World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Donald Trump 'not denying Russia was behind hacking campaign', says Priebus
- Kim Kardashian West robbery: 16 people arrested in France
- Talks to secure Cyprus reunification enter 'final stages'
- Four soldiers dead in Jerusalem truck attack
- Free speech curtailed in Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar as prosecutions soar
- Dreaming of Europe: the last young man left in a Senegalese village
- Hong Kong's 'villain hitters' use sorcery to vent political anger
- Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure as investigation details leak
- Iran's former president Rafsanjani dies aged 82
- Defense secretary: North Korea’s weapons capabilities a 'serious threat'
- Brazil prison riot leaves at least four dead
- Paris mayor unveils plan to restrict traffic and pedestrianise city centre
- Fort Lauderdale shooting: FBI agent who interrogated Saddam leads probe
- Pope Francis encourages mothers to breastfeed in Sistine Chapel
- California braces for big storm that could cause flooding and mudslides
- Five Star Movement's founder calls for vote on quitting Farage bloc
- Louvre blames 2 million fall in visitor numbers on terrorism fears
- Former Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif to lead 'Muslim Nato'
- Several die in Poland as icy weather continues to sweep across Europe
- When I first started my period my mother said I had become untouchable
- Ted Cruz meets Taiwan president and fires his own broadside at China
- Boris Johnson flies to New York for talks with Donald Trump's team
- Tube strike: all lines hit and most central London stations closed – live updates
- The 100 best nonfiction books: No 49 – The American Language by HL Mencken
- Former NSW Liberal MP Tim Owen pays back $50,000 in illegal donations
- Audit office to investigate $1.84m federal grant to Bob Day's training college
- UK has grown much less caring, says writer of play inspired by PJ Harvey
- Cyprus peace talks: Theresa May ready to attend if deal in sight
- Beijing creates anti-smog police to tackle air polluters
- Australia and Timor-Leste to negotiate permanent maritime boundary
- New Oxfam app aims to rebuild trust in charities and increase donations
- Freezing conditions cause death and chaos across Europe
- Man arrested in shooting of American consular official in Guadalajara
- Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups
- Israeli diplomat boasts about setting up political groups in UK – video
- An anthem to soothe the national psyche | Letters
- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani obituary
- The Rev Dr Una Kroll obituary
- Eyewitness: Sakaraha, Madagascar
- Jerusalem truck attack kills four soldiers – video report
- Jerusalem truck attack: four Israeli officer cadets killed and at least 15 injured – live updates
- Mário Soares obituary
- Freezing conditions sweep across European continent – video
- The rise of the cashless city: 'There is this real danger of exclusion'
- Modern agriculture cultivates climate change – we must nurture biodiversity
- 'We had nothing to give him': the human cost of malnutrition in Maharashtra
- Barack Obama: Donald Trump may have 'enough craziness’ to be president – video
| Donald Trump 'not denying Russia was behind hacking campaign', says Priebus Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:27 PM PST President-elect's incoming White House chief of staff says Trump 'accepts the findings' of a report on Russian interference in the election Donald Trump no longer denies that Russia orchestrated a cyber-attack against Hillary Clinton's campaign and her party, according to his top advisers, who also blamed Democrats for the breach and falsely characterized the testimony of an intelligence chief to Congress. Related: Barack Obama says Donald Trump may have 'enough craziness' to be president Continue reading... |
| Kim Kardashian West robbery: 16 people arrested in France Posted: 09 Jan 2017 01:30 AM PST Suspects held after police raids in Paris, Normandy and French Riviera over gunpoint robbery of reality TV star French police have arrested 16 suspects in connection with the robbery of the US reality TV star Kim Kardashian West in Paris in October. The suspects, a number of them reportedly well known to detectives for armed robbery, were picked up in coordinated early morning raids, most of them in the Paris region, but also in Normandy and the French Riviera. |
| Talks to secure Cyprus reunification enter 'final stages' Posted: 09 Jan 2017 01:53 AM PST Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials say first direct negotiations since 1974 are 'best and last chance' for resolution A historic effort to end the division of Cyprus has begun in earnest as Greek and Turkish community leaders resumed reunification talks before a high stakes multilateral conference, the first since the island's partition 43 years ago. After 18 months of intensive negotiations to settle inter-ethnic divisions, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı will attempt to finesse the details of a peace deal in Geneva this week by poring over maps and discussing territorial trade-offs before tackling the potentially explosive issue of security. Continue reading... |
| Four soldiers dead in Jerusalem truck attack Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:47 AM PST Palestinian driver ploughs into soldiers gathered at a promenade overlooking the Old City, killing four and injuring a dozen Four Israeli soldiers, three of them cadets, were killed in Jerusalem on Sunday when a Palestinian attacker driving a truck ploughed into them deliberately, injuring more than a dozen more. The attack, the deadliest in months, comes after a lull in recent violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Continue reading... |
| Free speech curtailed in Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar as prosecutions soar Posted: 08 Jan 2017 07:48 PM PST Dozens of people have been charged or jailed for allegedly defaming the regime that the Nobel laureate leads, raising fears of continued oppression For decades, the punishment for speaking out against Myanmar's rulers was simple and guaranteed: a very long stretch behind bars. The new democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power last April, insisted that era was over. Continue reading... |
| Dreaming of Europe: the last young man left in a Senegalese village Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Life is lonely and humiliating for Goundo Wandianga, 21, whose friends and twin brother have all gone to seek their fortunes Goundo Wandianga is the only young man left in his village. Or at least, that's what it feels like. He spends his days lounging under mango trees in his family's small village in Casamance, the southern region of Senegal, playing on his phone, doing odd jobs for his mother, and dreaming about Europe. Continue reading... |
| Hong Kong's 'villain hitters' use sorcery to vent political anger Posted: 08 Jan 2017 03:39 PM PST Roadside vendors offer curses, blessings and spells against leaders using rituals from southern China that date back centuries Feeling down about Donald Trump's election and hope he will fail? Want to curse Nigel Farage for leading the UK to Brexit? A group of sorcerers in Hong Kong have what you need, and a track record they say proves their success. Known locally as "villain hitters", the group of mostly elderly women set up stall every day under a flyover in the former British colony's busiest shopping district. As Hong Kong residents have become increasingly disillusioned with their leaders, more and more have sought out a more ethereal method to vent their anger. Continue reading... |
| Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure as investigation details leak Posted: 08 Jan 2017 08:36 AM PST Reports that key member of coalition is sounding out potential replacement after Israeli PM questioned twice by detectives The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been forced to defend himself as a cascade of alleged leaks from two police investigations that saw him formally interviewed by detectives on two separate occasions in the last week hit Israeli media. Netanyahu strongly denies any wrongdoing in relation to the two cases – including receiving tens of thousands of dollars' worth of gifts from a billionaire Hollywood producer. However, the claims have led his supporters to rally round to insist that even if he were charged he could continue in office. |
| Iran's former president Rafsanjani dies aged 82 Posted: 08 Jan 2017 09:53 AM PST Rafsanjani, founding member of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and president for two consecutive terms, dies in Tehran Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's greatest political survivor who served as president for two consecutive terms, has died aged 82. Rafsanjani, a pragmatist ayatollah considered the country's second most powerful political figure for much of the Islamic Republic's history, died in hospital in north Tehran on Sunday, according to local news agencies. Continue reading... |
| Defense secretary: North Korea’s weapons capabilities a 'serious threat' Posted: 08 Jan 2017 10:37 AM PST Ash Carter says US is prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile launch after country said it could test an ICBM at any time from any location North Korea's nuclear weapons capabilities and ballistic missile defense programs constitute a "serious threat" to the United States, defense secretary Ash Carter said on Sunday. The US is prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile launch or test "if it were coming towards our territory or the territory of our friends and allies", Carter said during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. Continue reading... |
| Brazil prison riot leaves at least four dead Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:36 AM PST Violence in Manaus jail follows deaths of almost 100 inmates in two recent prison uprisings linked to escalating gang war A prison uprising in northern Brazil has left at least four dead, adding to the gang-related violence in Brazil's penitentiary system that has claimed the lives of almost 100 inmates. The latest violence took place at the Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa jail in Manaus, Amazonas, according to the government penitentiary agency in the state. Continue reading... |
| Paris mayor unveils plan to restrict traffic and pedestrianise city centre Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:34 AM PST Anne Hidalgo says she wants to cut the number of private cars in French capital by half as part of campaign to tackle pollution The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has unveiled plans to restrict traffic in the French capital and pedestrianise the city centre in an attempt to halve the number of private cars on the roads. The move comes as arguments continue over the closure of roads along the Seine last summer and other traffic reduction measures introduced after dangerous spikes in pollution led to a cloud of smog over the city. Continue reading... |
| Fort Lauderdale shooting: FBI agent who interrogated Saddam leads probe Posted: 08 Jan 2017 10:57 AM PST
The FBI agent who interrogated Saddam Hussein is leading the investigation into the Florida airport shooting in which five people were killed on Friday. An Iraq war veteran has been charged over the incident. Related: Fort Lauderdale shooting: suspect had extended contact with police Continue reading... |
| Pope Francis encourages mothers to breastfeed in Sistine Chapel Posted: 08 Jan 2017 04:41 AM PST Pontiff tells women to 'breastfeed without fear' at annual ceremony where 28 children were baptised Pope Francis has encouraged women attending a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel to feel free to breastfeed their children in the church. "The ceremony is a little long, someone's crying because he's hungry. That's the way it is," the pontiff said. Continue reading... |
| California braces for big storm that could cause flooding and mudslides Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:59 AM PST
Rivers were rising and winds were whipping up in northern California on Sunday, as a storm that could be the biggest to slam the region in more than a decade began to gather speed. Related: Icy winter storm causes accidents and deaths in south and eastern US Continue reading... |
| Five Star Movement's founder calls for vote on quitting Farage bloc Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:34 AM PST Beppe Grillo says his populist party no longer shares common goals with Ukip and recommends leaving Eurosceptic grouping The founder of Italy's populist Five Star Movement (M5S) has asked members to vote on splitting from a Eurosceptic bloc of MEPs co-chaired by Nigel Farage. Beppe Grillo, a comedian turned politician, said in a post on his blog that since Farage had led Ukip to Britain voting to leave the EU, the two parties no longer shared common goals and he recommended leaving the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD). Continue reading... |
| Louvre blames 2 million fall in visitor numbers on terrorism fears Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:21 AM PST Paris institution lost nearly €10m and welcomed 15% fewer visitors than in 2015 as international tourists were put off by series of terror attacks in France The Louvre museum lost nearly €10m (£8.6m) last year after a drop in visitor numbers blamed on fears of terrorism and closures caused by the risk of flooding. Jean-Luc Martinez, head of the Parisian institution, said it had been "a difficult year" for most tourist sites in the French capital and the museum had finished the year with 15% fewer visitors than in 2015 – down about 2 million people to 7.3 million. Continue reading... |
| Former Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif to lead 'Muslim Nato' Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:37 AM PST Flood of criticism greets general's appointment as commander of Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism Pakistan's retired army chief has agreed to become the first commander of the "Muslim Nato", a fledgling military alliance of mostly Sunni Islamic states led by Saudi Arabia. The announcement led to a flood of criticism of Raheel Sharif, a general who until recently had been lauded for his three years leading Pakistan's half a million-strong army. Continue reading... |
| Several die in Poland as icy weather continues to sweep across Europe Posted: 09 Jan 2017 02:18 AM PST Freezing conditions cause multiple deaths and travel disruption, with temperatures plunging below -26C in some regions Ten people have died in Poland as bitterly cold weather swept across Europe, bringing the toll number of hypothermia deaths in the country to 65 since November. Sunday was the deadliest day this winter for cold-related deaths in Poland, where temperatures have plunged to below -26C (-4F) in some regions. |
| When I first started my period my mother said I had become untouchable Posted: 09 Jan 2017 02:14 AM PST In Nepal, menstruation is associated with stigmatising traditions and restrictions for women. I'm calling for an end to the – sometimes deadly – suffering I was 13 years old with a red ribbon cascading on my oiled hair when I got my first period. I thought I had dysentery. When I asked my mother about it, she slammed a bunch of rags in my hand and said "nani ta nachune bhais" – my daughter, you become untouchable [you are menstruating]. She pulled me inside my brother's room. I remember it was dark and creepy. Then came a list of restrictions: "Do not touch the kitchen and worshiping area", and "Stay away from your father and other relatives". I had to stay alone in brother's room for a week. What hurt the most was not able to see my father or any male members of my family during those days. Continue reading... |
| Ted Cruz meets Taiwan president and fires his own broadside at China Posted: 09 Jan 2017 01:37 AM PST
The Texas senator Ted Cruz and governor, Greg Abbott, have met the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, while she was passing through the state on her way to diplomatic stops in Central America. Related: Donald Trump 'not denying Russia was behind hacking campaign', says Priebus Continue reading... |
| Boris Johnson flies to New York for talks with Donald Trump's team Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:44 PM PST Foreign secretary's meeting with US president-elect marks first formal contact between a UK minister and his team Boris Johnson has flown to New York for the UK government's first formal face-to-face meetings with Donald Trump's administration, hours after the prime minister declared the president-elect's remarks about women unacceptable. The foreign secretary met Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the incoming White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon. The meeting marked the first formal contact between a UK government minister and the Trump transition team since his election in November. Continue reading... |
| Tube strike: all lines hit and most central London stations closed – live updates Posted: 09 Jan 2017 02:17 AM PST Millions of London Underground passengers face chaotic journey to work amid 24-hour strike over staffing and ticket office closures
More tales of travel woe, courtesy of PA:
Transport for London put on 150 extra buses to help cope with the extra demand (and add to the gridlock). They include a number of vintage models to excite the bus spotters. Tfl using old heritage buses pic.twitter.com/HfaizzIemE Continue reading... |
| The 100 best nonfiction books: No 49 – The American Language by HL Mencken Posted: 08 Jan 2017 09:45 PM PST This declaration of linguistic independence by the renowned US journalist and commentator marked a crucial new chapter in American prose The American century began in 1917 when President Wilson declared war on Germany and shipped more than a million troops to France. Two years later, a pugnacious columnist from Baltimore, who was obsessed with language, boldly made the decisive assertion of linguistic independence that had been implicit in American life and letters since 1776. HL Mencken's The American Language is a creature of its time, a flexing of American cultural muscle, but it also signalled an important new chapter in English language prose. After Mencken, in the words of the critic Edmund Wilson, "American writers were finally able to take flight from the old tree and to trust for the first time their own dialect". Continue reading... |
| Former NSW Liberal MP Tim Owen pays back $50,000 in illegal donations Posted: 09 Jan 2017 12:35 AM PST Electoral commission finds $84,137 donated to Owen's campaign for seat of Newcastle in lead-up to the 2011 NSW election unlawful Former New South Wales Liberal MP Tim Owen has repaid $50,000 in donations which the state electoral commission found to be illegal after an investigation triggered by the Independent Commission against Corruption. The NSW Electoral Commission has now recovered $666,992 in illegal donations after Operation Spicer which examined alleged developer donations to the NSW Liberal party. Continue reading... |
| Audit office to investigate $1.84m federal grant to Bob Day's training college Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:44 PM PST Labor's Mark Dreyfus questions whether grant was given to help secure former Family First senator's vote in the Senate The audit office will examine a $1.84m federal government grant to the training college of which former Family First senator Bob Day was a director. On Thursday the deputy auditor general wrote to Labor's shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to say the Australian National Audit Office would investigate the Department of Education and Training's apprenticeship training alternative delivery pilots program. Continue reading... |
| UK has grown much less caring, says writer of play inspired by PJ Harvey Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Five-part BBC drama On Kosovo Field for Radio 4 will feature unreleased material from double Mercury prize winner The UK was a much more compassionate country two decades ago than it is now, with the tone of public conversation "dragged horribly to the right" by divisive figures such as Nigel Farage, the writer of a new BBC drama inspired by PJ Harvey's Kosovan notebooks has said. On Kosovo Field, a five-part drama that will air on Radio 4 over the course of a week from Monday, features unreleased song demos from the double Mercuryprize winner. Continue reading... |
| Cyprus peace talks: Theresa May ready to attend if deal in sight Posted: 08 Jan 2017 10:00 PM PST PM could visit Geneva if this week's talks go well and it is felt her presence can help end dispute between Greece and Turkey Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, will lead the UK delegation to the Cyprus peace talks in Geneva on Thursday, but if the talks go well it is possible Theresa May will also attend alongside the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. Britain is critical to the talks on future security guarantees for the former British colony in the event of an agreement on other issues such as political equality, future boundaries and compensation. Continue reading... |
| Beijing creates anti-smog police to tackle air polluters Posted: 08 Jan 2017 08:21 PM PST Force will patrol streets looking for rules violations including open-air barbecues, rubbish burning and dusty roads Beijing will create an environmental police force aimed at tackling deadly smog, after the Chinese capital spent the first week of 2017 mostly shrouded in a thick haze of pollution. The new law enforcement outfit will patrol the streets, eyes peeled for open-air barbecues, trash burning and dusty roads that violate regulations, the city's acting mayor Cai Qi said at the weekend. Continue reading... |
| Australia and Timor-Leste to negotiate permanent maritime boundary Posted: 08 Jan 2017 08:07 PM PST Neighbours agree to tear up the controversial treaty that divides future revenue from Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve, potentially ending years of dispute Australia and Timor-Leste have agreed to begin negotiations on a permanent maritime boundary between the two countries, potentially ending years of dispute over the lucrative oil-rich Timor Gap and closing a chapter of mistrust and enmity between the two neighbours. Canberra and Dili have agreed to tear up the controversial Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMats) treaty that divides future revenue from the Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve, where an estimated $40bn worth of oil and gas lies beneath the Timor Sea. Continue reading... |
| New Oxfam app aims to rebuild trust in charities and increase donations Posted: 08 Jan 2017 04:00 PM PST The charity wants to increase transparency by providing updates on its work and allowing donors to track giving Oxfam, one of the UK's biggest charities, plans to harness the power of the smartphone to bring donors closer to its work. The global poverty reduction charity is launching an app, My Oxfam, that it says will make donating easy and rewarding. The app will also bring supporters closer to the charity's projects, offer a new level of transparency around its work, and aims to help regain donors' trust after a rocky couple of years for the charity sector. Continue reading... |
| Freezing conditions cause death and chaos across Europe Posted: 08 Jan 2017 01:24 PM PST Heavy snowfalls from Poland to Turkey cause more than a dozen deaths, many of them among homeless people and refugees Freezing temperatures across Europe have caused more than a dozen deaths and major disruption to power, water supplies and transport networks in recent days. Temperatures as low as -26C (-15F) caused ice to form on the Adriatic sea, the Danube and many smaller rivers, lakes and ponds. Continue reading... |
| Man arrested in shooting of American consular official in Guadalajara Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:32 PM PST Attorney general in the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located, confirms 'detention of the aggressor', whom a source says is a US citizen of Indian origin American and Mexican authorities have arrested the man believed to be responsible for the nonfatal shooting of an American consular official in the western city of Guadalajara. "The detention of the aggressor against the consular agent has been achieved," said Eduardo Almaguer, attorney general in the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located, on Sunday morning. "The suspect has been handed over to Mexico's federal attorney general's office." Continue reading... |
| Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:00 PM PST Shai Masot is filmed covertly as he boasts about establishing several groups, at least one intended to influence Labour policy An Israeli embassy official who plotted to "take down" MPs regarded as hostile has also set up a number of political organisations in the UK that operated as though entirely independent. Shai Masot was filmed covertly as he boasted about establishing several groups, at least one of which was intended to influence Labour party policy, while appearing to obscure their links to Israel. Continue reading... |
| Israeli diplomat boasts about setting up political groups in UK – video Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:00 PM PST Israeli embassy official Shai Masot is filmed by al-Jazeera undercover reporter as he talks about having established several groups Related: Israeli diplomat caught on camera plotting to 'take down' MPs Continue reading... |
| An anthem to soothe the national psyche | Letters Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:28 AM PST Your editorial on national anthems (5 January) reminds me of imprisoned conscientious objectors in 1916. In the face of taunts that they were unpatriotic, they promoted a vision of a nation based on equity and internationalism. One wrote on the wall of his cell in Richmond Castle, "Let the nations see that men should brothers be" – lines from an official verse of the national anthem, written by William Hickson in 1836. Hickson wrote other verses, too. My favourite ends: "May peace her sway extend, Foe be transformed to friend, And Britain's power depend on war no more." What a difference it would make to the national psyche if every time we sang the national anthem we sang "May Britain's power depend on war no more". • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading... |
| Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani obituary Posted: 08 Jan 2017 10:35 AM PST Former president of Iran who played a key role in the Islamic revolution of 1979 From the period of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's militant opposition to the Shah's regime in Iran in the 1970s, until his death, at the age of 82, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was one of Iran's major political players. Considered a pragmatic liberal, he had at times been ruthless. His charm and immense wealth gave him a cachet that few other Iranians enjoyed. He grew close to Khomeini during the latter's exile in the 60s and became rich as a property speculator in the 70s. He suffered imprisonment under the Shah on and off throughout the 60s and 70s, and, after the Islamic revolution in 1979, he held various positions of high state, including, from 1989 until 1997, that of president. Born in the village of Bahraman, near Rafsanjan, into a wealthy family of pistachio farmers, Rafsanjani attended a traditional Qur'anic school and in 1948 went to a seminary in the holy city of Qom, where he lived near Khomeini. By 1956, he had completed his basic theological studies. In 1963, the Shah ordered seminarians, technically exempt, to serve in the army. Rafsanjani fled and was arrested. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2017 08:49 AM PST Doctor, feminist, nun and campaigner who fought for the ordination of women Una Kroll, who has died aged 91, was a doctor, a nun, a feminist campaigner with a prominent role in the movement for the ordination of women, an activist for peace and justice, counsellor to many, and to many others a disturber of the peace. She defied labels. Perhaps the title of her 1995 book, Vocation to Resistance, came closest to defining her. Never afraid of publicity, she courted it when the General Synod, the legislative body of the Church of England, in 1978 said no to women's ordination. Una called down from the gallery: "We asked for bread and you have given us a stone." Her words echoed far beyond Church House. It was, she said, "all part of my non-violent resistance to injustice". Her 2014 autobiography would be titled Bread Not Stones. Continue reading... |
| Eyewitness: Sakaraha, Madagascar Posted: 08 Jan 2017 07:37 AM PST Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading... |
| Jerusalem truck attack kills four soldiers – video report Posted: 08 Jan 2017 07:33 AM PST Four Israeli officer cadets were killed when a truck rammed into a group at the Armon Hanatziv promenade, Jerusalem on Sunday. A further 12 people were injured. The Palestinian attacker from Jabel Mukaber, a nearby area of Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, who drove into the soldiers, was shot dead at the scene of the attack Continue reading... |
| Jerusalem truck attack: four Israeli officer cadets killed and at least 15 injured – live updates Posted: 08 Jan 2017 07:02 AM PST
Here is a summary:
Our correspondent Peter Beaumont has sent in an updated report from the scene. The full version of this piece is here. Four Israeli officer cadets were killed and a dozen wounded when a Palestinian driving a truck ploughed into them deliberately. Police said the dead, three women and one man, were all in their twenties, without identifying them. Among the wounded three were described as in a serious condition. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2017 06:32 AM PST Towering figure in Portuguese politics who was regarded as the father of his country's modern democracy Mário Soares, who has died aged 92, was an unlikely political giant. But by the time he stepped down from Portugal's highest office in 1996, he had achieved something that is not guaranteed even to those few politicians who earn the title of statesman: he had come to be liked and admired by the entire nation. Soares had a better claim than anyone to be regarded as the father of Portugal's modern democracy. He had been a brave opponent of the dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano and, following the 1974 "revolution of flowers" or carnation revolution, became the first civilian to head an elected government in more than half a century. He could also justly claim to have prepared Portugal for entry into the European Union, though – to his enduring and bitter chagrin – he was not the man who actually took his country in. Continue reading... |
| Freezing conditions sweep across European continent – video Posted: 08 Jan 2017 03:53 AM PST Heavy snowfall and below-freezing temperatures sweep across the European continent resulting in deaths and infrastructure chaos. At least 10 people have died in Poland since Friday, with temperatures dropping to -20C (-4F) on Saturday. Meanwhile, 650 flights have been grounded in Istanbul and schools have been told to remain closed on Monday in southern Italy following more than a metre of snowfall Continue reading... |
| The rise of the cashless city: 'There is this real danger of exclusion' Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Cities from Sweden to India are pushing for a totally cash-free society. But as more shops and transport networks insist on electronic payments, where does this leave the smallest traders and poorest inhabitants? Scrolling through my online bank statements at Christmas, I was surprised to find I had not removed cash from an ATM for well over four months. Thanks to the ubiquity of electronic payment systems, it has become increasingly easy to glide around London to a chorus of approving bleeps. As more shops and transport networks adapt to contactless card and touch-and-go mobile technology, many major cities around the world are in the process of relegating cash to second-class status. Some London shops and cafes are now, like the capital's buses, simply refusing to handle notes or coins. Continue reading... |
| Modern agriculture cultivates climate change – we must nurture biodiversity Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST Crop-breeding innovations are merely a short-term solution for falling yields. Only agricultural diversity can ensure food security and resilience As a new year dawns, it is hard not to be dazzled by the current pace of technological change in food and agriculture. Only last month, news emerged of a crop spray with the potential to increase the starch content in wheat grains, allowing for yield gains of up to 20%. This development comes hot on the heels of major breakthroughs in gene-editing technologies – using a powerful tool known as Crispr – over the course of 2016. A future of continually increasing food supplies and ever more sophisticated manipulation of agro-ecosystems seems to be upon us. |
| 'We had nothing to give him': the human cost of malnutrition in Maharashtra Posted: 08 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST Two months after his second birthday, Vishwarnam Sawra died in his mother's arms, one of thousands of young lives lost to malnutrition in the Indian state of Maharashtra after years of drought and the withdrawal of state nutrition schemes The most valuable thing in Devganga Sawra's hut is a memory card wrapped in lined notepaper and hidden in an earthen pot by the family shrine. The card, barely the size of his fingernail, has the only four images of his youngest son, Vishwarnam. "You have to put this in a computer," he says. "There are some pictures – two or three. You see, in our village, the tradition is that when someone dies, we bury all their things with them so that they don't cause the family any more pain." Vishwarnam died in his mother's arms aged two years and two months. He weighed just 6.5kg, less than half of what a child his age should. "I was sitting in my house, holding him in my lap. He didn't make a sound, he was sleeping, and then suddenly he opened his eyes for a moment, and then he closed them forever," recalls his mother, Sunder. "His brother and sister cried all night for him. He was very ill," she says. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Barack Obama: Donald Trump may have 'enough craziness’ to be president – video Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:07 AM PST Barack Obama says that president-elect Donald Trump may have the prerequisite levels of 'craziness' required to take on the role of US president. Speaking to ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos, Obama describes Trump as 'very engaging and gregarious' and 'not lacking in confidence', though avoids directly answering the question on whether he likes him |
| You are subscribed to email updates from World news | The Guardian. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Posting Komentar