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Egypt says 11 troops killed in militant attack in northern Sinai
‘It’s total terror’: Colombian cartel retaliates over kingpin’s arrest
Painting swapped in 70s for grilled cheese sandwich serves up windfall
Lula launches campaign to reclaim Brazilian presidency from Bolsonaro
‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak
EU voices concerns as former Hong Kong security chief made new leader
Philippines faces stark election choice – dictator’s son or human rights lawyer?
Security chief who led pro-democracy crackdown set to be Hong Kong’s new leader
From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes
Rivals face off in second leaders’ debate – as it happened
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese clash over cost of living and integrity in messy leaders’ debate
Albanese says Labor will match Coalition’s IVF pledge ahead of second leaders’ debate – as it happened
LNP candidate in Queensland referred to federal police for allegedly falsifying address
Scott Morrison defends delaying protections for LGBTQ students as party tensions resurface
Endangered tree seedlings planted in secret locations on NSW north coast
Ukraine will prevail as Europe did in 1945, Scholz says in VE Day speech
Russia-Ukraine war latest: 60 feared dead after bombing of Luhansk school; Jill Biden makes unannounced Ukraine visit
Jill Biden makes unannounced visit to Ukraine and meets first lady
‘Surrender is not an option’: Azov battalion commander in plea for help to escape Mariupol
Sixty feared dead in Russian airstrike on Ukraine school
Picnics banned in Rome in effort to combat wild boar incursions
Israeli police arrest two Palestinians over independence day attack
UN leads £65m plan to stop huge oil spill off Yemen during first ceasefire in six years
UK urged to act after UN panel rules detention of Briton in India ‘arbitrary’
Afghanistan face veil decree: ‘I’ve lost the right to choose my clothes’
Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mount Everest for 26th time, beating own world record
Taliban order all Afghan women to cover their faces in public
Indian climber dies in summit bid on Mount Kanchenjunga
Dennis Waterman, Minder and New Tricks star, dies aged 74
United Ireland: why is it not on cards despite Sinn Féin success?
What is Beergate and why does it matter?
Tories urged not to betray working women by ditching employment bill
‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones
Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa to replace Jodie Whittaker, BBC announces
US unveils new sanctions on Russia, targeting services, media and defense industry
Clothes, shoes, passports: migrants forced to dump possessions at US-Mexico wall
British scientist says US anti-abortion lawyers misused his work to attack Roe v Wade
‘Forever chemicals’ may have polluted 20m acres of US cropland, study says
Women who fought for US abortion rights in the 70s call for mass global protests
Country singer Mickey Gilley, who helped inspire Urban Cowboy, dies at 86

Egypt says 11 troops killed in militant attack in northern Sinai

Posted: 07 May 2022 09:08 AM PDT

At least five others wounded in one of deadliest attacks against Egyptian security forces in recent years

At least 11 troops, including an officer, have been killed in a militant attack in the restive northern part of the Sinai peninsula, Egypt's military said on Saturday.

It said in a statement that the militants attacked a water pumping station east of the Suez canal. It did not give further details on the location.

‘It’s total terror’: Colombian cartel retaliates over kingpin’s arrest

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:10 AM PDT

Otoniel's Gulf Clan militiamen shut down northern regions, blocking roads and holding residents hostage in their houses

Jorge, a community activist from Colombia's conflict-ridden Chocó province, was already traveling to the city of Medellín when he heard news that made him turn back towards home.

Paramilitary militiamen in balaclavas and military fatigues had thrown up a string of roadblocks and declared an "armed strike", torching vehicles, forcing businesses to close, and stopping all traffic.

Painting swapped in 70s for grilled cheese sandwich serves up windfall

Posted: 08 May 2022 03:15 AM PDT

Painting by Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis traded for a meal at Irene and Tony Demas's restaurant could fetch C$35,000

Working out of the kitchen of their small restaurant in Ontario in the 1970s, Irene Demas and her husband Tony soon learned the value of trading their dishes for the talents of local bakers, craftspeople and artisans.

"Everyone supported everyone back then," said Irene, at the time a bright-eyed chef in her 20s. In exchange for daily fresh flowers, for example, the couple would take soup and a sandwich to the florist next door.

Lula launches campaign to reclaim Brazilian presidency from Bolsonaro

Posted: 07 May 2022 10:06 AM PDT

Leftwinger tells rally that public must unite against far-right incumbent's 'incompetence and authoritarianism'

Brazil's former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has kickstarted what he hopes will be a sensational finale to one of Latin America's most extraordinary political careers, publicly declaring his intention to challenge Jair Bolsonaro for the presidency and urging citizens to unite against the far-right populist's "incompetence and authoritarianism".

Speaking at a rally in São Paulo, where the one-time lathe operator began his spectacular rise to power as a union leader more than four decades ago, Lula publicly spelled out his ambition to reclaim the presidency for the first time.

‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak

Posted: 06 May 2022 08:38 PM PDT

Climate analysts are astounded by such a high reading during the rainy season, and is the third monthly record this year

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon surged to record levels for the month of April, nearly doubling the area of forest removed in that month last year – the previous April record – preliminary government data has shown, alarming environmental campaigners.

In the first 29 days of April, deforestation in the region totalled 1,012.5 square km (390 square miles), according to data from national space research agency Inpe on Friday. The agency, which has compiled the monthly data series since 2015/2016, will report data for the final day of April next week.

EU voices concerns as former Hong Kong security chief made new leader

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:28 AM PDT

Fears grow that elevation of John Lee signals Beijing's tough policy on Hong Kong is set to continue

The European Union has condemned the appointment of Hong Kong's former security tsar, who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, as the Chinese territory's new chief executive with 99% of the vote in a secret ballot on Sunday.

Josep Borrell, the bloc's foreign policy chief, said the selection process that led to John Lee being elected is yet "another step in the dismantling of the 'one country, two systems' principle".

Philippines faces stark election choice – dictator’s son or human rights lawyer?

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:07 AM PDT

Ferdinand Marcos Jr leads polls but analysts point to huge rallies of his opponent and the vice-president, Leni Robredo

Voters in the Philippines will go to the polls for a presidential election that pits frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the late dictator, against a human rights lawyer who has promised a transparent government.

Marcos Jr, known as "Bongbong", whose authoritarian father plundered billions of dollars from the state and presided over rife human rights abuses, has maintained a strong lead in opinion polls in the run-up to Monday's vote. If elected president, it would mark an extraordinary rehabilitation of one of the country's most controversial political families.

Security chief who led pro-democracy crackdown set to be Hong Kong’s new leader

Posted: 07 May 2022 07:00 AM PDT

John Lee is the only candidate in the running to succeed Carrie Lam as chief executive

At the height of Hong Kong's protests in the summer of 2019, angry pro-democracy legislators shouted in the Chinese territory's legislative council: "down with John Lee!", as the veteran security chief defended his force's treatment of the protesters and journalists.

"I hope people will understand the chaotic situation and the pressure faced by each and every one at the scene on that day," Lee said, unapologetically. "I hope members of the public will not vent their dissatisfaction of the government on police officers, because they are only discharging their duties."

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From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes

Posted: 06 May 2022 10:00 PM PDT

Analysis: As the heatwave in India and Pakistan starts to intensify again, Thailand and China are recording strangely cold May days

The final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest for northern and central parts of the country since records began over 100 years ago.

Heatwaves are a common occurrence at this time of year in India and Pakistan, but scientists believe the intensity, duration and arrival time of the conditions witnessed so far this year are caused by rising global temperatures. Despite a slight respite in the extreme heat over the past few days, temperatures are set to intensify once more this weekend and into next week with maximum temperatures expected to approach 50C in parts of north-west India and Pakistan.

Rivals face off in second leaders’ debate – as it happened

Posted: 08 May 2022 06:34 AM PDT

The PM and Labor leader were questioned by a panel of journalists in the second head-to-head of the campaign. This blog is now closed

Sarah Abo asks the leaders to commit to truth in this critical debate, then asks what the parties can actually do to help with cost-of-living pressures (including lettuce and flowers).

Albanese:

[Our economic plan] makes sure that we prioritise productivity so that we are not placing upward pressure on inflation, so our plan, which consists of powering Australia for cheaper energy, which consists of fixing the NBN, it infrastructure, investment, cheaper childcare and making more things here is all aimed at growing the economy in the way that does not put additional pressure on inflation. They are the sort of measures you can do that will make a practical difference to people's lives.

Australia has maintained a AAA credit rating, one of only nine countries in the world to do so during the pandemic. And that means ... we can cut the fuel tax, meaning we can pay $250 to pensioners and others on fixed incomes and $420 that Australians could keep more of what they earn when they put their tax return in on 1 July. We cannot control all the forces that are coming from overseas, but what we can do, by managing money well, that puts downward pressure on inflation, managing money well means we can invest in ... the essential services.

We will have cheaper childcare, we will have stronger Medicare including with cheaper medicines to make it easier to see a doctor. We will have more secure work and we have a plan to lift wages. We also have a plan for clean energy through renewables. We can have cleaner, cheaper energy driving advanced manufacturing here, bringing back jobs, having a more resilient economy here so we can stand on our own two feet. And we can train Australians for those jobs, with the free Tafe and additional university places and we need to fix the crisis in aged care – and it was summed up in the interim report with a one-word statement, "neglect", in its title.

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese clash over cost of living and integrity in messy leaders’ debate

Posted: 08 May 2022 06:04 AM PDT

There are heated moments in the second leaders' debate of the federal election but Channel Nine's audience fails to find a clear winner

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have bickered over electricity prices, national security and a federal integrity commission in a the second leaders' debate of the election campaign.

Ahead of early voting opening on Monday, the prime minister appealed for Australians to stick with certainty, while the Labor leader said the country could not afford three more years of the Coalition.

Albanese says Labor will match Coalition’s IVF pledge ahead of second leaders’ debate – as it happened

Posted: 08 May 2022 01:10 AM PDT

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese will square off in second leaders' debate to be broadcast on Channel Nine; Opposition leader says Labor will match Coalition's $53m IVF pledge; nation records at least 19 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Plibersek is asked about the proposed stage three tax cuts that Labor has supported and which will lead to superannuation changes that will benefit men. She says it is something Labor will look at in government.

What makes a difference to the superannuation pay gap: when we invest more than $95bn, when we make child care cheaper, that allows those women who have been locked out of work, because it is too expensive – they actually lose money by working day four or day five in a week. They can earn more, have less time out of paid work, they can contribute to their own superannuation when they get back to work more easily.

As for the paid parental leave superannuation, it is something that we would look at in government. It is something that we would love to do when we can afford to.

LNP candidate in Queensland referred to federal police for allegedly falsifying address

Posted: 07 May 2022 08:50 PM PDT

AEC has also referred reports of hundreds of fake signs falsely suggesting independents were members of the Greens to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce

The Liberal National candidate running in the ultra-marginal Queensland seat of Lilley will "fully cooperate" after being referred to the Australian Federal Police amid allegations he provided a false residential address to the Australian Electoral Commission.

The AEC on Sunday also announced it has referred reports of hundreds of fake campaign signs erected in blue-ribbon Liberal electorates across NSW last week that falsely suggested independent candidates were members of the Greens to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce.

Scott Morrison defends delaying protections for LGBTQ students as party tensions resurface

Posted: 07 May 2022 08:20 PM PDT

Liberal backbench MP Katie Allen reiterates protecting gay and trans students is 'not negotiable'

Scott Morrison has claimed gay students are not being expelled from religious schools while defending his decision to delay protections for them until after the passage of the religious discrimination bill.

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, hit back at the comments on Sunday, accusing anyone who thinks young people are not "discriminated and vilified" based on their sexuality of having views that don't reflect "reality".

Endangered tree seedlings planted in secret locations on NSW north coast

Posted: 07 May 2022 07:04 PM PDT

Seeds from nightcap oak trees were collected and propagated after black summer bushfires destroyed or damaged 20% of the population

Seedlings of an endangered tree are being planted in secret locations on the New South Wales north coast in an attempt to save the species after devastating bushfires.

The critically endangered nightcap oak trees date back to the Gondwana supercontinent era and can grow up to 40 metres tall, but are only found in northern NSW.

Ukraine will prevail as Europe did in 1945, Scholz says in VE Day speech

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:53 AM PDT

German chancellor draws parallel with second world war defeat of Nazi dictatorship in TV address

Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Ukraine will prevail over Russia as freedom prevailed over Nazi dictatorship in 1945, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will say in a TV address to mark the 77th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, in which he accuses Vladimir Putin of falsifying history.

In the speech, which will be aired on German TV at 8:20pm CET (7.20pm BST) on Sunday, Scholz says the "legacy of 8 May" for his country must be to help to ensure that there will never again be genocide or tyranny in Europe.

Russia-Ukraine war latest: 60 feared dead after bombing of Luhansk school; Jill Biden makes unannounced Ukraine visit

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:29 AM PDT

Odesa hit by missiles but Ukraine launches counter-offensive in north; US first lady meets Olena Zelenskiy at a school

As international efforts to pressure the Russian leader continue, G7 leaders, including US President Joe Biden and Ukraine's Zelenskiy, are set to discuss Western support for Kyiv via videoconference today.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will host the call and Zelenskiy will "take part and report on the current situation," government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said.

Jill Biden makes unannounced visit to Ukraine and meets first lady

Posted: 08 May 2022 08:31 AM PDT

Surprise trip on Mother's Day as Biden meets with Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenskiy

US first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with the nation's first lady, Olena Zelenskiy, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

US president Joe Biden has not visited the country, though he expressed a desire to when he was in Poland this spring, following Russia's invasion in February, but at that time Russian tanks were advancing on the capital, Kyiv, and he hinted that his security advisers held him back.

‘Surrender is not an option’: Azov battalion commander in plea for help to escape Mariupol

Posted: 08 May 2022 08:04 AM PDT

Two thousand Ukrainian troops thought to be trapped inside steelworks after civilian evacuation

Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Members of Ukraine's Azov battalion trapped inside Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant have said they fear they will be killed if captured by Russian forces, as they pleaded with Ukrainian authorities to help arrange their extraction.

Speaking to the media from inside the besieged steelworks, an Azov commander and lieutenant, looking gaunt and pale, said they had defended the city for the people of Ukraine and the rest of the world and needed a third party to negotiate their exit whether by land or sea.

Sixty feared dead in Russian airstrike on Ukraine school

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:25 AM PDT

Rescue attempts impossible due to constant shelling in Bilohorivka, says Luhansk governor

Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Sixty people are feared to have been killed after a village school in eastern Ukraine took a direct hit in a Russian air raid, with rescue attempts said by the regional governor to be impossible due to constant shelling.

Russian attacks in the east and south intensified at the weekend ahead of Monday's symbolic Victory Day celebrations, with the Black Sea city of Odesa coming under repeated missile strikes and the remaining Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal steelworks in the besieged port city of Mariupol staging a press conference on Sunday saying they had been "abandoned" by the government as Russian attacks continued

Picnics banned in Rome in effort to combat wild boar incursions

Posted: 08 May 2022 06:29 AM PDT

City acts to contain wild boar population after African swine fever detected in body of dead animal

Picnics have been banned and bins fenced off in a large swathe of northern Rome as health authorities move to contain the wild boar population after African swine fever was detected in a deceased animal.

Feeding or approaching the animals has also been forbidden, while people who have walked through farmland or nature reserves in the affected areas have been told to disinfect their shoes.

Israeli police arrest two Palestinians over independence day attack

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:17 AM PDT

Pair suspected of killing three Israelis caught outside town of Elad after massive manhunt

Two Palestinians believed to have killed three people in a terrorist attack on Israel's independence day – the latest incident in the worst wave of attacks in Israel in years – have been apprehended by police after a three-day manhunt.

The suspects, identified as As'ad Yousef As'ad al-Rifa'i, 19, Subhi Emad Subhi Abu Shqeir, 20, both from the occupied West Bank village of Rumana, were caught near a quarry outside the town of Elad in central Israel on Sunday, according to a statement by Israel's police, military and internal security agency.

UN leads £65m plan to stop huge oil spill off Yemen during first ceasefire in six years

Posted: 07 May 2022 10:00 PM PDT

Decrepit tanker used for storage at risk of creating a disaster worse than Exxon Valdez in 1989

The UN is to stage a rare donor conference on Wednesday in a bid to raise the $80m (£65m) necessary to prevent an ageing oil tanker off the west coast of Yemen exploding and causing an environmental disaster potentially four times worse than the Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska in 1989.

The money is needed to offload more than 1.14m barrels of oil that have been sitting in the decrepit cargo ship, Safer, for more than six years because of an impasse between Houthi groups and the Saudi-backed government over ownership and responsibility.

UK urged to act after UN panel rules detention of Briton in India ‘arbitrary’

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:45 AM PDT

Jagtar Singh Johal has been detained since 2017 and allegedly tortured, accused of helping to fund assassination plot

The UK is under pressure to insist India release Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen, after a UN working group ruled he had been arbitrarily detained by India and his detention lacked any legal basis.

Boris Johnson apparently raised the case when he met the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, last month and provided a written note of consular cases, but Foreign Office ministers have not confirmed whether they regard his detention as arbitrary.

Afghanistan face veil decree: ‘I’ve lost the right to choose my clothes’

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:59 AM PDT

Women say they fear going out in public despite Taliban vow to respect hard-won rights after 2021 takeover

Despite everything that has happened to her country since the Taliban seized power last August, 29-year old Nafisa still never believed there would come a day when she would be unable to feel the sun on her face as she walked the streets of Kabul.

Yet on Saturday, the Taliban's sinisterly named ministry for the propagation of virtue ordered that Nafisa, along with millions of women across Afghanistan, should ideally not leave the house at all. If they do, they must be fully veiled and never show their faces in public.

Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mount Everest for 26th time, beating own world record

Posted: 07 May 2022 09:29 PM PDT

Fifty-two-year-old used customary route up 8,850-metre mountain while leading 10 other climbers

A Nepali sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 26th time, breaking his own previous record set last year, a government official says.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the 8,849-metre mountain on Saturday along the traditional south-east ridge route leading 10 other Sherpa climbers.

"Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing," Taranath Adhikari, director general of the Department of Tourism in the capital of Kathmandu, said on Sunday.

Kami Rita's wife, who gave her name as Jangmu, said she was happy at her husband's achievement.

The climbing route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular.

This year Nepal has issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, which runs through May, compared with 408 last year, the highest ever.

Taliban order all Afghan women to cover their faces in public

Posted: 07 May 2022 11:36 AM PDT

Decree forces male relatives to police law by making them liable to fines or prison for breaches

The Taliban have ordered all women to cover their faces in public in Afghanistan, the latest sweeping restriction by a government that has taken away women's right to travel long distances alone, work outside healthcare or education, and receive a secondary education.

In a cruel twist, the decree makes women's relatives and employers the enforcers. If their faces are seen in public, their male "guardian" will be fined, then jailed. If the woman who goes out uncovered or her relative work for the government, they must be fired.

Indian climber dies in summit bid on Mount Kanchenjunga

Posted: 06 May 2022 11:54 PM PDT

The 52-year-old man collapsed in the final stages of climbing the world's third highest mountain

An Indian climber died has during a summit push on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain, an official said.

The death is the third to be reported on Nepal Himalayas during the current climbing season which started in March.

Dennis Waterman, Minder and New Tricks star, dies aged 74

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT

Actor starred as bodyguard Terry McCann in Minder and tough cop George Carter in The Sweeney

The actor Dennis Waterman, who starred in the TV shows Minder, The Sweeney and New Tricks, has died at the age of 74.

Waterman starred as the bodyguard Terry McCann in Minder after first finding fame playing the tough cop George Carter in The Sweeney.

United Ireland: why is it not on cards despite Sinn Féin success?

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:17 AM PDT

Sinn Féin has called for debate on Irish unification, but many obstacles exist to a referendum on the issue

Sinn Féin hailed its first victory in a Northern Ireland assembly election as a defining moment for the British-controlled region and called for a debate on a united Ireland.

The party's president, Mary Lou McDonald, had a simple message for unionists on Saturday, telling them: "Don't be scared, the future is bright for us all."

What is Beergate and why does it matter?

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:12 AM PDT

Keir Starmer having a beer and takeaway has potentially become a resigning matter after reopening of investigation

The Sun first published a picture of Keir Starmer drinking a beer with Labour workers in a party office in Durham on 30 April 2021 more than a year ago. Until recently, the story was a minor Tory attack line, but it is now potentially a resignation matter following Durham police's decision to reopen its investigation into whether the Labour leader broke Covid lockdown rules.

Tories urged not to betray working women by ditching employment bill

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:09 AM PDT

Fears flagship bill will be left out of Queen's speech despite promise to fight sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination

A coalition of campaigners has urged the UK government not to betray working women by ditching its promises to clamp down on sexual harassment and workplace pregnancy discrimination in its flagship employment bill.

Before the Queen's speech on Tuesday, campaigners are calling on the government to push forward with the bill, which was promised in 2019 and promoted as the way to protect UK workers after Britain left the EU.

‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:58 AM PDT

Exclusive: Thousands of pounds stolen in cases seen by the Guardian in reports from City of London police

Thieves are targeting digital currency investors on the street in a wave of "crypto muggings", police have warned, with victims reporting that thousands of pounds have been stolen after their mobile phones were seized.

Anonymised crime reports provided to the Guardian by City of London police, as part of a freedom of information request, reveal criminals are combining physical muscle with digital knowhow to part people from their cryptocurrency.

Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa to replace Jodie Whittaker, BBC announces

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:58 AM PDT

Sex Education star will be first black actor to play role full-time when Russell T Davies returns to run show in 2023

Ncuti Gatwa will take over from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord in Doctor Who, the BBC has announced.

The 29-year-old will become the 14th Doctor on the popular BBC show after Whittaker announced last July she would be leaving the role.

US unveils new sanctions on Russia, targeting services, media and defense industry

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:00 AM PDT

New measures are primarily intended to close loopholes in existing sanctions and to tighten the noose around Russian economy

The US has unveiled a new layer of sanctions on Russia, targeting services, Russia's propaganda machine and its defence industry on the eve of Vladimir Putin's planned Victory Day parade.

The new measures were announced as leaders from the G7 group of industrialised democracies held a virtual summit with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of solidarity.

Clothes, shoes, passports: migrants forced to dump possessions at US-Mexico wall

Posted: 08 May 2022 05:31 AM PDT

Personal belongings left behind, including files and passports that could prove crucial in processing claims

In Yuma, south-west Arizona, just a short distance from a gap in the 30-foot-high border barrier between the US and Mexico, Fernando "Fernie" Quiroz collects piles of shoes, shoelaces and clothing from the dirt road and carries them to a large red dumpster already overflowing with personal belongings.

Every day, hundreds of people arrive at gaps in this stretch of border wall to request political asylum from uniformed federal border agents who stand waiting under a rudimentary metal shade structure in the Sonoran desert heat.

British scientist says US anti-abortion lawyers misused his work to attack Roe v Wade

Posted: 08 May 2022 03:30 AM PDT

Giandomenico Iannetti, a pain expert at UCL, angrily denies that his research suggests foetuses can feel pain before 24 weeks

A University College London scientist has accused lawyers in the US of misusing his groundbreaking work on the brain to justify the dismantling of Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that legalised abortion nationally in America.

Giandomenico Iannetti said his research, which used imaging to understand the adult brain's response to pain, had been wrongly interpreted to make an anti-abortion argument.

‘Forever chemicals’ may have polluted 20m acres of US cropland, study says

Posted: 08 May 2022 02:00 AM PDT

PFAS-tainted sewage sludge is used as fertilizer in fields and report finds that about 20m acres of cropland could be contaminated

About 20m acres of cropland in the United States may be contaminated from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge that has been used as fertilizer, a new report estimates.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds used to make products heat-, water- or stain-resistant. Known as "forever chemicals" because they don't naturally break down, they have been linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, liver problems, birth defects, immunosuppression and more.

Women who fought for US abortion rights in the 70s call for mass global protests

Posted: 07 May 2022 11:30 PM PDT

Veteran activists say the overthrow of Roe v Wade would equate to murder, and should send warning signals around the world

It was over the Thanksgiving holiday, catching up with old high school friends, that Frances Beal heard that Cordelia had died. Like the now 82-year-old Black feminist and activist, her friend had left home to go to college, but she didn't make it through her first year because, like anybody who wanted to terminate a pregnancy in America in 1958, she had been forced to undergo a backstreet abortion.

"She was dead because she'd had an illegal abortion. And it had gone bad. And if you take a look at the statistics, the number of woman that died from illegal abortions was tremendous," Beal, who later joined the movement to legalise abortion, told the Observer.

Country singer Mickey Gilley, who helped inspire Urban Cowboy, dies at 86

Posted: 07 May 2022 07:51 PM PDT

Star said the film – based on his Texas club – had 'huge impact' on his career while in life 'I am doing exactly what I want to do'

Country music star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film Urban Cowboy and a nationwide wave of western-themed nightspots, has died aged 86.

Gilley died on Saturday in Branson, Missouri, where he helped run the Mickey Gilley Grand Shanghai Theatre. He had been performing as recently as last month, but was in failing health over the past week.

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