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☆ He Fled to the U.K. for Safety. Then an Anti-Immigrant Mob Attacked.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The mob was growing, encircling the hotel near the northern English town of Rotherham where asylum seekers were living. Abdulmoiz, an asylum seeker in his 20s from Sudan, said he watched from an upstairs window with other men trapped inside. All they could do was pray and wait, he said, as the men outside began attacking the building, throwing objects, breaking windows and chanting, “Get them out.” Some of the attackers tried to set fire to the building. “People were in a panic,” said Abdulmoiz, who asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid jeopardizing his asylum claim, and who spoke just days after the attack through an interpreter. “If the people outside didn’t kill us,” he feared, “the smoke would.”

Persons: “, ”, Abdulmoiz Locations: Rotherham, Sudan

☆ ‘Why Trash Your Own Town?’ An English City Reckons With a Riot.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last Friday afternoon, as the pubs in the northeastern English city of Sunderland were filling with young men, Lesley McLaren made a decision: She was closing up shop early. She had heard about the riots in Southport after three children there were killed in a stabbing attack. Now, she worried that trouble might be coming to her own city. “It’s too dangerous for him,” she said of Mr. Singh, adding, “because of the color of his skin.”Just hours later, a violent mob swept through the streets. Elsewhere in England and Northern Ireland the next day, people rioted in about a dozen other cities.

Persons: Lesley McLaren, didn’t, Simran Singh, ”, Singh Organizations: Mr Locations: English, Sunderland, Southport, England, Northern Ireland

☆ Tiny Sprouts Spotted at the Stump of the Fallen Sycamore Gap Tree
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

On a fine, bright morning last Friday, just like so many other fine, bright mornings, Gary Pickles took a walk. Mr. Pickles, a ranger who works at Northumberland National Park in England, just south of the Scottish border, was inspecting a route that wends past Hadrian’s Wall, constructed by the Roman Army in the second century A.D. He walked past the cleft where the Sycamore Gap tree had famously jutted out into the landscape before it was illegally cut down last year, and he bent down to its stump. Astonishingly, improbably, there were eight shoots where the tree once stood. “It was like when you see an old friend,” Mr. Pickles, 54, said.

Persons: Gary Pickles, Pickles, ” Mr, “ Organizations: Roman Army Locations: Northumberland, England, Scottish

☆ Former Top BBC Anchor Pleads Guilty to Making Indecent Images of Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Huw Edwards, who left the BBC in April after many years leading the British national broadcaster’s coverage of major events, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children. Mr. Edwards, 62, is charged with sharing illegal images on WhatsApp. The guilty plea caps a stunning fall for the television anchor, who presented the BBC’s flagship 10 p.m. newscast and was a familiar face in many British households. In 2022, he announced to the nation that Queen Elizabeth II had died, and he presided over coverage of her funeral and the subsequent coronation of King Charles III. This is a developing story.

Persons: Huw Edwards, Edwards, Elizabeth II, King Charles III Organizations: BBC, British

☆ Sinead O’Connor Died of Pulmonary Disease and Asthma, Death Report Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer who shot to fame in the 1990s and was known for her activism, died at age 56 last July of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma, according to her death certificate. In January, a coroner in London said that Ms. O’Connor had died of “natural causes” but did not provide details. The police said at the time of Ms. O’Connor’s death that it was “not being treated as suspicious.”Ms. O’Connor’s death certificate, which was registered last week, filled in some gaps. The singer died of “exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma together with low-grade lower respiratory-tract infection,” the report said. It was submitted by John Reynolds, Ms. O’Connor’s first husband.

Persons: Sinead O’Connor, O’Connor, Ms, O’Connor’s, “, John Reynolds Locations: Irish, London

☆ Gunman Kills at Least 6 at Nursing Home in Croatia
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Joe Orovic | Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A gunman killed at least six people and wounded six others on Monday morning at a home for older and infirm people in Croatia, the country’s police chief told reporters Monday afternoon. He said that the attacker had used a handgun and that a suspect was quickly arrested at a restaurant nearby. Five residents and one employee were killed, the police chief, Nikola Milina, said. Andrej Plenkovic, Croatia’s prime minister, wrote on X that he was “appalled” by the killings. He expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the “terrible crime” as well as to those who were wounded in the attack.

Persons: Nikola Milina, Five, Milina, Andrej Plenkovic, ” Locations: Croatia, Daruvar, Zagreb

☆ On Your Marks, Get Set, Serve!
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-21 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

One’s a fast talker with fancy footwork and a steel-trap memory. On Sunday, about 50 professional servers came from around London to compete in an annual waiters’ race through the heart of Soho. But panache, pizazz and an essential and ineffable waiterliness mattered much more. “This is about style as much as it is about going fast,” said the organizer, Takashi O’Rourke. The waiters had to get around a course lined with drunk and (for the most part) orderly crowds as quickly as they could.

Persons: One’s, ”, Takashi O’Rourke Locations: London, Soho

☆ Britain Approves Lab-Grown Meat for Pet Food
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain has approved the sale of lab-grown meat for pet food, becoming the first European nation to give its blessing to a process that has prompted opposition in other countries. The landmark approval went to Meatly, a British company that grows meat from chicken cells for pet food. Its product, which will begin feeding trials in August, arrives at a time when the worldwide market for pet food is expected to grow 5 percent this year to $151 billion, according to the research firm Statista. And it is more sustainable and kinder to animals, said Owen Ensor, the chief executive of Meatly. “It allows you to still feed the meat that your pets crave and that you want to feed your pet — while providing all the nutrients that your pet needs,” said Mr. Ensor, who added that he had fed the product to his cats, Lamu and Zanzi.

Persons: Britain’s, Owen Ensor, ”, Ensor Locations: Britain, British

☆ Catherine, Princess of Wales, Plans to Attend Wimbledon Men’s Final
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Catherine, Princess of Wales, is expected to appear on Sunday afternoon at the Wimbledon tennis championship in London, a further step in her cautious return to public appearances after her cancer diagnosis. The Princess of Wales has long been one of the most visible and most popular members of the royal family. But she stepped back from royal duties after having abdominal surgery in January, and her announcement in March that she had begun chemotherapy prompted a flood of concern about her health. Kensington Palace said that on Sunday, she would attend the gentlemen’s singles final in which Carlos Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. London time.

Persons: Catherine, Princess of, “, —, Kensington, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic Organizations: Wimbledon Locations: Princess of Wales, London, Wales, Buckingham

☆ Catherine, Princess of Wales, Attends Wimbledon Men’s Final
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Wimbledon is a familiar setting, with the promise of a friendly and enthusiastic crowd. Catherine — a high school athlete who has repeatedly played sports as a working royal — has been a fixture at the tournament. She is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (commonly known as Wimbledon), a role she has held since 2016. She did not attend the women’s final on Saturday, although she has previously awarded trophies to both winners. Catherine’s husband, Prince William, will also attend a major sporting event on Sunday, Kensington Palace said: The final of Euro 2024 in Berlin, where the English men’s soccer team will face Spain.

Persons: “, —, Catherine —, Catherine’s, Prince William, Keir Starmer, ” Organizations: Wimbledon, Lawn Tennis, Croquet Club, NATO, England Locations: Buckingham, Wimbledon, Kensington, Berlin, Spain, Germany, England, Washington

☆ Squirt Guns and ‘Go Home’ Signs: Barcelona Residents Take Aim at Tourists
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For the last few months, tourists in certain areas of Spain have found fewer welcome mats and more hostility. Anti-tourism graffiti loops across buildings, and tens of thousands of people have protested this year against unsustainable mass tourism. Over the weekend in Barcelona, locals’ anger over housing shortages, overcrowding and the cost of living was tangible — and wet. Residents of the Catalan capital took to the streets on Saturday with water guns, squirting them at diners eating al fresco. Some carried signs with messages like “tourists go home” and “you are not welcome,” and doused families at restaurants.

Locations: Spain, Barcelona

☆ Some Countries Are Trying a Four-Day Workweek. Greece Wants a Six-Day One.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Niki Kitsantonis | Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the rest of the world zigs toward a four-day workweek, Greece is opting to zag. On Monday, a law came into effect that allows some companies to enforce a six-day workweek, a shift that is intended to prop up the country’s aging work force and compensate strapped workers, while respecting workers’ rights. Greece already has the longest average workweek in the European Union, and it is not clear whether the extended workweek will bolster productivity. The action in Greece stands in sharp contrast to much of the world. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, in March pushed to reduce the standard workweek in the United States to 32 hours from 40 hours.

Persons: Bernie Sanders Organizations: Labor, European Union Locations: Greece, Vermont, United States, Britain, Iceland, New Zealand

☆ A Guide to Ismail Kadare’s Books
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ismail Kadare, the most celebrated Albanian author in a generation, was a prolific writer who often found ways to criticize the country’s totalitarian state, despite the risks involved. He died on Monday in Tirana, Albania’s capital, at 88. Kadare rose to international fame during one of Albania’s darkest chapters: the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the Communist tyrant who died in 1985. He walked a careful line, alternately criticizing and placating the regime. In the mid 1980s, he had to smuggle his manuscripts out of the country.

Persons: Ismail Kadare, Kadare, Enver Hoxha Locations: Albanian, Europe, Tirana, Communist

☆ Did Richard III Kill the Princes in the Tower?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For over 400 years, Richard III has been seen as Britain’s most infamous king — a power-hungry usurper who killed his young nephews to clear the way to the throne. In Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the king tells an assassin, “I wish the bastards dead,” referring to the princes Edward V and Richard. “And I would have it suddenly performed.”But the king’s murderous image, drawn from history books and cemented in literature and lore, is just not true — or, at least, it has not been proven true, argues Philippa Langley, an author and independent historian. “Maybe there is evidence,” she said over a cup of tea in Edinburgh earlier this year. “But there seems to be no evidence.”

Persons: Richard III, Shakespeare’s “ Richard III, “, Edward V, Richard, Philippa Langley, ” Locations: Edinburgh

☆ Aurora Tourism in Iceland: You Can Seek, but You May Not Find
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In Reykjavík, Iceland, aurora borealis tourism is a booming business. Hopeful tourists board buses to head out into the night in search of the northern lights. Credit... Sigga Ella for The New York Times

Persons: Sigga Ella Organizations: The New York Locations: Reykjavík, Iceland

☆ Chile, Known for Its Wines and Piscos, Turns to Gin
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Elsewhere in the capital, artisanal gins are still just starting to catch on in the hottest bars. Even among the city’s social elite, many prefer to stick with the familiarity of a high-end pisco or an imported whiskey. Camila Aguirre Aburto works as a brand ambassador for Gin Provincia. Then she shows off the botanicals, like boldo, that give the gin flavor. “Close your eyes, smell the gin,” says Ms. Aguirre, who learned English by watching the “Scream” movies and speaking to friends.

Persons: Camila Aguirre Aburto, Aguirre, “, ” Organizations: Gin, New York Times, Travel Dispatch Locations: Gin Provincia, Chilean, Patagonia, Chile

☆ How to Hijack a Quarter of a Million Dollars in Rare Japanese Kit Kats
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The precious sweets landed safely enough in California, and were trucked about 30 miles across Los Angeles County to a temporary storage facility in South El Monte, run by a company called Japan Crate Acquisition. Mr. Black, who runs a freight brokering company called Freight Rate Central in Sarasota, Fla., is part of an invisible army of professionals who coordinate and marshal the fleets of trucks that crisscross the country carrying everything from chickens to smartphones. He posted the job on a trucking board that is something like a Craigslist for freight. Someone named Tristan with HCH Trucking accepted the job (though he was using a Gmail account), and said he would have the shipment picked up shortly. On Aug. 9, Tristan wrote in an email, “Hey man, The first one is loaded and rolling, the second one we’ll pick it up tomorrow first thing in the morning.”

Persons: Shane Black, . Black, Bokksu, Black, Tristan, HCH Trucking, ” Organizations: South El Monte, Japan Locations: California, Los Angeles County, South El, Pacific, Carlstadt, N.J, Sarasota , Fla

Voters in Ohio will decide on enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution, as well as legalizing recreational marijuana use. Will voters in Ohio back abortion rights? Beyond abortion, the most watched initiative will be, again, in Ohio, where voters will decide whether cannabis should be legalized for recreational use. That could put pressure on Congress to move forward legislation at least to ease restrictions on interstate banking for legal cannabis businesses. Texans will also decide whether to raise the mandatory retirement age of state judges to 79, from 75.

Persons: Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Glenn Youngkin, Youngkin, Daniel Cameron, Andy Beshear, Steve Beshear, Beshear, Roe, Wade, Frank LaRose, Thomas E, Dobbs, Jackson, Tate Reeves, Brandon Presley, Presley’s, Brett Favre, Reeves, I’ve, Mr, Presley, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Warren of Organizations: New York Times, Democratic, Republican, State Senate, Republicans, —, Supreme, Affordable, Mississippi Public Service Commission, Texans, Liberal Locations: Ohio, Ohio , Kentucky, Virginia , Mississippi, Siena, Virginia, Kentucky, Richmond, Kansas, Mississippi, Dobbs v, Nettleton, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

As residents across Maine sat riveted to their TVs on Oct. 27, waiting anxiously for updates on the manhunt for a gunman who had killed 18 people, state officials opened their news briefing with a stern directive for the cameras in the room. “For the consideration of the four Deaf victims and their families, we are requesting that the ASL interpreter is in all frames for language access,” Michael Sauschuck, the state’s public safety commissioner, said after a flurry of complaints from Deaf viewers about broadcasts cutting the interpreter out. “They are grieving and have a right to know the latest information.”It was a stinging reminder of the heavy toll borne by Maine’s small Deaf community, which counted four of its own among the dead and three more among the 13 injured in the shootings on Oct. 25 in Lewiston. And it reflected its ongoing fight for access and recognition, a struggle rooted in a history of trauma that, amid their pain, has fostered solidarity. Closely connected by a shared language and culture, and a statewide web of social ties, many Deaf residents of Maine first met and forged friendships at the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, on Mackworth Island near Portland, long the only public, residential school for Deaf students in the state and a beloved center of Deaf society.

Persons: Michael Sauschuck, Governor Baxter Organizations: Governor, Governor Baxter School Locations: Maine, Lewiston, Portland

☆ Even in a City Used to Voting Scandals, This One Is a Doozy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A judge this week tossed out the results of the Democratic mayoral primary, citing surveillance video that appears to show significant voting irregularities. He ordered election officials to hold a new primary but had no authority to postpone the general election in the meantime. And so, on Tuesday, the general election will go on as planned. The city finds itself in this mess after videos surfaced that showed suspicious activity at absentee ballot drop boxes. In clip after clip, two women are seen stuffing wads of paper into the boxes.

Persons: ”, Steven Stafstrom Organizations: Democratic Locations: Bridgeport, Conn

☆ Lewiston Begins to Heal, One Touchdown at a Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Battle of the Bridge is the biggest football game of the year in Lewiston and Auburn, cities separated by a river in Maine. The high schools — Lewiston High and Edward Little — are bitter rivals. Players wear ties to class. And in the two-day lockdown that followed, Lewiston High became a command center. Helicopters landed on the grass fields, and police officers met in the school buildings to plan their search for the gunman.

Persons: Edward Little — Organizations: Lewiston, Lewiston High, Helicopters Locations: Lewiston, Auburn, Maine

On Sunday, Arthur Barnard will bury his oldest child, Artie Strout, 42, who was one of the 18 people killed in the country’s deadliest mass shooting so far this year. “They’re not going to try to do a mass shooting with a pistol,” he said. In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25, the state is facing intense scrutiny over its permissive gun laws. For instance, Maine allows most adults to carry a concealed weapon in public without a permit. Recent attempts to enact laws requiring universal background checks and waiting periods have failed.

Persons: Arthur Barnard, Artie Strout, Barnard, They’re, ” Locations: Lewiston , Maine, Maine

☆ Lewiston, Finally, Gathers to Grieve
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Amelia Nierenberg | More About Amelia Nierenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For two days after a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 in Lewiston, Maine, Patrick Hynes and other residents in the area felt grief, emptiness and rage. Now, no longer under lockdown, they can feel that together. “We’re social animals, whether we like it or not,” said Mr. Hynes, 65, who lives in nearby Durham and attended a vigil with his wife, Heather, in Lisbon on Saturday night. “We need other people.”This weekend, as residents tried to process the worst mass shooting in the nation this year, they could finally meet up to mourn in person, sharing meals, filling churches or just giving one another a hug.

Persons: Patrick Hynes, “, ”, Mr, Hynes, Heather Locations: Lewiston , Maine, Durham, Lisbon

The man who killed 18 people and wounded 13 more in Lewiston, Maine, marking the deadliest mass shooting in America this year, had paranoid beliefs that people were talking about him and may have been hearing voices, the authorities said on Saturday. The attack sparked a two-day manhunt that ended on Friday night when police found the man dead in a trailer at a recycling plant in Lisbon, where he had once worked. Officials said he appeared to have shot himself. The revelation brought a sense of relief through Lewiston and neighboring towns, where residents had been sheltering in place and many businesses were shuttered. On Saturday, officials provided more details about the gunman, who was in the Army Reserve and had grown up in Bowdoin, near Lewiston.

Persons: Robert R Organizations: Army Reserve Locations: Lewiston , Maine, America, Lisbon, Lewiston, Bowdoin

The official said that Mr. Card was later evaluated at a mental health facility. Mr. Card was in his hometown, Bowdoin, to hunt deer as recently as last fall, a neighbor of his family said. Robert has a brother who had also been in the military and a younger sister, Mr. Goddard said. At the address for the Card family home, no one answered the door on Thursday, and there was only one car parked out front. “We’re on edge right now because we know this is his stomping area,” Mr. Goddard said.

Persons: Robert R, ” Col, William G, Ross, Card, Camp Smith, Bryce Dubee, Dubee, Bowdoin, Rick Goddard, Robert, Goddard, Card’s, Mr Organizations: Maine State Police, Pentagon, Army Reserve, 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, Army, Police, National Guard, West, Subaru, Bowdoin, Mr Locations: Maine, Lewiston, U.S, Saco , Maine, West, Card’s, Lisbon

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