World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Martin Schulz: EU hamstrung by Brexit and rise of populist right
- Four arrested over Facebook Live video of man tortured amid anti-Trump taunts
- Bluefin tuna sells for £500,000 at Japan auction amid overfishing concerns
- Republicans voice disdain after Donald Trump tweets support for Julian Assange
- Netanyahu backs calls for convicted Israeli soldier to be pardoned
- Angry protests erupt across Mexico after 20% hike in gasoline prices
- Sweden sees benefits of six-hour working day in trial for care workers
- 105-year-old man sets record by cycling more than 14 miles in an hour
- Syria: Turkey takes fight to Isis in assault on western base of al-Bab
- LG unveils Hub Robot to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home
- Walk like a penguin to avoid slipping on ice, German doctors advise
- Dylann Roof tells jury 'there's nothing wrong with me psychologically'
- French farmer on trial for helping migrants across Italian border
- World's oldest known orca presumed dead in blow to endangered whales
- Insurers paid out $50bn for natural disaster claims in 2016
- Good samaritans who came to woman's rescue make headlines in China
- Over 100 people injured in New York commuter train derailment
- Berlin Christmas market attack: Tunisian man aged 26 detained
- New York City police fatally shoot armed men in two incidents in Brooklyn
- Trump's tweets keep US manufacturers on their toes
- UK among six countries to hit 0.7% UN aid spending target
- Charles Manson 'moved from prison to hospital'
- Democrats prepare for confirmation battle over 'troublesome' Trump cabinet nominees
- Shirin Neshat’s best photograph: an Iranian woman with a gun in her hair
- China hits back at 'extreme' tariffs from rival economies
- China to invest £292bn in renewable power by 2020
- Black church burning in Mississippi stirs debate over Trump and race – video
- Italy's Five Star Movement part of growing club of Putin sympathisers in west
- Nomads no more: why Mongolian herders are moving to the city
- Security fears prompt Buckingham Palace changing of guard reforms
- Having a period is unaffordable in Kenya, yet no one wants to talk about it
- Mexico appoints ex-minister behind Trump's visit as new foreign minister
- Disability advocates add to calls to suspend Centrelink debt recovery system
- Bluefin tuna auctioned for £517,000 at Tokyo market – video
- North Korea able to test intercontinental ballistic missile this year, say experts
- Rohingya plight making Myanmar a target for Isis, Malaysia warns
- So what's the big idea, European Union?
- Apple removes New York Times app in China
- Gambia army chief reverses pledge and stands by embattled president Jammeh
- 200 children found working in India brick kiln
- Kosovo former PM arrested in France on Serbian warrant
- Marine Le Pen cheers Ford move out of Mexico as win for protectionism
- 105-year-old French cyclist sets record – video
- Migration: a critical point in modern history – Project podcast
- Wartime Britain and black GIs united through music | Letters
- Ofsted’s position on LGBT programmes in schools | Letters
- Avian flu: Defra tells owners to keep poultry indoors until spring
- British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran attends appeals court
- Elor Azaria: the Israeli soldier who exposed the country's faultlines
- Phyllia Ormrod obituary
- The recycled surfboard making waves on the beaches of Bangladesh – video
- Bangladeshi surfer with ambitions to become chairman of the board | Karen McVeigh
- Zika, drought, conflict: what 2016 meant for the world's poorest – podcast transcript
- The Canada experiment: is this the world's first 'postnational' country? | Charles Foran
- Pence: Repealing Obamacare is 'first order of business' – video
- New York commuter train going 'faster than normal' before derailment – video
- Good samaritans intervene when man attacks woman in China – video
- The best photographs of Barack Obama's presidency – in pictures
- Toddler lifts chest of drawers off trapped twin brother – video
| Martin Schulz: EU hamstrung by Brexit and rise of populist right Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST European parliament's outgoing president says reticent national leaders threaten to undermine union The EU has failed to move on from the cataclysmic Brexit vote and is hamstrung by the failure of national leaders to sell the European vision back home, according to a valedictory interview with one of the bloc's key figures. The outgoing president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, said Brussels was "treading water" because national governments had lacked political courage in the face of the rise of the populist right. Continue reading... |
| Four arrested over Facebook Live video of man tortured amid anti-Trump taunts Posted: 04 Jan 2017 07:39 PM PST Chicago police are investigating a video appearing to show a man tied up and assaulted while attackers shout 'fuck Donald Trump' and 'fuck white people' Chicago police have arrested four suspects after a Facebook Live broadcast appeared to show a man bound, gagged and brutally attacked amid shouts of "fuck Donald Trump". The footage, which was live-streamed on Facebook, showed several people taunting and assaulting the man while he was sitting in the corner of a room, restrained and with his mouth taped closed. Continue reading... |
| Bluefin tuna sells for £500,000 at Japan auction amid overfishing concerns Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:57 PM PST Huge fish sells for 74m yen as conservationists call for moratorium to help stabilise plunging Pacific stocks A bluefin tuna has fetched 74.2m yen (£517,000) at the first auction of the year at Tsukiji market in Tokyo, amid warnings that decades of overfishing by Japan and other countries is taking the species to the brink of extinction. The 212kg fish, caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, was bought by Kiyomura, the operator of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, after its president, Kiyoshi Kimura, outbid rivals for the sixth year in a row. Continue reading... |
| Republicans voice disdain after Donald Trump tweets support for Julian Assange Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:35 PM PST The president-elect's tweets approvingly repeated WikiLeaks founder's claim that the Russian state was not the source of the hacked emails from the DNC Leading Republicans broke with Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president-elect appeared to put more faith in WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange than in US intelligence agencies. The sharp differences on a highly charged national security issue are the latest sign that matters of intelligence and policy towards Russia reflect a deep fault line in Trump's relationship with the Republican party establishment. Continue reading... |
| Netanyahu backs calls for convicted Israeli soldier to be pardoned Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:08 AM PST Israeli PM says manslaughter verdict handed to Sgt Elor Azaria for killing a Palestinian attacker is 'painful for all of us' The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has joined calls for an Israeli soldier to be pardoned after being convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a severely wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron last year. As soon as the verdict was handed down on Wednesday at the end of one of the country's most polarising court cases in recent memory, there were calls from Israeli ministers demanding that Sgt Elor Azaria, an army medic who was 19 at the time of the shooting, be granted an immediate pardon by the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, as others accused the Israeli military of abandoning the soldier. Continue reading... |
| Angry protests erupt across Mexico after 20% hike in gasoline prices Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:23 AM PST The gasolinazo – as the price hike is known – came as long queues of cars were already forming at pumps due to fuel shortages, and has led to violent protests Demonstrators have blockaded highways, looted shops and forced service stations across Mexico to close in a wave of angry protest triggered by a hike of more than 20% in the government-set price of gasoline. The announcement of the price increase came on 1 January – when long queues of cars were already forming at pumps because national oil giant Pemex was unable to supply all gas stations due to problems with oil refining and fuel shortages caused by theft. Continue reading... |
| Sweden sees benefits of six-hour working day in trial for care workers Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:27 AM PST Two-year experiment at Gothenburg retirement home had economic cost but cut sick leave and improved staff wellbeing Reducing working hours for care workers reduces their sick leave, makes them feel healthier and improves the care they give to their patients – but comes with an appropriate price tag. These are the preliminary findings of a two-year experiment with a six-hour working day in Gothenburg, Sweden, which came to an end this month. Continue reading... |
| 105-year-old man sets record by cycling more than 14 miles in an hour Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:33 AM PST Frenchman Robert Marchand, who previously broke record in over-100s category, sets time in new over-105s class A 105-year-old man has made history by cycling more than 14 miles round a track in an hour. Robert Marchand set the first hour record in the over-100s category in 2012, then beat it himself two years later at the age of 102, when he covered more than 16 miles. While his distance in Wednesday's ride was not as great as those two, the new over-105s category had been specially created for him to reflect the magnitude of his feat. Continue reading... |
| Syria: Turkey takes fight to Isis in assault on western base of al-Bab Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:34 AM PST Assault on stronghold, thought to be where Istanbul attack was planned, will soon be over, say Erdoğan and Free Syria Army Turkey has said the operation to retake the Syrian town of al-Bab, Islamic State's westernmost stronghold, will be "finished soon" after launching the most intensive bombardment of the four-month campaign in the days after the Istanbul nightclub attack. Using jets and artillery, Turkish officials claimed to have killed scores of Isis members following the shooting dead of 39 people in an attack on new year revellers claimed by Isis. The ground assault is being led by members of the Free Syria Army, which has carved out a swath of influence for Ankara in northern Syria as its troops have pushed towards al-Bab. Continue reading... |
| LG unveils Hub Robot to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:23 AM PST Unveiled at CES, home assistant can play music and tell you the weather but also order your vacuum cleaner to start cleaning the house and turn on your oven LG unveiled its own competitor to Amazon Echo and Google Home on Wednesday – a home assistant that can play music and tell you the weather but also order your vacuum cleaner to start cleaning the house and turn on your oven. The Hub Robot, which LG said will go on sale in 2017, was shown for the first time in Las Vegas ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show, which opens to the public on Thursday. Continue reading... |
| Walk like a penguin to avoid slipping on ice, German doctors advise Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:05 AM PST Advice to walk leaning forward so centre of gravity is on front leg comes as Germany braces for plummeting temperatures With temperatures forecast to plummet in Germany over the next few days, trauma surgeons in the country are telling residents how best to avoid slipping on icy pavements: walk like penguins. The technique involves leaning the torso forward so that the centre of gravity is on the front leg, according to an advisory published on the website of the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery. Continue reading... |
| Dylann Roof tells jury 'there's nothing wrong with me psychologically' Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:32 AM PST Roof did not ask jurors to spare him from death penalty in opening statement during sentencing phase of trial for killing of nine Charleston churchgoers Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof spoke to the jury for the first time at his death penalty trial on Wednesday, telling them that there was nothing wrong with him psychologically and that he was not trying to keep any secrets from them. He did not ask jurors to spare him from the death penalty. Continue reading... |
| French farmer on trial for helping migrants across Italian border Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:26 AM PST Cédric Herrou, who was previously arrested for aiding eight Eritreans, faces up to five years in jail and €30,000 fine if convicted A French farmer, who has become a local hero for helping African migrants cross the border from Italy and giving them shelter, has gone on trial for aiding illegal arrivals. Cédric Herrou is one of three people to appear before courts in southern France for assisting people fleeing to Europe. Continue reading... |
| World's oldest known orca presumed dead in blow to endangered whales Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:34 AM PST Known as Granny and believed to be 105, the matriarch of a small population of struggling Puget Sound orcas was first identified by researchers in the 1970s The world's oldest known orca – a century-old matriarch of a small population of endangered Puget Sound orcas – has been missing for months and is presumed dead by researchers in what is being described as a tremendous blow to an already struggling population. Known as Granny and believed to be 105 years old, the orca has not been seen by researchers since mid-October, according to the Centre for Whale Research in North America's Pacific Northwest. Continue reading... |
| Insurers paid out $50bn for natural disaster claims in 2016 Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:17 AM PST Last year saw highest costs from natural disasters since 2012, according to data from reinsurer Munich Re Last year saw the highest costs from natural disasters since 2012, with two earthquakes in Japan in April accounting for the heaviest losses, a leading insurer has said. Related: Climate change threatens ability of insurers to manage risk Continue reading... |
| Good samaritans who came to woman's rescue make headlines in China Posted: 04 Jan 2017 04:25 AM PST Lack of legal protections and string of extortion cases have contributed to a general reluctance to help strangers A woman is punched and thrown to the ground by a man who then proceeds to kick her as she raises her arms to deflect the blows. A pedestrian marches ahead; a car drives by. Many similar incidents in China have ended here, with a stream of passersby doing nothing to help strangers in need. But luckily for the woman in this video, two restaurant workers, Yang Yanshuai and Zhang Chengwei, chose to step in and stop the violence. Continue reading... |
| Over 100 people injured in New York commuter train derailment Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:05 AM PST A Long Island Railroad train traveling at a 'fairly low rate of speed' crashed into a bumper at its final stop in Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn Wednesday At least 103 people were injured in New York City on Wednesday after a commuter train derailed during rush hour. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said the injuries were not life-threatening and patients were being treated in local hospitals. Continue reading... |
| Berlin Christmas market attack: Tunisian man aged 26 detained Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:50 AM PST German police say they have searched room of man who had dinner with main suspect, Anis Amri, before attack German authorities say they have taken a 26-year-old Tunisian man into custody and are investigating whether he played a role in the truck attack that killed 12 people in Berlin before Christmas. On Tuesday evening, police searched the room of the man, who had dinner with the Tunisian main suspect, Anis Amri, 24, a day before Amri ploughed a truck through a Christmas market on 19 December, a spokeswoman for the chief federal prosecutor said. Continue reading... |
| New York City police fatally shoot armed men in two incidents in Brooklyn Posted: 04 Jan 2017 06:01 AM PST Police killed a man armed with a 13-inch knife and another man who fired shots into a lounge in two separate occurrences overnight on Wednesday New York police fatally shot two armed men in Brooklyn in the span of about six hours on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, authorities said. Related: NYPD admits 'we failed' in police shooting of mentally ill Bronx woman Continue reading... |
| Trump's tweets keep US manufacturers on their toes Posted: 04 Jan 2017 05:54 AM PST Criticism of Ford, GM and others raises prospect of elements of US industrial strategy being formulated on social media Donald Trump's prolific and opinionated tweeting helped him win the US election, and now he is using Twitter to persuade big business to bend to his agenda. There was further evidence this week that the incoming president's unusual approach is paying off after Ford cancelled plans to open a new plant in Mexico. It came one month after a Trump-brokered agreement with United Technologies to prevent 1,100 manufacturing jobs in Indiana from being moved out of the US. Continue reading... |
| UK among six countries to hit 0.7% UN aid spending target Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:06 AM PST Amid criticism of UK aid spending, OECD data shows only Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden exceeded British aid spend in 2015 Britain was one of six major donors that met or exceeded the UN's target for international aid spending in the most recent year for which final data is available, according to official figures published on Wednesday. Against the backdrop of a major onslaught from aid critics, data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Coooperation and Development (OECD) showed that UK aid spending in 2015, which totalled 0.7% of gross national income, was exceeded by only five countries: Denmark (0.85%), the Netherlands (0.75%), Norway (1.05%), Luxembourg (0.95%) and Sweden (1.4%). Continue reading... |
| Charles Manson 'moved from prison to hospital' Posted: 04 Jan 2017 03:38 AM PST California official confirms only that 82-year-old killer is alive after reports he had been taken to medical centre Charles Manson, the 82-year-old killer and cult leader, has been taken from his California prison cell to a hospital, according to unconfirmed reports. A state corrections official confirmed only that Manson was still alive, following the reports on TMZ and in the Los Angeles Times. Continue reading... |
| Democrats prepare for confirmation battle over 'troublesome' Trump cabinet nominees Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:41 AM PST Democratic senators are targeting eight of the president-elect's cabinet nominees and are pushing for more time to hold hearings In a new era of Republican-led governance, there is little Democrats can do to prevent Donald Trump's cabinet nominees from being confirmed. But that won't stop them from trying. Democratic senators are targeting eight of Trump's cabinet nominees whom they view as particularly "troublesome" and are pushing for more time to hold hearings on each of them. Continue reading... |
| Shirin Neshat’s best photograph: an Iranian woman with a gun in her hair Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:33 AM PST 'We often think of women with an Islamic background as being passive and submissive to men, but here they are empowered by bearing arms' This is my friend and muse, an artist called Arita Shahrzad. When it comes to capturing nuance and sadness, she has the perfect lips and eyes. I don't actually take the pictures I produce. I've used photography for a long time, but I'm not technically trained. My role is more conceptual. I do the composition, the framing, the post-production and calligraphy. I've also posed in several pictures. It's not like I get a cameraman in to do it all. This image of Arita is taken from my Women of Allah series. It explored martyrdom in relation to women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I'm fascinated by how martyrdom was encouraged and institutionalised during the 1979 revolution. It has deep political ramifications, but I also wanted to explore the psychological effects of martyrdom. These Iranians were caught between self-sacrifice, devotion, love of god – and cruelty, violence and death. We often think of women with an Islamic background as being passive and submissive to men, but here they were really empowered by bearing arms. Continue reading... |
| China hits back at 'extreme' tariffs from rival economies Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:33 AM PST Rise in EU steel tariffs among measures cited by ministry of commerce, amid fears that Donald Trump could hit Chinese goods with tariffs of up to 45% China has criticised "extreme" tariffs on its exports amid concerns in Beijing that Donald Trump will embark on a policy of protectionism as US president. Trump has pledged to hit Chinese goods with tariffs of up to 45% and said cheap imports are "killing" US manufacturers. Continue reading... |
| China to invest £292bn in renewable power by 2020 Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:27 AM PST World's largest energy market looks to move from coal towards cleaner fuels China will plough 2.5tn yuan (£292bn) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country's energy agency has said, as the world's largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels. The investment will create more than 13m jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation's energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period. Continue reading... |
| Black church burning in Mississippi stirs debate over Trump and race – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Days before the election, a historic African-American church in the Mississippi delta was set on fire in and vandalized with the words 'Vote Trump'. Paul Lewis visits the city of Greenville, where the story behind the burning of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church takes an unexpected turn – and prompts some difficult conversations about race relations. Continue reading... |
| Italy's Five Star Movement part of growing club of Putin sympathisers in west Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST M5S leader Beppe Grillo's attitude to Russia has changed markedly as Kremlin courts anti-establishment parties Ten years ago, in the wake of the murder of the leading Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a popular comedian-turned-blogger in Italy named Beppe Grillo urged tens of thousands of his readers to go out and buy Putin's Russia, her searing exposé of corruption under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. "Russia is a democracy based on the export of gas and oil. If they didn't export that, they would go back to being the good old dictatorship of once upon a time," Grillo wrote in a mournful 2006 post about the journalist's murder. |
| Nomads no more: why Mongolian herders are moving to the city Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Climate change and the end of Soviet state support have forced 600,000 to migrate to the capital, leaving it struggling to cope In Altansukh Purev's yurt, the trappings of a herder's life lie in plain sight. In the corner are his saddle and bridle. By the door, he has left a milk pail. If you didn't know better, you might think his horses and cattle were still grazing outside on the remote plains of outer Mongolia. But they aren't. Altansukh's milk pail stands empty. There is no horse for him to saddle. His cattle are dead. And this tent, which once stood in the countryside, is now on the fringes of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, surrounded by pylons, rubble and the husks of old cars. Altansukh, his wife and their four children may live among rural paraphernalia, but following a disastrously cold winter a few years ago, they were forced to move to the city to survive. Continue reading... |
| Security fears prompt Buckingham Palace changing of guard reforms Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:40 AM PST Ceremony is switched to fixed days in autumn and winter as security is stepped up in wake of Berlin terror attack One of Buckingham Palace's most time-honoured traditions - changing of the guard - is switching to fixed days in the autumn and winter after security was stepped up in the wake of the Berlin terror attack. The colourful military spectacle, which usually takes place on alternate days from August to March, will now happen on set days – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays – during this period. Continue reading... |
| Having a period is unaffordable in Kenya, yet no one wants to talk about it Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST ZanaAfrica is fighting to get menstruation on the national curriculum as it's revealed two thirds of Kenyan women and girls cannot afford sanitary pads When Michelle Tatu got her first period, she was afraid she was dying. Terrified, she stuffed bits of cloth and cotton inside herself to try and stem the bleeding. Too frightened to tell her parents what was happening, she kept quiet. She spent her school day terrified blood would leak out, exposing her to ridicule from her classmates. Continue reading... |
| Mexico appoints ex-minister behind Trump's visit as new foreign minister Posted: 04 Jan 2017 01:11 PM PST Luis Videgaray, who was pushed out after controversial meeting, could foster close relations with incoming administration, President Enrique Peña Nieto said A former cabinet secretary who was forced to resign after arranging Donald Trump's visit to Mexico has been unexpectedly named foreign minister as the country prepares for a potentially rocky relationship with the incoming US president. President Enrique Peña Nieto named ex-finance minister Luis Videgaray as foreign relations minister on Wednesday, apparently hoping that his most trusted adviser can court close relations with senior members of the Trump administration. Continue reading... |
| Disability advocates add to calls to suspend Centrelink debt recovery system Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:33 PM PST Disabled People's Organisations Australia fears system is having unfair impact on those with disability Disability advocates have put further pressure on the government to suspend its automated debt recovery system, while Centrelink continues to refer distressed and suicidal individuals to Lifeline. Disabled People's Organisations Australia, a collection of disability support and advocacy groups, has called on the government to immediately halt the recovery process, which has relied on a crude and automated data-matching process to begin chasing 169,000 debts from welfare recipients since July. Continue reading... |
| Bluefin tuna auctioned for £517,000 at Tokyo market – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:55 PM PST A 212kg bluefin tuna sells for 74.2m yen (£517,000) at the first auction of the year at Tsukiji market in Tokyo, amid warnings that decades of overfishing by Japan and other countries is taking the species to the brink of extinction Continue reading... |
| North Korea able to test intercontinental ballistic missile this year, say experts Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:15 PM PST Although missile may be tested it is likely to fail with a successful model possibly two to three years away North Korea is capable of fulfilling its New Year's threat to start testing an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017, bringing a long-brewing standoff with the US to the boil in the first year of a Trump administration, weapons experts have warned. Those experts said the regime in Pyongyang was likely to encounter multiple test failures in developing a two- or three-stage missile capable of reaching the continental United States or Europe, and that it would probably take a few years for such a weapon to become operational. But the first test would trigger a foreign policy crisis in Washington and western capitals. Continue reading... |
| Rohingya plight making Myanmar a target for Isis, Malaysia warns Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:12 PM PST Malaysian counter-terrorism chief speaks after suspected Isis follower detained over alleged plot to' perform jihad in Myanmar' Myanmar faces a growing danger of attacks by foreign Islamic State supporters fighting for persecuted Muslim Rohingyas, Malaysia's top counter-terrorism official has said. Malaysian authorities have detained a suspected Isis follower planning to head to Myanmar to carry out attacks, the head of the Malaysian police counter-terrorism division, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said in an interview. Continue reading... |
| So what's the big idea, European Union? Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST The EU once thought big, introducing the euro and open borders, but now it's the populists who are grabbing all the headlines A few weeks ago, a significant anniversary in Maastricht slipped by almost unnoticed: 25 years ago, the historic treaty that ushered in the euro was drafted. But there was no fanfare, no commemoration in the European parliament, no mention at all by the commission. There was just a rather lacklustre speech by the EU president, Jean-Claude Juncker, in which he lamented that people were not sufficiently proud of what had been achieved on 9 December 1991. Continue reading... |
| Apple removes New York Times app in China Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:56 PM PST Company says it will not offer news site in app store because it has been told by Beijing it is in 'violation of local regulations' Apple has removed the New York Times app from its store in China after a government request, in an example of how far the company will go to please the authorities in its third-largest market. China operates what is thought to be the largest internet censorship regime in the world, blocking thousands of foreign websites viewed as a threat by the ruling Communist party. Google, Twitter, Facebook Youtube and Instagram are all inaccessible. Continue reading... |
| Gambia army chief reverses pledge and stands by embattled president Jammeh Posted: 04 Jan 2017 06:55 PM PST General Ousman Badjie says forces will be 'unflinching loyal' despite earlier backing election winner Adama Barrow Gambia's army chief pledged his loyalty on Wednesday to President Yahya Jammeh, who has refused to accept defeat in last month's election and faces the possibility of regional military intervention to enforce the result of the vote. Jammeh initially accepted his loss in the Dec. 1 election but a week later reversed his position, vowing to hang onto power despite a wave of regional and international condemnation. Continue reading... |
| 200 children found working in India brick kiln Posted: 04 Jan 2017 06:17 PM PST Girls as young as seven found carrying bricks on their head in southern state of Telangana, say police Indian police have rescued nearly 200 children, most of them under 14, who were found working in a brick kiln, officials said on Wednesday. The children were rescued in the Yadadiri district in Telangana, 40km from state capital Hyderabad, as part of Operation Smile, a national campaign to tackle child labour and missing children. Continue reading... |
| Kosovo former PM arrested in France on Serbian warrant Posted: 04 Jan 2017 05:15 PM PST Former guerrilla commander Ramush Haradinaj was flying from Pristina on a diplomatic passport when he was detained A former prime minister of Kosovo who was a guerrilla commander during the Kosovo war has been detained in France on a Serbian arrest warrant. Ramush Haradinaj was arrested by border police upon his arrival at Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France on a flight from Pristina, French police sources said. Continue reading... |
| Marine Le Pen cheers Ford move out of Mexico as win for protectionism Posted: 04 Jan 2017 03:38 PM PST French far-right presidential candidate praises Donald Trump for carmaker's decision to shift investment back to US French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has cheered Ford's decision to shift investment from Mexico to the US, describing the move as a victory for the protectionist policies she champions. Related: Trump's tweets keep US manufacturers on their toes Continue reading... |
| 105-year-old French cyclist sets record – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 01:19 PM PST Robert Marchand set a new world record on Wednesday when he cycled 14 miles in an hour. The 105-year-old was cheered on by crowds in Paris and was emotional at the end of his challenge. But he admitted that he could have gone faster at the end but he hadn't seen the sign telling him he only had ten minutes left Continue reading... |
| Migration: a critical point in modern history – Project podcast Posted: 04 Jan 2017 01:03 PM PST The burden for hosting the world's more than 60 million displaced people is falling in an inequitable way. How can we meet this challenge as isolationist movements spring up? Continue reading... |
| Wartime Britain and black GIs united through music | Letters Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:11 AM PST I, like Hugh Muir (Opinion, 31 December), have enjoyed Linda Hervieux's recent book Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-day's Black Heroes. Her research on how the Welsh people greeted the black GIs was reinforced by Ralph Ellison, who later in 1952 published his landmark novel Invisible Man. Ellison spent some time in Britain in the US merchant navy during the war. His travels took him to Swansea, Cardiff and Barry in South Wales, and in 1944 he fictionalised his real experiences in a short story called In a Strange Country. He remembered the "warm hospitality of a few private homes" and a Red Cross club in Swansea where the ladies prepared "amazing things with powdered eggs and a delicious salad from the flesh of hares". His time there was rounded off by a "memorable evening drinking in a private men's club where the communal singing was excellent". Of course many British people hoped that the war would soon be over and therefore the stay of the black Americans would be short. A few years later, when the first permanent black residents made their way here, the attitudes of some people began to change. • Jessie Prior may have been "a Welsh woman who had never seen a non-white person before". She would, however, have known of Paul Robeson and his close connections with Wales before the second world war through his singing, his films and his support for the Welsh miners during some very hard times. He was respected and loved throughout Wales. |
| Ofsted’s position on LGBT programmes in schools | Letters Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:11 AM PST With reference to your article (LGBT author hits back at attacks over book for schoolchildren on gender diversity, 3 January), I would like to take the opportunity to clarify for your readers that Ofsted does not formally recognise any specific programmes to support LGBTQ inclusion in schools. As an independent arbiter of education standards, Ofsted is mindful of avoiding suggestions that we endorse or recommend particular educational programmes or resources. From time to time individual inspection reports may make reference to the tools or programmes a school has used, and the impact they have had in the context of that particular school. However, this should not be taken as official recognition or endorsement of those tools and programmes. • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading... |
| Avian flu: Defra tells owners to keep poultry indoors until spring Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:42 AM PST Extension of prevention measures announced one day after a backyard flock in south Wales was found to have disease Poultry owners across Britain have been told they must keep their chickens, ducks and geese away from wild birds until the start of spring to counter the threat of avian influenza. Keepers, including people with just a few backyard hens, must place poultry indoors or take other measures to reduce the chances of them coming into contact with wild birds. Continue reading... |
| British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran attends appeals court Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:07 AM PST Verdict is expected next week on whether Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will have to serve five-year sentence for unspecified offence A British-Iranian woman being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison has appeared in an appeals court, using the last legal opportunity to challenge her five-year jail sentence. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the news agency's charitable arm, was found guilty in September on unspecific charges relating to national security. |
| Elor Azaria: the Israeli soldier who exposed the country's faultlines Posted: 04 Jan 2017 06:14 AM PST The case of the 'Hebron shooter' who killed a wounded Palestinian attacker has elicited both sympathy and condemnation The case of Elor Azaria – the "Hebron shooter" – has cast a long shadow over Israel over the past 10 months. The baby-faced, diminutive soldier who fatally shot a wounded Palestinian attacker in the head exposed multiple faultlines in a country that itself seemed at times to be on trial. For the military, whose senior officers pushed for a prosecution, the case and the international attention that it drew appeared clear cut from the beginning, not least with the threat of action against Israel in the international criminal court. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2017 04:30 AM PST My mother, Phyllia Ormrod, grew up among the team of people who helped to excavate the Cretan palace of Knossos under the guidance of the archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. She rubbed shoulders with both the refined members of the British archaeological institute and the immensely loyal Cretan workforce. Phyllia was the youngest of the 10 or more children of Emmanuel Akouminakis, and his wife, Kyria Kalaitxaki; seven children survived into adulthood. Her father had walked barefoot from his village of Anogia to work on the site at Knossos, near Heraklion, the island's capital. He became Evans's righthand man and, eventually, the curator of the Minoan museum in Heraklion. A regular visitor to Crete was the author Dilys Powell, whom Phyllia later helped with her book The Villa Ariadne (1973), inspired by the house that Evans built for himself on the site at Knossos. Continue reading... |
| The recycled surfboard making waves on the beaches of Bangladesh – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST Drowning is the biggest cause of child deaths in Bangladesh but Alamgir, a lifeguard in the resort town of Cox's Bazar, aims to change that. After training on a project supported by Britain's Royal National Lifeboat Institution, he made a rescue board using recycled materials. Now Alamgir aims to make more boards and encourage safer surfing Continue reading... |
| Bangladeshi surfer with ambitions to become chairman of the board | Karen McVeigh Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST A young lifeguard and part-time surfer at the Bangladeshi resort of Cox's Bazar plans to launch the town's first surfboard business – using recycled materials When Mohammed Alamgir first began to surf in his hometown of Cox's Bazar, in the Bay of Bengal, he was faced with a problem: surfers are rare in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, and surfboards rarer still. He borrowed a battered board from a friend, who was left it by a visiting surfing charity from Wahiawa, Hawaii. Now that the sport is slowly gaining popularity in the fishing port and tourist resort, Alamgir, 24, has plans to launch what he believes may be the country's first surfboard business, making boards from recycled materials. Continue reading... |
| Zika, drought, conflict: what 2016 meant for the world's poorest – podcast transcript Posted: 04 Jan 2017 03:47 AM PST The Global development team looks back at some of the issues that affected millions of people in developing countries in the past year, and considers the challenges for 2017 Reports and presenters: LL Lucy Lamble Continue reading... |
| The Canada experiment: is this the world's first 'postnational' country? | Charles Foran Posted: 04 Jan 2017 04:00 AM PST When Justin Trudeau said 'there is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada', he was articulating a uniquely Canadian philosophy that some find bewildering, even reckless – but could represent a radical new model of nationhood As 2017 begins, Canada may be the last immigrant nation left standing. Our government believes in the value of immigration, as does the majority of the population. We took in an estimated 300,000 newcomers in 2016, including 48,000 refugees, and we want them to become citizens; around 85% of permanent residents eventually do. Recently there have been concerns about bringing in single Arab men, but otherwise Canada welcomes people from all faiths and corners. The greater Toronto area is now the most diverse city on the planet, with half its residents born outside the country; Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal aren't far behind. Annual immigration accounts for roughly 1% of the country's current population of 36 million. Canada has been over-praised lately for, in effect, going about our business as usual. In 2016 such luminaries as US President Barack Obama and Bono, no less, declared "the world needs more Canada". In October, the Economist blared "Liberty Moves North: Canada's Example to the World" on its cover, illustrated by the Statue of Liberty haloed in a maple leaf and wielding a hockey stick. Infamously, on the night of the US election Canada's official immigration website crashed, apparently due to the volume of traffic. Continue reading... |
| Pence: Repealing Obamacare is 'first order of business' – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 01:31 PM PST US vice president-elect Mike Pence tells reporters in Washington that the first order of business for president-elect Donald Trump is to repeal and replace Obamacare. House speaker Paul Ryan adds that Republicans opposing the current healthcare system do not want to pull the rug out from people during the transition process |
| New York commuter train going 'faster than normal' before derailment – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:08 AM PST A New York commuter train which derailed on Wednesday morning was going 'faster than normal' according to one unnamed passenger. Over 100 people were injured when the Long Island Railroad derailed at its final stop in Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn during rush hour Continue reading... |
| Good samaritans intervene when man attacks woman in China – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 04:21 AM PST A woman is thrown to the ground and kicked by a man in the northern province of Hebei. After a car and pedestrian pass by, two people intervene. The footage became national news in China, against a backdrop of soul-searching over repeated incidences of people in need being ignored Continue reading... |
| The best photographs of Barack Obama's presidency – in pictures Posted: 04 Jan 2017 04:00 AM PST The Obama presidency was a gift to picture editors: young and attractive with a handsome family, he brought an openness and sense of fun to the White House unseen since JFK. Our US picture editor, Sarah Gilbert, selects her favourite pictures from his eight years in office Continue reading... |
| Toddler lifts chest of drawers off trapped twin brother – video Posted: 04 Jan 2017 02:57 AM PST Toddler Bowdy Shoff shows surprising strength as he pushes a fallen chest of drawers off his brother Brock. The pair from Utah, in the western US, were climbing on the piece of furniture when it toppled over. Their father, Ricky Shoff, posted footage of the accident to Facebook on New Year's Day to encourage parents to ensure furniture is bolted securely onto walls Continue reading... |
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