Author: News Desk

On September 12, 2020, Jean-François Mayet, on call at the prosecutor’s office in the southeastern French town of Carpentras, was informed about the arrest of a man called Dominique Pelicot, who had been caught filming up supermarket customers’ skirts. At the time, Mayet had no idea that, four years later, alongside his colleague Laure Chabaud, he would be standing up in court to request sentences for 51 defendants an extraordinary rape trial, before the local, national and international press. In the nearby city of Avignon, on the first of two days of closing arguments from the prosecution, on Monday, November…

DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania A cargo plane flying on behalf of German logistics company DHL crashed near Vilnius International Airport in Lithuania early on Monday, killing at least one person, according to Lithuanian officials. The deceased person was confirmed by Lithuanian police to be a Spanish national and member of the flight crew, although not one of the pilots. The other occupants of the plane — a German, a Lithuanian and another Spaniard — were reportedly injured, but their condition remained unclear. What did DHL say? “We can confirm that today, at approximately 4:30 am CET [0330 GMT],…

Japan’s space agency, JAXA, aborted an engine test for the Epsilon S rocket after a large fire broke out at the Tanegashima Space Center on Tuesday. “There was an abnormality during today’s combustion test. We are trying to assess what happened,” JAXA said. Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed flames and smoke rising from the site on the southern Japanese island. Journalists positioned around one kilometer (0.62 miles) away reported a large explosion shortly after the test began at 8:30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT). Nobody reported hurt, investigation announced No injuries were reported, and the cause of the incident is…

Four security force members were killed in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, the country’s Interior Ministry said, after thousands of supporters of imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan defied a police lockdown to march in the city center. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as the protesters broke through a barricade of shipping containers blocking off the national capital. The government warned that security forces would respond with live gunfire if protesters used weapons against them. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said four members of the paramilitary Rangers force died after being “run over by a vehicle.” There were no claims of responsibility for…

China has been stepping up its involvement in the Myanmar conflict as rebels continue to advance, with Beijing recently asking the junta to allow Chinese private military corporations to operate within the neighboring country. Myanmar’s junta is reportedly still reviewing the proposal. After nearly four years of conflict, Myanmar’s resistance forces now control over half of the country and occupy key trade routes on the Myanmar-China border. The junta has also suffered several military defeats in the past 12 months, raising alarm in Beijing. “China has billions of dollars of geo-strategic assets in Myanmar, including the China-Myanmar pipeline project, which…

Senegal’s ruling party, PASTEF, secured an overwhelming parliamentary majority following the country’s legislative election held earlier this month. PASTEF won 130 of 165 seats, up from the 56 it held before the vote, according to provisional results announced by the national vote-counting commission last week. The win gives President Bassirou Diomaye Faye a clear mandate to implement the ambitious reforms he promised during the election campaign. Elected in March on an anti-establishment platform, Diomaye dissolved the opposition-led Parliament to allow the early elections. Will Senegal’s Diomaye deliver? Rough reform outline Diomaye, who at 44 is Africa’s youngest elected leader, pledged economic transformation, social justice and anti-corruption reforms under the Senegal…

China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, British newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third consecutive serving or former Chinese defense minister to be investigated for alleged corruption. According to FT, the investigation was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Last week, Dong declined to meet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defense ministers in Laos, citing US actions over Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping anti-corruption purge in the military over the past yearImage: Adriano Machado/REUTERS Third defense minister investigated China’s military…

  Hold me back or you’ll see! Despite being hampered by a trial for charges of embezzling EU Parliament funds in a fake jobs scheme – a case that could render her banned from running for public office – far-right leader Marine Le Pen put herself back at the center of the political game on Monday, November 25, amid the unfolding budget tragedy. She was the first to meet with officials to voice her grievances and the first to publicly make her demands on the steps of the prime minister’s office. Le Pen relishes her role as kingmaker, holding the…

“I will never make my story yet another case of pain pornography: what happened to me and how I will tell it only in my small circle of close people.” This is how Francesca Ghio, the Genoese opposition city councilor, clarifies it yesterday The councilor who denounced the violence in the classroom: “My story to give everyone a voice” https://genova.repubblica.it/cronaca/2024/11/27/news/francesca_ghio_violenza_12_anni_intervista_genova-423740958/?rss

The rise of ketamine addiction in the UK – podcast Journalist Elle Hunt and recovered addict Jack Curran talk about the rise of ketamine use in Britain and its sometimes devastating impact Ketamine use in England and Wales has doubled since 2016. The increase, as journalist Elle Hunt explains, is especially notable among young people. And it seems to have taken health services by surprise, with practitioners often unable to provide the right treatment for the particular challenges posed by addiction to ketamine. Continue reading… The rise of ketamine addiction in the UK – podcast https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2024/nov/27/the-rise-of-ketamine-addiction-in-the-uk-podcast