Latest news with #UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ex-wife, four men appear in Greek court over killing of UC Berkeley professor in Greece
Suspects arrested over the killing of Polish UC Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski, who was shot dead in an Athens suburb, arrive at the courthouse in a police vehicle in Athens, Greece, July 21, 2025. Reuters/Louiza Vradi ATHENS - Five people suspected of involvement in the killing of a University of California at Berkeley professor in Athens earlier in July appeared in a Greek court on Monday to respond to charges over the slaying, lawyers said. The five included the ex-wife of the academic, a 43-year-old Polish national. According to a confidential police document seen by Reuters, the professor was shot in the chest and the back on July 4 in Athens' northeastern suburb of Agia Paraskevi. Police found six bullet shells at the crime scene. Some of the suspects escaped in a luxury car, according to video footage examined by the police as part of an investigation that led to the issuance of arrest warrants. The professor's Greek ex-wife, who has denied any wrongdoing, her Greek partner, and three other people - one Bulgarian and two Albanian nationals - were arrested last week. "She is innocent," said the ex-wife's lawyer, Alexandros Pasiatas, expressing certainty that the evidence to emerge from the main investigation will prove that she was not involved. Greek authorities have not released the names of the individuals alleged to be involved in the incident and the charges have not been officially disclosed. The woman's partner has confessed to shooting him, according to police officials. She is accused of moral complicity and the rest of the detainees are accused of assisting the perpetrator, one of the officials said. The weapon used in the killing has not been found. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 2 workers stranded on gondola dangling outside Raffles City Tower rescued by SCDF Business Why Singapore and its businesses stand to lose with US tariffs on the region Asia Japan PM Ishiba vows to take responsibility for election loss, to stay in office to deal with US tariff talks Business $1.1 billion allocated to three fund managers to boost Singapore stock market: MAS Singapore Medallions with Singapore Botanic Gardens' iconic landmarks launched to mark milestone-filled year Singapore Proof & Company Spirits closes Singapore distribution business Singapore Jail, caning for man who held metal rod to cashier's neck in failed robbery attempt Singapore Fresh charge for woman who harassed nurse during pandemic, created ruckus at lion dance competition A prosecutor is expected to decide on Monday whether the suspects will be freed or remain in custody during the main investigation, and pending trial. REUTERS
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Greek police arrest five over killing of UC Berkeley professor in Athens
ATHENS (Reuters) -Greek police have arrested five people over the killing of a University of California at Berkeley professor who was shot dead in an Athens suburb earlier in July, police said. The professor's ex-wife, who has denied any wrongdoing, her Greek partner, and three other people - one Bulgarian and two Albanian nationals - were arrested on Wednesday evening over the incident, a police official said on Thursday. The woman's partner has confessed to shooting the academic, a 43-year-old Polish national, according to the official. The rest of the detainees are accused of assisting him. The weapon used in the killing has not been found. The suspects were expected to respond to the charges, which have yet to be disclosed, this week. Greek authorities have not released the names of the individuals alleged to be involved in the incident. The professor was shot in the chest and the back on July 4, in the northeastern suburb of Agia Paraskevi, according to a confidential police document seen by Reuters. Police later found six bullet shells and a shotgun cartridge at the crime scene, the document said. Some of the suspects escaped in a luxury car, according to video footage collected by the police as part of the investigation. They were later detained by police acting on arrest warrants.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient temple ruins discovered in Andes pull back curtain on lost society after 1,000 years
Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient South American temple they say has helped pull back the curtain on the workings of its enigmatic Andean civilization. Known as the Tiwanaku, the society lived in modern-day Bolivia near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world – before their mysterious disappearance more than 1,000 years ago. People had first started to live in the region around 10,000 years ago, according to University of California at Berkeley archaeologist Dr. Nicola Sharratt. As many as 20,000 people came to reside in the area. Skilled stoneworkers, the Tiwanaku were widely considered to be a precursor of the Inca empire and one of the earliest examples of civilization in the Andes mountains. 'Their society collapsed sometime around 1,000 CE and was a ruin by the time the Incas conquered the Andes in the 15th century,' José Capriles, an associate professor of anthropology at Penn State University, said in a statement. 'At its peak, it boasted a highly organized societal structure, leaving behind remnants of architectural monuments like pyramids, terraced temples and monoliths, most of which are distributed in sites around Lake Titicaca and, while we know Tiwanaku's control and influence extended much further, scholars debate how much actual control over distant places it had.' Capriles was the lead author of the international study detailing the findings published this week in the journal Antiquity. The temple is called 'Palaspata,' which was the native name for the area. Palaspata is located on a hill, approximately 130 miles to the south of the Tiwanaku's established historical site. The area was previously known to indigenous farmers, but had never been explored in depth by researchers. After noticing a strange plot of land with four sides, they turned to technology to learn more. They snapped and compiled satellite images of the site, and also took pictures using cameras aboard unmanned aerial vehicle flights. Then, they used the photos to construct a three-dimensional approximation of the Palaspata and its surrounding landscape. About the size of a city block, the complex includes 15 quadrangular enclosures arranged around a rectangular inner courtyard. Its composition, the authors said, suggested that it was used to perform rituals following the solar equinox: a bi-annual moment when the sun is positioned directly above the equator. But, it likely was not solely used for religious purposes. Much about the Tiwanaku civilization remains unknown, but Palaspata would have been in an advantageous trade spot, according to Capriles. Many people traded and built monuments throughout the mountains. This temple connected three main trade routes, including the highlands, a high-altitude plateau, and the Andean valleys of Cochabamba. 'Most economic and political transactions had to be mediated through divinity, because that would be a common language that would facilitate various individuals cooperating,' he explained. On the surface of the ruins of Palaspata, the scientists found fragments of 'keru' cups, which were used for drinking a traditional maize beer called 'chicha' during agricultural feasts and celebrations. The maize was cultivated in the Cochabamba valleys. The researchers had worked with the Bolivian Ministry of Cultures, Decolonization, and Depatriarchalization to export samples of the ruins, which were dated at the Penn State's Institute of Energy and the Environment Radiocarbon Dating Lab. The city is now working with state and national authorities to help properly protect and preserve the site. 'With more insight into the past of this ancient site, we get a window into how people managed cooperation, and how we can materially see evidence of political and economic control,' Capriles said. 'There's still so much to discover that we don't know about, and that could be hiding in plain sight. It just requires opening your eyes to see what's out there.'
NZ Herald
11-06-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
LA unrest mirrors global protests: Government response under scrutiny
A strong government response to demonstrations that initially start peacefully, they say, often produces increasingly violent confrontations. In some instances, they add, leaders have used the prospect of civil unrest to use heavy-handed tactics or create pretexts to expand their grip on power. Here are three lessons from international protests, which experts say can help make sense of what is unfolding in Los Angeles. 1. Crackdowns shape optics, and optics shape uprisings. When states crack down on demonstrators, the images circulated online and in the news media of the resulting clashes shape the public's understanding of what is happening. Such optics, experts said, play a critical role in either bolstering or undermining the actions of a Government amid unrest. Harsh crackdowns may generate sympathy for protesters, said Omar Wasow, a political scientist at the University of California at Berkeley who studies protest movements. The 'spectacle of violence and repression,' he said, can frame states as 'bullies' unjustly squashing expression. But those images can also act like a 'double-edged sword,' Wasow said. When residents engage violently with the authorities, viral images – of burning cars or vandalised property, for example – can instead generate sympathy for the state. Because most people are not at the protests, the public's idea of the demonstrators can be coloured by the images of violence that gain the most traction, even if the events are largely peaceful. 'It's all about narrative,' said Laura Gamboa, an assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. To control their image in the face of state crackdown, movements need strong internal organisation, she added. But spontaneous uprisings often lack such organisation. Gamboa pointed to Honduras, where protests broke out after a disputed election in 2017. When peaceful protests turned violent, the movement struggled to 'overcome the narrative and gain the international support they needed'. Police officers control a crowd as people protest against the detention of migrants by federal law enforcement in downtown Los Angeles, June 9. Photo / Sinna Nasseri, The New York Times 2. Heavy-handed responses can lead to more violent protests. State repression inspires violence and increases the size of protests in general, said Gamboa, turning issue-based demonstrations into mass movements. 'You're being repressed; gas is thrown at you,' she said. 'It's your natural instinct to protect yourself by fighting back.' Beyond an immediate need to respond to violence, crackdowns inflame protests by broadening the cause to fight. What began, for instance, as opposition to the Colombian Government's tax overhaul in 2021 transformed into a much bigger campaign against police violence and the role of state force after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators. Aggressive state responses to protests led to as many as 300 deaths in Mozambique last year and hundreds of arrests in India in 2019 protests over a citizenship law. Sacramento police officers make an arrest during a protest against ICE raids in downtown Sacramento, California, on Monday, June 9. Photo / Andri Tambunan, The New York Times 3. Crackdowns can be stepping stones to wider power grabs. A Government's decision to exercise force, the experts said, can be an opening for authoritarians to erode democratic checks. Governments can violate norms to project power, said Andrew O'Donohue, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace who studies democratic backsliding. They can then use the 'pushback to justify further crackdowns on institutions and protests', he added. After protesters and police continually pushed the limits of what had been accepted tactics during a year of protests in Hong Kong, the mainland Government ended the cycle of increasing violence in 2020 by stripping the semi-autonomous territory of many of its rights. The Government in Beijing justified the passage that year of the National Security Law, which handed the mainland Government broad powers to crack down on political activities, effectively outlawing pro-democracy parties and limiting free speech. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Pranav Baskar Photographs by: Mark Abramson, Sinna Nasseri, Andri Tambunan ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Miami Herald
10-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Five-armed creature — covered in ‘axes' — found off Taiwan. See the new species
In the rocky intertidal zones along the coast of Taiwan, a five-armed creature scuttles along the seafloor. Its brown, green and black body blends in with the colorful rocks as it glides across the bottom. The animal is a brittle star — and a new species. Brittle stars, or ophiurida, may look like classic starfish, but their long and flexible arms set them apart from their more rigid cousins. They can move quickly thanks to muscles that move a series of vertebrae-like structures linked together with ball-and-socket joints, according to the University of California at Berkeley. The new brittle star was collected off the southern coast of Taiwan and around a few barrier islands, according to a study published June 6 in the peer-reviewed European Journal of Taxonomy. The animal's central structure, or dorsal disc, is 'covered with fine granules,' according to the study, while the arms are covered in spines. The long arms are made up of spiny plates that fit together like puzzle pieces, photos show. The pattern on the arms also gives the new species its name, researchers said. Breviturma securis, or the axe brittle star, derives its name from the Latin word 'securis' meaning axe, 'referencing the axe-shaped dark patterns on the dorsal arm plates,' according to the study. The body as a whole is 'yellowish-gray to greenish-gray' with 'lighter and darker patches,' researchers said. 'These regions are adorned with discontinuous short dark lines that never form a reticular pattern,' according to the study. 'In juveniles, a dark 'star' may occasionally appear at the center of the disc but never connects to the arm base.' The brittle stars live in the sandy material below rocks from intertidal zones to shallow waters around 25 feet deep, researchers said. They are also commonly found in the same areas as other related brittle star species. Breviturma securis was previously misidentified as another species and appeared in a series of field guides and photographs under the wrong name, according to the study. The new research, with DNA confirmation, will allow these resources to be updated, researchers said. The holotype, or primary specimen used to describe the new species, was found in Taitung County on Taiwan's southeastern coast. The research team includes Kai Chang and Hsi-Te Shih.
