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The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says they are willing to resume talks with the South if it ends its "hostile policies". Kim Yo-jong was responding to a renewed call from the South to officially declare an end to the Korean War.
Source: bbc.com
Humans reached the Americas at least 7,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to new findings. The topic of when the continent was first settled from Asia has been controversial for decades. Many researchers are sceptical of evidence for humans in the North American interior much earlier than 16,000 years ago. Now, a team working in New Mexico has found scores of human footprints dated to between 23,000 and 21,000 years old.
Source: bbc.com
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has filed an intent to appeal with the Minnesota state appellate court in his murder conviction for the death of George Floyd. Chauvin was jailed for 22-1/2 years in June.
Source: reuters.com
The Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku feels football should adopt “stronger positions” than just taking the knee, calling for a players’ summit with social media companies, governments and stakeholders to help combat online racism.
Source: theguardian.com
A group of wild boar strutting along a traffic-filled road in Rome has catapulted the issue of the Italian capital’s state of decay to the top of the debate ahead of mayoral elections. Much to the bemusement of onlookers, about 13 boar, distinguished by their coarse hair, sturdy bodies and sharp tusks, walked among the traffic on Via Trionfale, a busy road in the northern suburb of Monte Mario.
Source: theguardian.com
Roger Michell, the much-admired director of films including Notting Hill, Venus and My Cousin Rachel, has died. A statement from Michell’s publicist confirmed the news, saying: “It is with great sadness that the family of Roger Michell, director, writer and father of Harry, Rosie, Maggie and Sparrow, announce his death at the age of 65 on 22 September.” A cause of death was not given.
Source: theguardian.com
The US special envoy for Haiti has resigned in protest over the deportation of Haitian migrants. The decision to return migrants fleeing an earthquake and political instability was "inhumane", senior diplomat Daniel Foote said in a damning letter. Last weekend, the US started deportation flights from a Texas border town, where about 13,000 migrants had gathered under a bridge.
Source: bbc.com
Ukraine's parliament passed a law on Thursday to order "oligarchs" to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which officials said could have been a response to the reform. The law provides a definition for an oligarch and gives a body headed by the president, the National Security and Defence Council, the power to determine who meets the criteria.
Source: reuters.com
Somalia has hosted its first movie screening in 30 years under heavy security as the conflict-ravaged country hopes for a cultural renewal. The event was held at the National Theatre of Somalia, which has a history that reflects the tumultuous journey of the Horn of Africa nation. It has been targeted by suicide bombers and used as a base by warlords – and until Wednesday it had never screened a Somali film.
Source: theguardian.com
A high-profile shaman who tried to end Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 outbreak with “blessed” water has died of the virus, according to his family. Eliyantha White, 48, who treated sports stars and top politicians, including the country’s prime minister, claimed in November he could end the pandemic in Sri Lanka and neighbouring India by pouring pots of his “blessed” water into rivers.
Source: aljazeera.com
There will be no banquet in Stockholm this year and laureates will receive their Nobel Prize medals and diplomas in their home countries, the Nobel Foundation said on Thursday. The traditional festivities were replaced last year as well with a mainly digital celebration as the pandemic raged Europe and the rest of the world. The Foundation said the ceremony will be broadcast on television and live streamed via its Nobel Prize digital platforms.
Source: reuters.com
An ancient clay tablet displaying part of the story of a superhuman god will be returned to Iraq by the US on Thursday. Known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, the 3,600-year-old religious text shows a section of a Sumerian poem from the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is one of the world's oldest works of literature and was looted from an Iraqi museum during the Gulf War in 1991.
Source: bbc.com
Taking center stage in a prestigious Spanish film festival to receive a top career award, actor Johnny Depp presented himself as a victim of the “cancel culture” that, he said, has spread across the cinema industry. Depp was addressing questions on Wednesday by reporters at the San Sebastian International Film Festival about the loss of Hollywood’s favor for new roles ever since his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, went public with allegations of domestic violence against him.
Source: apnews.com
Britney Spears said in a court filing Wednesday that she agrees with her father that the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money since 2008 should be terminated. The filing in Los Angeles Superior Court from Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart says she “fully consents” to “expeditiously” ending the conservatorship, which her father James Spears, who has controlled it for most of its 13 years, asked for in a Sept. 7 petition.
Source: apnews.com
A woman rescued from a Croatian island with no memory of how she got there, where she came from or who she was, has been identified as a Slovakian former designer who had lived in the US and made jewellery for celebrities including Diana Ross. Croatian police on Wednesday named the woman as Daniela or Dana Adamcova, 57, adding that her identity had been established after friends and acquaintances from Croatia and Slovakia recognised her from a photograph released on Monday.
Source: theguardian.com
Consumers should throw away their Chinese phones and avoid buying new ones, Lithuania’s Defence Ministry has warned. A report by its National Cyber Security Centre tested 5G mobiles from Chinese manufacturers. It claimed that one Xiaomi phone had built-in censorship tools while another Huawei model had security flaws. Huawei said no user data is sent externally and Xiaomi said it does not censor communications.
Source: bbc.com
A Frida Kahlo self-portrait featuring her husband Diego Rivera is tipped to sell for more than $30 million at auction in New York, Sotheby's said Wednesday. "Diego y yo" (Diego and I), painted in 1949, "is poised to shatter" Kahlo's current auction record of $8 million set in 2016, the auction house said in a statement. The artwork, which will be the star lot of Sotheby's big November sale, is also expected to smash the record for a painting by a Latin American artist.
Source: france24.com
Actor Robert Fyfe, best known for playing Howard in sitcom Last of the Summer Wine for 25 years, has died at the age of 90. Fyfe joined the long-running BBC show in 1985 and remained until its final episode in 2010.
Source: bbc.com
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