Town prepares for possible 'last stand' as wildfires rage in Western Canada (apnews.com)
Former Kazakh minister gets 24 years in prison for murdering wife (www.reuters.com)
Inside Germany’s Taxpayer Funded Neo-Nazi Networks (www.thedial.world)
Egypt says it will join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ (www.aljazeera.com)
‘You say you are a musician, they beat you more’: the Ukrainian sax player who survived Putin’s torture prisons (www.theguardian.com)
Yuriy Merkotan played in a military band and, after being caught up in the Mariupol siege, spent nearly two years in various jails
China accused of targeting citizens studying abroad for political activism, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home (english.alarabiya.net)
Archived link...
Banks have given almost $7tn to fossil fuel firms since Paris deal, report reveals (www.theguardian.com)
Among world’s top 60 banks those in US are biggest fossil fuel financiers, while Barclays leads way in Europe...
Vatican Museums faces unprecedented legal dispute over job conditions (www.theguardian.com)
Petition by 49 employees could lead to Holy See being taken to court for ‘undermining dignity and health’...
UK universities report drop in international students amid visa doubts (www.theguardian.com)
Creative UK and Universities UK urge government to reject plans to abolish or restrict graduate visa route...
Rise of drug-resistant superbugs could make Covid pandemic look ‘minor’, expert warns (www.theguardian.com)
Common infections will kill millions if drug resistance through misuse of antibiotics is not curbed, says England’s ex-chief medical officer...
Indonesia: Floods and cold lava from Marapi volcano kill 41 (www.bbc.com)
Heavy rains washed volcanic debris and pebbles down Mount Marapi in Indonesia....
Texas man reclaims world’s oldest skydiver record at 106 years old (www.theguardian.com)
Alfred ‘Al’ Blaschke, who first broke the Guinness World Record for at 103 in 2020, reached an altitude of 9,000ft in November...
Sleep does not help brain wash out toxins, study suggests (www.theguardian.com)
Finding that clearance of fluid in mice brains is lower in sleep and anaesthesia runs counter to dominant view in neuroscience...
Dozens killed in cold lava mudslides on Indonesian island of Sumatra (www.theguardian.com)
Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 41 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said. Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to...
Georgia police accused of beating protesters against ‘foreign influence’ bill (www.theguardian.com)
Unrest came as demonstrator who was attacked near his home says government is trying to intimidate critics...
Estonia threatens to block Airbnb tax-hike plan (www.euronews.com)
The Baltic nation could veto long-discussed plans to charge VAT on online accommodation rentals and taxi rides....
EU countries approve law to slash trucks' CO2 emissions (www.reuters.com)
European Union countries gave their final approval on Monday to a law to cut carbon dioxide emissions from trucks, which will require most new heavy-duty vehicles sold in the EU from 2040 to be emissions-free....
Former spy for China's secret police reveals operations targeting dissidents in Australia and overseas (www.abc.net.au)
The inner workings of China’s notorious secret police unit and how it hunts down dissidents living overseas – including in Australia – have been exposed by a former spy in a Four Corners investigation, raising tough questions about Australia’s national security....
Vladimir Putin set to transfer Sergei Shoigu from Russian defence ministry (www.bbc.com)
Excerpts of interest:...
Tongan diaspora blasts PM Hu‘akavameiliku over leaked document supporting China against Australia, NZ over involvement in Solomon Islands (www.kanivatonga.co.nz)
The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised after documents from his government criticising Australia and New Zealand against China were leaked to media. The leaked document from Tonga’s Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that kingdom’s officials sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand’s response to the security pact...
South Africa's frontline volunteer crime fighters (www.bbc.com)
South African communities organise to tackle the high crime rate, with the police’s tacit approval....
Italy bans planes that search for migrant boats from using airports (www.independent.co.uk)
Charity Sea Watch said the ordinance was aimed at preventing the world from seeing what was happening...
‘I feel like I've been tricked’: Some property buyers in China’s Tianjin have been waiting 8 years for their homes (www.cnbc.com)
A group of around 1,500 homebuyers say they have yet to see the apartments they paid for about eight years ago, as challenges persist in China’s property sector. The promise was they would be ready by 2019, but the majority are still unfinished, according to five of the homebuyers, who requested anonymity out of fear of...
