Edge Of The World

British soldiers will start driving tankers to replenish empty pumps, as drivers queued again for fuel after days of shortages, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving. Britain has been gripped by a rush of panic-buying for almost a week that has left pumps dry across major cities, after oil companies warned they did not have enough tanker drivers to move petrol and diesel from refineries to filling stations. Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said 150 soldiers had been mobilised, and would be driving tankers within a few days. “The last few days have been difficult, we’ve seen large queues. But I think the situation is stabilising, we’re getting petrol into the forecourts. I think we’re going to see our way through this,” Kwarteng said. Johnson has sought to quell concerns, saying supplies were returning to normal while also urging people not to panic buy. A shortage of around 100,000 drivers has sown chaos through supply chains and raised the sp...

Proposed bill to legalise abortion up to 14 weeks hailed by Chilean legislator as ‘tremendous’ step for women’s rights. Chile’s lower house of Congress has approved a plan to debate a bill that would expand women’s access to legal abortions, a “first step” that could see the country join a small but growing list of Latin American countries that are easing restrictions on the procedure. Despite opposition from Chile’s centre-right government, the nation’s Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday passed the motion with 75 votes in favour versus 68 against, with two abstentions. The bill, which proposes legalising the termination of a pregnancy up to 14 weeks, will now move forward, but it still faces a lengthy process before it can become law. Big news: Chile's House votes in favor of legal abortion (until 14 weeks of pregnancy). Chile following a trend in Latin America, where same laws were approved recently. #AbortoLegal — Boris van der Spek (@BorisvanderSpek) September 28, 2021 “We a...

Japan's longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party selected former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as its new leader Wednesday, ensuring he will become prime minister when parliament votes next Monday. Kishida won a rare competitive internal party election, beating vaccinations minister Taro Kono by one vote in a four-way contest that was ultimately decided by LDP lawmakers.  One of his first challenge as prime minister will lead the LDP, which has governed Japan for most of the past 66 years, to continued power in national elections set for mid-November. The LDP's popularity, which sagged under outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's handing of the COVID-19 pandemic and Tokyo Olympics, is rebounding amid a successful vaccination drive that led the government to end a state of emergency.  Kishida, 64, is leader of an older LDP faction of patricians who rose in the party through top bureaucratic posts and/or family connections. Kono is more popular...

Dozens of people were killed in three separate attacks in different states in northern Nigeria. In the northwestern state of Kaduna, at least 34 people were killed and seven wounded after gunmen attacked a village there. “Unidentified gunmen attacked Madamai village in Kaura … 34 residents have been confirmed dead following the attack. Seven others sustained injuries,” state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan said on Monday, later adding that the attack took place late Sunday. Troops came under fire before forcing the assailants to withdraw after an intense exchange, he said. Aruwan added that two suspects were being questioned in connection with the attack. Also in Kaduna, gunmen attacked a church in the Kachia district on Sunday. “A life was lost and some worshippers were seriously injured,” Aruwan said in a separate statement. In the northwestern Sokota State, 22 Nigerian security personnel were killed in an attack on a remote army base. Aminu Gobir, a member of...

Shortly after election exit polls began to show a slight but clear lead for Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), its candidate Olaf Scholz took the stage of the party’s headquarters in Berlin to riotous cheers. Scholz – whose robotic demeanour has earned him the nickname Scholz-o-mat – came uncharacteristically close to betraying emotion, as supporters and party officials drowned out his speech with minutes of applause and chanting. As he spoke, he was being watched over by a statue of SPD icon Willy Brandt, the Cold War-era SPD chancellor who received the Nobel Peace Prize for building bridges between East and West. Written off as a spent force until just a few months ago, Germany’s oldest and most storied political party is now in pole position to form the next government after winning its first election since 2002, as the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel – the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) – slumped to a historic defeat in their first contest after the announced departur...

R. Kelly was convicted by a federal jury on Monday in his sex trafficking trial, where prosecutors accused the R&B singer of exploiting his stardom over a quarter-century to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex. R.Kelly Jurors in Brooklyn federal court deliberated for a little more than one day before voting to convict the 54-year-old Kelly on all nine counts he faced, after a 5-1/2 week trial.  Kelly had been charged with one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Prosecutors said Kelly took advantage of his fame and charisma to recruit victims, including some plucked from crowds at his concerts, with the aid of people in his entourage. Witnesses said some victims had hoped Kelly could jumpstart their careers, only to find he demanded their strict obedience and would punish them if they failed. Trial testimony from government witnesses portrayed, often in gr...

The radiantly beautiful Chimamanda Adichie Caption the picture below with this beautiful words "My mother and I always watched and admired Chancellor Merkel, for her steady, measured, effective leadership, for the reassuring feeling that comes with seeing a proper grown-up leader on the world stage — intelligent, prepared, practical.⁣ Chimamanda Adichie and Angela Merkel What an honour and delight it was to be in conversation with her in Düsseldorf — and wearing a dress repurposed from my mother’s old ‘george’ wrapper. ⁣ My mother would have been so pleased". Please watch & listen to her Keynote speech in Berlin....you might learn  something because we @edge surely did..                                                                  ...

Japan's Princess Mako is set to forego a one-off, $1-million payment for giving up her royal status to wed a college classmate, reports said on Saturday, clearing the way for a marriage delayed for years by controversy over her fiancé. Princess Mako and Fiancé The 29-year-old grand-daughter of then-Emperor Akihito and her former college classmate, Kei Komuro, announced their engagement in 2017. But the marriage was put off after reports of a financial dispute between Komuro's mother and her former fiancé. The princess had previously expressed her desire to give up the payment, worth up to 150 million yen ($1.35 million), given public criticism about her fiancé, and the government decided to accept her wishes, said public broadcaster NHK and others. NHK said the wedding date may be announced in October. Media have said the couple plans to live in the United States. Under Japan's males-only royal succession law, female members of the imperial family lose their status o...

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou has reached an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kessler told a New York judge on Friday, a move that should allow her to eventually leave Canada and relieve a point of tension between China and the United States. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou A hearing is underway in Brooklyn federal court, where the U.S. government said it will discuss a resolution of charges against Meng, according to a Friday court filing. Meng is attending the hearing virtually from Canada, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant, and was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC (HSBA.L) about the telecommunications equipment giant's business dealings in Iran, a story reported first by Reuters in 2012. Reuters was first to report...

Elon Musk and Grimes have broken up after three years together, exclusively reveal. Elon Musk and Grimes The SpaceX founder confirmed that he and the Canadian singer are “semi-separated” but remain on good terms and continue to co-parent their 1-year-old son, the epically named X Æ A-Xii Musk. “We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” Musk told us. “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.” First revealed in May 2018 that Musk and Grimes were dating. They welcomed their son in May 2020. They were last seen together at the Met Gala earlier this month, when Grimes, 33, walked the red carpet alone. Musk, 50, also attended the event but only joined her inside. He later threw a starry Met Gala afterparty at hot private members clu...

The 28-year-old was discovered in Cator Park in Kidbrooke by a member of the public on Saturday 18 September. Police believe she was attacked shortly after leaving her home in nearby Astell Road at about 20:30 BST the previous evening. Officers have released an image of another man they wish to speak to. He is shown on CCTV walking through Pegler Square, where a vigil, organised by a Kidbrooke community group, is to be held for Ms Nessa later. Police said they would be part of the gathering. An "extensive trawl" of CCTV in the area is ongoing as information on the man's identity and whereabouts could be "vital" to the investigation, police said. British police said on Friday they had released under investigation a man held over the murder of a teacher in a London park last week that has provoked an outburst of public grief and anger over the issue of violence against women. Sabina Nessa, 28, left her home in south London on the evening of Sept. 17 to make the sh...