World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from Isis
- Bernie Sanders takes West Virginia as Donald Trump rolls on
- Queen says Chinese officials were 'very rude' during Xi Jinping state visit
- Obama visit to Hiroshima should not be viewed as an apology, White House says
- New Zealand could be left with just one major newspaper group as merger talks revealed
- Bangladesh executes leader of largest Islamist party
- More than 1,200 new planets discovered through Nasa's Kepler space telescope
- Top 25 hedge fund managers earned $13bn in 2015 – more than some nations
- Israel begins manhunt after women stabbed in Jerusalem forest
- West Virginia primary takes backseat to Trump's battle with Republicans
- Non-Syrians denied asylum claims under EU-Turkey deal - MEPs
- Three held over alleged terror plots in Italy and UK
- Indian woman in her 70s gives birth to healthy baby boy
- Rousseff makes last-ditch appeal to supreme court over impeachment vote
- BP hired firm linked to bribery scandal, Panama Papers reveal
- François Hollande pushes through labour bill with special decree
- Musical moose filmed playing wind chimes in Alaska – video
- 'Very rude': Queen's unguarded comments on Chinese officials during UK visit – video
- Erdoğan's bid for injunction against German media chief rejected
- Meet the Greek writers revolutionising poetry in the age of austerity
- Antiques Roadshow expert mistakenly values school art project at $50,000
- Azerbaijan worst place to be gay in Europe, finds LGBTI index
- Georgia plans national matchmaking service as marriage rate falls
- Islamic State releases children's mobile app 'to teach Arabic'
- Baby and toddlers among 149 dead at Nigerian military prison, says Amnesty
- Massachusetts stabbings: two dead in attack at shopping mall and home
- Suspects in missing Mexican students case say they were tortured to confess
- Tourists rescued from boat that caught fire off Great Barrier Reef island
- New Zealand warns hikers away from Lord of the Rings volcano
- Inaction man: Vladimir Putin slips up during all-star ice hockey game
- Transgender politician wins seat in Philippines parliament
- US defies Myanmar government request to stop using term Rohingya
- US condemns arrest of Thai activist's mother over one-word Facebook post
- Fort McMurray wildfire cuts Canada's oil output by a third
- Fort McMurray evacuees caught in uneasy limbo week after wildfires
- Four young Egyptians in custody for video making fun of the government
- Enola Gay is a museum piece, unlike the nuclear arms Obama hoped to eradicate
- Afghan and Nigerian leaderships well aware of corruption problems
- Quiet crisis: why battle to prop up Italy's banks is vital to EU stability
- Was the Iran nuclear deal just a triumph of White House spin?
- Heineken kidnapper plotted from jail cell to kill sisters, court told
- Anti-Zionism does not equate to antisemitism | Letters
- Family of woman held in Iran for five weeks will be allowed to visit
- Five Cuban spies released by US hailed as heroes in Russia
- French politicians and activists denounce harassment of women
- Let us pray that vicars stop telling jokes in sermons
- Eyewitness: Victory Day, Moscow
- Citadel military college bans prospective Muslim student from wearing headscarf
- Two migrants pulled from icy waters off Denmark
- Photo highlights of the day: terror attack simulation and hyperreal art
- Cultural Revolution concert fuels China power struggle rumours
- Story of cities #40: how a village had to die so Hamburg's port could survive
- The great leap upward: China's Pearl River Delta, then and now
- Homeless at home: most displaced people found in Syria, Yemen and Iraq
- Can innovation help fix the world's overwhelmed humanitarian system? | Clár Ní Chonghaile
- Don't just condemn humanitarian law violations. Stop them | Stephen Twigg
- West Virginia and Nebraska primaries: five things we learned
- Ted Cruz will not run for president as a third-party candidate – video
- Unseen photographs of George W Bush on 9/11 – in pictures
- Deadly tornado sweeps through Oklahoma – video
- Who is 'Punisher' Rodrigo Duterte? – video
- Loretta Lynch: North Carolina has created ‘state-sponsored discrimination’ - video
- Knife attacks at station near Munich politically motivated, say police – video
- Inside North Korea: journalists tour a silk mill – in pictures
- North Korea stages mass rally in Pyongyang – video
| Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from Isis Posted: 10 May 2016 09:55 PM PDT The stakes are high, but a power struggle between the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga is hampering the battle against Islamic State
For a few days early last month, the offensive looked like it already might be under way. But that soon changed when the Iraqis, trained by US forces, were quickly ousted from al-Nasr, the first town they had seized. There were about 25 more small towns and villages, all occupied by Isis, between them and Mosul. And 60 miles to go. Continue reading... |
| Bernie Sanders takes West Virginia as Donald Trump rolls on Posted: 10 May 2016 11:15 PM PDT Sanders' victory does little to narrow Clinton's large delegate lead, while presumptive Republican nominee claims wins in West Virginia and Nebraska
A defiant Bernie Sanders refused to go gently into the night on Tuesday with another last-minute primary win over Hillary Clinton that comes despite her commanding lead in the national race for delegates. In a fundraising email sent out soon after polls closed, the leftwing senator hailed his victory in West Virginia and said: "Every vote we earn and every delegate we secure sends an unmistakable message about the values we share, the country's support for the ideas of our campaign, and a rejection of Donald Trump and his values." Continue reading... |
| Queen says Chinese officials were 'very rude' during Xi Jinping state visit Posted: 11 May 2016 01:16 AM PDT 'Oh, bad luck,' Queen tells police commander in charge of visit security, in off-guard moment caught on camera at Buckingham Palace garden party The "golden era" of UK-China relations appears to have lost some of its glitter after the Queen accused Chinese officials of being "very rude" to the British ambassador during president Xi Jinping's first state visit to Britain last year. During a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, the Queen's official cameraman filmed her discussing Xi's trip with Metropolitan police commander Lucy D'Orsi. Continue reading... |
| Obama visit to Hiroshima should not be viewed as an apology, White House says Posted: 10 May 2016 12:07 PM PDT Obama 'will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb' at the end of the second world war as he makes first visit to city by a sitting US president Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima should not be interpreted as an apology, his spokesman said on Tuesday in the wake of the announcement that Obama would become the first sitting president to visit the site where the US dropped an atomic bomb in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the final days of the second world war. Asked if the trip might be seen as an apology, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, replied: "If people do interpret it that way, they'll be interpreting it wrongly." |
| New Zealand could be left with just one major newspaper group as merger talks revealed Posted: 10 May 2016 08:56 PM PDT Companies that own New Zealand Herald and Dominion Post could join forces, effectively leaving the country with a press monopoly Two major media companies in New Zealand have announced they are in merger talks, raising the prospect that the entire country could be left with just one newspaper group. NZME, which owns the New Zealand Herald, and Fairfax Media, which owns the Dominion Post, said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the organisations were exploring how they could join forces. Continue reading... |
| Bangladesh executes leader of largest Islamist party Posted: 10 May 2016 01:41 PM PDT Motiur Rahman Nizami hanged for crimes committed during 1971 war of independence with Pakistan Bangladesh has executed the leader of the country's largest Islamist party for war crimes, a move likely to exacerbate tensions in the volatile Muslim-majority nation. Motiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged at a prison in the capital, Dhaka, on Tuesday, just days after the nation's highest court dismissed his final appeal to overturn the death sentence for atrocities committed during the country's 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. Continue reading... |
| More than 1,200 new planets discovered through Nasa's Kepler space telescope Posted: 10 May 2016 12:21 PM PDT More than doubling the number of confirmed planets orbiting alien stars, astronomers said that the discovery is a step toward finding Earth-like planets Nasa added more than 1,200 new planets to the known galaxy on Tuesday, more than doubling the number of confirmed planets orbiting alien stars. Revealing data from the Kepler space telescope, the astronomers said that the discovery is a step toward finding Earth-like planets. "This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth," said Ellen Stofan, Nasa's chief scientist. Continue reading... |
| Top 25 hedge fund managers earned $13bn in 2015 – more than some nations Posted: 10 May 2016 10:00 AM PDT Top earners, Kenneth Griffin and James Simons, made $1.7bn each despite 'hedge fund killing field' on Wall Street where many companies lost billions or closed The world's top 25 hedge fund managers earned $13bn last year – more than the entire economies of Namibia, the Bahamas or Nicaragua. Kenneth Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel, and James Simons, founder and chairman of Renaissance Technologies, shared the top spot, taking home $1.7bn each – equivalent to the annual salaries of 112,000 people taking home the US federal minimum wage of $15,080. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Israel begins manhunt after women stabbed in Jerusalem forest Posted: 10 May 2016 01:49 PM PDT Two victims taken to hospital with moderate injuries after attacks near Peace Forest Two masked attackers have stabbed two Israeli women taking a walk in a Jerusalem forest, setting off a manhunt to capture the assailants. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said five women were walking along a Jerusalem promenade near the Peace Forest on Tuesday when they were attacked from behind. Two of them, both said to be about 70 years old, were stabbed and were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. Continue reading... |
| West Virginia primary takes backseat to Trump's battle with Republicans Posted: 10 May 2016 07:12 AM PDT Though Trump still needs delegates and Clinton and Sanders are still fighting to be Democratic nominee, Paul Ryan and #nevertrump overshadow vote For much of the year, Washington has been upstaged by the drama of far-flung primary elections, but as West Virginia becomes the latest state to vote for presidential nominees on Tuesday, the nation's gaze has swung back to the capital. Such is the intrigue surrounding a crunch meeting between Donald Trump and House speaker Paul Ryan, slated for Capitol Hill this Thursday, that the absence of the usual electioneering on the trail this week has barely been missed. |
| Non-Syrians denied asylum claims under EU-Turkey deal - MEPs Posted: 10 May 2016 04:50 AM PDT Politicians say interviews with refugees reveal they were not given chance to ask for asylum in Greece or Turkey Hundreds of non-Syrian asylum seekers deported under the EU-Turkey migration deal were not allowed to claim asylum in either Greece or Turkey, a group of European politicians has claimed. After interviewing 40 of the deportees, the three MEPs have concluded that, despite EU promises, the deal with Turkey is not being enacted according to international law. Continue reading... |
| Three held over alleged terror plots in Italy and UK Posted: 10 May 2016 07:12 AM PDT Alleged cell is said to have been researching sites including in Bari and London for a possible attack Italian police have arrested two men in the southern port of Bari and a third in Milan following an investigation into an alleged terror cell said to have been plotting possible terror attacks in Italy and the UK. Investigators did not say they had evidence that an attack was imminent. But the cell is alleged to have been scoping out sites for a potential attack, including in Bari and London, with a specific focus on airports, ports, police vehicles and hotels, according to Italian press reports. Continue reading... |
| Indian woman in her 70s gives birth to healthy baby boy Posted: 10 May 2016 10:34 AM PDT Daljinder Kaur and her husband, 79, had Arman last month after two years of IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in Haryana An Indian woman and her husband who are both in their 70s have celebrated the birth of a baby boy following IVF treatment, their first successful pregnancy in 46 years of marriage. Daljinder Kaur gave birth last month after two years of treatment using donor eggs at a fertility clinic in the northern state of Haryana. |
| Rousseff makes last-ditch appeal to supreme court over impeachment vote Posted: 10 May 2016 08:48 AM PDT Request by attorney general for annulment comes after leader of lower house reverses decision that would have invalidated key vote in impeachment process Dilma Rousseff took her battle to survive impeachment to the supreme court on Tuesday, in a last-ditch attempt to stay in office a day before the senate is expected to vote to try her for breaking budget laws. Brazil's attorney general, José Eduardo Cardozo, the government's top lawyer, asked the supreme court to annul impeachment proceedings, his office said. Continue reading... |
| BP hired firm linked to bribery scandal, Panama Papers reveal Posted: 10 May 2016 07:45 AM PDT Leaked paper shows oil company signed multimillion-dollar Iraq contract with firm named in corruption investigation BP signed a multimillion-dollar contract for work in Iraq with a firm that had been linked to corruption allegations in the country one year previously, the Panama Papers reveal. A document included in the leak from the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca reveals that in 2014 the oil company hired Unaoil to undertake work at the Kirkuk oilfield in northern Iraq. |
| François Hollande pushes through labour bill with special decree Posted: 10 May 2016 09:22 AM PDT President will bypass parliament to implement proposed changes which have brought thousands to the streets in protest France's Socialist government has taken the risky and controversial decision to bypass parliament and use a special decree to force through a contested labour reform bill by its president, François Hollande, that has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets. The defiant move by the government came as it faces growing pressure from its own rebel MPs and an ongoing street protest movement that has seen violent clashes. The government opted to use a heavy-handed and rare constitutional tactic which allows policies to be pushed through without a parliamentary debate after it failed to win over its own group of rebels. Continue reading... |
| Musical moose filmed playing wind chimes in Alaska – video Posted: 11 May 2016 01:13 AM PDT A moose with a musical ear has become an unlikely internet star after being captured on video playing wind chimes on the porch of a rural cabin in Alaska. Householder Britta Schroeder, who lives near Denali National Park and Preserve, heard the chimes, but realised it wasn't windy. Looking out, she spied the moose rubbing its head against the wind chimes Continue reading... |
| 'Very rude': Queen's unguarded comments on Chinese officials during UK visit – video Posted: 11 May 2016 01:05 AM PDT The Queen has been caught on camera describing the 'extraordinary' behaviour of Chinese officials during President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain last year. At a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, she commiserated with Commander Lucy D'Orsio, who was in charge of security for the visit and told the Queen officials had walked out of a meeting with her and the British ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward. Continue reading... |
| Erdoğan's bid for injunction against German media chief rejected Posted: 11 May 2016 01:05 AM PDT Turkish president could appeal after failing to obtain injunction against Axel Springer boss who said he laughed out loud at satirical poem A German court has rejected a request by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a preliminary injunction preventing the head of German publisher Axel Springer repeating a derogatory term. Erdoğan's lawyer, Ralf Höcker, told Reuters on Tuesday that Erdoğan had sought the injunction after chief executive Mathias Döpfner's public support for a controversial poem read out by comedian Jan Böhmermann on German television in March. Continue reading... |
| Meet the Greek writers revolutionising poetry in the age of austerity Posted: 11 May 2016 01:00 AM PDT A new group of poets is changing the arts landscape in Greece. Fearless, global and with an artistic fervour unseen since the dictatorship, they tell us their hopes, the culture that excites them – and the Greek myths they'd like to debunk A new kind of poetry is flourishing in Greece's streets, bars and cafes. It is popping up not just on magazines, small presses and websites, but on graffiti walls, and in music, film, and art. Not since the dictatorship that shook the country in the 1970s has there been such an abundance being written. A new anthology in English translation, Austerity Measures, compiles some of the most revolutionary. Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is a fan, calling it a "silver lining", the one good upshot from austerity policies that have shattered the country. "Along with the mass unemployment and the rise of neo-Nazism that it engendered, austerity also occasioned a cultural renaissance," he writes. "This volume is ... living proof that the Greek crisis is of global significance." Continue reading... |
| Antiques Roadshow expert mistakenly values school art project at $50,000 Posted: 11 May 2016 12:56 AM PDT Appraiser said 'grotesque face jug' was century-old and reminiscent of Picasso before it was found to be work of a 1970s high school student An expert antiques appraiser who likened a high schooler's art project to the work of Pablo Picasso and valued it at up to US$50,000 (£35,000) has chalked up the mistake to a learning experience. In a recent episode of the American version of Antiques Roadshow filmed in Spokane, Washington, Alvin Barr from South Carolina presented for appraisal a glazed redware jug, more than 30cm tall and decorated with six faces. |
| Azerbaijan worst place to be gay in Europe, finds LGBTI index Posted: 10 May 2016 06:46 AM PDT Frequent homophobic hate crimes see country join Russia and Armenia at the bottom of leading human rights survey Azerbaijan has been ranked the worst place in Europe to live as an LGBTI citizen, after meeting only 5% of a leading rights organisation's criteria for legal equality. The ILGA-Europe Rainbow Index, released today, ranks 49 European countries according to the laws, policies and practices that affect LGBTI communities. Continue reading... |
| Georgia plans national matchmaking service as marriage rate falls Posted: 10 May 2016 01:31 AM PDT National database of singletons proposed to help pull country away from 'demographic catastrophe'. Eurasianet.org reports A nationwide headcount of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes has been announced in Georgia, apparently in a bid to help tackle the slowing birth rate. Georgia's non-profit Demographic Development Fund (DDF) believes that a drop in the rate of marriages and births has brought the small post-Soviet nation to the cusp of a "demographic catastrophe". Continue reading... |
| Islamic State releases children's mobile app 'to teach Arabic' Posted: 11 May 2016 12:45 AM PDT The app called Huroof – meaning alphabet or letters in Arabic – has 'tank', 'gun' and 'rocket' among the vocabulary taught The Islamic State has reportedly released an app to teach children the Arabic alphabet with the aid of guns, tanks and cannons. The mobile application, Huroof – which means alphabet or letters in Arabic – gives a step-by-step walkthrough of the Arabic alphabet, and offers games and a nasheed (an a cappella Islamic song) to help users memorise the alphabet. Continue reading... |
| Baby and toddlers among 149 dead at Nigerian military prison, says Amnesty Posted: 10 May 2016 11:01 PM PDT Amnesty estimates that 149 people have died this year at the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, and cites evidence of overcrowding, lack of sanitation and executions At least 149 people, including a five-month-old baby and several toddlers, have died this year after being held in appalling conditions at a notorious Nigerian military detention centre, according to Amnesty International. A report from the group estimates that more than 1,200 people are detained without access to justice or the outside world at the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria. Continue reading... |
| Massachusetts stabbings: two dead in attack at shopping mall and home Posted: 10 May 2016 11:54 PM PDT Police say Arthur DaRosa was shot dead by a sheriff's deputy after fatally stabbing a woman at a house, a man at a shopping mall and wounding others A man has carried out a string of stabbings in Massachusetts, killing two people and injuring others in a house and a shopping mall before being shot dead by an off-duty policeman. The suspect in the attacks was identified as Arthur DaRosa of Taunton, south of Boston. Police said they were looking for a motive after the attacks. Continue reading... |
| Suspects in missing Mexican students case say they were tortured to confess Posted: 10 May 2016 04:33 PM PDT
Suspects in the disappearance of 43 Mexican college students have alleged they were tortured into making confessions which sustained the government's version of events, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press. Related: 17 months later: Mexico president visits site of 43 students' disappearance Continue reading... |
| Tourists rescued from boat that caught fire off Great Barrier Reef island Posted: 11 May 2016 12:47 AM PDT The group of more than 40 was forced to flee on life rafts when the 23-metre catamaran began sinking 10 nautical miles from Lady Musgrave Island More than 40 people have escaped a tourist boat that became engulfed in flames and began sinking on the Great Barrier Reef off the central Queensland coast. The 23m catamaran was 10 nautical miles from Lady Musgrave Island, east of Gladstone, when its 42 passengers were forced to flee in life rafts after a fire in the engine room spread. Continue reading... |
| New Zealand warns hikers away from Lord of the Rings volcano Posted: 10 May 2016 11:47 PM PDT Geologists say Mount Ruapehu – backdrop for Mordor – is showing signs of increased volcanic activity New Zealand has warned hikers and climbers to steer clear of a volcano in a national park whose jagged rock formations and eerie barren landscapes featured in the Lord of the Rings movies. Quake and volcano monitoring service GNS Science raised the alert for Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island's Tongariro national park, which last erupted in 2007. Continue reading... |
| Inaction man: Vladimir Putin slips up during all-star ice hockey game Posted: 10 May 2016 10:49 PM PDT Russian president was showing off his stick skills during a game against amateurs when he fell on the rink From bare-chested horse riding to swimming the icy waters of Siberia, Russian president Vladimir Putin is keen for the world to know of his physical prowess. The fearless leader has been photographed hang-gliding, bob-sledding, diving the Black Sea and even hugging a polar bear. Continue reading... |
| Transgender politician wins seat in Philippines parliament Posted: 10 May 2016 10:01 PM PDT Geraldine Roman vows to campaign against restrictions stopping Filipinos from changing their name and gender after historic victory Geraldine Roman has celebrated overcoming "bigotry, hatred and discrimination" after becoming the first transgender politician to win a congressional seat in the predominantly Catholic Philippines. After her victory in Monday's election, Roman is being hailed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community as a source of hope in a country where Church influence means divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage are banned. Continue reading... |
| US defies Myanmar government request to stop using term Rohingya Posted: 10 May 2016 09:37 PM PDT Ambassador Scot Marciel says Washington will continue to call persecuted Muslim minority by name objected to by Aung San Suu Kyi's administration The new ambassador of the United States to Myanmar said he would keep using the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority, even after the government – controlled by Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi – asked him to refrain from it. Related: No vote, no candidates: Myanmar's Muslims barred from their own election Continue reading... |
| US condemns arrest of Thai activist's mother over one-word Facebook post Posted: 10 May 2016 06:14 PM PDT Patnaree Chankij charged with violating Thailand's severe royal defamation law on Friday and could face up to 15 years in prison The United States has condemned Thailand's arrest of an activist's mother for allegedly insulting the royal family in a one-word Facebook post. Patnaree Chankij, 40, was charged with violating Thailand's severe royal defamation law and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Continue reading... |
| Fort McMurray wildfire cuts Canada's oil output by a third Posted: 10 May 2016 05:56 PM PDT Blaze that partly destroyed city has temporarily shut down Alberta's oil sands production – a mainstay of the country's petroleum industry A wildfire that partly destroyed the city of Fort McMurray has cut Canada's oil output by as much as a third after forcing the oil sands industry to effectively shut down in the province of Alberta. Related: Fort McMurray evacuees caught in uneasy limbo week after wildfires Continue reading... |
| Fort McMurray evacuees caught in uneasy limbo week after wildfires Posted: 10 May 2016 01:11 PM PDT As Canadian officials begin to assess damage and provide aid, displaced residents, feeling anxious and tired from their frantic flight, wonder what remains of home Waheed Zafar was fast asleep when the orders came in to flee. Winds had whipped up a nearby wildfire, sending it unexpectedly towards the northern Alberta city of Fort McMurray. Within a few hours, flames were flickering in the trees that surround the city, making the jump on to some residents' front lawns. |
| Four young Egyptians in custody for video making fun of the government Posted: 10 May 2016 01:11 PM PDT Group known as Street Children mock the devaluation of the Egyptian pound as well as the return of the islands to Saudi Arabia in video on social media Four young Egyptians have been remanded in custody, accused of making fun of the government in a satirical video posted on social networks, according to judicial sources. The move is the latest in a crackdown on voices critical of the authorities in Egypt. Continue reading... |
| Enola Gay is a museum piece, unlike the nuclear arms Obama hoped to eradicate Posted: 10 May 2016 12:42 PM PDT The plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima has been assiduously kept; Barack Obama's commitment to 'a world without nuclear weapons' less so In a quiet hangar outside Washington, the Enola Gay still gleams as if the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb in anger rolled off the production line yesterday. Despite his announcing a historic visit to the site that its payload devastated in Japan, Barack Obama's legacy as the president who would consign all such weapons to the museum looks rather more tarnished. Continue reading... |
| Afghan and Nigerian leaderships well aware of corruption problems Posted: 10 May 2016 12:02 PM PDT Ashraf Ghani and Muhammadu Buhari have been fighting to turn around the pervasive culture in their two countries It may have surprised David Cameron to find his comments to the Queen about Nigeria and Afghanistan making headlines, but the current Afghan and Nigerian leaderships are fully aware that their countries are riddled with corruption, and have been fighting to turn around the pervasive culture since their respective elections. No 10 is delighted that Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, and Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, are attending a summit in London specifically because they have acknowledged the fight against corruption is central to their respective countries' economic revival. Continue reading... |
| Quiet crisis: why battle to prop up Italy's banks is vital to EU stability Posted: 10 May 2016 11:09 AM PDT Forget Brexit or Grexit, €360bn of bad loans within a fragmented Italian banking sector could be the biggest threat of all Even a "small crisis" could trigger a chain of events that would threaten the stability of the European Union, the credit ratings agency Moody's has said. Brexit – if the UK votes to leave the 28-nation union – or even Grexit – the departure of Greece from the eurozone – are the obvious vulnerabilities. But some commentators believe an altogether quieter crisis should also be at the top of the worry list: Italy's battle to prop up its debt-laden banks. Continue reading... |
| Was the Iran nuclear deal just a triumph of White House spin? Posted: 10 May 2016 10:46 AM PDT A storm has broken out involving Ben Rhodes, Obama's top foreign policy advisor, and claims of media manipulation A very long profile of Ben Rhodes, one of the president's closest advisors on foreign policy and media management has set off a rerun of the furious Washington debate that accompanied the negotiation of the Iranian nuclear deal last summer. The profile in the New York Times magazine is notable in many ways, not least for the quotes from Rhodes disparaging the Washington press corps and think tanks covering foreign policy, whom Rhodes refers to collectively as "The Blob". It reads as an extraordinary expression of blanket contempt for the people outside the White House that Rhodes has worked with through more than seven years of the Obama presidency. Continue reading... |
| Heineken kidnapper plotted from jail cell to kill sisters, court told Posted: 10 May 2016 10:40 AM PDT Dutch gangland boss Willem Holleeder appears in court charged with planning revenge attack on siblings and journalist A convicted Dutch gangland boss who gained notoriety for the 1983 kidnapping of a Heineken beer tycoon has appeared in court accused of orchestrating a hit on his two sisters and a prominent journalist from his prison cell. Willem Holleeder was accused of "plans to assassinate his sisters Astrid and Sonja Holleeder as well as crime reporter Peter de Vries", prosecutors in Amsterdam said. Continue reading... |
| Anti-Zionism does not equate to antisemitism | Letters Posted: 10 May 2016 10:35 AM PDT In his Daily Telegraph article on which you report (Chief rabbi: Labour has severe problem with antisemitism, theguardian.com, 4 May), Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the antisemitism crisis engulfing Labour had "lifted the lid" on bigotry. He joins in the sensationalist allegations of antisemitism in the Labour party, where the headlines' decibel level is in inverse proportion to the evidence supporting them. Ignoring the more serious anti-Muslim racism in electoral politics, Rabbi Mirvis attacks the Labour party by launching a defence of Zionism which turns it from a political ideology (that can be supported or opposed) into a religion that is beyond question. We British Jews reject this categorically. Continue reading... |
| Family of woman held in Iran for five weeks will be allowed to visit Posted: 10 May 2016 10:32 AM PDT British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran in April when she and her 22-month-old daughter were returning to UK The authorities in Iran have promised the family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother who has been held in solitary confinement for more than five weeks, that they may be allowed to meet her in jail. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a project manager, was arrested at Tehran's international airport by members of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard on 3 April. She and her 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, were about to return to the UK from a family visit in her home country. Continue reading... |
| Five Cuban spies released by US hailed as heroes in Russia Posted: 10 May 2016 09:47 AM PDT Cuban Five, convicted of spying on exiles in Florida after 1959 uprising led by Fidel Castro, meet heads of Russian parliament and communist party Russia gave a red-carpet reception to five Cuban spies who served long prison terms in the United States, hailing them as heroes "of fortitude and resistance" and stressing its own role in securing their release. The Cuban Five were convicted of spying on Cuban exiles in Florida at a time when anti-Castro groups were bombing Cuban hotels and staging acts of sabotage meant to destabilise the communist government. Continue reading... |
| French politicians and activists denounce harassment of women Posted: 10 May 2016 09:37 AM PDT End the Omertà petition hits out at Mafia-style code of silence in French politics after MP Denis Baupin resigns amid allegations Hundreds of French politicians and equal rights activists have denounced the widespread sexual harassment of women in politics, five years after the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal provoked soul-searching and promises that sexism would be stamped out. An End the Omertà petition, which criticises an alleged Mafia-style code of silence around harassment, was published on the front page of the daily Libération on Tuesday after the MP Denis Baupin resigned as deputy parliamentary speaker following allegations made against him by women in his Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV) party. Continue reading... |
| Let us pray that vicars stop telling jokes in sermons Posted: 10 May 2016 09:04 AM PDT Clergy comedy is a crime against humour more than a crime against God – but it still has no place in church A recent poll has found that churchgoers hate the vicar's jokes. Well, let's hope the message gets through. Because there is nothing more excruciating than the lame stories that clergy tell, mostly as warm-ups at the beginning of their sermons. I would end up fleeing down the road to the local mosque if Dawn French became my vicar. No, I wouldn't agree with them theologically, but at least they would adopt an appropriate seriousness of mood that would allow me properly to think and pray. And please don't get me started on vicars using puppets in the pulpit. I'd bring back the inquisition for that. The Venerable Jorge had the right idea in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose: some comedy just doesn't work in church. Church is a serious house on serious Earth. And, ultimately, people go for serious purposes. Continue reading... |
| Eyewitness: Victory Day, Moscow Posted: 10 May 2016 08:55 AM PDT Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading... |
| Citadel military college bans prospective Muslim student from wearing headscarf Posted: 10 May 2016 08:38 AM PDT South Carolina institution official cites school policy of having cadets look similar as its president says 'uniformity is cornerstone' of program The Citadel military college has decided a newly accepted Muslim student cannot wear her traditional Muslim headscarf if she enrolls. The South Carolina school announced Tuesday that commandant of cadets Geno Paluso decided that allowing the student to wear the head covering, known as a hijab, wouldn't be consistent with the school's policy of having cadets look similar. Continue reading... |
| Two migrants pulled from icy waters off Denmark Posted: 10 May 2016 07:01 AM PDT Pair recovering in hospital were part of a group of four attempting to cross the strait to Sweden to ask for asylum Two people are in hospital after authorities pulled them from icy waters off Denmark as they tried to reach Sweden by boat to ask for asylum. The rescued migrants were part of a group of four who attempted to cross the strait between Denmark and Sweden, where the water is about 8C (46F). Continue reading... |
| Photo highlights of the day: terror attack simulation and hyperreal art Posted: 10 May 2016 06:43 AM PDT The Guardian's picture editors bring you a selection of the best photographs from around the world, including emergency response testing in Manchester Continue reading... |
| Cultural Revolution concert fuels China power struggle rumours Posted: 10 May 2016 05:50 AM PDT Mao-themed show on eve of 50th anniversary of decade-long upheaval exposes party divisions over how period is viewed With just days to go until the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong's devastating Cultural Revolution, a Maoist revival show staged at the nerve centre of Chinese politics has sparked a ferocious political row, fuelling persistent rumours about a struggle for power at the top of the Communist party. The Mao-themed extravaganza was held in early May at the Great Hall of the People, a colossal granite edifice in Tiananmen Square that hosts China's most important political events. Continue reading... |
| Story of cities #40: how a village had to die so Hamburg's port could survive Posted: 10 May 2016 11:30 PM PDT In the 60s Hamburg officials planned to demolish a fishing village to make space for a new container terminal. As port cities struggle to keep up with an ever-changing industry, how will Hamburg face the challenges of the next generation? One morning in the late 80s, a pick-up truck full of sinister looking men came to a halt in front of Heinz Oestmann's house in Altenwerder, a historic fishing village on the outer edges of Hamburg's port. Oestmann, a fisherman and lifelong Altenwerder resident, could make out a pile of crowbars, wooden slats and gardening tools on the truck's loading area – "all manner of objects to break things with," he later recalled in his memoir. From their bedroom window, Oestmann and his wife watched as a bespectacled man from the city council got out of the truck to inspect the property. When the fisherman tried to confront the official, he got no response. Eventually, Oestmann took a swing. The man from the council landed on his backside, his glasses snapped in two. Continue reading... |
| The great leap upward: China's Pearl River Delta, then and now Posted: 10 May 2016 03:42 AM PDT The Pearl River Delta has witnessed the most rapid urban expansion in human history – a predominantly agricultural region transformed into the world's largest continuous city. By revisiting the sites of rare archive images of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macau from the 1940s through 1990s, our photographers have documented this staggering change The region where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea has seen some of the most rapid urban expansion in human history over the past few decades – transforming what was mostly agricultural land in 1979 into what is the manufacturing heartland of a global economic superpower today. In 2008, China announced plans to mesh Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Zhuhai into a single megacity. A series of massive infrastructure projects are under way to merge transport, energy, water and telecoms networks across the nine cities. Development has been relentless, and the World Bank recently named the Pearl River Delta as the biggest urban area in the world in terms of population and geographical size. Continue reading... |
| Homeless at home: most displaced people found in Syria, Yemen and Iraq Posted: 10 May 2016 04:01 PM PDT Report delves into the numbers overshadowed by the refugee crisis – the 28m people forced by violence or disaster to live elsewhere in their country last year Conflict, violence and natural disasters forced nearly 28 million people to leave their homes and move somewhere else within their countries last year, according to a report. The figures from the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) show that, by 2015, the number of people internally displaced by conflict – 40.8 million – was double the total number of refugees. Continue reading... |
| Can innovation help fix the world's overwhelmed humanitarian system? | Clár Ní Chonghaile Posted: 10 May 2016 04:53 AM PDT Antipathy towards working with the military and the private sector may have to make way if the buzz surrounding innovation is to result in real change If necessity is the mother of invention, then the aid industry should be frothing with ideas and gearing up to showcase new products and processes when humanitarians gather to start work on redesigning the overwhelmed and outdated system this month. Innovation is a key theme for the world humanitarian summit in Istanbul and it dovetails with the rather dispiriting rationale for this first-of-its-kind meeting: that the aid system is failing and needs to be reformed if it is to cope with protracted, increasingly frequent, manmade and natural crises. Continue reading... |
| Don't just condemn humanitarian law violations. Stop them | Stephen Twigg Posted: 10 May 2016 01:40 AM PDT In the name of war, hospitals and camps for stranded people have been bombed. Leaders at the world humanitarian summit must hold those responsible to account The recent airstrike on a camp for Syrians displaced from their homes is the latest in a long line of tragedies resulting from the disregard that certain parties to conflict hold for international humanitarian law. The UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, the UN high commissioner for human rights, the French foreign ministry, the White House and many others have all spoken out against this horrific attack, yet frustrations abound with the inability of the international community to stop them from happening. Continue reading... |
| West Virginia and Nebraska primaries: five things we learned Posted: 10 May 2016 07:47 PM PDT Bernie Sanders did little to make a dent in Hillary Clinton's lead among pledged delegates but insisted 'we are in this campaign to win the nomination' • Sanders wins West Virginia primary as Trump rolls on toward convention The West Virginia and Nebraska primaries have come and gone. Here's what happened: Continue reading... |
| Ted Cruz will not run for president as a third-party candidate – video Posted: 10 May 2016 03:12 PM PDT Former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz denied that he had plans to re-enter the presidential race. Cruz, who returned to Capitol Hill for the first time since dropping out, left rival Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee. Cruz said he could see 'no viable path to victory' but said he would reconsider if the situation changed Continue reading... |
| Unseen photographs of George W Bush on 9/11 – in pictures Posted: 10 May 2016 01:59 PM PDT The George W Bush Presidential Library released a set of photographs that documents his immediate reactions following the attack on the World Trade Center. The candid shots, most of which were taken by his personal photographer, Eric Draper, reveal the hours after Bush heard the news Continue reading... |
| Deadly tornado sweeps through Oklahoma – video Posted: 10 May 2016 07:54 AM PDT Residents near Oklahoma City assessed damage after a large and violent tornado touched down on Monday, killing two and reducing homes to splinters. Parts of Oklahoma could be hit again later this week as another storm system is expected to bring more severe weather Continue reading... |
| Who is 'Punisher' Rodrigo Duterte? – video Posted: 10 May 2016 05:39 AM PDT Rodrigo Duterte has claimed victory in the presidential elections in the Philippines. He has promised to reduce crime and corruption in the country, building on his record as mayor of Davao City, where his tough approach has led to a reduction in crime but has allegedly involved vigilante killings. In his campaign, Duterte has threatened to kill 100,000 criminals and drug users, called Pope Francis a 'son of a bitch' and joked about the rape of a murdered Australian missionary Continue reading... |
| Loretta Lynch: North Carolina has created ‘state-sponsored discrimination’ - video Posted: 10 May 2016 04:32 AM PDT The US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, says North Carolina's law requiring transgender people to use public restrooms that only correspond to the gender on their birth certificate is 'state-sponsored discrimination'. The Justice Department seeks a court order to declare the law discriminatory and unenforceable Continue reading... |
| Knife attacks at station near Munich politically motivated, say police – video Posted: 10 May 2016 02:32 AM PDT German police are investigating a politically motivated knife attack at a railway station near Munich. One man died and three people were injured. Footage shows blood inside a train carriage and on the platform at Grafing train station, south-east of Munich. Police arrested the suspect. Photograph: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader Continue reading... |
| Inside North Korea: journalists tour a silk mill – in pictures Posted: 10 May 2016 01:30 AM PDT Foreign journalists brought into the country to cover the biggest political event in North Korea in decades were taken on a visit to Kim Jong-suk silk mill in Pyongyang during a press tour Continue reading... |
| North Korea stages mass rally in Pyongyang – video Posted: 10 May 2016 01:12 AM PDT Thousands of North Koreans take part in a mass rally on Tuesday to celebrate the ruling party congress. Leader Kim Jong-un watches from a viewing platform. Participants wave brightly coloured flowers in tightly choreographed formation as they march alongside huge cardboard replicas of missiles in the capital Pyongyang Continue reading... |
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