24 days ago
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A U.N. expert said on Monday that Israeli clearance of rubble in Gaza could destroy valuable evidence of "atrocity crimes" and prevent the recovery of human remains.
Israel's ****** ault on Gaza — started after the deadly raid into Israel by Hamas in October 2023 — has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the United Nations.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance started.
She issued a statement headlined: "UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes" and said Palestinians should be behind any plans to remove waste.
#Gaza #rubble #evidence
GENEVA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A U.N. expert said on Monday that Israeli clearance of rubble in Gaza could destroy valuable evidence of "atrocity crimes" and prevent the recovery of human remains.
Israel's ****** ault on Gaza — started after the deadly raid into Israel by Hamas in October 2023 — has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the United Nations.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance started.
She issued a statement headlined: "UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes" and said Palestinians should be behind any plans to remove waste.
#Gaza #rubble #evidence
2 months ago
A Virginia man's anti-police license plate is at the center of what could be a landmark First Amendment case, following a federal appeals court ruling in his favor last month.
Virginia motorist Curtis M. Whateley says he has a free speech right to keep his customized license plate, which reads "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation that foul-mouthed puzzle-solvers will decipher as "Fuck the police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." The State of Virginia argues that it has the right to revoke Whateley's plate because license plates are government-owned, not a public soapbox. The state says it's going to take its case to the Supreme Court.
The case highlights a niche, often amusing, but still consequential issue in First Amendment law: whether a vanity license plate is private or government speech.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that Texas could deny a group's application for a specialty license plate design showing the Confederate flag. Most U.S. district courts and state courts interpreting the decision have held that, while government-run vanity plate programs are a nonpublic forum, the specific character combination of the plate is private speech, which restricts the government from censorship based on viewpoint.
But until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued an opinion on Whateley's case on July 31, no federal appeals court had ruled on the matter, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA), which is representing Whateley. The three-judge panel unanimously found Virginia's personalized license plate messages are private speech subject to First Amendment protection.
#first #amendment #case
Virginia motorist Curtis M. Whateley says he has a free speech right to keep his customized license plate, which reads "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation that foul-mouthed puzzle-solvers will decipher as "Fuck the police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." The State of Virginia argues that it has the right to revoke Whateley's plate because license plates are government-owned, not a public soapbox. The state says it's going to take its case to the Supreme Court.
The case highlights a niche, often amusing, but still consequential issue in First Amendment law: whether a vanity license plate is private or government speech.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that Texas could deny a group's application for a specialty license plate design showing the Confederate flag. Most U.S. district courts and state courts interpreting the decision have held that, while government-run vanity plate programs are a nonpublic forum, the specific character combination of the plate is private speech, which restricts the government from censorship based on viewpoint.
But until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued an opinion on Whateley's case on July 31, no federal appeals court had ruled on the matter, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA), which is representing Whateley. The three-judge panel unanimously found Virginia's personalized license plate messages are private speech subject to First Amendment protection.
#first #amendment #case
2 months ago
In the countryside west of the Welsh capital, farmers have a WhatsApp group to warn of suspicious vehicles and some have barricaded the entrances to their fields with concrete blocks and fallen trees.
"They're watching us - which is probably the most disconcerting part about it," said Chris Edwards.
"We harvest the field and within hours, they're there."
He's seen gates "smashed off their hinges" and crops destroyed by trespassers illegally hunting hares with dogs. Neighbours have faced threats, "verbal and physical", when they've tried to intervene.
South Wales Police confirmed the Vale of Glamorgan was seeing an increase in hare coursing, and said the force was taking action.
#edwards #neighbours #wales #vale
"They're watching us - which is probably the most disconcerting part about it," said Chris Edwards.
"We harvest the field and within hours, they're there."
He's seen gates "smashed off their hinges" and crops destroyed by trespassers illegally hunting hares with dogs. Neighbours have faced threats, "verbal and physical", when they've tried to intervene.
South Wales Police confirmed the Vale of Glamorgan was seeing an increase in hare coursing, and said the force was taking action.
#edwards #neighbours #wales #vale
3 months ago
(Corrects dateline to Ejea)
By Guillermo Martinez and Violeta Santos Moura
EJEA DE LOS CABALLEROS, Spain, July 17 (Reuters) - Firefighters backed by 30 aircraft struggled on Friday to contain a wildfire in northeastern Spain that has ripped through an area the size of San Francisco, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people, as recent heatwaves left vegetation tinder-dry across much of Europe.
Successive early summer heatwaves, which many scientists blame on human-driven climate change, have pushed temperatures to unprecedented levels in large swathes of the continent, causing water shortages, crop damage, wildfires, and thousands more deaths than normal.
According to the Reuters Climate Monitor, the average high across Western Europe on Friday was forecast to be 27.5 degrees Celsius (81.5 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 4.2 C above the normal high for July 17 from 1961-1990.
By Guillermo Martinez and Violeta Santos Moura
EJEA DE LOS CABALLEROS, Spain, July 17 (Reuters) - Firefighters backed by 30 aircraft struggled on Friday to contain a wildfire in northeastern Spain that has ripped through an area the size of San Francisco, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people, as recent heatwaves left vegetation tinder-dry across much of Europe.
Successive early summer heatwaves, which many scientists blame on human-driven climate change, have pushed temperatures to unprecedented levels in large swathes of the continent, causing water shortages, crop damage, wildfires, and thousands more deaths than normal.
According to the Reuters Climate Monitor, the average high across Western Europe on Friday was forecast to be 27.5 degrees Celsius (81.5 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 4.2 C above the normal high for July 17 from 1961-1990.
