Royals join cast of new Bond film for glitzy London premiere
Britain’s royals have joined Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux and the cast of No Time to Die” on the red carpet for the new Bond film’s world premiere, a glittering event that marked the movie’s release after multiple delays caused by the pandemic.
Coast Guard stops Cuban migrants in boats off Florida Keys
MIAMI, Fla. – A 27-foot cabin cruiser and a 27-foot row boat were stopped off the Florida Keys by the Coast Guard with Cuban migrants aboard. (US COAST GUARD PHOTO) (WPLG)The Coast Guard has stopped approximately 140 Cuban migrants who have attempted to illegally enter the U.S via water in 2020. That fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2019, compared to 482 Cuban migrants in fiscal year 2019. Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Throughout the process, Coast Guard crew members are equipped with personal protective equipment to minimize potential exposure to COVID-19.
Virus resistant: World's Longest Yard Sale still lines roads
A crowd looks through items at the World's Longest Yard Sale, which stretches from Alabama to Michigan, at its southernmost point in Gadsden, Ala., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. And though the coronavirus pandemic has canceled events around the globe, the six-state yard sale is happening this weekend for the 34th straight year. "Its a big problem.The yard sale began in 1987 as a way to lure visitors off interstate highways to a small town in Tennessee. Also known as the 127 Yard Sale, the event follows U.S. 127 from near Addison, Michigan, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, through Ohio and Kentucky. But realistically, she said, the yard sale is just too big to cancel.
Plane skids off runway in India; 16 killed, dozens hurt
Abdul Karim, a senior Kerala state police officer, said the dead included one of the pilots of the Air India Express flight. The two-year-old Boeing 737-800 flew from Dubai to Kozhikode, also called Calicut, in Kerala, Indias southernmost state, the airline said. A similar tragedy to Fridays was narrowly avoided at the same airport a year ago, when an Air India Express flight suffered a tail strike upon landing. The Air India Express flight was part of the Indian government's special repatriation mission to bring Indian citizens back to the country, officials said. Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India.
Illegal armed groups use pandemic to tighten control of Colombian hot zone
Lorena Paredes, a Colombian attorney, said she is worried about the new illegal armed groups draconian measures. We are not allowed to help, the man said before saving them from bleeding out in the car, according to Paredes. Armed groups without a political ideology are using the small isolated area to earn big from narcotrafficking. Some of the residents have fled their farms out of fear of the violent men who oversee the illegal coca plantations. The cat-and-mouse game continues, as the U.S. and Colombian authorities, are aware of their activities, which often also involve Ecuadorian citizens.
Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe tests positive for COVID-19
BOGOTA Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has not been charged with a crime, will be serving house arrest at his ranch in northern Colombia. While the Colombian Supreme Court is reviewing his case into alleged witness tampering, a Democratic Center party spokesman told reporters in Bogota on Wednesday that he and his two sons, Jeronimo and Tomas were diagnosed with COVID-19. His opponents accuse him of allowing an army and paramilitary partnership responsible for massacres as a means to an end. Sen. Ivan Cepeda, the son of a Colombian Communist Party politician who was killed in 1994, started to investigate Uribe eight years ago. The former presidents alleged links to right-wing paramilitary forces have made him the center of several investigations.
Lebanese ask South Floridians to donate to Red Cross
The explosion that followed prompted an expanding mushroom cloud, a blast that left at least 135 people dead. Warde said her sister was among the more than 5,000 who were injured. He and Warde believe the city of about 2.4 million needs serious help from medical supplies to generators and food. As a sign of the rising death toll, Moarbes doesnt think his friend is going to survive. No idea, sharing the very little info I can get, it is a mess, total mess at the emergency room, he wrote.
Fireworks, ammonium nitrate likely fueled Beirut explosion
A Lebanese army helicopter throw water at the scene where an explosion hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)Fireworks and ammonium nitrate appear to have been the fuel that ignited a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experts and videos of the blast suggest. That likely came from a fire that engulfed what initially appeared to be fireworks that were stored at the port. Online videos of the disaster's initial moments show sparks and lights inside the smoke rising from the blaze, just prior to the massive blast. The devastation surrounding the port resembled other ammonium nitrate explosions, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and a 1947 ship explosion that struck Texas City, Texas.
After explosion, Lebanese Americans in South Florida move to send aid to Beirut
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Dr. Dany Habr, a Lebanese who lives in Fort Lauderdale, said he burst into tears when he saw videos of the massive explosion that killed at least 100 people and wounded thousands in Beirut. Public schools have been turned into shelters and with the Port of Beirut closed there is the fear of food insecurity. Port of Beirut officials are under house arrest and there is a two-week state of emergency in effect. Full Screen 1 / 30 A drone picture shows the scene of an explosion at the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the city's port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announces he tested positive for coronavirus
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday that he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Bolsonaro has repeatedly said an economic shutdown because of social distancing restrictions would have far worse consequences than the coronavirus pandemic.
Zeev Sternhell, dovish Israeli expert on fascism, dies at 85
JERUSALEM Zeev Sternhell, a prominent Israeli academic and expert in the study of fascism who issued dire warnings about the state of Israeli democracy, died Sunday. Sternhell, a Holocaust survivor and an acclaimed professor of political science at Hebrew University, was an internationally recognized expert and author of several books on fascism and ultra-nationalism. A longtime peace activist, Sternhell was an outspoken critic of Israels policies toward the Palestinians and an opponent to Israels settler movement. An Israeli court handed Teitel two life sentences in 2013 for the murder of two Palestinians and the attempted murder of several others, including Sternhell. In the wake of the attack, Sternhell increasingly warned about the dangers posed to Israeli democracy.
One man lays wreaths in Normandy on this unusual D-Day
In this photo taken on Friday, June 5, 2020, British expatriate Steven Oldrid holds a poppy wreath as he stands on the site of the original WWII Pegasus Bridge in Benouville, Normandy, France. Due to coronavirus measures many relatives and veterans will not make this years 76th anniversary of D-Day. Oldrid will be bringing it to them virtually as he places wreaths and crosses for families and posts the moments on his facebook page. Laying wreaths though, seemed something special, reserved for families and close friends only. And from his previous work helping out families and friends of veterans, he knows something else is coming too.
Anti-Semitic crime rises in Germany, most from far right
Crimes by the extreme left rose the most, increasing 23.7% to 9,849, but the majority of politically motivated crimes were from the extreme right, with 22,342 cases and an increase of 9.4%. At the same time, crimes linked to a foreign ideology dropped 23.7% to 1,897 and those motivated by a religious ideology fell 27.5% to 425. The largest threat, as in the past, is the threat from the right, Seehofer said. Of particular note was a 13% increase in anti-Semitic crimes to 2,032, more than 93% of which were attributed to the far right. Seehofer said authorities, accused in the past of downplaying right-wing activity, are not blind in the right eye and have taken action to combat the trend.
Venezuelan president says arrest of Juan Guaidó “will come”
Despite the order, migration officials let Guaidó enter when he arrived on a commercial flight at Venezuela’s main international airport. Maduro said that the day Venezuela’s justice system decides Guaidó should be imprisoned “for all the crimes he’s committed,” he will be jailed. “That day hasn’t come yet, but it will come,” the president said in response to a question from The Associated Press. The warning comes as Guaidó tries to revive momentum in Venezuela for his flagging opposition movement. The dollarization has helped fuel a limited revival of Venezuela’s economy in cities like the capital, while also highlighting disparities between those who do and do not have access to dollar bills.
World's best boutique hotels for 2019
Bali's Awarta Nusa Dua Luxury Villas & Spa was named the best boutique hotel in the world for the second year running(CNN) - Its name literally means treasure, so it seems fitting that Bali's Awarta Nusa Dua Luxury Villas & Spa has been recognized as a gem of a boutique hotel. Awarta was named the best boutique hotel in the world for the second year running at a ceremony in London earlier this week. Meanwhile Emaho Sekawa, based high up on a hill on Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island, was named the World's Best Beach or Coastal Hotel. New Zealand's Te Koi Lodge, which was taken over by Ian and Ali Metcalfe in 2017 and turned into a luxury retreat, was named the World's Best New Hotel of 2019. Costa Rican offerings Rancho Pacifico, situated on top of the rainforest of Uvita de Osa and Drake Bay Resort, an eco lodge on the Osa Peninsula, were named World's Most Romantic Retreat and World's Best Honeymoon Hideaway respectively.