Author: The Guardian

The UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, in a move that signalled Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage amid global alarm over the war in Gaza and the extent of the humanitarian crisis in the strip.The assembly voted by 143 to nine, with 25 abstentions, for a resolution called on the UN security council to bestow full membership to the state of Palestine, while enhancing its current mission with a range of new rights and privileges, in addition to what it is allowed in its current observer status.The highly charged…

Everton have abandoned their appeal against a two-point deduction for breaching Premier League profitability and sustainability rules after their prospects of success were remotely judged.Everton appealed on April 8 after suffering their second points deduction of the season for a £16.6m overspend until 2023. 6 points.An independent committee was due to start hearing Everton’s appeal on Monday, but the club’s lawyers decided not to proceed after reviewing the reasons why Nottingham Forest’s attempt to overturn the four-point deduction was rejected. Everton have secured their Premier League status with a thrilling run of form this season, with Sean Dyche also claiming…

One warm mid-spring weekend is all it takes for me to start conjuring up evenings dining in the garden. Not the usual solitary potter around with a drink in one hand and a pair of secateurs in the other (we are on the cusp of deadheading season, when the best ornamentals will produce another flush if the spent flowers are removed). This is very pleasant, but I’m talking about those longer soirees that unfurl from glorious afternoons into alfresco cosiness.I love entertaining outside. For one, it’s more practical: when I lived in a chaotic shared house in London a decade ago, outdoor parties…

The woman who inspired the character of Masha in the Netflix series Reindeer Babies has spoken out about receiving death threats and denied being a stalker.In the drama, written by and starring comedian Richard Gard, his character Downey is attacked by a woman named Martha after he offers her a free cup of tea in the bar where he works. tracking.Fiona Harvey, 58, described Gad’s account as a “work of fiction” and an “exaggeration”.”Detectives tracked me down on the internet, hunted me down and made death threats against me,” Harvey told Piers Morgan in an interview on Thursday.Harvey has denied…

Watching three masked men smash their way into a luxury watch shop in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district in broad daylight, some onlookers assumed they were witnessing a TV drama or movie shoot.But the heist in May 2023 was real. It was carried out by a group of teenagers aged between 16 and 19 who were recruited online, and part of a new crime phenomenon called tokuryū by authorities that is growing as Japan’s yakuza clans decline.Who are tokuryū?Formed by the characters for “anonymous” (tokumei) and “fluid” (ryūdo), the term tokuryū refers to ad hoc groups formed to commit crimes, where…

Former Fremantle and GWS Giants player Cam McCarthy has died aged 29 in Perth.The talented forward was discovered by emergency services on Thursday night.A statement from WA Police said: “Emergency services were called to an address in Lake Coogee at approximately 6.15pm yesterday, Thursday 9 May 2024.”On arrival, it was confirmed that a 29-year-old man was deceased.”The death is being treated as non-suspicious. A report will be prepared for the coroner.McCarthy scored 99 goals in 70 AFL games after being selected by the Giants with pick 14 in the 2013 draft.The West Australian requested a trade to Fremantle in his…

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the head of the department responsible for his personal protection on Thursday, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate him. Zelenskiy issued a decree dismissing the head of the state guards, Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified. A Ukrainian drone struck a major oil processing plant in Russia’s Bashkiria region on Thursday from 1,500 km (932 miles) away, a Kyiv intelligence source said, its longest-range such attack since the start of the war. Ukraine also hit two oil depots in southern Russia, as Kyiv tries to undermine Russian forces…

1. It may never be known how many children Heck abused after his appointment in 1958Richard Trahant, the attorney who deposed Heck, questioned him about his relationships with more than a dozen separate plaintiffs. Heck admitted in a 1999 statement to archdiocese superiors that he molested or harassed about six victims. The testimony also pointed to another key document proving Heck was abusive: a letter of apology the archdiocese wrote on his behalf to a victim around 2005. Te said the contents of the letter were not provided to him before he asked Heck. But it was mentioned in archdiocesan…

Israel has made it through to the final of the Eurovision song contest, setting the stage for a tense and politically charged event in Malmö on Saturday.At Thursday’s second semi-final in Sweden’s third largest city, viewers from the competing countries backed the Israeli singer Eden Golan as one of the 10 entries to progress.Earlier in the day a demonstration in Malmö’s city centre saw thousands protest against the decision to include Israel while its military campaign in Gaza continues. Further protests, and an alternative concert billed by organisers as a “a song contest without genocide”, are planned for Saturday.Twenty-six of…

rightUnderstandably, attention this year has been focused on the bottom of the table with a fresh start for IMG’s Uugby league and the ratings system that will determine the 12 teams that compete in the Super League each year. There are around half a dozen teams in the Chinese Super League and Championship with real doubts and uncertainty over who will be promoted in 2025.While IMG hopes to create drama at the bottom, this year all the intrigue and glamor is centered at the top. The Chinese Super League has never been better in terms of competitiveness among the competition’s…