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Six feared dead after ‘bizarre’ sinking of charter boat off Canadian coast

Search teams in Canada have launched a recovery effort for six people believed to have drowned in a “bizarre” sinking of a fishing charter off the coast of Vancouver. Police and rescue crews praised a couple who were passing in their yacht for making a critical mayday call and saving stranded passengers by pulling them onboard their craft. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said its underwater team was preparing to search for the vessel. It is believed to have been carrying 10 people before it took on water and disappeared into the depths of the Georgia strait close to where fresh river water meets the ocean, creating hazardous survival conditions. Two survivors, a man, 33, and a woman, 28, were in a critical condition. Another man, 26, and woman, 33, were discharged from hospital. Little is known of what unfolded on the boat, which departed from the community of Steveston and sank around midday on Sunday. Officials said none of the passengers were wearing lifejackets and there was no mayday call from the charter. Stephen Adam, an operations manager with Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, said the incident was “bizarre” because the boat had sunk so quickly and had not issued a distress call. He said he did not “have any details of the type of vessel it was, why it went out, where it came from”. When rescue teams arrived the boat had sunk. Given the speed with which it disappeared and the lack of a distress call, the RCMP’s major crimes unit is leading the investigation to determine if there was a collision or any criminal behaviour. Maj Gregory Clarke of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said people could survive for as long as 10 hours when wearing a flotation device, but the “pretty unforgivable” cold waters and strong currents meant survival rates were “cut very short”. He added: “[There] was no indication of any distress when whatever happened, happened.” Crews scanned the suspected area for hours. One air force plane flew in a grid pattern over the search area for about seven hours. Dorothy Stauffer and Brian Angus were sailing in the area on Sunday when they spotted people in the water. Stauffer, who received emergency training while working as a flight attendant, told CBC News the group had appeared weak and hypothermic. One had no clothes on from the waist up, Stauffer said. The people in the water seemed confused as she tried to coax them to swim to the dinghy and grab on to its side or tow rope. It took some survivors nearly 20 minutes to make their way to the small boat. Stauffer and Angus initially saw five people in the water, but quickly lost sight of one who disappeared beneath the surface. The couple were able to rescue three people and search teams retrieved a fourth. “We lost sight of the other two, we decided to just go for the three that were closer together, that’s the decision – a hard one – we had to make,” Angus, a retired pilot, told CBC. “The question you have in any incident as a pilot … or a boater is: could we have done anything different? And we don’t believe we could have.”

‘They will attack me if I stay’: immigrants in South Africa flee for safety amid violence and anti-foreigner protests

South Africa was holding its breath on Tuesday as mass anti-immigration protests were held across the country. They come after a weeks-long campaign against foreigners that has seen at least four killed and tens of thousands fleeing for safety. In the coastal city of Durban, where violence had been expected, the streets were unusually quiet and shops were shuttered as tension hung thick in the air. Several thousand protesters in Zulu attire marched through the city centre, brandishing sticks and clubs and calling out “Abahambe!” (“They must go!” in isiZulu, the most widely spoken language in the country), a phrase that has become the movement’s rallying cry. Campaign groups behind the protests have given undocumented immigrants an arbitrary “deadline” of 30 June to leave the country, with many fearing the marches could descend into violence. In the days leading up to the deadline, thousands of people have fled their homes in fear, sleeping rough on pavements, in open fields and in makeshift camps, in the hope of being repatriated to their home countries. Several African governments have organised buses or planes to bring their citizens home, with police saying more than 25,000 have been repatriated so far. In the city of Pietermaritzburg, 50 miles from Durban, where a 29-year-old Malawian national was killed by a mob after a protest on 19 June, hundreds of families camped for days outside an abandoned building. On the eve of the 30 June protests, as authorities raced to send home as many as possible, a queue snaked through the overgrown garden. Weary mothers and children sat around campfires while people lifted their tightly packed belongings into buses headed for South Africa’s northern border. Jackson Makungwa stood in the line beside two small bags: everything he could carry from 10 years spent building a life in South Africa. The 29-year-old from Malawi had once seen South Africa as a “country of hope” and had lived there legally, but said he had been unable to renew his work permit for the past two years. “It’s not like I want to be illegally in the country, but the system doesn’t allow me to be here legally,” he sighed. For weeks, Makungwa resisted his mother’s growing pleas for him to leave. That changed after a friend from Malawi was attacked by seven men. “They said the deadline is the 30th, so they will attack me if I stay,” Makungwa said. On his phone, he showed a photo of his son, born to a South African mother. He hadn’t managed to secure travel documents for the baby in time. “I was forced to leave him behind. He turns two months old today.” Down the road, in a makeshift camp set up by families from Zimbabwe, Lydia Mpingashato had just been informed of her dismissal from her job as a cleaner. Children ran around as women cooked on open fires. Many – including people with legal documentation – said they had been evicted by landlords who feared retaliation for renting to immigrants. On 27 June, Mpingashato was threatened while waiting for a shared taxi in the township where she had lived for 17 years. “He said he would burn my house and kill my family,” she said. “Now I have no plan; I’m just going home to be safe.” Her 17-year-old son had been forced to leave the only home he had ever known, as well as many South African friends, she said. “When he saw the camp, he told me: ‘Actually, they never loved us.’” Many in South Africa blame immigrants from elsewhere on the continent for the country’s high unemployment rate and crime levels. “Xenophobia and Afrophobia … emerge where economic insecurity, high unemployment, inequality, weak governance and poor migration management intersect,” says Philile Ntuli from the South African Human Rights Commission. The country, which is home to about 2.4 million foreigners (documented and undocumented) according to 2022 census data, has a long history of anti-immigrant violence. Xenophobic riots in 2008 killed 62 people and displaced more than 150,000. Another wave of attacks in 2015 left at least five people dead. In response to the latest tensions, the government has sought to ease public anger by intensifying its crackdown on undocumented immigration. Police say more than 50,000 undocumented migrants have been arrested since January. On Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa met some of the protest leaders and warned against “vigilantism”. As marches began across the country, a heavy security deployment was visible as authorities prepared for possible unrest. In Durban, helicopters circled overhead while police and private security watched from armoured vehicles. Organisers urged protesters to remain peaceful and avoid looting, but some marchers made thinly veiled threats about what would happen after the “deadline”. As the crowd moved past dilapidated apartment blocks, some protesters pointed at families watching from windows, calling out for them to leave the country and making throat-slitting gestures. “I can smell the foreigners,” said a man carrying a shield. “We have been talking nicely. Tomorrow, we’re not going to talk. We take action,” said Nkosi Ndlovu, a 48-year-old pastor who accused immigrants of selling drugs to local young people, including his sister-in-law. On the outskirts of the march, 40-year-old Mfundo Zulu said immigrants were taking jobs from South Africans by accepting lower wages. “Those are our kids, our youth are dead,” she said, pointing towards a nearby homeless camp. Since thousands of people had fled the country in recent weeks, she said, many jobs had suddenly become available. “Life will be better now,” her friend added. “We don’t hate them, but they overstayed.” For Mukandjwa Shomri of the Southern Africa Refugee Organisations Forum, South Africa’s government “is not doing enough” to hold perpetrators of xenophobic violence accountable. “When you try to open a case with the police, they will first ask for your papers,” he said. “We are being attacked in the streets, in the community and administratively. “The hope many of us had as refugees when we came to this country – that South Africa is upholding human rights, a country affirmed internationally as a democratic state, is no longer there,” he said. Speaking on the phone from a safe house, Leon feared what would happen after the 30 June cutoff. The asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who has been in South Africa since 2014, went into hiding after his shop was attacked on 19 June. He asked to be identified only by his first name. “Even the police are telling us openly that we are tired of you, you must leave our country,” he said, his voice trembling. Harassment had already been commonplace for years, “but now they got the opportunity to do it openly”, he said. “After 30 June, it will be even worse.” Some days, Leon regretted seeking refuge in South Africa, a country where he thought he would find peace. “Now, we’re just living like somebody who is already dead,” he said. “We are ready for anything.”

US-Iran talks over $6bn Iranian assets to restart

Talks at an indirect level between US and Iranian officials over unfreezing at least $6bn Iranian assets will recommence on Wednesday in Doha, Iran has said. The two sides are yet to have their first face-to-face meeting since signing a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait of Hormuz. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Qatar on Tuesday for talks covering regional issues including the Iran ceasefire and Lebanon, but Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, stressed these were with Qatari mediators. “They are not here for their negotiations with the Iranians,” he said. The US team is seeking details of a plan for Iran to charge tolls in the strait of Hormuz, and how the plan relates to proposals for consultation being tabled by Oman that would introduce fees for navigational services. The lack of renewed direct contact between the US and Iran on how to implement the memorandum of understanding signed on 17 June reflects tensions over Iran’s determination to maintain control over commercial oil tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz, as well as Iran’s opposition to the proposed Lebanon ceasefire negotiated by Israel, the US and the Lebanese government last week. Talks between Iran and the US have not even started on Iran’s nuclear programme even though only 60 days from 17 June had been set aside to complete the complex talks. In theory those talks can be extended beyond the 6o-day deadline, but the slow progress is starting to alarm some diplomats. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, speaking at a press conference in Tehran, warned European powers such as France and the UK not to seek to become involved in de-mining the strait of Hormuz. “Iran is better aware of its responsibilities than any other party and is capable of fulfilling them, and there is no need for the intervention of others. Interventions that, even if made with good intentions, will in practice only complicate the situation,” he said. Western powers object to Iran’s plan to impose tolls for commercial shipping passing through the strait, but may be more open to discussing Oman’s plan for voluntary contributions or fees charged for specific services. The UN’s International Maritime Organisation was holding informal discussions with Iran about Tehran ’s objections to the IMO opening a sea route through the strait close to Oman in conjunction with the US and Oman. At one point last week the IMO thought it had the agreement of the Iranian foreign ministry to the route, but Iran then attacked two ships, possibly fearing its control of the strait was being eroded. The IMO secretary General Arsenio Dominguez then suspended the route to hold talks with Iran. According to data from Kpler, a maritime tracking firm, 40 ships transited the waterway on Monday, up from 24 the previous day and 39 on Saturday. Hundreds of vessels have been stranded since the war between the US and Iran broke out on 28 February, leaving as many as 10,000 seafarers stranded. Not all ships have their transponders on, making an accurate count hard, but Iran may regard this level of traffic as so far below normal levels as to keep the pressure on the price of oil. It is committed to using its best endeavours to lift the blockade in the strait within 30 days Giving a relatively optimistic account of the state of relations with the US, only days after the two sides exchanged fire arising from a dispute over the control of the strait, Baghaei said: “From the beginning when we entered this diplomatic process, no one imagined a smooth and unchallenged process. Keep in mind that this diplomatic process began after two wars in less than a year […] we expected to face challenges in the implementation phase.”

Italian MEP suggests government wants to ‘hide truth’ about Albania migrant centre

An Italian MEP has questioned whether the Italian government is trying to “hide the truth” about conditions at an offshore migrant detention centre in Albania after a delegation she was part of said they were prevented from conducting a full inspection. Cristina Guarda, from Italy’s Greens and Left Alliance (AVS), said staff at the Italian-run facility in Gjadër had refused to give MEPs from the Greens/EFA group key information, such as how many people were being held at the centre, and that they had not been allowed to access their cells. Guarda said that testimony gathered from those they were able to speak to depicted a daily existence defined by “limbo and alienation”. Citing an official register of “critical events”, she said there had been six attempts by people held at the centre to kill themselves since mid-May, as well as other acts of self-harm. “Whether they want to hide the truth about the conditions of life inside the detention centre, something is not clear,” said Guarda, who also described “sweltering” heat at the facility. Rome’s prefect office, which has overall responsibility for Italy’s offshore migrant processing centres in Albania, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. Neither did Medihospes, the Italian cooperative that manages the facilities. Italy opened two centres in Albania – in Gjadër and Shëngjin – in 2024 as part of a controversial pact aimed at processing the asylum applications of adult men intercepted at sea by Italian government vessels and detaining refused asylum seekers pending their deportation. The five-year deal, which is costing Italy an estimated €130-140m (£112-120m) a year, has faced numerous legal challenges. Citing European law, Italian judges have rejected many transfers on the grounds that migrants’ countries of origin were unsafe to be repatriated to if their asylum requests were rejected. Several people are believed to have arrived at the facilities since the European parliament adopted a plan this month enabling the creation of offshore “return hubs” – centres outside the EU where undocumented people can be held for unspecified periods while waiting to be sent back to their home country. Although there are no official figures, the facility in Gjadër, which is primarily used to detain people before expulsion, hosts an estimated 70-80 people. Between them, the facilities in Albania are designed to accommodate roughly 1,000 people, with the original agreement allowing a cap of 3,000 at any one time. Guarda said the use of psychotropic drugs was “a constant” and that people filled their time by sleeping because “essentially they have nothing to do”. “One person said he was living his days in pursuit of his freedom,” she added. “This situation is alienating – it amplifies difficulties of a psychiatric nature and must be taken seriously.” The scheme, which falls under Italian jurisdiction, has often been touted as a model to follow by other EU states seeking to manage irregular immigration. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has on several occasions expressed her determination to make the initiative work, despite her government so far failing to achieve its original goal of sending 36,000 people a year to the centres. In April, a group of senators from her Brothers of Italy party visited Gjadër and described a “modern, efficient facility in excellent condition and designed to ensure proper reception, safety and compliance with standards”. Tineke Strik, a Dutch MEP who was among the European parliament delegation, said in a statement that the visit was “very disappointing and disgraceful”. She added: “The staff really created a lot of obstacles for us. We didn’t get any data, they didn’t answer any questions, and we were not allowed to really go into the cells, and see what the situation is like. “For the people we did manage to speak to here, it’s clear they have problems asking for asylum, and many of them don’t see any way out of a failed system.” Cecilia Strada, a politician with Italy’s centre-left Democratic party, called on the Italian government and European Commission to explain why the MEPs faced obstacles. “They keep telling us that human rights are and will be guaranteed in centres located in third countries,” she said. “But European parliament representatives, who have the authority to enter, were ultimately unable to genuinely verify respect for those rights.” In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Monaco bombing was ‘attempted assassination’, not terror attack, say prosecutors – as it happened

We are now closing the blog. Here is your summary of the day so far: Monaco prosecutors said they had opened an attempted murder investigation into Monday night’s bombing that shook the city, as they continued their manhunt for the main suspect (12:22). The main target of the attack was identified by local and French media as Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadym Iermolaiev, one of the three people seriously injured in the attack (12:38, 13:33, 17:04). In other news, Hungary reported a new all-time high temperature of 42C as the Europpean heatwave moves south-east (16:53). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

‘He isn’t political’: the Ukrainian-born oligarch targeted by a Monaco bomber

Nobody paid much attention to the man with the backpack, as he approached the entrance to a beige-coloured Monaco apartment building. It was 9pm, Monday. The street – rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla – is located in a quiet hillside part of the wealthy principality, close to the border with France. The man left his bag on the front steps. Soon afterwards, the Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadym Iermolaiev emerged, together with his wife and their 13-year-old child. There was an explosion and CCTV captured an image of the suspect, wearing a black jacket and a bucket hat, running from the scene towards the neighbouring French town of Beausoleil. All three victims were injured and taken to hospital. According to reports, the oligarch’s wife was critically hurt. As European police searched for the bomber, the unanswered question was why someone wanted to kill Iermolaiev, one of Ukraine’s richest businessmen, with a fortune estimated at $225m (£170m). Iermolaiev is a real estate developer who was born and raised in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. His company, the Alef Group, also has interests in agriculture and vodka production. In 2018 the oligarch gave up his Ukrainian passport and acquired EU citizenship from Cyprus. As well as Monaco, he is a frequent visitor to London and Paris. In 2022, the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda identified the oligarch as a member of the “Monaco battalion”, an ironic reference to wealthy Ukrainians who live in comfort abroad while their fellow citizens experience daily Russian drone and missile attacks. Iermolaiev enjoyed the high life and drove a £250,000 Bentley Flying Spur, it noted. The following year, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions on Iermolaiev after an investigation by the country’s SBU security agency. It said the 58-year-old oligarch continued to trade alcohol in occupied Crimea and paid millions of dollars in taxes to the Russian treasury. His assets were frozen and he was prohibited from doing business. In an interview with Ukrainian media, Iermolaiev strongly denied the allegations, calling them “completely surreal”. He claimed Russia seized his grape growing and cognac enterprise in Crimea when it annexed the peninsula in 2014. “We lost everything,” he said, adding that he had hired a team of lawyers to get the sanctions against him lifted. The oligarch condemned Russia’s invasion and said a missile strike on Dnipro airport had destroyed his private plane. Chechen militants stole his agricultural machinery, he added. “I despise our enemies and believe that they will bear responsibility for the grief they brought to Ukrainian land and to my hometown,” he told RBK Media, saying he gave money to Ukraine’s armed forces. Several sources on Tuesday dismissed the idea the audacious attack in Monaco could have been carried out by Ukraine’s special services. “He’s an opportunist, not an open enemy,” one remarked. Another described him as someone with “no ideology” and “zero political views” who could not “by definition be a Russian asset”. “He isn’t a political person,” somebody who knew him socially said. “He’s a businessman. Vadym is nicer than 95% of people on that level … He’s always smiling and pleasant to be around, a typical Dnipro Jew. He likes life, tells endless jokes and speaks in a rather stumbling manner.” A more plausible explanation for Monday evening’s bomb attack might be claims that the oligarch was connected to an alleged call centre scam, the sources said. They added: “It looks like something very, very personal. There are security cameras on every street corner in Monaco. That’s why rich people feel safe there. The hit doesn’t seem to be the work of a top professional.” Late last year, Iermolaiev’s son, Artur, was detained in Cyprus at the request of Interpol and subsequently extradited to Estonia. There, he was accused of creating a criminal organisation engaged in telephone fraud. According to Estonian investigators, Iermolaiev Jr, along with three other defendants, created fraudulent call centres in Ukraine that “offered fictitious investment opportunities”. As a result, between 2019 and 2022, the defendants received over €100m, €5.4m of which came from Estonian residents. Iermolaiev Jr entered into a plea bargain, received a suspended sentence, paid €8.5m and left Estonia shortly afterwards, the media outlet Meduza reported. He is now banned from entering Estonia. Chechen criminals are known to be behind many call centre scams, which have led to thousands of Russian pensioners being defrauded of their savings. In March suspected Chechen gangsters kidnapped the sons of two prominent businessmen from Dnipro, while they were on holiday in Bali. The body of one of them, 28-year-old Igor Komarov, was found chopped up on a beach. According to Ukrainian media, Komarov admitted his role in the fraudulent call centre business. Before killing him, his captors demanded a $10m ransom. His friend managed to escape. Ukraine’s main police investigation unit opened a case into Komarov’s murder and kidnapping, together with their Indonesian counterparts. A Chechen connection to the Monaco bombing is so far unproven. Sources who know the low-profile oligarch say he is someone who typically tries to avoid conflict, especially with government, and prefers to settle disputes by making backroom deals. In 2024 he transferred some of his assets to his 21-year-old daughter, Sofia, who lives in London and Cyprus, according to the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske. Whoever the perpetrator, other members of the “Monaco battalion” are likely to be decidedly more nervous in future. “Everyone is in shock,” one regular Ukrainian visitor to the principality admitted. They added: “Vadym is a very nice man. The TV screens and cameras didn’t protect him.”

Like being ‘stabbed in the back’: abuse survivors left without trials after Christian Brothers’ unprecedented legal tactic

An abuse survivor feels as if he has been stabbed with a “sharp, long, bladed knife to the back” after his trial was aborted at the 11th hour due to an unprecedented legal tactic by the Christian Brothers. Last week, the Christian Brothers sought a permanent halt to hundreds of cases lodged by survivors of abuse at its schools and orphanages, arguing it was about to go broke and could not afford to meet them. It instead wants to sell off its remaining property portfolio, and set up its own scheme outside the court, to divide up the proceeds between a range of creditors, including survivors. Church property records obtained by Guardian Australia show the Christian Brothers has spent the past decade transferring vast wealth – including holdings of land, school buildings and multimillion-dollar homes – to another Catholic entity, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), for $1 each. Those assets will not be sold off to help survivors, according to EREA. The attorney general Michelle Rowland’s spokesperson said the government “takes any alleged attempts by institutions to hide assets from victims of child sexual abuse extremely seriously”. Arnold Thomas & Becker has 78 claims against the Christian Brothers on behalf of abuse survivors. Partner Jodie Harris said her firm would be scrutinising the property transfers with “laser focus”. “[Survivors] know about the movement of assets to Edmund Rice over a period of time, and for them, all it is is the Christian Brothers trying to protect themselves again, at [expense to] their lives that have been devastated,” Harris said. “That’s certainly where most plaintiff lawyers, most lawyers who are acting for people who were abused are looking. We are looking very, very hard at that.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Lawyers were given little advance warning about the Christian Brothers’ proposed moratorium. One survivor was due to finally have their trial heard against the Christian Brothers beginning on Monday. It has been aborted. “After every delaying tactic in the book was used up – to be told that there is little, perhaps no money available after years of my family and myself hanging on by our fingernails, days before trial, is like my white-collared, black-robed rapist returning to finish me off with four deep thrusts of a sharp, long-bladed knife to the back, after fifty years of gradual, painful, delayed death,” the survivor said. Guardian Australia understands that, in another case, a survivor had recently settled with the Christian Brothers, prompting the court to dismiss the proceedings due to the settlement agreement. The survivor had taken out a loan in the expectation of receiving money from the Christian Brothers, which was expected next week. That payment will now not be made. A third survivor said he had suffered lifelong impacts from his abuse at the hands of four Christian Brothers and one non-religious teacher at St Kevin’s College in the 1970s. “Failed relationships, depression and repeated suicide attempts have haunted me throughout my life,” the survivor said. “Over the past few years, I have been able to find forgiveness. This progress has been destroyed. Last week, when I heard about the Christian Brother’s transferring ownership of the St Kevins property and other assets into another name, I felt betrayed – again. “I declined into a state where I was again, the boy locked in the bathroom, smashing his head and crying. The complexity of emotion is impossible to describe. The Catholic church is evil. They enable child abuse, they hide it, and I doubt will ever face up to the consequences for their actions. I will never forgive them.” Other survivors said they had been looking forward to moving on from the ordeal. “I was hoping to resolve my claim quickly to move on,” the survivor said. “I just want to live life and put it behind me. But I feel this will delay things.” Christian Brothers have informed survivors and other creditors that the sale of property would not be enough to pay each person what they are entitled to. Their proposed scheme will be run by retired judges who will divide up the proceeds of the property sales and decides what each survivor and other creditor is entitled to. EREA took over the running of former Christian Brothers schools from 2007 and is named after the order’s founder. EREA has made it clear it will not be selling property to help the Christian Brothers pay survivors. EREA’s financial reports indicate it has received transferred land worth $891m, according to its latest financial report in December 2024. Proxy adviser Dean Paatsch, who has examined the Christian Brothers’ financial reports, said that property could now be worth $2bn, an estimate first reported by the Australian Financial Review. A spokesperson said the property was transferred as part of a slow, progressive process of turning over Christian Brothers school land and property to EREA, which was delayed by what the spokesperson describes as the “complexity of transferring individual titles across multiple jurisdictions”. “The diversion of school assets or funds to support the liabilities of another organisation would raise significant governance, fiduciary and regulatory issues,” they say. “We sincerely hope the Christian Brothers find a path through their challenges, including planned asset sales, to allow them to continue their commitment to supporting survivors and victims of historic sexual abuse.” The Christian Brothers said the scheme it is proposing would scrutinise the property transfers to EREA, and said its advisers about the proposed property sell-off scheme were not involved in the past transfer of property to EREA. A Christian Brothers spokesperson said the scheme they are proposing is not designed to stop survivors from suing EREA in the future and it would not attempt to stop survivors from suing EREA. The spokesperson said that, if the moratorium is not granted, the order would enter liquidation. “Seeking a moratorium on all civil proceedings ensures that all claimants under the proposed creditors scheme of arrangement will be treated equally, assuming the moratorium is granted and creditors and court approve the scheme,” the spokesperson said. “We acknowledge the decision to publicly announce the difficult financial position of the Province’s entities, our decision to seek a scheme of arrangement and also a moratorium on civil proceedings, may have been unexpected, however it was important that all eligible creditors were made aware of the financial position.” In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helpline International

Delhi plans to ban petrol rickshaws and scooters in effort to cut toxic fumes

The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end of the decade. The policies, which will phase out new petrol and gas scooters, trucks and buses in the capital over the next two years, have been hailed by some environmentalists as a “gamechanger” in the fight to bring down toxic emissions. In recent years, transport has been one of the highest contributors to Delhi’s air pollution, which is consistently at levels dangerously high to human health and has become an emergency in the capital, linked to tens of thousands of deaths each year. Scooters and rickshaws – which largely run on petrol and compressed fossil gas – account for more than two-thirds of the tens of millions of vehicles on Delhi’s roads. Under the new policy, India’s capital will now issue new licence plates only to electric small trucks and three-wheelers, known as e-rickshaws, from 2027, and to e-scooters and electric motorbikes from 2028. The Delhi government said it hoped the move would lead to an electrification of at least 30% of the capital’s vehicle fleet by 2030. “The policy focuses on pure EVs, which offer superior environmental benefits as zero-emission vehicles,” Delhi’s government said in a statement on Monday. Amit Bhatt, the managing director or the International Council on Clean Transportation, said: “The proposed phaseout of two- and three-wheelers could be a gamechanger in Delhi’s fight against air pollution.” Emphasising that scooters, rickshaws and trucks accounted for most of the vehicles on Delhi’s roads, Bhatt added that “accelerating their transition to zero-emission vehicles can significantly reduce vehicular emissions, improve public health, and pave the way for a broader transition to zero-emission transport across all vehicle segments”. The Delhi state government, run by the Bharatiya Janata party, which also governs at national level, had faced significant criticism and numerous protests during the winter after it was accused of doing nothing to tackle the dangerously high pollution levels that lasted for months. According to the government’s own figures, vehicle emissions count for an average of 23% of pollutants in the air, making it the highest single source of emissions, particularly during the toxic winter months when a thick smog routinely cloaks the city. E-rickshaws have become an increasingly familiar sight on Delhi’s roads over the past two years, but the lack of charging points has made drivers reluctant to switch over. Under the new policy, the government has pledged to establish more than 30,000 public charging points across the capital. Vikas Nimesh, an assistant professor at the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi, also used the phrase “gamechanger”. He emphasised that the availability of affordable Indian electric vehicles was rapidly expanding, with Delhi already India’s largest market. Nimesh expressed optimism that the new policy would provide impetus for manufacturers to invest in new green technology and “come up with more EV models” to provide greater consumer choice and competition. News of the policy had yet to reach most of the city’s millions of auto-rickshaw drivers. Sitting in the shade of his rickshaw cab, parked in Delhi’s busy Connaught Place, Rajesh Gopi, 37, said he was sceptical that any real transition could take place in only two years and worried the electric vehicles would not provide the same earnings. “I have heard that the e-rickshaws need charging a lot and can’t travel as far as we can on gas,” he said. “If I have to wait one or two hours every day for charging, that’s lost income for me that I can’t afford. I also don’t know how to maintain an e-rickshaw or stop the batteries getting stolen.” However, he conceded that the city’s pollution was unbearable for rickshaw drivers forced to breathe in deadly fumes. “I am not against change and making the air clean, but I hope we are not the ones to pay the price,” said Gopi. The policy also introduced significant road and vehicle tax exemptions for people buying new electric cars, in an attempt to incentivise drivers to switch over by choice. However, some critics expressed concern that two years was too short a window to phase out new petrol scooters and rickshaws and ensure there was enough consumer choice. Others raised concern that the policy should have a wider focus beyond just private vehicles. Bhavreen Kandhari, a prominent environmentalist, said the government should also commit to expanding green public transport in the city. While Delhi has a substantial metro system, it is often criticised for lack of connectivity across the vast city, which keeps people reliant on flagging down rickshaws and driving their own scooters between their homes and metro and bus stops. “More cars on the road is not a solution,” said Kandhari. “To reduce traffic jams and dust in the city, the government should work on improving public transport and last-mile connectivity with green solutions. This EV policy falls short on that aspect.”