JONATHAN BRADY/ PRESS ASSOCIATION
A Holocaust denier has had her jail sentence increased after losing an appeal against convictions for hate speech. Alison Chabloz-Tyrer, 57, was convicted of using “grossly offensive terminology” in podcasts she promoted via a far-right social media platform called Gab. The music teacher was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail at Westminster magistrates’ court in March, and her appeal was rejected at Southwark crown court this week. The antisemitic campaigner had said the Holocaust had been used as an “eternal cash cow” and that Hitler had wanted the Jews out of Europe for behaving “in a certain fashion as we’re seeing again today”. She asserted that the gas chambers were not “homicidal” but used “to save lives from typhus epidemics”.
Zabulon Simentov prays before eating in his room at the synagogue in Kabul
ALAMY
The last Jew in Kabul has said he intends to stay in Afghanistan despite having been jailed last time the Taliban were in power, according to reports. Zabulon Simentov, 61, who was born in Herat province and who stayed in Kabul to protect his synagogue after his wife and children emigrated to Israel, has become something of a celebrity over the years for his refusal to quit. Wion News, an Indian station, tracked him down to his flat inside the temple where he is caretaker, although it did not broadcast the interview. Source: The Times
This dome-shaped coral is the widest ever documented in the Great Barrier Reef
Richard Woodgett
A 10-metre-wide coral discovered in a remote part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the widest ever found in the reef system, as well as one of the oldest. The dome-shaped coral was spotted by snorkelers undertaking a citizen science research project off the coast of Goolboodi, or Orpheus Island, in northern Queensland in March. It is probably between 421 and 438 years old based on its size and growth rate, says Adam Smith at Reef Ecologic, an environmental consulting group in Queensland, who led a study of the coral. Source: New Scientist
The White Brotherhood annual gathering took place on Rila mountain in Bulgaria last week. Around 2000 people danced at sunrise on 19 Ajgust to mark the beginning of the new divine year. Photo: Hristo Rusev
The Great White Brotherhood, in belief systems akin to Theosophy and New Age, are said to be perfected beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans
AFGHAN INDEPENDENCE: People hold national flags as they celebrate Independence Day in Kabul. Afghanistan's celebrates the 102nd anniversary of its independence from British rule on August 18th. Photograph: EPA/Stringer
Didier Raoult gained half a million subscribers to his YouTube channel during the pandemic. Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images
The French scientist who promoted the discredited hydroxychloroquine treatment for Covid-19 backed by Donald Trump faces being pushed out of the infectious diseases institute he founded, amid concerns from key members over its role in feeding conspiracy theories and an investigation by regulators into its clinical studies.
Child waiting for a heart transplant.
BC Canada
Six-month-old James Lazeski is sedated, intubated and with his LVAD (left ventricular assist device) Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton in August 2021. PHOTO BY HANDOUT
Advocates are calling on health authorities to immediately resolve an internal conflict at B.C. Children’s Hospital that has led to the indefinite suspension of the hospital’s heart transplant program.
MIGRANTS: Polish border guards stand next to migrants believed to be from Afghanistan in the small vilage of Usnarz Gorny near Bialystok, northeastern Poland, located close to the border with Belarus, on August 20th. Photograph: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty
The Biden administration was dealt a blow yesterday when a judge revoked approval for multibillion-dollar oil drilling permits in Alaska, citing threats to polar bears and fears of climate change. The Department of Justice had tried to defend the approval given by President Trump to a project to produce 160,000 barrels of oil a day over 30 years on Alaska’s North Slope. Political leaders in Alaska said that the court ruling would cost jobs but environmental and wildlife campaigners celebrated the decision.
A nine-year-old girl is enrolling at Moscow State University this term to study psychology, becoming the youngest person to finish school and pass the faculty’s entrance exam. Alisa Teplyakova’s extraordinary tale has made national headlines but divided opinions on whether she is a young genius or the victim of a domineering father’s ambitions. The eldest of seven brothers and sisters, Teplyakova has been homeschooled since the age four by her parents, Natalya Teplyakova and Evgeny Teplyakov, both Moscow State University graduates. Her father said that she spent three to four hours a day on schoolwork with her siblings in their small apartment in southern Moscow, studying from text books approved by the education ministry.
Kidney transplants delayed for unvaccinated
Beaumont hospital, Ireland
Consultants involved with the national kidney transplant service have been advised to suspend unvaccinated patients on the waiting list until the Covid crisis passes, according to a new letter…… https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40363202.html
Sydney, Australia
Members of the public exercise by Manly Beach. All of New South Wales is under strict lockdown after a record daily number of Covid-19 cases in the state. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Virginia, US
Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, walk through an airport terminal before boarding a bus after their arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP
Manhattan, New York
A lightning bolt strikes behind the Manhattan skyline during Barry Manilow’s We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert in Central Park. The weather conditions forced the cancellation of the performance on Saturday night. Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
KABUL EVACUATION: Members of the British and US military engaged in the evacuation of people out of Kabul, Afghanistan. A total of 3,821 individuals have been evacuated from Afghanistan under Operation Pitting, which commenced on Friday August 13th, with more than 1,000 UK armed forces personnel deployed in Kabul, the UK Ministry of Defence have said. Photograph: Ministry of Defence/PA Wire
Britain has announced the first sanctions against members of a “poison squad” that allegedly tried to kill the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Asset freezes and travel bans were imposed yesterday on seven Federal Security Service (FSB) officers over the incident a year ago, in which Navalny collapsed while on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow after being poisoned with a nerve agent.
COPENHAGEN PROTEST: In front of the US embassy, protesters demonstrate in support of Afghan people, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Demonstrators had previously assembled outside the Pakistani embassy in the city. Photograph: Nils Meilvang/Ritzau Scanpix
Besar, Indonesia
A farmer harvests stingless bee honey. Demand has increased during the pandemic, the result of a local belief that honey can increase the body’s immune system to fight coronavirus
Photograph: Hotli Simanjuntak/EPA
Stingless bee honey has a distinctive "bush" taste—a mix of sweet and sour with a hint of fruit. The taste comes from plant resins—which the bees use to build their hives and honey pots—and varies at different times of year depending on the flowers and trees visited. https://www.aussiebee.com.au/honeyproduction.html
A farewell speech by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is broadcast live on screen in Times Square on his final day in office in Manhattan, New York City. Reuters/Andrew Kelly
