
QR code menus spark love-hate row in Rio, and beyond
Leafing through the leather-bound menu at a classic Rio de Janeiro restaurant, the tile-floored, wood-paneled Armazem Sao Thiago, 28-year-old Paula Cardoso says something that amounts to heresy in this establishment...
2023-06-09 09:55

Guatemala president says he won't stay in power as courts continue to hold up election results
With tensions surrounding Guatemala’s June 25 election heightening, President Alejandro Giammattei has taken the unusual step of publishing an open letter saying he has no intention of staying in power beyond his term
2023-07-11 03:27

Environmental groups recruit people of color into overwhelmingly white conservation world
White men have largely controlled American conservation policies for more than a century
2023-08-27 12:51

Winds fuel fire flare-ups in Rhodes as state of emergency declared across island
Firefighters and civilians battling the nine-day wildfires ravaging Rhodes are contending with continuous flare-ups fuelled by unpredictable winds, as temperatures neared a scorching 40C. Greece’s civil protection agency extended the state of emergency across the entirety of Rhodes on Wednesday, which will remain in place for six months, “to deal with emergencies and manage the consequences of catastrophic forestry fire”. In the town of Malonas, which was evacuated on Saturday, The Independent watched on alongside exhausted volunteers as a section of the charred forest nearby reignited. The handful of volunteers gathered outside St George’s Church stood up to watch as a firefighting plane flew overhead, dousing the flames in water – as smoke continued to rise skywards. They expected to venture out again alongside hundreds, if not thousands, of other civilians on Wednesday night to do what they could to keep the fires at bay – having fought back the flames as they encroached on the sleepy inland town just the night before. “We have no energy, we have no power – not enough to stop this ... We are waiting for the wind to calm down to try again tonight to finish the job, but it is very difficult because after 10 days everyone is very tired,” a volunteer named Panos said, adding: “I’m going to sleep now for one hour.” He spoke as firefighters were mobilised to the nearby village of Apollona, while fires also burned further south in Vati and Gennadi. “The fires have started again,” a fire service official told The Independent. “A little wind and the fire returns … That’s the problem.” Having been told to evacuate both Malonas and nearby Kalathos at the weekend, Miles and Tristan, both in their 50s and originally from England, returned to Tristan’s house in Malonas on Wednesday to bring his four cats home. After receiving the “stressful” emergency alert telling them to leave Kalathos for either Kallithea – which they felt at the time was unsafe – or Lindos, where locals had already been told it was safe to return and where they knew a hotel manager who could put them up for the night. “Even if we’re just camping down on sofas in the hotel reception, it’s shelter, whereas if we went to Kallithea we would literally be on the street,” said Tristan. Speaking in the entrance to Tristan’s home as a firefighting plane flew overhead, dropping water a short distance away, the pair said they now planned to stay put. “We’re fed up with it now,” said Miles, an artist who has lived in Rhodes for 17 years. Tristan added: “Also, now [the authorities] are willing to allow everyone to help [keep flare-ups at bay], whereas before they just didn’t want the complications of it – non-Greek speakers being where they are [with] no skills, no car. I haven’t even got boots. They said ‘what are you going to do: walk over the ground in trainers? They’re just going to melt.” Describing a “pattern” of flare-ups each afternoon, Tristan said: “It’s been almost identical for three days, it’s really weird.” Miles added: “Clear in the morning. By the afternoon, the sky’s gone dark ... there’s smoke everywhere, and you can see it for miles.” However, the skies remained clear as they spoke – prior to the individual flare-up witnessed by The Independent some 15 minutes later. “That’s why the helicopters are flying over now, they’re damping down near the edges to try and make sure it doesn’t come back,” said Miles. Read More Infernos, black skies and fleeing tourists: Greece wildfires in pictures as blazes ravage Corfu and Rhodes Summer holidays to fire-hit Rhodes on sale for just £295 – half the usual price Tragic 'last words' of hero pilots who died in plane crash fighting Greek wildfires Tourists flying into Greece inferno reveal why they refuse to cancel holiday
2023-07-26 21:49

White woman who fatally shot Black neighbor is arrested in Florida
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office says a Florida woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor last week in the violent culmination of what the sheriff described as a 2½-year feud was arrested Tuesday
2023-06-07 16:23

US Supreme Court liberals dissent in 'unusually severe' solitary confinement case
By John Kruzel and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court's three liberal justices on Monday sharply objected
2023-11-14 03:24

Trump's court and campaign schedule is looking chaotic
Seeking the White House while facing multiple civil and criminal trials will keep Donald Trump very busy in 2024.
2023-08-16 04:51

Virginia school board wins appeal over diversity policy
By Andrew Goudsward A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld an admissions policy aimed at diversifying a highly
2023-05-24 04:50

India’s Grain Stockpiles Are Key to Modi’s Pre-Election Strategy
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India could feed the world. This year, the world’s top rice
2023-08-09 10:19

Alabama GOP shows little willingness to follow court orders for 2nd Black congressional district
Alabama lawmakers face an imminent deadline to draw a new congressional district that would give a larger voice to Black voters
2023-07-22 02:53

China's influence in C.America advances at a gallop
Anchored in the heart of colonial San Salvador, a towering and expansive library was inaugurated this week by President Nayib Bukele, the latest sign of...
2023-11-18 10:15

U.S. demands recall of 67 million air bag inflators
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demanded the recall of 67 million air bag
2023-05-13 06:26
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