Germany said Wednesday it had called a special meeting of international partners this week to pressure Royal Dutch Shell to remove old rigs containing crude oil in the North Sea.
An environment ministry spokesman said Berlin had convened signatory countries of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) on Friday in London.
"Germany finds it absolutely unacceptable that these crude oil quantities remain in these structures," said the spokesman, Stephan Gabriel Haufe, citing a "danger for the environment".
"That is why we have made our objections to this known."
He said the participants at the special meeting -- the first of its kind -- would "insist" Shell dismantle the rigs.
The OSPAR convention groups Belgium, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain along with Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Greenpeace campaigners on Monday boarded Shell's ...

Germany calls crisis meet over Shell North Sea platforms

PTI Automatic

Dutch prosecutors said Wednesday that a 58-year-old man arrested after the discovery of a family of six hidden on a remote farm was suspected of holding them against their will and harming their health.
"In the investigation, the man is currently suspected of being involved in illegal deprivation of liberty and prejudicing the health of others," Dutch prosecutors said in a statement, adding that he would appear before an examining magistrate on Thursday.

Man suspected of 'illegal deprivation of liberty' of Dutch farm family: prosecutors

Bye bye to bunny hops: when US astronauts next touch down on the Moon, expect them to walk almost as they do on Earth, thanks to a new generation of spacesuits offering key advantages over those of the Apollo-era.
Prototypes of the Orion Crew Survival Suit that will be worn on the journey and the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for the lunar surface were unveiled at NASA's Washington headquarters Tuesday ahead of the agency's planned return to the Moon by 2024.
Standing in front of a giant US flag, spacesuit engineer Kristine Davis wore a pressurized red, blue and white xEMU suit, showing off a vastly improved range of motion thanks to bearings systems on the waist, arms, and legs.
They are also extendable and therefore one-size-fits-all, meaning there won't be a repeat of an embarrassing flub in March that caused the first all-female spacewalk to be aborted when a second medium-sized suit wasn't available.
"If we remember the Apollo generation, we remember Neil ...

NASA unveils flexible, one-size-fits-all space suits

Two French supermarket chains came under fire Wednesday after a lawmaker staged raids on Paris trash cans that uncovered packages of food within their use-by dates as France marked its national anti-food waste day.
Arash Derambarsh, a city councillor in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie, told AFP he intended to file lawsuits against the Carrefour and Franprix chains for not respecting a 2016 law that prohibits stores throwing away edible food.
"Big distributors have to follow the law: Those that do are our allies, those that refuse will be our adversaries, and we will force them to act," said Derambarsh, a lawyer who has long railed against food waste.
Picking through trash containers without gloves and accompanied by a judicial officer, he found loaves of bread and unopened packages of cheese, shrimp and salads at a Carrefour store specialising in organic foods, and at a Franprix outlet.
A homeless man at the scene who gave his name as Christian said he came away with enough for a ...

French supermarkets under fire after food found in trash

Some 500 Syrian Kurds have entered neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan over the past four days fleeing a Turkish invasion now entering its second week, officials said on Wednesday.
The refugees were taken to camps in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, an official in the border province of Dohuk told AFP.
Iraqi Kurdistan previously hosted more than one million Iraqis who fled fighting with the jihadists of the Islamic State group between 2014 and 2017.
NGOs operating in the region said they had been on alert since Ankara launched its invasion of northern Syria on October 9.
On Saturday evening, 182 Syrian Kurds started crossing the border into Iraqi Kurdistan "to escape bombardments in northeastern Syria", the International Organisation for Migration said.
Dohuk province humanitarian affairs chief Ismail Ahmed said they were "Syrian Kurds already living in Iraqi Kurdistan, who went to visit relatives in Syria before returning because of the bombardments."
On Wednesday, fresh fighting was ...

Hundreds of Syria Kurds seek refuge in Iraq

EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that the basic foundations of an agreement on Brexit were ready and that it could materialise within hours.
"The basic foundations of an agreement are ready and theoretically tomorrow we could accept this deal with Great Britain," Tusk told Polish journalists in Brussels.
"Theoretically, in seven or eight hours everything should be clear," Tusk said via a live broadcast on Poland's TVN24 news channel.

'Basic foundations' of Brexit deal are 'ready': EU's Tusk

Sterling bobbed up and down Wednesday as Brexit-related reports that kept traders guessing about how the situation was developing, dealers said.
In what has already been a topsy-turvy week, the pound was catapulted on Tuesday to the highest levels against the dollar and euro since May, propelled by Brexit deal hopes that subsequently appeared to be fading somewhat.
Following early losses on Wednesday, sterling bounced back and was still trading at elevated levels later in the day.
"The pound is once again finding support, reaching new five-month highs this Wednesday when it touched USD 1.2840, as currency markets move to price in increased chances of a deal being reached between the UK and the EU," said Ricardo Evangelista a senior analyst at ActivTrades.
The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier nonetheless warned senior officials that "significant issues" remain in the way of efforts to agree a deal with London on the eve of a key summit.
London stocks lapsed into .

Sterling bounces on Brexit uncertainty

A Polish court on Wednesday jailed a married couple who swindled 18,000 clients out of a total of 200 million euros (USD 225 million) in a massive Ponzi scheme.
Marcin and Katarzyna P were sentenced to 15 years and 12 year and six months behind bars respectively for the fraud, carried out through their Amber Gold investment firm.
The court, in the northern Baltic port city of Gdansk, found they had run a classic Ponzi scheme.
While they promised clients their cash would be invested in gold or other precious metals, they instead used that money to pay out initial interest rates of up to 16 per cent per year.
It was only possible to recover a small portion of the 200 million euros that disappeared between 2009-12.
The couple, whose surname cannot be released under Polish law, were also found guilty of money laundering and ordered to pay a fine of some 70,000 euros and to compensate their victim.
They are also banned from engaging in business activity for a decade.
The couple allegedly ..

Polish court jails couple in 200-million-euro Ponzi scheme

Oxford University said Wednesday it has launched an investigation into claims that one of its professors sold ancient Bible fragments to the controversial US company of a billionaire evangelical Christian.
The renowned British university confirmed it was seeking to establish if Dirk Obbink, an associate professor in papyrology and Greek literature, unilaterally sold about a dozen fragments to the US retailer Hobby Lobby.
The arts and crafts chain was founded by Steve Green, who is also chairman of the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC, and has courted controversy for supporting conservative causes.
The artifacts were part of the Oxyrhynchus collection owned by the London-based Egypt Exploration Society, which initiated its own probe earlier this year after it emerged its items may be held by the museum.
"We can confirm we are engaging with the Egypt Exploration Society with regard to the allegations concerning papyri from the Oxyrhynchus Collection," an Oxford University ...

Oxford University probes 'sale' of ancient Bible fragments

Activists from the environmental pressure group Extinction Rebellion vowed Wednesday to challenge a blanket protest ban imposed by the London police.
The authorities told activists late Monday to leave their designated site in Trafalgar Square after a week of disruptions across the UK capital.
But pop-up actions have continued outside a few government buildings, resulting in more arrests.
Around 100 mothers with babies blockaded the entrance to Google's London office on Wednesday, alleging links to "climate change deniers".
Elsewhere, five young activists climbed on top of the entrance to YouTube's London offices, demanding that the video-sharing site "stop platforming climate denial".
London police reported more than 1,460 arrests as of Wednesday morning.
An overwhelming majority of those detained were booked and immediately released.
The group is seeking a judicial review at the High Court and an urgent hearing into police action to stop the protests and prevent disruption.
"The ban 

Extinction Rebellion to fight London protest ban

Hong Kong's embattled leader abandoned a State of the Union-style speech on Wednesday after she was shouted down by opposition lawmakers on a day that also saw a prominent protest leader left bloodied by hammer-wielding thugs.
The speech by chief executive Carrie Lam was billed as an attempt to win hearts and minds after four months of seething pro-democracy protests.
Instead the day laid bare the intense polarisation coursing through the semi-autonomous financial hub after four months of huge and increasingly violent rallies.
Lam's speech was swiftly dismissed by protesters who called for a new rally on Sunday.
Hours later the leader of the group organising that march was rushed to hospital after an attack by suspected government loyalists.
The city's unelected pro-Beijing leader, who has historic low approval ratings, tried twice to begin her policy address inside the Legislative Council, three months after the building was trashed by masked protesters.
But pro-democracy lawmakers ..

Hong Kong chief abandons policy speech; protest leader hospitalised

Barcelona captain Leo Messi received his sixth Golden Shoe as the top scorer in the European leagues on Wednesday.
Messi won the trophy for a third straight year after scoring 36 goals, three more than his closest challenger, Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi's sons Thiago and Mateo, presented their father with the trophy supervised by his wife, Antonella Rocuzzo and watched by team-mates, including Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba.
Messi dedicated the award "to my family, to my colleagues who are here. There are Luis and Jordi, who are two of the men to blame for this award."
"Without my team, I could not even have won the award once." Messi now has two more Golden Shoes than his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Luis Suarez is one of nine players on two. The award was created in 1967 when it was won by Eusebio.

Messi wins third straight Golden Shoe as top league-goal scorer

A leading face of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement was rushed to hospital covered in blood late Wednesday after being attacked by unidentified thugs with hammers, his protest group said.
The Civil Human Rights Front said leader Jimmy Sham was assaulted by four to five people wielding hammers in the district of Mongkok in what they described as an act of "political terror".
"He received a bloody head wound and was sent to Kwong Wah hospital," the CHRF said in a statement, adding Sham was conscious when paramedics arrived.
Photos posted online showed Sham in a red T-shirt, sprawled on the street in a pool of blood.
"It is not hard to link this incident to a spreading political terror in order to threaten and inhibit the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights," CHRF added.
Sham is the main spokesman of the CHRF, a group which advocates non-violence and organised a series of record-breaking, peaceful marches earlier this summer that were opposed to a bill allowing extraditions .

Hong Kong protest leader left bloodied in street attack

A New Zealand woman has been jailed in Singapore for six and half months for biting a policewoman's arm after a drunken night out while visiting her sister.
Katie Christina Rakich arrived in Singapore one evening in June, already slightly drunk, and headed for dinner with her younger sister and her sister's boyfriend, court documents showed.
The 27-year-old drank beer during the meal and the group later headed to another bar where she had more drinks.
They returned to the sister's apartment in the early hours.
But Rakich became rowdy and started yelling and causing a mess, prompting her sister -- who reportedly works in Singapore as a teacher -- to call the police.
Rakich was arrested and driven to a police station. As she was being brought out of the vehicle, she bit the left arm of a female police officer accompanying her.
"The bite was very forceful and caused the victim great pain," prosecutor Benedict Teong told the court, adding that she only let go after another officer ...

Singapore jails drunk N Zealander for biting policewoman

Six Bulgarians have been detained over racist abuse at a Euro 2020 qualifier against England that sparked a storm of protest and led to the resignation of the country's football chief, police said Wednesday.
Monkey chants and apparent Nazi salutes overshadowed England's 6-0 win in Sofia on Monday, with the match halted twice during the first half due to the abuse.
"Six people have been detained and another three are being actively sought," Sofia police chief commissioner Georgy Hadzhiev told journalists.
Hadzhiev added that so far 15 people have been singled out via CCTV at the Vasil Levski National Stadium as being suspected of directing abuse against England's black players.
Penalties for the offences carry brief detentions, fines and bans from sports events.
In total, 15,000 people watched the match at a stadium already partially closed after racist incidents during games against Kosovo and the Czech Republic in June.
England manager Gareth Southgate told reporters after the game ..

Bulgaria police hold six over racist abuse at England match

At least five German regional football teams face disciplinary action after their players imitated the military salute performed by the Turkish national team during matches last weekend.
Germany has a Turkish population of around 2.5 million people and three teams in the Recklinghausen district, near Gelsenkirchen, will face a disciplinary committee after pictures posted on social media showed their players made the controversial salute to celebrate goals.
"In one case it was the whole team, in another case, it was five or six players," Hans-Otto Matthey, the district chairman of the Westphalia Football and Athletics Association (FLVW), told AFP subsidiary SID.
Matthey said making the clubs accountable should discourage other teams in the region, which has a sizeable Turkish community, against repeating the gesture in this weekend's matches.
"I predict that nobody else will have the nerve to repeat something like this," he added.
The military gesture has become a hot topic after ...

German regional clubs probed after players mimic Turkish military salute

The prospect that thousands of the world's most fanatic jihadists could break out in the chaos caused by Turkey's invasion of northeastern Syria is causing widespread alarm.
The Kurdish administration guarding those suspected members of the Islamic State group is crumbling and their fate has never seemed more uncertain.
This is what we know about the detainees, whose fate has been a security and diplomatic hot potato for months:
How many?
According to the Kurdish administration, there are around 12,000 suspected IS fighters in the custody of Kurdish security forces across northeastern Syria.
At least 2,500 of them are non-Iraqi foreigners of more than 50 different nationalities. Tunisia is thought to have the biggest contingent.
Officials in Paris say 60 to 70 French nationals are among those held.
The rest are around 4,000 Syrians and roughly the same number of Iraqis.
Where?
The fighters, who were detained mostly in the course of operations led by Kurdish forces and backed by the ...

IS prisoners in NE Syria: What we know

The pope on Wednesday contrasted the world's 820 million hungry people with those who turn food into "an avenue of personal destruction" through overeating, in comments to mark World Food Day.
Pope Francis noted that the "distorted relationship between food and nutrition" has left almost 700 million people overweight, "victims of improper dietary habits".
"We are in fact witnessing how food is ceasing to be a means of subsistence and turning into an avenue of personal destruction," the pontiff said in a message to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
People suffer from diabetes and heart disease because of overeating, but also from anorexia and bulimia through deliberate undereating, the pope said.
He called for "the cultivation of lifestyles inspired by gratitude for the gifts we have received and the adoption of a spirit of temperance (and) moderation."
"By adopting such a lifestyle, we will grow in a fraternal solidarity that seeks the common good and avoids the ...

Pope warns overeating is 'avenue of personal destruction'

Turkey's state-run Halkbank on Wednesday denied any wrong-doing after US prosecutors charged it with a scheme to evade sanctions on Iran, saying the case was introduced to punish Turkey for its military operation in Syria.
The US Department of Justice said Tuesday it had charged the bank with six counts of fraud, money laundering, and sanctions offences -- arguing Halkbank was guilty of "illegally giving Iran access to billions of dollars' worth of funds".
The case comes at an extremely sensitive time between Washington and Ankara, with the US slapping sanctions on Turkey on Monday over its military offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria.
The charges "were filed as part of the sanctions introduced against our country by the US government in response to Operation Peace Spring, heroically launched by the Turkish Army to secure our borders and establish peace in the region," Halkbank said in a statement.
US prosecutors say Halkbank was involved in a massive gold-for-oil 

Turkey's Halkbank says US sanctions case punishment for Syria operation

A strong and shallow 6.4-magnitude quake hit the southern Philippine region of Mindanao on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake, which was 14 kilometres deep, was centered around 7.7 kilometres from the city of Columbio, according to the US monitor.
The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Strong magnitude-6.4 quake hits Philippines' Mindanao: USGS

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez held emergency talks with opposition leaders on Wednesday about violent protests by separatists in Catalonia.
Scores of people have been hurt and dozens arrested in the past two nights of clashes between protesters and police in Barcelona and other Catalan cities.
Protesters are furious at the jailing of nine separatist leaders for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid that sparked a deep political crisis.
The convictions on Monday revived tensions in the wealthy northeastern region, split between Catalans loyal to Madrid and those who want it to break away from Spain.
In Barcelona on Tuesday night, police charged hundreds of masked demonstrators who threw projectiles at officers and set garbage bins and cardboard boxes on fire.
In a tweet, Sanchez said the government "firmly and resoundingly condemns the violence that seeks to break co-existence in Catalonia."
On Wednesday thousands of protesters departed on foot along highways from five ...

AFP

AFP

Page 351 - Afp