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France will ban from next year the killing of male chicks by crushing or gassing, a practice denounced as barbaric by animal welfare groups, and will push for a similar measure at European level, the agriculture minister said on Sunday. Each year, 50 million male chicks are culled in this way, Julien Denormandie said in an interview posted on the website of daily Le Parisien. Only females, future egg-laying hens, are kept alive.

Source: reuters.com

At least 13 people have died after a petrol tanker overturned and caught fire in western Kenya on Sunday night. The crash reportedly happened as the driver tried to avoid a head on collision with another lorry on the busy road between Kisumu and Busia. People rushed to the scene with jerrycans to siphon off the fuel from the overturned tanker when it exploded. Around 11 people, including children, are in hospital in a critical condition after suffering severe burns.

Source bbc.com

Afghanistan has withdrawn its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan's capital following the kidnapping of the ambassador's daughter, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Sunday, a new blow to relations at a sensitive time for the Afghan peace process. The daughter of Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan was seized on Friday and held for several hours by unknown assailants who left her with injuries and rope marks and Pakistan authorities have said they are investigating.

Source: reuters.com

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from hospital on Sunday having spent four days receiving treatment for an intestinal obstruction. The far right leader was originally taken to a military hospital in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday after suffering persistent hiccups that had lasted around 10 days. Later that day he was transferred to the private Vila Nova Star hospital in Sao Paulo. There had been fears Bolsonaro, 66, might need surgery to clear the obstruction, although that was quickly ruled out.

Source: france24.com

The organizers of the Golden Globes on Friday banned its members from receiving gifts and free trips from movie studios and TV networks seeking to clinch awards for their shows and stars. The reforms, approved by members of the small Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), are among a raft of changes to the organization following an uproar over ethical practices and lack of diversity that led to the 2022 Golden Globes ceremony being cancelled.

Source: reuters.com

South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador on Saturday over "undiplomatic" remarks about President Moon Jae-in and the possibility of a summit during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. A senior Japanese diplomat had reportedly ridiculed Moon's desire to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, describing the South Korean leader as "masturbating with himself".

Source: france24.com

U.S. President Joe Biden will host Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House on July 26, the White House said on Friday. The visit will highlight the strategic partnership between the two countries and advance bilateral cooperation under a 2008 agreement that governed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Source: reuters.com

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said 97 prisoners at HMP Perth tested positive for the virus forcing everyone living there to isolate while mass testing gets underway. Inmates will not have access to courts, lawyers, family visits and cannot use the gym, but will be allowed fresh air and showers as well as use of mobile phones, the SPS added.

Source: express.co.uk

South Korea’s Olympic committee said Saturday it removed banners at the Olympic athletes’ village in Tokyo that referred to a 16th-century war between Korea and Japan after the International Olympic Committee ruled they were provocative. In agreeing to take down the banners, the South Koreans said they received a promise from the IOC that the displaying of the Japanese “rising sun” flag will be banned at stadiums and other Olympic venues. The flag, portraying a red sun with 16 rays extending outward, is resented by many people in South Korea and other parts of Asia who see it as a symbol of Japan’s wartime past.

Source: apnews.com

Ten children and six mothers held in a prison camp for jihadists in Syria have been flown home to Belgium. It is the biggest repatriation of suspected Islamic State (IS) members since the group's fall in 2019. Hundreds of Europeans who travelled to Syria to join IS, including women and children, are trapped in Kurdish-run camps in northern Syria. Many European countries have not allowed them to return, but Belgium wants to bring back young children. Three mothers and seven children have rejected the offer to return to Belgium, reports say.

Source: bbc.com

A baby born with three heads has been dubbed an incarnation of God. Strangers in India have reportedly been making pilgrimages to see the infant since its birth in Uttar Pradesh was announced on July 12. The mother named only as Ragini is understood to have been through a "normal" and healthy pregnancy which made the birth of a three-headed child all the more shocking. Photos and video footage show adults adjusting the the newborn baby so it can lie on top of blankets without its additional heads causing discomfort. The two extra heads are directly attached to the back of its "normal" head and even have hair.

Source: dailystar.co.uk

The death toll from disastrous flooding in western Europe rose above 150 on Saturday as rescue workers toiled to clear up the devastation and prevent further damage. Police said that more than 90 people are now known to have died in western Germany's Ahrweiler county, one of the worst-hit areas, and more casualties are feared. On Friday, authorities gave a death toll of 63 for the whole of Rhineland-Palatinate state, where Ahrweiler is located. Hundreds of people are still missing.

Source: france24.com

with Duke making 'intentions clear' during visit for the unveiling of Princess Diana's statue. 'Harry told people that they want to have Lili christened at Windsor, just like her brother,' a royal source  said. 'They are happy to wait until circumstances allow'. It would be Meghan's first visit to UK since the couple quit royal duties last year. Lili's brother, Archie, was christened by the Archbishop amid unprecedented secrecy at St George's Chapel, Windsor, in 2019. The 25 invited guests - which did not include the Queen - arrived discreetly on the day through a back entrance to the grounds.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Eric Gopel made the most of the Eiffel Tower re-opening on Friday after months of COVID-19 lockdown by proposing to his girlfriend on the top deck. With a panoramic view of Paris as the backdrop, Gopel, a 29-year-old from Germany, got down on one knee and placed a ring on the finger of his girlfriend, 25-year-old Katja Panke. Gopel and Panke were among the first visitors to the Eiffel Tower when it opened again on Friday after having been closed for more than 8 months, its longest period out of action since World War Two.

Source: reuters.com

The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday. U.S. cases of COVID-19 are up 70% over the previous week and deaths are up 26%, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing. The seven-day-average number of daily cases is now more than 26,000, more than twice its June low of around 11,000 cases, according to CDC data.

Source: reuters.com

In Israel, even school children know the name of Hannah Szenes, but in her birthplace of Hungary she has largely been forgotten. Szenes was born to a Jewish family in Budapest 100 years ago, on 17 July 1921. In 1944, at the age of 22, she undertook a daring mission into Nazi-occupied Hungary. She was arrested and executed later that year after refusing to crack under torture. On Sunday, to celebrate the centenary of her birth, more than 140 Israeli soldiers will carry out a parachute jump at the same place she and other Jewish fighters parachuted into Yugoslavia before of their mission in 1944, in what is now Slovenia.

Source: theguardian.com

Researchers have been studying the Roman settlement of  Cataractonium. Much of it is covered by the Catterick racecourse and the A1 road near Catterick. During a project to upgrade the road archaeologists studied its Roman origins. They found over 62,000 artefacts and more information on life in Roman Britain. The nut has been dated by radiocarbon dating to between AD24–128, and they found it at the bottom of a well, with the shell of the nut unopened but broken up.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Local officials are searching for a Ugandan athlete who went missing in western Japan on Friday in a case raising questions over Japanese organizers’ oversight of Olympic participants amid local coronavirus concerns. The missing 20-year-old man was training as part of the nine-member Ugandan team in Izumisano, Osaka prefecture, city officials said. Teammates realized the athlete was absent around noon Friday when his saliva test sample was not delivered and they found his hotel room empty, city officials said. There was no training Friday morning and he was last seen in his room in the early hours of Friday.

Source: apnews.com