Volcano erupts in Iceland, sixth since December: met office
A new volcano erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland on Thursday, spewing hot lava into the air in the sixth eruption to hit the region since December, authorities said.
“An eruption has started on the Sundhnuksgigarod east of Mt. Sylingafell,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement, adding that the eruption had started at 9:26 pm (2126 GMT) following a series of earthquakes.
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Influencer Andrew Tate placed under house arrest in Romania in new probe
A Romanian court on Thursday placed controversial influencer Andrew Tate — who is already awaiting trial over human trafficking and rape charges — under house arrest, a day after raiding his home in a new investigation involving minors.
One of the world’s best-known influencers known for misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, Tate, 37, has already been accused of having formed an organised criminal network in early 2021 in Romania and Britain, together with his brother Tristan, 36. They have denied the charges.
Prosecutors allege they and two women set up a criminal organisation and sexually exploited several victims. A trial date has not yet been set.
In a fresh case, US-born Briton Andrew Tate was placed under house arrest for 30 days, while his brother Tristan was placed under judicial control for 60 days, which requires him to appear before authorities regularly, the Bucharest court said in a statement.
Andrew Tate dismissed the case as a “set up”.
“I’m not a human trafficker clearly… This is done on purpose and it is designed to come up with the most heinous possible crimes to slander our name,” he told reporters outside the court, flanked by his brother.
Prosecutors had applied for the two men to be detained after police took them to the office for organised crime (DIICOT) on Wednesday to be questioned.
Earlier Wednesday, their residence was raided as “part of a search related to a new investigation”, according to their spokeswoman.
DIICOT said four search warrants were executed in and around Bucharest in connection with “the crimes of forming an organised criminal group, trafficking in minors”, “sexual relations with a minor” and “money laundering”.
The Tate brothers were detained in 2022 in Bucharest and spent three months in detention before being released under judicial supervision to await trial.
The brothers also face rape and assault allegations in separate cases in Britain, where they have also been accused of tax evasion.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the “Big Brother” reality television show in Britain but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views.
Giving tips on how to be successful, along with sharing controversial views, his videos have made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.
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Nicaragua orders churches to pay taxes in ongoing crackdown
Nicaragua ordered churches and religious entities to pay income tax and forced the closure of more than 150 non-governmental organizations, according to an official statement Thursday, in a further crackdown on opponents of President Daniel Ortega.
The resolution to “repeal” the law exempting such organizations from tax was published in the official La Gaceta newspaper, and signed by Ortega.
Now they will have to pay taxes of up to 30 percent of their annual income.
The government also shuttered 151 non-governmental organizations, most of them international and sectorial chambers of commerce.
The move came three days after it closed some 1,500 NGOs, in what the opposition in exile described as an attack against civil society.
The government has jailed hundreds of critics, real and perceived, since protests against Ortega’s regime in 2018 that were met with a crackdown the United Nations said left more than 300 people dead.
Monday’s announcement was the single-largest targeting of NGOs to date. In total, more than 5,200 civil organizations have been dissolved since 2018.
Ortega became the leader of Nicaragua first as a junta head in 1979, after fighting as a guerrilla in the Sandinista movement that toppled the US-backed Somoza family dictatorship. He was later elected as the country’s president in 1985.
Beaten in elections in 1990, he returned to power in 2007 and has since quashed presidential term limits and seized control of all branches of the state.
His regime is under US and European Union sanctions.
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Venezuela Supreme Court confirms Maduro’s reelection after fraud claims: statement
This is a developing story.. check back for updates.
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Russia installs concrete shelters in Kursk cities amid Kyiv offensive
Concrete air-raid shelters are being installed in cities in Russia’s Kursk region where Ukraine’s offensive is now in its third week, the regional governor said Thursday.
The move comes as Russian regions bordering Ukraine have declared emergency situations due to the incursion and heavy shelling, forcing the evacuation of thousands from border areas.
“Today in Kursk the installation of concrete shelters has begun,” governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on Telegram.
He posted a photo of a truck carrying one of the concrete modules. He said that 60 such ground-level shelters will be placed at transport stops in the city.
The regional capital of Kursk is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region, from where the offensive began. It has a population of around 440,000.
Smirnov said that 10 shelters would be installed in the smaller city of Zheleznogorsk and similar measures would be taken in the town of Kurchatov, which is located next to the Kursk nuclear plant.
“The decision on the installation of such constructions was taken by the operational headquarters” made up of officials from various agencies, he added.
Officials in Kursk in June said that they would install large numbers of such shelters only “in the case of escalation”, Kommersant newspaper reported.
Ukraine has installed similar shelters in towns and cities including Kyiv.
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Volcanic eruption grounds flights in New Zealand
A volcanic eruption belched a plume of ash that grounded flights in New Zealand on Thursday, with government scientists warning it could continue venting for “weeks to months” to come.
It is the same White Island volcano that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people. The former tourist destination lies about 50 kilometres off New Zealand’s North Island, and 200 kilometres from Auckland, the country’s largest city.
National carrier Air New Zealand said 10 flights had been cancelled as volcanic ash drifted across flight paths at some domestic airports.
Satellite images showed “minor eruptive activity” started earlier in the month, research institute GNS Science said in a monitoring bulletin.
They believed it was part of the “typical eruptive cycles” documented on White Island, also known as Whakaari to the country’s Indigenous Maori.
“This activity could continue for some time, weeks to months,” they said.
Scientists said some people on New Zealand’s main islands might smell volcanic gas or suffer mild irritation to their eyes or throats, although impacts would be minor.
New Zealand raised its volcanic alert level earlier this month to three, out of a maximum of five levels.
Tours have been banned on White Island since the 2019 eruption.
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Kyiv prepared Kursk counteroffensive ‘very secretly’: Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said Ukraine prepared its surprise counteroffensive into Russia’s Kursk region “very secretly and without any feedback”.
Two and a half years into the war, Ukraine has mounted the unprecedented cross-border assault since August 6, catching Russia off guard and even surprising its close allies.
Kyiv claims to have captured dozens of settlements and tens of thousands of Russian civilians have fled.
“Ukraine prepared its military operation in the Kursk region very secretly and without any feedback, which is certainly due to the situation,” Scholz told reporters during a visit to Moldova, which neighbours Ukraine.
He also reiterated Germany — the second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine after the United States — would continue to support its fight against Russia’s invasion, despite plans to halve the budget for helping Kyiv in 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week reiterated his plea for partner countries to let it use long-range weapons deep inside Russia — in order to halt Moscow’s advance in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s better-equipped army has captured several towns and villages in recent days even as Moscow fights off the Kursk counterattack.
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Russia-China partnership ‘yielding results’, Putin says
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia’s economic and trade links with China are “yielding results” as he welcomed Chinese Premier Li Qiang to the Kremlin.
Moscow has looked to Beijing as an economic lifeline since the Ukraine conflict began, with the two boosting trade to record highs as Russia faces heavy economic sanctions from the West.
“Our trade relations are developing successfully… The attention that the two governments on both sides are paying to trade and economic ties is yielding results,” Putin said in a meeting with Li.
“Our states have worked out large-scale joint plans, projects in economic and humanitarian spheres, we expect for many years ahead,” he added.
In May, Putin visited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing. The Russian leader framed the partnership as a “stabilising” force in a chaotic world.
The West has viewed both countries with increased anxiety over the past two years as they build ties and seek to exert their global influence abroad.
Days before Russia launched its full-scale military assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Beijing and Moscow declared a “no limits” partnership.
China has meanwhile benefited from cheap Russian energy imports and access to vast natural resources, including steady gas shipments through the Power of Siberia pipeline.
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Andrew Tate’s Romania home searched as part of new probe
Romanian authorities on Wednesday searched the home of controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who is awaiting trial over human trafficking and rape charges, as part of a new investigation, officials said.
One of the world’s best-known influencers known for misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, Andrew Tate has been accused of having formed an organised criminal network in early 2021 in Romania and Britain, along with his brother Tristan. They have denied the charges.
Prosecutors allege that 37-year-old Tate, his 36-year-old brother and two women set up a criminal organisation and sexually exploited several victims. A trial date has not yet been set.
On Wednesday prosecutors “conducted a raid this morning, on August 21, 2024, at the residence of the Tate brothers as part of a search related to a new investigation”, prosecutors said in a statement.
The office for organised crime (DIICOT), said that four search warrants were executed, in connection with “the crimes of forming an organised criminal group, trafficking in minors”, “sexual relations with a minor” and “money laundering”.
Neither of the statements indicated whether the new charges targeted the brothers.
They were detained in 2022 in Bucharest and spent three months in detention before being released under judicial supervision to await trial.
The brothers also face rape and assault allegations in separate cases in Britain, where they have also been accused of tax evasion.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the “Big Brother” reality television show in Britain but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views.
Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, his videos have made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.
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Jennifer Lopez files to divorce Ben Affleck: US media
Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck, US media reported Tuesday, two years after the Hollywood power couple officially gave love a second chance by tying the knot.
The pair, who were nicknamed “Bennifer” when they first dated in the frenzied tabloid celebrity days of the early 2000s, had rekindled their relationship almost two decades later.
But Lopez on Tuesday filed divorce papers at a Los Angeles court, Hollywood trade outlet Variety and celebrity gossip website TMZ said.
A representative for Lopez declined to comment. Affleck’s publicist did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
It was the fourth marriage for pop singer-turned-actress Lopez, 55, and the second for Oscar-winning movie star and director Affleck, 52.
The pair first met in 2002 on the set of the widely panned movie “Gigli.”
They became a media sensation as they started dating and announced their engagement.
But they postponed their planned 2003 nuptials, and announced their relationship was over in early 2004.
“Bennifer” set the internet alight again in 2021 when photos of them together again began circulating.
“It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance,” Lopez said in an interview around that time.
Lopez and Affleck announced their engagement in April 2022, and the A-list lovebirds wed in Las Vegas in July.
They made it official again the following month in a lavish ceremony at the “Good Will Hunting” star’s 87-acre (35-hectare) estate in the southeastern US state of Georgia.
Among the Hollywood types in attendance at the three-day affair were longtime Affleck pal Matt Damon and director Kevin Smith.
The couple reportedly bought a $60 million home together in Los Angeles last year.
But rumors of marital troubles emerged in the entertainment press and on social media earlier this year.
Fans noted that Lopez celebrated her 55th birthday without her husband last month, and TMZ said they had sold their joint home, with Affleck moving into a luxury bachelor pad.
People magazine said relations became strained because of their different approaches to celebrity.
“She likes to open her heart to her fans and to the world,” the magazine quoted an unnamed source saying.
“He is more introspective and private. This has been difficult day-to-day.”
Divorce papers listed the couple’s date of separation as April 26, 2024, according to TMZ, which said the pair are no longer on speaking terms.
Lopez was previously married to actor Ojani Noa, dancer Cris Judd and singer Marc Anthony, with whom she shares twins Max and Emme.
Affleck was married to actress Jennifer Garner and they are the parents of Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel.
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