Month: April 2019

France said on Friday that it and other EU nations would take in more than 60 migrants stranded on a German rescue ship off Malta which has refused to let them disembark unless other countries help. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Twitter he had spoken with his Maltese counterpart about the 64 migrants, including…

Switzerland on Wednesday announced plans to abolish the nation’s emergency stockpile of coffee, in place for decades, after declaring the beans not vital for human survival, though opposition to the proposal is brewing. Nestle, the maker of instant coffee Nescafe, and other importers, roasters and retailers are required by Swiss law to store bags of raw coffee. The country stockpiles other…

A suspected collaborator of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested Thursday in Ecuador while trying to ‘travel’ to Japan, the South American country’s interior minister said. Maria Paula Romo did not identify the person but told Sonorama radio he was very close to Assange, who was arrested Thursday in London on a US extradition request after spending…

An Israeli spacecraft has failed in its attempt to make history as the first privately funded lunar mission. The SpaceIL spacecraft lost contact with Earth late on Thursday moments before it was to land on the moon. "We definitely crashed on the surface of the moon," said Opher Doron of Israel Aerospace Industries. He said the spacecraft’s engine…

It was an election challenge that would unnerve even the most hardened political operative: Benjamin Netanyahu was asking Israelis to give him a fifth term as prime minister. But both he and his wife were facing criminal corruption charges. A majority of Israeli voters were telling pollsters they were tired of Mr Netanyahu after 10…

Political operatives working for Benjamin Netanyahu’s party have boasted that they drove down voter turnout among Arab-Israelis by illegally hiding 1,300 cameras inside Arab polling stations.  Israeli police intervened in the middle of Tuesday’s election after it emerged that volunteers for Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party were monitoring Arab polling stations with hidden cameras attached to…

Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his defamation case on Thursday against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behaviour toward an actress. The 67-year-old Australian had sued The Daily Telegraph‘s publisher – which is unrelated to this publication – and journalist Jonathon Moran over two stories and a poster published in…

Singapore has made a second massive seizure of trafficked pangolin scales less than a week after 12.7 tonnes of the illegal animal parts were found in a container labelled as cassia seeds.  The shipment, seized on Monday but only publicised a few days later, was travelling on the same Nigeria to Vietnam route that another…

Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, is set to take place at the end of this month, with events in honour of those who served in war to be held across the globe. Recognised annually on April 25, the day marks the anniversary of the first significant military action fought…

Attorney Michael Avenatti has been charged in a 36-count federal indictment alleging he stole millions of dollars from clients, did not pay his taxes, committed bank fraud and lied in bankruptcy proceedings. Avenatti, 48, was indicted late Wednesday by a Southern California grand jury on a raft of additional charges following his arrest last month…