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- Immigration crackdown, travel ban and Russia links intrude on Trump weekend
- ‘I feel like I have been buried alive’: families live in fear and isolation as Erdoğan leads a witch-hunt
- Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?
- ‘We must fight on’ – Romania’s crusader against corruption will not back down
- On a rocky ridge over Ramallah, settlers put their faith in Trump
- Women and children ‘endure rape, beatings and abuse’ inside Dunkirk’s refugee camp
- ‘Vanguard of opposition’: SNL adds Spicer to satire’s resurgence under Trump
- Mossack Fonseca: Panama Papers law firm bosses refused bail
- Crews battle New South Wales bushfires amid 'catastrophic' conditions
- Snowden claims report Russia may 'gift' him to Trump proves he is not a spy
- Unexploded WW2 bomb prompts huge Thessaloniki evacuation
- Dubs delivers petition to No 10 and condemns child refugee 'cop-out'
- Army veterans return to Standing Rock to form a human shield against police
- Daniel Dennett: ‘I begrudge every hour I have to spend worrying about politics’
- Women warriors: story of Khatoon Khider and her Daughters of the Sun
- North Korea shoots missile 500km in 'show of force' to Trump, says South
- Hope for end to New Zealand whale strandings after 350 die
- 'I thought I was smarter than almost everybody': my double life as a KGB agent
- Sadiq Khan: government must pay drivers £3,500 to scrap their polluting diesel cars
- Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump impersonation fools Dominican newspaper
- Brazil’s corruption scandal spreads across South America
- Does UK’s lucrative arms trade come at the cost of political repression?
- Holocaust memorial deserves to be in a prominent place | Letters
- Vandals target display of multifaith artworks at Gloucester Cathedral
- Church faces new split over attitude to gay relationships
- Northern Ireland peace at risk because of Brexit, says Bertie Ahern
- Britain’s extremist bloggers helping the ‘alt-right’ go global, report finds
- Eyewitness: Bangkok, Thailand
- Overseas aid under new pressure as MPs freeze contracts
- The UK's aid commitments are under threat. It's time to defend them
- Thousands of refugees could be barred from US despite ruling on travel ban
- 'Brand new': Trump considers revised immigration order - video
| Immigration crackdown, travel ban and Russia links intrude on Trump weekend Posted: 11 Feb 2017 09:54 AM PST The president played golf and dined with the Japanese prime minister in Florida but still found time to tweet his indignation about an uncooperative legal system Donald Trump was enjoying the company of the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in Florida on Saturday, but challenges to his agenda nonetheless intruded on a weekend of golf and dining. Related: Thousands of refugees could be barred from US despite ruling on travel ban Continue reading... |
| Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:00 PM PST More than 125,000 people have been sacked on suspicion of links to a dissident cleric. Two teachers and a law student describe how this has affected them On 1 September, the life of Ahmet and Fatma Özer*, married teachers from Istanbul, changed dramatically. Accused of being sympathisers of Fethullah Gülen, both were fired. On the same day Ayse Yilmaz*, a law student, received a text informing her that her father, a civil servant, had been detained for alleged involvement in terrorism and coup plotting. "It was the day we were blacklisted," Fatma recalls. "The day we were erased as citizens." The Justice and Development party (AKP) government accuses Gülen, an Islamic cleric who lives in the US, of organising the bloody coup attempt on 15 July. However, the extent of Gülen's involvement remains unclear. Nevertheless, those who have expressed even the slightest sympathy with the cleric's views, or who have made use of his businesses – which include a bank, schools and media organisations – have found themselves accused of coup plotting, like the Özer and Yilmaz families. Continue reading... |
| Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work? Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST Temperatures are now so high at the north pole that scientists are contemplating radical schemes to avoid catastrophe Physicist Steven Desch has come up with a novel solution to the problems that now beset the Arctic. He and a team of colleagues from Arizona State University want to replenish the region's shrinking sea ice – by building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. In winter, these would be used to pump water to the surface of the ice where it would freeze, thickening the cap. The pumps could add an extra metre of sea ice to the Arctic's current layer, Desch argues. The current cap rarely exceeds 2-3 metres in thickness and is being eroded constantly as the planet succumbs to climate change. Continue reading... |
| ‘We must fight on’ – Romania’s crusader against corruption will not back down Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST The woman leading the fight to clean up the government in Bucharest says she will continue to hold ministers to account Among the thousands of placards on display over the last two weeks of mass anti-government protests in Romania – the largest the country has seen in a quarter of a century – are many that read "Hands off DNA", a reference to Romania's national anti-corruption directorate, or DNA for short. The agency, which was founded in 2003, has been at the forefront of the country's fight against official misconduct, and with the government's recent moves to decriminalise certain types of low-level corruption, many on the streets have rallied to the agency's defence. Continue reading... |
| On a rocky ridge over Ramallah, settlers put their faith in Trump Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:04 PM PST On the eve of Netanyahu's White House visit, an emboldened Israeli right wing sees a chance to build – and to renounce the two-state solution The posters hanging near the municipal buildings in the Jewish settlement of Beit El – in Hebrew "the House of God" – have a simple message: "Go in peace. Come back with sovereignty." They are words aimed at a single individual, an instruction from the settlement movement to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his visit to Washington on Wednesday to meet the US president, Donald Trump. Continue reading... |
| Women and children ‘endure rape, beatings and abuse’ inside Dunkirk’s refugee camp Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST The fate of those stranded by the UK's decision to limit taking child refugees from France Children and women are being raped by traffickers inside a refugee camp in northern France, according to detailed testimony gathered ahead of fresh legal action against the UK government's approach to the welfare of unaccompanied minors. Corroborating accounts from volunteers, medics, refugees and security officials reveal that sexual abuse is common within the large camp at Dunkirk and that children and women are forced to have sex by traffickers in return for blankets or food or the offer of passage to the UK. Continue reading... |
| ‘Vanguard of opposition’: SNL adds Spicer to satire’s resurgence under Trump Posted: 11 Feb 2017 10:00 AM PST Even in America's proud history of pricking the egos of the mighty, Melissa McCarthy's brutal impression of the White House press secretary stands out Devastating. His career will never recover. Fatal in the eyes of his boss. Related: Melissa McCarthy steals the show as Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live Continue reading... |
| Mossack Fonseca: Panama Papers law firm bosses refused bail Posted: 11 Feb 2017 06:30 AM PST Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca, who founded firm at centre of data leak, held as part of investigation into Lava Jato scandal The heads of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal have been refused bail following their arrest by police in Panama. Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca were taken into custody on Thursday as part of an apparently coordinated swoop by prosecutors across Latin America investigating the massive Brazilian Lava Jato scandal. Continue reading... |
| Crews battle New South Wales bushfires amid 'catastrophic' conditions Posted: 12 Feb 2017 12:20 AM PST Rural Fire Service says 2,500 firefighters in the field, with the situation most serious around Port Macquarie, Dunedoo, Mudgee, Boggabri and Kempsey Conditions rated as "catastrophic" left New South Wales firefighters battling dozens of blazes across the state with fears dozens of properties could be lost. Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters late on Sunday there were about 2,500 firefighters out in the field as more than 30 fires burned out of control. |
| Snowden claims report Russia may 'gift' him to Trump proves he is not a spy Posted: 10 Feb 2017 06:03 PM PST The whistleblower took to Twitter to say that the NBC report vindicates him of spying charges because 'no country trades away spies' Whistleblower Edward Snowden has seized on a report that Russia is considering sending him back to the US as a "gift" to Donald Trump, saying that the story vindicates him of charges that he is a spy. "Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel," he said on Twitter. "No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they're next." Continue reading... |
| Unexploded WW2 bomb prompts huge Thessaloniki evacuation Posted: 11 Feb 2017 03:14 AM PST Up to 70,000 people will leave their homes in the Greek city on Saturday during operation to defuse 250kg device Up to 70,000 people are to be evacuated from the Greek city of Thessaloniki ahead of an operation to defuse an unexploded second world war bomb. The bomb, containing nearly 250kg (550lb) of explosives, was unearthed in the northern city during roadworks last week and is due to be defused on Sunday. Continue reading... |
| Dubs delivers petition to No 10 and condemns child refugee 'cop-out' Posted: 11 Feb 2017 06:01 AM PST Pressure increases on Theresa May as religious leaders join Lord Dubs in protest about sudden closure of lone child scheme Theresa May has come under continued pressure to reopen the UK scheme to accept lone child refugees as the Labour peer Alf Dubs delivered a petition condemning its sudden closure to Downing Street. About 50,000 people have signed the petition amid widespread anger and dismay at a decision to cap the number of children being brought to Britain at 350. It was widely assumed that up to 3,000 children might be helped when the Dubs amendment to the immigration act was passed. Continue reading... |
| Army veterans return to Standing Rock to form a human shield against police Posted: 11 Feb 2017 02:00 AM PST A growing group of military veterans are willing to put their bodies between Native American activists and the police trying to remove them US veterans are returning to Standing Rock and pledging to shield indigenous activists from attacks by a militarized police force, another sign that the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline is far from over. Army veterans from across the country have arrived in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, or are currently en route after the news that Donald Trump's administration has allowed the oil corporation to finish drilling across the Missouri river. Continue reading... |
| Daniel Dennett: ‘I begrudge every hour I have to spend worrying about politics’ Posted: 12 Feb 2017 01:00 AM PST Truth has long been a key concern for the American philosopher. He's in the UK to discuss his latest book on consciousness, but there's just no escaping Trump… I meet Daniel Dennett, the great American rationalist, on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, as good a day as any to contemplate the fragility of civilisation in face of overwhelming technological change, a topic he examines in his latest book. Dennett is a singular figure in American culture: a white-haired, white-bearded 74-year-old philosopher whose work has mined the questions that erupt at the places where science, technology and consciousness meet. His subject is the brain and how it creates meaning and what our brains will make of a future that includes AI and robots. He's in London with his wife, Susan, to mark the publication of his latest book – From Bacteria to Bach and Back – and I find him in a rented flat in Notting Hill, scowling at his laptop. "I was about to send a tweet," he says. "Something like, 'Republican senators are in an enviable position. How often does anybody get a real opportunity to become a national hero? Who's going to step up and enter the pages of history?'" Continue reading... |
| Women warriors: story of Khatoon Khider and her Daughters of the Sun Posted: 11 Feb 2017 11:05 PM PST Khatoon Khider used to be a popular Yazidi singer. Now she's the head of an all-women battle unit with Isis in its sights Long before Khatoon Khider took up a gun, she became famous for singing about another woman who went to war, a tragic heroine who followed her lover into battle in disguise. And she wondered even then, years before the Islamic State had been created and nearly a decade before its fighters' murderous rampage across her homeland, if she might one day have to go to war herself. After what has happened to the Yazidi women, I decided to stop singing until I take revenge for them Continue reading... |
| North Korea shoots missile 500km in 'show of force' to Trump, says South Posted: 11 Feb 2017 10:33 PM PST Missile comes down in sea after launching from the same area where regime has been testing its midrange Musudan weapon North Korea has launched a missile that flew 500km before coming down in the Sea of Japan in what the South characterised as a "show of force" to Donald Trump. The missile was fired on Sunday from an area in the country's western region around Banghyon, North Pyongan province, the South's joint chiefs of staff said. It is the same area where the country test-launched its powerful midrange missile the Musudan on 15 and 20 October 2016, according to the South. Continue reading... |
| Hope for end to New Zealand whale strandings after 350 die Posted: 11 Feb 2017 05:48 PM PST About 650 pilot whales beached themselves at top of South Island, with 350 dying but others either swimming away or refloated by volunteers Rescuers working to save hundreds of beached whales in New Zealand finally had some good news when more than 200 swam back out to sea on Sunday. More than 650 pilot whales had beached themselves along Farewell Spit at top of South Island in two separate mass strandings. About 350 whales died, including 20 that were euthanised. Another 100 were refloated by volunteers and, on Sunday, more than 200 were able to swim away unassisted, said conservation workers. Continue reading... |
| 'I thought I was smarter than almost everybody': my double life as a KGB agent Posted: 11 Feb 2017 03:00 AM PST Raised in East Germany, Jack Barsky abandoned his mother, brother, wife and son to spy for the KGB. In America, he started a second family. And then it all came crashing down... On a chilly morning in December 1988, computer analyst Jack Barsky embarked on his usual morning commute to his office on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, leaving his wife and baby daughter at home in Queens. As he entered the subway, he caught sight of something startling: a daub of red paint on a metal beam. Barsky had looked for it every morning for years; it meant he had a life-changing decision to make, and fast. Barsky knew the drill. The red paint was a warning that he was in immediate danger, that he should hurry to collect cash and emergency documents from a prearranged drop site. From there, he would cross the border into Canada and contact the Soviet consulate in Toronto. Arrangements would be made for him to leave the country. He would cease to be Jack Barsky. The American identity he had inhabited for a decade would evaporate and he would return to his former life: that of Albrecht Dittrich, a chemist and KGB agent, with a wife and seven-year-old son waiting patiently for him in East Germany. Continue reading... |
| Sadiq Khan: government must pay drivers £3,500 to scrap their polluting diesel cars Posted: 11 Feb 2017 11:05 PM PST London mayor says £500m plan could help tackle growing crisis over poor air quality in the capital London's air is so polluted that motorists should be given up to £3,500 to persuade them to scrap their old diesel cars and vans and replace them with cleaner vehicles, according to the capital's mayor, Sadiq Khan. The nitrogen dioxide emitted by diesel cars is a key contributor to London's poor air quality, which is so bad that City Hall now advises the public to avoid going out unnecessarily on the worst-affected days. Continue reading... |
| Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump impersonation fools Dominican newspaper Posted: 11 Feb 2017 08:02 PM PST El Nacional mistakenly publishes a photo of the actor in a blond wig above the caption: 'Donald Trump, president of the USA' Alec Baldwin does a pretty convincing Donald Trump impersonation – just ask a newspaper in the Dominican Republic. El Nacional published an apology on Saturday after mistakenly running a photo of the actor doing his impression of the US president on Saturday Night Live instead of Trump himself. Continue reading... |
| Brazil’s corruption scandal spreads across South America Posted: 11 Feb 2017 01:00 PM PST An investigation into a construction firm sparks allegations of bribes from Panama to Peru The fallout from a massive bribery scandal that helped to bring down a Brazilian president is spreading across Latin America, threatening to engulf leaders from Panama to Peru. The workings of a secret "bribery department" at the Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht that suborned government officials around the world for years are being exposed by investigators. Meticulous schemes of graft laid out by witnesses, in plea deals and in leaked and seized documents show how the company funnelled $800m (£641m) of payouts to politicians and parties in Latin America alone. Continue reading... |
| Does UK’s lucrative arms trade come at the cost of political repression? Posted: 11 Feb 2017 10:00 PM PST Exports to repressive regimes are under scrutiny in the high court, raising doubts about claims they are tightly controlled On 24 January 2015 a private jet touched down in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh. On board were a handful of Foreign Office officials, security personnel and the then prime minister, David Cameron, who was visiting the kingdom to pay his condolences following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. The decision to charter the jet – at a cost to the taxpayer of £101,792 – raised eyebrows among Whitehall mandarins. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia, normal UK rules don't seem to apply. For decades the two kingdoms have quietly enjoyed a symbiotic relationship centred on the exchange of oil for weapons. Analysis of HM Revenue and Customs figures by Greenpeace EnergyDesk shows that in 2015 83% of UK arms exports – almost £900m – went to Saudi Arabia. Over the same period, the UK imported £900m of oil from the kingdom. Continue reading... |
| Holocaust memorial deserves to be in a prominent place | Letters Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST Siting it next to Parliament would be a constant reminder of Britain's connection As we enter a period of public consultation on the design of the National Holocaust Memorial, I welcome Rowan Moore's engagement with the 10 shortlisted entries ("Britain's Holocaust Memorial shortlist: right time, wrong place?"). The cross-party work being led by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation will boost education and remembrance projects in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the national memorial should stand in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to parliament, as a statement of our values and a constant reminder of the British connection to this history, much of which we can be proud, but also a reminder of where we fell short, with tragic consequences. Continue reading... |
| Vandals target display of multifaith artworks at Gloucester Cathedral Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:04 PM PST Artist hits out at Islamophobia after exhibition on various religions sparks death threats and accusations of blasphemy Controversial artworks on display at Gloucester Cathedral in an exhibition celebrating a spectrum of religious beliefs have been stolen and vandalised. The art show, Faith, put together by portrait artist Russell Haines, was at the centre of an international row last month when Christian groups heavily criticised the use of Islamic images and the reciting of a Muslim prayer inside the historic cathedral buildings. Continue reading... |
| Church faces new split over attitude to gay relationships Posted: 11 Feb 2017 02:04 PM PST Attempts to uphold traditional teaching on marriage likely to provoke dissent The Church of England is facing a fresh crisis over its stance on gay relationships following unprecedented criticism by a group of leading retired bishops over its failure to provide leadership on the issue, and its marginalisation of LGBT members. The highly unconventional intervention comes before this week's synod, which will be dominated by rancorous divisions over sexuality. Officials hope the 500-plus members of the church's general assembly will approve a recent report from bishops which upholds the traditional teaching that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Continue reading... |
| Northern Ireland peace at risk because of Brexit, says Bertie Ahern Posted: 11 Feb 2017 02:00 PM PST Irish leader who helped secure Good Friday agreement says he fears the consequences of a border dividing north and south Theresa May has been accused of putting Northern Ireland's peace process in jeopardy by the Irish leader who helped to secure the Good Friday agreement. In a sign of growing fears about May's vision for Brexit, Bertie Ahern took aim at the prime minister over her recent white paper, in an interview with the Observer. Ahern, who served three terms as taoiseach between 1997 and 2008 and helped to deliver power-sharing in Belfast, said that the British government appeared to have resigned itself to the establishment of a border between the north and south once the UK leaves the EU in 2019, with potentially devastating results. Continue reading... |
| Britain’s extremist bloggers helping the ‘alt-right’ go global, report finds Posted: 11 Feb 2017 08:39 AM PST White nationalists and UK conspiracy theorists have helped spread fake news across the world, says anti-racist group Hope not Hate A rightwing network of British bloggers and social media activists has emerged as an increasingly influential voice for white nationalists and for those who oppose multiculturalism. The network is also credited with helping propel Donald Trump to the presidency, a new report has claimed. In its annual audit of the far right, Hope not Hate, the UK's largest anti-racism and anti-extremism movement, said that although conventional far right groups such as the English Defence League continue to fracture, new forces have surfaced that can reach a vast international audience and bolster support for the "alt-right", which is defined as the far right with a fringe "white nationalist element" that opposes multiculturalism and defends "western values". Continue reading... |
| Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:19 AM PST Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading... |
| Overseas aid under new pressure as MPs freeze contracts Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST As concerns are raised over development firm Adam Smith International, former minister warns that Tory critics who want budgets cut are 'scenting blood' The government has frozen future contracts with a firm entrusted with £268m of development cash after a scathing report from MPs on the company's "inappropriate" conduct. The report released on Sunday censures Adam Smith International (ASI) for acting with a "serious lack of judgement", making up testimonials for its aid delivery, and pressuring people to give glowing responses by implying their funding could otherwise be cut. Continue reading... |
| The UK's aid commitments are under threat. It's time to defend them Posted: 11 Feb 2017 04:05 PM PST We must resist pressure from the press and rightwing politicians to dilute a project that has earned our country respect around the world UK aid is facing an unprecedented attack from a combination of intense press criticism and rightwing Tory MPs emboldened by the Brexit vote who scent the blood of another of their "pet hates". The future of the Department for International Development (DfID) as a standalone department and the commitment that the UK will spend 0.7% of gross national income on development is now under serious threat. It is urgent that those who believe global leadership under successive Labour and Tory governments on aid and development is morally right and in the national interest find their voice before it is too late. A joint campaign involving all political parties, NGOs, faith groups and the public is necessary to ensure that the consensus built over two decades prevails under strident opposition. Continue reading... |
| Thousands of refugees could be barred from US despite ruling on travel ban Posted: 11 Feb 2017 05:00 AM PST Ninth circuit court's decision does not apply to Trump's effort to cut in half the number of refugees resettled in US each year Thursday's ninth circuit appellate court ruling to uphold a nationwide restraining order on Donald Trump's controversial travel ban was heralded as a major blow to the administration and a victory for migrant rights advocates and refugee resettlement agencies across the country. Related: Trump says he is considering 'brand new' immigration order after setback Continue reading... |
| 'Brand new': Trump considers revised immigration order - video Posted: 11 Feb 2017 02:20 AM PST President Trump says he may file a 'brand new' immigration executive order following the court ruling blocking his travel ban on Thursday. Speaking onboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he was confident he would win the court battle but could file a new order as soon as Monday Continue reading... |
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