divisive proposal to criminalize surrogacies arranged abroad as Prime Minister Giorgia

He is the man who who has been leading opposition to Russia’s Presdent Vladimir Putin for a decade – organising mass protests and seeking to expose corruption by officials. Alexei Navalny, 47, is now the country’s most prominent prisoner. He is currently serving sentences totalling more than nine years, having been arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. On Monday, he was in court facing the start of his latest trial on charges of extremism. Charges that could keep him behind bars for decades. Mr Navalny, wearing his prison garb, looked gaunt at the session but spoke emphatically about the weakness of the state's case and gestured energetically. Mr Navalny has said the new extremism charges, which he rejected as "absurd," could keep him in prison for another 30 years. He said an investigator told him that he would also face a separate military trial on terrorism charges that could potentially carry a life sentence. The trial came amid a sweeping Russian crackdown on dissent amid the fighting in Ukraine, which Mr Navalny has harshly criticised. Mr Nalvalny's supporters accuse Russian authorities of trying to break him in prison, to silence his criticism of President Putin, something the Kremlin denies. Much of the international community has hit out at Mr Navalny's imprisonment as politically motivated. The Moscow City Court, which opened the hearing at high-security Penal Colony No. 6, didn't allow reporters in the courtroom and they watched the proceedings via video feed from a separate building. Mr Navalny's parents also were denied access to the court and followed the hearing remotely. Mr Navalny and his lawyers urged the judge to hold an open trial, arguing that authorities are eager to suppress details of the proceedings to cover up the weakness of the case. "The investigators, the prosecutors and the authorities in general don't want the public to know about the trial," Navalny said. Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova asked the judge to conduct the trial behind closed doors, citing security concerns. The feed from the session to media room was then cut, but it wasn't immediately clear if it was because the judge decided to close the trial or if it was for another reason. The new charges relate to the activities of Mr Navalny's anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalise all the activities of Mr Navalny's foundation since its creation in 2011. One of Mr Navalny's associates, Daniel Kholodny, was relocated from a different prison to face trial alongside him. Mr Navalny has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a "punishment cell," for purported disciplinary violations such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, properly introduce himself to a guard or to wash his face at a specified time. Mr Navalny's associates and supporters have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical assistance and voiced concern about his health. As Mr Navalny's trial opened, the Prosecutor General's office declared the Bulgaria-based Agora human rights group to be an "undesirable" organisation. It said the group poses a "threat to the constitutional order and national security" by alleging human rights violations and offering legal assistance to members of the opposition movement. Russian authorities have banned dozens of domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations on similar grounds. In Berlin, the German government criticised the trial of Mr Navalny and reiterated its call for his immediate release. "In case of of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the Russian authorities keep looking for new excuses to extend his imprisonment," government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said at a briefing. "The German government continues to demand of the Russian authorities that they release Navalny without delay," he added. "Navalny's imprisonment is based on a politically motivated verdict, as the European Court of Human Rights concluded back in 2017." Asked whether Germany could provide any assistance to Navalny or observe the trial, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said German officials were doing what they could "on the few channels that we have," but acknowledged it was "very difficult at the moment" given the current state of relations with Russia. It was not immediately clear which specific actions or incidents the new charges referred to. One relates to "rehabilitation of Nazism" - a possible reference to Navalny's declarations of support for Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of embodying Nazi ideology. A notion dismissed as ridiculous by Ukraine and its Western allies. In April, Russian investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg. Russia's National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) claimed Ukrainian intelligence had organised the bombing with help from Mr Navalny's supporters. This appeared to be a reference to the fact that a suspect arrested over the killing once registered to take part in an anti-Kremlin voting scheme promoted by Mr Navalny's movement. Mr Navalny allies denied any connection to the killing. Ukraine attributed it to "domestic terrorism". Associated Press Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Russian court starts trial of opposition leader Navalny that could keep him locked up for decades Navalny associate jailed by Russian court: ‘Another hostage in prison’ Russian court sends an associate of Kremlin foe Navalny to prison for 7 1/2 years

European Central Bank officials revealed a sharpening divide on the outlook for interest-rate hikes, with some favoring caution

A spate of weekend mass shootings and violence across the US killed at least nine people, including a Pennsylvania state trooper, and left dozens injured. The shootings follow a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. They happened in suburban Chicago, Washington state, central Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore. “There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.” Researchers disagree over the cause of the increase. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Professor Nagin said. Here's a look at the shootings this weekend: Willowbrook, Illinois At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a suburban Chicago parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said. The DuPage County sheriff’s office described a “peaceful gathering” that suddenly turned violent as a number of people fired multiple shots into the crowd in Willowbrook, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A motive for the attack wasn’t immediately known. Sheriff’s spokesman Robert Carroll said authorities were interviewing “persons of interest” in the shooting, the Daily Herald reported. A witness, Markeshia Avery, said the celebration was meant to mark Juneteenth, Monday's federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. “We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped,” Avery told WLS-TV. The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation. “Gathering for a holiday gathering should be a joyful occasion, not a time where gunfire erupts and families are forced to run for safety,” Pritzker said. Washington state Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing “randomly” into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said. The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival. A public alert advised people of an active shooter in the area and advised them to “run, hide or fight." The festival carried on until early Sunday morning, Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Organizers then posted a tweet saying Sunday’s concert was canceled. Central Pennsylvania One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks. The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11am Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said. The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search for the 38-year-old suspect. “What I witnessed ... was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed,” Lt Col Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that “would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them.” A motive was not immediately known. St Louis An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17-year-old and wounded nine other teenagers, the city’s police commissioner said. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest. Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday. The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old and had injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said. Shell casings from AR-style rifles and other firearms were scattered on the ground. Southern California A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday. Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported. The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. They were taken to hospitals and two were listed in critical condition, the statement said. Authorities said they found another 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a vehicle that crashed into a wall nearby. Baltimore Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive. Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment. Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. Kellogg, Idaho Four people were killed in a horrific Father’s Day mass shooting at a home in Kellogg, Idaho, with a 31-year-old suspected gunman now in police custody. The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office said that it responded with the Kellogg Police Department to a home in the city of Kellogg on Sunday evening. Officers arrived at the multi-dwelling units on Brown Avenue behind Mountain View Congregational Church at around 7.30pm where they discovered four victims suffering gunshot wounds. All four were dead on arrival. A suspected gunman was detained and police reassured the community that there is no ongoing threat to the community. Details about the victims, the suspect and the shooting remain scant at this time. The Idaho State Police said that a 31-year-old man was arrested in connection to the shooting, KXLY-TV reported. A neighbour told the local outlet that they believed the shooting was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between neighbours. Read More Four victims killed in Father’s Day mass shooting at home in Kellogg, Idaho Biden says US is at ‘tipping point’ on gun control: ‘We will ban assault weapons in this country’ Parking lot party shooting leaves many people hurt in suburban Chicago

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US-China relationship had taken a “positive step” forward during his two-day

Under normal circumstances, the U.S. doesn't rank on the list of the 20 worst cities for air quality.

Qatar Investment Authority is set to hire Hussam Qasim from Credit Suisse Group AG for its domestic investment

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said NATO countries should be prepared for Russia’s war on Ukraine to last “for

Spanish lenders have to start paying customers more for their savings and share what they’ve gained from higher

Economists see Turkey’s central bank raising rates steeply at its meeting on Thursday, while offering starkly different expectations

The UK’s short-term government borrowing costs climbed to 5% for the first time since the global financial crisis

European regulators are telling banks that sailed through an early round of this year’s stress test that the