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Monthly Archives: September 2018

New UN panel to prepare indictments over Myanmar atrocities

The UN Human Rights Council voted Thursday to set up a panel to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in Myanmar, amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya minority.   The top UN rights body voted to “establish an ongoing independent mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law ...

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London fire brigade chief denies she should have expected Grenfell

Dany Cotton says fire was as unexpected as ‘space shuttle landing on Shard’, even though brigade knew of cladding risks The London fire brigade commissioner, Dany Cotton, has claimed the ferocity of the Grenfell Tower fire was so unexpected that it was like “the space shuttle landing on the Shard”, even though she conceded that the brigade knew about the ...

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Schools to be ‘car-free zones’

John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, has announced that schools can pilot trials where streets around them are closed to cars for a few hours if  parents are concerned about their children’s health. Play Streets, where some roads are closed off at weekends where there is demand, are also being proposed as part of the council’s campaign to improve air ...

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Turkey’s Erdogan heads to Germany on bridge-building visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is heading to Germany for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two NATO allies at a time when Turkey’s economic troubles are causing growing concerns and Europe needs Ankara’s support in reducing the flow of migrants. The trip, which runs Thursday to Saturday, is Erdogan’s first formal state visit to Germany, where the ...

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In Oman, 10 members of single family die in house fire

Police in Oman say 10 members of a single family have died after suffocating in a fire at their home in the sultanate. The Royal Oman Police said on Twitter on Thursday that the fire happened at a home in the village of Khor al-Hamam in the country’s Saham region.   Omani civil defense officials say firefighters found the dead ...

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Congo to boycott UN meetings about the country

Congo says it has decided to boycott two planned UN events focusing on the central African nation because it was not consulted on the agenda or expected outcome. Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi is the top adviser to Congo President Joseph Kabila and he told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the government was informed that the meetings had been canceled.   ...

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Ryanair cancels 150 flights on Friday due to strike across Europe

Ryanair will cut 150 flights because of strike action across Europe on Friday, as Brussels urged it to respect workers’ rights enshrined in EU law. The Dublin-based carrier said that it would cancel six percent of flights amid the walk-outs in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. It had previously estimated 190 would be affected.   Germany’s pilots’ union ...

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Facebook unveils upgraded wireless Oculus headset in VR push

Facebook on Wednesday unveiled an upgraded Oculus virtual reality headset with power to handle the intensive graphics of digital worlds in a wire-free experience.   The new Oculus Quest headset unveiled at the Facebook unit’s developer conference is being aimed at gamers seeking immersion in virtual worlds, with other potential applications likely in the future.  “This is the wireless virtual ...

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EU steps up plans for no-deal Brexit as Labour stance alarms capitals

Fears in Europe that party’s goal of unseating PM could lead to chaos of ‘cliff-edge’ exit The EU is intensifying its preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid heightened fears in European capitals that Jeremy Corbyn will order his MPs to vote down any deal struck in Brussels, a leaked document reveals. Labour’s stated goal to reject Theresa May’s deal in ...

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Jeremy Corbyn calls for election if MPs vote down May’s Brexit deal

Labour leader adds to pressure on PM in conference speech that skewered Chequers plan Jeremy Corbyn has told Theresa May that Labour MPs will vote against her Chequers plan unless she is willing to accept his proposal to keep Britain in a customs union and protect consumer standards and workers’ rights after Brexit. The conditional offer came near the end ...

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