The Australian Salvation Army failed to protect young boys in its care from sexual abuse, a report has found. The report, by Australia’s Royal Commission, examined four homes run by the charity in New South Wales and Queensland. It detailed brutal sexual and psychological abuse of young boys put in the care of the state […]
The outside world tends to look at Israeli politics through the prism of the peace process with the Palestinians. But over the course of a long election campaign the issue did not appear to have a high profile. The judgement of most candidates seemed to be that Israeli voters were preoccupied with cost-of-living issues. The […]
Jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group may have committed genocide and war crimes against the minority Yazidi community in Iraq, the UN says. In a new report, it says IS had “the intent… to destroy the Yazidi as a group.” Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled villages in northern Iraq amid IS advances last […]
It is, in the words of one senior EU diplomat, “the elephant in the room”. The dispute between Greece and its international creditors is not on the formal agenda of this week’s EU summit, but it is currently the most pressing issue in town. And it will be discussed at length in the margins. European […]
The Greek parliament has approved a package of social measures, despite warnings from the European Commission against “proceeding unilaterally”. In parliament, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras defended what he called a “humanitarian crisis” law. The law – the first to be introduced since Mr Tsipras’s party won elections in January – offers food stamps […]
British military personnel have begun training members of the Ukrainian army fighting pro-Russian rebels, the BBC has learned. The 35 trainers are working in the southern city of Mykolaiv and will spend about two months in the country. They will be training forces engaged in battles in eastern Ukraine in medicine and defensive tactics, and […]
Dozens of people have been hurt and some 350 people arrested as anti-austerity demonstrators clashed with police in the German city of Frankfurt. Police cars were set alight and stones were thrown in a protest against the opening of a new base for the European Central Bank (ECB). Violence broke out close to the city’s […]
Two men have been killed and up to 15 injured in a shooting in a restaurant in the south-western Swedish city of Gothenburg, police say. They say automatic weapons – believed to be Kalashnikov assault rifles – were used in the attack late on Wednesday. The men who died were between 20 and 25, police […]
Ed Balls has said there was nothing in a “pretty empty” Budget Labour would reverse if it won power – but he would scrap “extreme” Tory spending cuts. The shadow chancellor welcomed George Osborne’s plan to axe tax on the first £1,000 of interest from savings and to give help for first time buyers. In […]
What is believed to be the world’s oldest railway tunnel – dating from 1793 – has been given protected status. Fritchley Tunnel was built as part of the Butterley Gangroad, a horse-operated railway linking the Cromford Canal with quarries at Crich. The Derbyshire tunnel has been scheduled as an ancient monument. Crawshaw Woods Bridge, near […]