Author: Malcolm Bell

“A concrete kennel, measuring 2.5m x 3m. Most often, it is unbearable due to the cold and dampness. Water collects on the floor, and the window is tiny. The walls are thick, stifling any airflow, and not even the cobwebs stir. There is no ventilation, leaving one feeling suffocated at night, akin to a fish out of water. An iron bunk, reminiscent of those found on sleeper trains, is bolted to the wall.” This is how Alexei Navalny described the cell in which he spent 308 out of 1125 days in solitary confinement. His imprisonment amounted to both physical and…

A white gunman who opened fire inside a Walmart in Ohio and wounded four people before killing himself may have been motivated by racist extremism, the FBI said Wednesday. Four shoppers — two Black women, a white woman and a white man — were wounded in the attack at the Walmart in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton, just days before Thanksgiving, the FBI said. Evidence, including journal writings, show the shooting may have been at least partially inspired by racially violent extremist ideology, according to the FBI. The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones, of Dayton, entered the store Monday night,…

Valencia, Turin, Madrid (28/11 – 25) Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia retained his MotoGP world title with many records; there are nevertheless signs that the Ducati rider will face sterner competition next season. The Italian rider won the 2023 season-ending MotoGP Grand Prix in Valencia on Sunday to clinch his second world title in a row. The protege of Valentino Rossi becomes the third rider to take back-to-back MotoGP titles since the introduction of the class in 2002. Only Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez previously managed to do that. Bagnaia is the first rider to successfully race and defend #1 in the…

London (04/11 – 67) US district judge, Denise Cote yesterday granted Sri Lanka’s request for a six-month halt on a creditor lawsuit against the country. Hamilton Reserve Bank, an obscure and tiny St Kitt’s bank with interesting ties, says it has accumulated a big chunk of one of Sri Lanka’s now-defaulted bonds and had been suing it for immediate repayment. Sri Lanka had asked for a stay on these legal proceedings to let it restructure its overall pile of debt in some peace and quiet, and had gotten heavyweight support from the UK, France and the US government. Judge Cote ruled, “The Court recognizes that…

Vienna, Brussels (26/9 – 36) David McCallum – the British actor who played as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, a pathologist on hit CBS TV program NCIS, has died aged 90 on Monday (25/09/2023). McCallum died on Monday of natural causes, surrounded by his family, at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS said in a statement. NCIS executive producers Steven D. Binder and David North shared their memories of working with McCallum. “For over twenty years, David McCallum endeared himself to audiences around the world playing the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic, Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard,” they shared in a statement. “But…

#NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker earned his maiden Top 10 win on Wednesday at the US Open, where he upset World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-3 to reach the third round at a major for the first time. The 21-year-old, who is making his debut in New York, showed desire and quality throughout the four-hour, 10-minute epic to earn his second five-set win at a major. In humid conditions, the lefty rallied from 3-5 in the fourth set, while he was two points from defeat three times in the set. “I came out today pretty well. I felt good from the first…

New York, NY — As the City moves into fiscal year 2024 (FY 2024), New York City Comptroller Brad Lander paints a picture of an economy that proved to be more resilient than anticipated just half a year ago, in a comprehensive analysis released today. While growth projections for this year suggest a modest slowdown compared to the previous fiscal year, the City rebounded remarkably in key sectors coming out of the pandemic. The report underscores both the present strengths and the pressing need for sustained planning to navigate an uncertain future. The revival of private sector employment to pre-pandemic levels—with office-using jobs…

Frankfurt, Brussels (21/7 – 37) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again reversed course, approving Sweden’s bid to join the legacy European military bloc, having been promised a brace of classic F-16 fighter jets. This new deal was hammered out at the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and included a vow by Türkiye to avoid quarrels with ancient enemy Greece also a NATO member. During a 12 July press conference on in Vilnius, Erdogan touched on several issues important for Türkiye, including ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid, its F-16 jet deal with the US, and a “balancing act” between…

South Korea hit back at Pyongyang on Friday, saying that the arrival on its coast of a United States nuclear-capable submarine and a meeting of the allies’ Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) are “a legitimate defensive response” to North Korean weapons tests and warned it about its threats. North Korea’s National Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam released a statement Thursday saying the arrival of the USS Kentucky submarine is a “direct nuclear threat” and that the NCG discussed “the plan for using nuclear weapons against [North Korea]” during its inaugural meeting on Wednesday. The South’s Ministry of National Defense delivered its retort…

Twitter is considering legal action against Meta over its fast-growing rival app Threads. Threads, which was launched to millions on Wednesday, is similar to Twitter and has been pitched by Meta bosses as a “friendly” alternative. Twitter’s Elon Musk said “competition is fine, cheating is not” – but Meta denied claims in a legal letter that ex-Twitter staff helped create Threads. More than 70 million people have signed up for the new app, according to Meta. Twitter has an estimated 350 million users, according to Statista. According to an SEC filing from 2013, it took Twitter four years to build the…