World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Israeli soldier jailed for killing injured Palestinian attacker
- Spanish MPs give Junior MasterChef a roasting over late-night time slot
- Toxic political agenda is dehumanising entire groups, Amnesty warns
- Relatives of Berlin truck attack victims accuse authorities of negligence
- Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash arrested after extradition ruling
- Emmanuel Macron vows aggressive fight against far right on UK visit
- Robert Mugabe marks 93rd birthday with praise for Donald Trump
- UK should expect a very hefty bill for Brexit, says Jean-Claude Juncker
- Iceland's president forced to clarify views on pineapple pizza ban
- Bao Bao the giant panda leaves Washington zoo for new home in China
- Trump's envoys head to Mexico as cracks emerge in border wall plan
- British suicide bomber: UK security services 'guilty of failings'
- Mosul refugees get married at Khazer camp – in pictures
- Young refugees urge ministers not to end unaccompanied minors scheme
- Trump's feminist critics gagged by Chinese internet giant Weibo
- Boris Johnson accused of bad taste for calling Brexit 'liberation'
- Shaun Walmsley prison escape prompts call for urgent security review
- Former EU ambassador Ivan Rogers questioned by Commons Brexit committee - Politics live
- Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell review – a deeply powerful plea
- Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News over pedophilia remarks
- Kevin Rudd accuses Netanyahu of 'torpedoing' Middle East peace plans
- The lives of others: inside the Stasi Museum – in pictures
- Kim Jong-nam's body targeted in morgue break-in, say police
- Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang jailed for corruption
- Netanyahu says investigation into links with James Packer will ‘find nothing'
- Wednesday briefing: Welcome to the age of hate thy neighbour
- Israeli PM says Palestinians should self-govern but without military power – video
- China close to finishing buildings on South China Sea islands that could house missiles, US says
- Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin
- Benjamin Netanyahu attacks former Australian PMs' calls to recognise Palestine
- Benjamin Netanyahu took two-hour flight detour to avoid Indonesian airspace
- Cracking story: French artist to entomb himself in rock for a week, then use body to hatch eggs
- Isis suicide bomber ‘was Briton freed from Guantánamo’
- Hundreds of UK hotels fail food hygiene inspections
- Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News: 'I am horrified by paedophilia' – video
- Portugal shows there is an alternative to austerity | Letters
- Bali prosecutors ask for eight-year jail term for Sara Connor and David Taylor
- Aerosol study to look at great unknown in climate science
- Manchester city council to create UK's first LGBT retirement home
- The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos – how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money
- Jean-Claude Juncker warns Britain of ‘hefty bill’ for Brexit – video
- May hosts French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron
- A tale of four skulls: what human bones reveal about cities
- Cologne library opens its doors to refugees: 'You fill this room with life'
- Famine threatens lives of nearly half a million Nigerian children, says Unicef
- UK risks legitimising Sudan's rights abuses with migration talks, MPs warn
- Saving lives under the threat of famine, and tributes to data guru Hans Rosling
- EPA head: US doesn't have to choose between environment and jobs – video
- White House defends immigration orders that could increase deportations – video
- Antisemitic threats are 'horrible', says Trump – video
- British Muslim teacher denied US entry: ‘I felt powerless’ – video
- Car ploughs into New York shop – video
| Israeli soldier jailed for killing injured Palestinian attacker Posted: 21 Feb 2017 03:34 AM PST Elor Azaria's legal team to appeal 18-month sentence after trial that exposed divisions between military and rightwing nationalists An Israeli military medic who was filmed killing an incapacitated Palestinian attacker last year has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Elor Azaria's sentence was handed down by a panel of three judges sitting in a military court in Tel Aviv. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of between three and five years, while Azaria had asked the court to be "merciful" and sentence him to open detention. Continue reading... |
| Spanish MPs give Junior MasterChef a roasting over late-night time slot Posted: 21 Feb 2017 06:48 AM PST Spain's version of TV show accused of exacerbating problem of tired children in an already seriously underslept country Take one child, fatigue gently with lessons and homework, expose to a televisual phenomenon until long after midnight, then leave to rest for as long as possible, preferably overnight. Refresh with tears of tiredness and repeat. The Spanish version of Junior MasterChef may have proved hugely popular, but some politicians believe its very late scheduling is a recipe for yet more lost shuteye in a country that is already seriously underslept. Continue reading... |
| Toxic political agenda is dehumanising entire groups, Amnesty warns Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:01 PM PST NGO's annual report warns that aggressive political rhetoric is creating a 'hostile climate for refugees and migrants' Toxic political rhetoric with echoes of 1930s hate speech is stirring up violence worldwide – including in the UK and US, Amnesty International has warned. Kerry Moscoguiri, Amnesty UK's director of campaigns, said that campaigning for the Brexit referendum "was a particular low point, with all too real consequences" – pointing to a 57% spike in reported hate crime the week after the vote. Continue reading... |
| Relatives of Berlin truck attack victims accuse authorities of negligence Posted: 21 Feb 2017 06:43 AM PST Families tell German president they feel abandoned and express dismay that official memorial service has not been planned Relatives of the 12 people killed in December when a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin have expressed their dismay at the negligent way they say they have been treated by German authorities. About 50 people who lost loved ones in the Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack reportedly told a private meeting called by Germany's outgoing president, Joachim Gauck, and the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, they felt abandoned at a deeply upsetting time. Continue reading... |
| Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash arrested after extradition ruling Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:05 AM PST Firtash held on European arrest warrant issued by Spain minutes after Austrian court grants US extradition request Powerful in Ukraine, stranded in Austria for the past three years, and wanted by US authorities on bribery charges, Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash is no stranger to intrigue. On Tuesday his case took yet another turn as a Vienna court ordered his extradition to the US – and he was taken into custody on a European arrest warrant by Austrian police just hours later. Continue reading... |
| Emmanuel Macron vows aggressive fight against far right on UK visit Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:35 PM PST Centrist candidate for French presidency says he will learn from mistakes of Hillary Clinton and UK's remain campaign Emmanuel Macron, the centrist candidate for the French presidency, has vowed his campaign will learn from the mistakes of David Cameron's Brexit and Hillary Clinton's failed election campaign by being boldly pro-liberal and pro-Europe. Speaking after a meeting with Theresa May in Downing Street on Tuesday, Macron defended his decision to be unambiguous in his views as he fights a campaign against the far-right's Marine Le Pen, saying: "In the current environment, if you are shy, you are dead." Continue reading... |
| Robert Mugabe marks 93rd birthday with praise for Donald Trump Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:04 AM PST Zimbabwe president drops no hint that he plans to relinquish power in interview in which he appears to be struggling to keep his eyes open Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, celebrated his 93rd birthday on Tuesday by pledging to remain in power despite growing signs of frailty, and endorsing Donald Trump's brand of American nationalism. "When it comes to Donald Trump, on the one hand talking of American nationalism … America for Americans … on that we agree: Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans," said Mugabe, who took power in the former British colony in 1980. Continue reading... |
| UK should expect a very hefty bill for Brexit, says Jean-Claude Juncker Posted: 21 Feb 2017 07:41 AM PST European commission president uses salty language to warn PM that Britain will not be able to negotiate 'cut-price' exit from EU Britain can expect a "very hefty" bill as the price of leaving the EU, the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has warned. Speaking to the Belgian federal parliament, Juncker spoke of his personal sadness about Brexit but insisted that the UK would not be able to negotiate a "cut-price or zero-cost" exit. Continue reading... |
| Iceland's president forced to clarify views on pineapple pizza ban Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:37 AM PST Guðni Th. Jóhannesson had expressed dislike of tropical fruit on pizza but now says he is glad he does not have power to initiate ban Faced with uproar at home and a social media storm abroad, the president of Iceland has been forced to clarify his outspoken stance on one of the defining questions of the age: whether pineapple should be allowed on pizza. Last week, answering questions from pupils at a high school in Akureyri, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson said his favourite football team was Manchester United and he was "fundamentally opposed" to pineapple on pizzas. Continue reading... |
| Bao Bao the giant panda leaves Washington zoo for new home in China Posted: 21 Feb 2017 08:18 AM PST The three-year-old giant panda left the Smithsonian's National Zoo Tuesday to take a 16-hour non-stop to China to join a panda breeding program there Bao Bao, a three-year-old giant panda who has called the Smithsonian's national zoo in Washington home since her birth in 2013, departed from Dulles airport this afternoon on a one-way trip to China to join a panda breeding program. China's ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai was at the zoo to receive the panda, who will travel with a keeper and veterinarian for company on the 16-hour nonstop flight to Chengdu. Bao Bao's journey began in a crate loaded onto a Fedex truck also travels with a supply of snacks including 55lbs (25kg) of bamboo, 5lbs (2kg) of apples and 2lbs (1kg) of sweet potatoes. Continue reading... |
| Trump's envoys head to Mexico as cracks emerge in border wall plan Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:36 AM PST Bureaucratic wrangles pose threat to US president's campaign pledge but visit by top officials raises other contentious issues Mexico will host its first high-profile Donald Trump envoys this week with at least one consolation: the proposed border wall is itself walled in, for now, by Washington bureaucracy. Federal agencies are reportedly resisting the idea and Congress is hesitant to fund it, leaving the president fighting a lonely battle to keep his campaign promise. Continue reading... |
| British suicide bomber: UK security services 'guilty of failings' Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:25 AM PST British authorities did not sufficiently monitor Manchester-born jihadi Ronald Fiddler, says ex-terrorism chief British authorities must accept some responsibility for failing to sufficiently monitor Jamal al-Harith, the Manchester-born jihadi who blew himself up in Iraq, before he left the UK to join Islamic State, a former government counter-terror strategist has said. Fiddler, 50, who changed his name to Jamal al-Harith after converting to Islam in his 20s, but most recently went by the nom de guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, is said by Islamic State to have carried out the suicide attack on coalition forces near Mosul on Monday. Continue reading... |
| Mosul refugees get married at Khazer camp – in pictures Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:18 AM PST The wedding of Hussain Zeeno Zannun, 26, and Chahad, 16, who both fled from Isis in Mosul, northern Iraq Continue reading... |
| Young refugees urge ministers not to end unaccompanied minors scheme Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:03 AM PST Seventeen refugees who made it to UK write letter calling for 'safe, legal routes for young people to find protection' A group of young asylum seekers and refugees who arrived in Britain as children have urged the government not to close the Dubs scheme to help unaccompanied minors fleeing persecution. In an open letter published before Theresa May faces her first prime minister's questions since it emerged that the government is to drop the scheme, the group accuses ministers of putting "the lives of young refugees like us at risk". Continue reading... |
| Trump's feminist critics gagged by Chinese internet giant Weibo Posted: 22 Feb 2017 12:47 AM PST Ban may reflect Beijing's nervousness about the state of US-China relations in the Trump era Chinese feminists have hit out at their country's answer to Twitter after it gagged one of their movement's most visible social media accounts in an apparent bid to stifle criticism of US president Donald Trump. The "Feminist Voice in China" account on social networking site Sina Weibo was handed a 30-day ban on Monday for allegedly violating Chinese law. Continue reading... |
| Boris Johnson accused of bad taste for calling Brexit 'liberation' Posted: 22 Feb 2017 12:39 AM PST Footage from recent Munich security conference shows Swedish MEP being applauded as she confronts Johnson Boris Johnson has been taken to task by a Swedish MEP who accused the UK foreign secretary of "bad taste" and political insensitivity after he repeatedly referred to Brexit as "a liberation", in a spat caught on camera at the recent Munich security conference. According to footage that emerged on Wednesday, Johnson was confronted about his choice of language by Anna Maria Corazza Bildt during a panel discussion on the future of the west. Continue reading... |
| Shaun Walmsley prison escape prompts call for urgent security review Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:34 AM PST Liverpool mayor demands explanation into how convicted murderer was sprung from custody during escorted visit to hospital The mayor of Liverpool has demanded an urgent security review after a gangland killer was sprung from custody by an armed gang while on a hospital visit. Merseyside police has confirmed that Shaun Walmsley, 38, remains at large after the ambush outside Aintree University hospital in Liverpool at about 3pm on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Former EU ambassador Ivan Rogers questioned by Commons Brexit committee - Politics live Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:56 AM PST Rolling coverage of the day's political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and Ivan Rogers, the former British ambassador to the EU, giving evidence to the Brexit committee
Q: Is there any chance that Brexit could lead to the EU making reforms it has resisted until now? Rogers says it is probably too early to tell.
Rogers says the British will have to understand what are the "neuralgic points" in every capital that might stop them signing up to a final Brexit deal. Continue reading... |
| Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell review – a deeply powerful plea Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:10 PM PST The actor's style may be as subtle as a sledgehammer, but it's just right for an issue as huge, horrifying and urgent as the refugee crisis. Plus: Inside No 9 returns Ross Kemp loves danger the way the rest of us love suspending our disbelief in front of a long-running BBC soap. So, it's no surprise that after pursuing gangs, pirates, Isis fighters, British troops in Afghanistan, illegal loggers in the Amazon, drug dealers, Tiffany and a whole lot of publicity, the actor-turned-investigative-journalist turns his attention to the deadliest migrant route in the world. The 1,000 miles of Libyan desert, a journey more dangerous than the sea, followed by the treacherous Mediterranean crossing from Tripoli to Italy in rubber boats unfit for purpose. Three thousand people make this journey every week. Twelve die each day. In Ross Kemp: Libya's Migrant Hell (Sky1, 9pm), which should really be called Refugees' Libyan Hell, he tracks the route with his usual brawn studded with the occasional fleck of emotion. This is not nuanced film-making, but somehow that feels right for an issue so huge, horrifying and urgent; a bit of plain-spoken directness feels welcome. Beginning in the Sahara, where threats include smugglers, Isis training camps, armed militias and kidnappers, Kemp intercepts a truck rammed with 22 people. "We are running for our lives," one man explains. Later, he joins 30 men and women on a 350-mile desert stretch to the next handover point: a seven-hour journey travelling 70mph in 45C heat. Instantly sweating like a pig in his headscarf, Kemp declares: "I don't think I could do it, that's for sure." Continue reading... |
| Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News over pedophilia remarks Posted: 22 Feb 2017 12:44 AM PST The rightwing provocateur stepped down after a livestream resurfaced in which he appeared to endorse sex between 'younger boys' and older men Rightwing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has resigned from Breitbart News, a day after he was dropped by his publisher and lost a speaking engagement at a conservative conference, over comments he made that appeared to endorse sex between "younger boys" and older men. Related: The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos – how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money Continue reading... |
| Kevin Rudd accuses Netanyahu of 'torpedoing' Middle East peace plans Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:03 AM PST The former Australian prime minister hits back at the Israeli PM's criticism of his support for a Palestinian state Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has lashed the Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of being a barrier to peace and sabotaging negotiations for a settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Speaking as he became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Australia, Netanyahu criticised Rudd and his Labor predecessor Bob Hawke for saying that Australia should formally recognise a Palestinian state, as both Sweden and the Holy See have done. Continue reading... |
| The lives of others: inside the Stasi Museum – in pictures Posted: 22 Feb 2017 01:30 AM PST Since 1990, the museum has served as a research and memorial centre investigating the political system of the former East Germany. A quarter of a century ago, the German government declassified records of the Stasi – the state police – and made them available to public access. German citizens can request surveillance files the East Germany government gathered about them Continue reading... |
| Kim Jong-nam's body targeted in morgue break-in, say police Posted: 22 Feb 2017 12:32 AM PST Malaysian authorities seek to question senior North Korean diplomat and man connected with Air Koryo, while dismissing claims that assassins were duped Malaysian police investigating the murder of Kim Jong-nam say attempts were made to break into the morgue where his body is being held and have demanded to question a senior North Korean diplomat. The announcements by police chief Khalid Abu Bakar throw further suspicion on Pyongyang over the apparent assassination of the exiled half-brother of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un. Continue reading... |
| Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang jailed for corruption Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:59 PM PST 72-year-old sentenced to 20 months in prison for misconduct in office, becoming city's highest-ranking official to be jailed The former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for misconduct in public office, making him the most senior city official to be imprisoned in a ruling some said reaffirmed the territory's vaunted rule of law. The sentencing on Wednesday brings an ignominious end to what had been a long and stellar career for Tsang before and after the 1997 handover to Chinese control, service that saw him knighted by the outgoing British colonial rulers. Continue reading... |
| Netanyahu says investigation into links with James Packer will ‘find nothing' Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:19 PM PST Benjamin Netanyahu says he is not worried about an investigation into his family's relationship with the Australian mogul 'because there's nothing there except friendship' The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was "not worried at all" about a fraud investigation into his family's links with Australian businessman James Packer, saying the police inquiry it will "find nothing, because there's nothing there, only friendship". Packer has been caught up in a burgeoning corruption scandal that has rocked Israel, with the prime minister and his family being investigated over separate allegations of receiving kickbacks, improper use of state funds, as well as allegations over the receipt of lavish gifts given to them by Packer. Continue reading... |
| Wednesday briefing: Welcome to the age of hate thy neighbour Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:50 PM PST Amnesty warns Trump and his ilk setting 'toxic' tone in global politics … how Milo Yiannopoulos went an outrage too far … and Cate Blanchett does drag Hello, this is Warren Murray with today's Guardian morning briefing. Continue reading... |
| Israeli PM says Palestinians should self-govern but without military power – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:38 PM PST Speaking at a news conference in Sydney with the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, Benjamin Netanyahu says while he supported self-government for Palestinians, any solution must not be a threat to the state of Israel. 'Let them govern themselves but let them not have the military and the physical power to threaten Israel,' Netanyahu tells reporters Continue reading... |
| China close to finishing buildings on South China Sea islands that could house missiles, US says Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:35 PM PST Building the concrete structures with retractable roofs on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross reefs could be considered a military escalation China, in an early test of US President Donald Trump, is nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, two US officials told Reuters. The development is likely to raise questions about whether and how the United States will respond, given its vows to take a tough line on China in the South China Sea. Continue reading... |
| Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:00 PM PST Russia's role in Trump's election has led to a boom in Putinology. But do all these theories say more about us than Putin? Vladimir Putin, you may have noticed, is everywhere. He has soldiers in Ukraine and Syria, troublemakers in the Baltics and Finland, and a hand in elections from the Czech Republic to France to the United States. And he is in the media. Not a day goes by without a big new article on "Putin's Revenge", "The Secret Source of Putin's Evil", or "10 Reasons Why Vladimir Putin Is a Terrible Human Being". Putin's recent ubiquity has brought great prominence to the practice of Putinology. This enterprise – the production of commentary and analysis about Putin and his motivations, based on necessarily partial, incomplete and sometimes entirely false information – has existed as a distinct intellectual industry for over a decade. It kicked into high gear after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, but in the past few months, as allegations of Russian meddling in the election of President Donald Trump have come to dominate the news, Putinology has outdone itself. At no time in history have more people with less knowledge, and greater outrage, opined on the subject of Russia's president. You might say that the reports of Trump's golden showers in a Moscow hotel room have consecrated a golden age – for Putinology. Continue reading... |
| Benjamin Netanyahu attacks former Australian PMs' calls to recognise Palestine Posted: 21 Feb 2017 09:35 PM PST Visiting PM says Israel could only accept a Palestinian state over which Israel had 'overriding security control of all the territories' The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rebuked two former Australian prime ministers over their calls for Australia to recognise a Palestinian state, asking "what kind of state?" they were seeking to recognise. Netanyahu, the first serving Israeli leader to visit Australia in Israel's history, said his country could not abide a Palestinian state that refused to recognise Israel's right to exist. Continue reading... |
| Benjamin Netanyahu took two-hour flight detour to avoid Indonesian airspace Posted: 21 Feb 2017 09:19 PM PST Israeli prime minister's El Al flight from Singapore to Sydney took more than 11 hours rather than the usual eight and a half The Israeli prime minister was forced to take a two-and-a-half-hour detour en route to Australia, apparently to avoid Indonesian airspace. Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Sydney at about 6.30am AEDT on Wednesday for a four-day visit, the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited Australia. Continue reading... |
| Cracking story: French artist to entomb himself in rock for a week, then use body to hatch eggs Posted: 21 Feb 2017 06:57 PM PST For his performance called 'Egg', Abraham Poincheval will be inside a 12-tonne boulder and then sit on a dozen hen eggs until the chicks arrive
A French artist is preparing to be entombed for a week inside a 12-tonne limestone boulder in a modern art museum in Paris, after which he will emerge and attempt to hatch a dozen eggs by sitting on them for weeks on end. Continue reading... |
| Isis suicide bomber ‘was Briton freed from Guantánamo’ Posted: 21 Feb 2017 05:26 PM PST Family identifies Jamal al-Harith, paid £1m compensation by UK government, as man Islamic State says was behind Mosul attack A suicide attack near the Iraqi city of Mosul, for which Islamic State has claimed responsibility, was carried out by a British former Guantánamo Bay detainee who was paid £1m in compensation by the UK government after his release, according to reports. Jamal al-Harith, a 50-year-old Muslim convert from Manchester – who was born Ronald Fiddler – was identified by his family as the man Isis claims carried out the attack on coalition forces on Monday. Continue reading... |
| Hundreds of UK hotels fail food hygiene inspections Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:01 PM PST Inspectors discovered seafood past its expiry date and food stored without temperature controls, says Which? survey Hundreds of hotels in Britain have failed their food hygiene inspections, including establishments with five- and four-star ratings and one with two AA rosettes. In total, 652 hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs failed their latest food safety inspections for reasons including inspectors discovering seafood past its expiry date, raw meat stored next to sauces and high-risk food stored without temperature controls, according to a survey conducted by Which? Travel. Continue reading... |
| Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News: 'I am horrified by paedophilia' – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 03:37 PM PST Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News over comments he made that appeared to endorse sex between 'younger boys' and older men. Yiannopoulos had been employed by Breitbart as a senior editor and said that his decision to resign was entirely his own. He apologised to child abuse victims who thought his comments were 'flippant or uncaring' but said: 'I will never stop making jokes about taboo subjects.' Continue reading... |
| Portugal shows there is an alternative to austerity | Letters Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:57 AM PST I am struck by the fact that the Portuguese government has slashed the debt-heavy country's budget deficit to its lowest level in more than 40 years, despite warnings that its anti-austerity policies could spell financial disaster. Some other eurozone countries expressed alarm when the centre-left Socialist government, with the support of the Communist party and Left Bloc, took power in 2015 on an anti-austerity platform. Portugal needed a €78bn bailout in 2011, after recording a deficit of more than 11% the previous year and eurozone officials feared it could go into another debt spiral under the Socialists. However, the government's budget last year cut taxes and restored civil servants' salaries, eased a surtax on employees' incomes and breathed new life into the welfare system. So, while we pursue a remorseless austerity agenda in the UK (Cuts to NHS and social care have led to more deaths, 17 February), what Portugal has demonstrated, despite concerns over its economic policies, is that there is another way. Rather than blindly following an austerity agenda, the example set by Portugal is something we in the UK would be well-advised to take note of. |
| Bali prosecutors ask for eight-year jail term for Sara Connor and David Taylor Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:29 AM PST Lawyers acting for Australian woman accused of involvement in the death of an Indonesian police officer describe request as 'extraordinary' Bali prosecutors have called for Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend, David Taylor, to receive the same eight-year sentence over the alleged fatal assault of a local police officer, saying she had failed to admit her role in what happened. Moments after the request was made, Connor's lawyer, Erwin Siregar, described the request as "extraordinary". Continue reading... |
| Aerosol study to look at great unknown in climate science Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:09 AM PST Australian scientists seek to understand how non-carbon aerosolised particles affect global temperatures Australian scientists are studying air pollution and cloud formation in Antarctica in an effort to understand how non-carbon aerosolised particles impact on global temperatures. It's the first comprehensive study of the composition and concentration of aerosols in the Antarctic sea ice area, a region that influences cloud formation and weather patterns for much of the southern hemisphere. Continue reading... |
| Manchester city council to create UK's first LGBT retirement home Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:58 AM PST Announcement follows report that LGBT people experience higher levels of loneliness in old age Manchester city council has announced plans to create the UK's first retirement community aimed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. According to the local authority, the city is home to the country's largest number of LGBT people outside of London and is due to see a rapid growth in the number of LGBT residents over 65 in the next two decades. More than 7,000 over-50s living in Manchester identify as LGBT. Continue reading... |
| The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos – how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money Posted: 21 Feb 2017 10:07 AM PST Like Donald Trump, Yiannopoulos grew out of a grotesque convergence of politics and the internet, and thrived by turning hate speech into showbusiness So there is, after all, a line that you cannot cross and still be hailed by conservatives as a champion of free speech. That line isn't Islamophobia, misogyny, transphobia or harassment. Milo Yiannopoulos, the journalist that Out magazine dubbed an "internet supervillain", built his brand on those activities. Until Monday, he was flying high: a hefty book deal with Simon & Schuster, an invitation to speak at the American Conservative Union's CPac conference and a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. But then a recording emerged of Yiannopoulos cheerfully defending relationships between older men and younger boys, and finally it turned out that free speech had limits. The book deal and CPac offer swiftly evaporated. The next day, he resigned his post as an editor at Breitbart, the far-right website where he was recruited by Donald Trump's consigliere Steve Bannon, and where several staffers reportedly threatened to quit unless he was fired. In the incriminating clip, Yiannopoulos prefaces his remarks with a coy, "This is a controversial point of view, I accept", this being his default shtick. Maher absurdly described him as "a young, gay, alive Christopher Hitchens" – a contrarian fly in the ointment, rattling smug liberal certainties – but Hitchens had wit, intellect and principle, while Yiannopoulos has only chutzpah and ruthless opportunism. Understanding Yiannopoulos requires a version of Occam's Razor: the most obvious answer is the correct one. What does he actually believe in? Nothing except his own brand and the monetisable notoriety that fuels it. That's Milo's Razor. Understanding how he got this far is more unnerving. Continue reading... |
| Jean-Claude Juncker warns Britain of ‘hefty bill’ for Brexit – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 09:24 AM PST Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, makes a speech to the Belgian federal parliament on Tuesday and warns that the British people must prepare to pay a "very heft bill" for leaving the European Union. Although Juncker says the EU must not enter negotiations with "a heart filled with hostility" he does stress that the terms of leaving will not be "cut-price or zero cost" Continue reading... |
| May hosts French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron Posted: 21 Feb 2017 06:19 AM PST Prime minister meets centrist politician in Downing Street as spokesman confirms UK has no plans to engage with Marine Le Pen Theresa May has met the centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron in London while continuing her policy of refusing to engage with his rival Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National. The prime minister hosted the presidential hopeful in Downing Street on Tuesday after he requested a meeting while in the UK to speak to 3,000 French voters in Westminster. |
| A tale of four skulls: what human bones reveal about cities Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:00 PM PST Has the great urbanisation of our species over the last 5,000 years been good for humanity or bad? It's a story that can be told by examining ancient skeletons – which reveal incredible dangers, but also point to a bright future The UN human settlements programme predicts that homo sapiens will soon be a majority urban species: 60% of humans will live in cities by 2030. More than 10 millennia of adaptations have gone into changing our lives from free-range to metropolitan. Yet in evolutionary terms this is a blindingly swift change of habitat, and to understand what it means for our future we must turn to the long view of archaeology. The accumulation of humans in dense habitations – cities – has had enormous and frequently fatal consequences. Problems of access to resources, disease transmission and pollution follow rapidly on the heels of our great urban experiment. And it is precisely these problems, originating many thousand of years ago, that we must come to terms with if we are going to survive as a species. |
| Cologne library opens its doors to refugees: 'You fill this room with life' Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:00 AM PST The Cologne Public Library is serving as a social and educational space for the city's refugees, as counterparts across Germany increasingly become places for community engagement. Could the UK learn from this? While a flurry of snow threatens to fall outside at any moment, Sanaw, a 30-year-old Kurdish Christian from western Iran, is proudly describing his involvement in a nativity play over Christmas. He holds court at a table of eight fellow refugees, explaining in coherent German how the local theatre group, of which he has only been a member for a matter of months, has helped to improve his sense of belonging in Cologne, his home city for just over a year. Continue reading... |
| Famine threatens lives of nearly half a million Nigerian children, says Unicef Posted: 21 Feb 2017 11:00 PM PST UN agency and other organisations warn that 14 million people need urgent aid, with food shortages in the north-east driven by Boko Haram insurgency Hundreds of thousands of children under the age of five in north-eastern Nigeria will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, with up to 20% dying unless more is done to reach them, according to the UN children's fund, Unicef, and other aid organisations. The estimated number of affected children is now 450,000 (pdf), with 14 million people needing humanitarian assistance across the region. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| UK risks legitimising Sudan's rights abuses with migration talks, MPs warn Posted: 21 Feb 2017 05:28 AM PST Dialogue with Sudan to tackle migrant numbers is putting UK and EU's reputation for championing human rights at risk, says parliamentary committee UK and European Union attempts to reduce migration from Sudan risk giving legitimacy to its government, which has been accused of human rights abuses, politicians have warned. The focus on cutting migration from Sudan "is likely to push the UK towards institutions and individuals with whom we differ on principle", said a report by MPs and peers (pdf) on the all-party parliamentary group for Sudan and South Sudan. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Saving lives under the threat of famine, and tributes to data guru Hans Rosling Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:17 AM PST The aid operations hoping to save lives in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen, and remembering the master statistician and development champion If you are reading this on the web and would prefer to get it in your inbox every two weeks, register for the email edition With famine declared in parts of South Sudan, and looming in Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen, Ben Quinn reported on the complex and innovative aid operations under way to save millions of lives. Agencies say that the difference between success and failure of the far-reaching food distribution drive hinges on whether donors will stump up the more than $5.6bn (£4.5bn) needed to tackle food insecurity in the four countries. And tributes poured in for data guru and development champion Hans Rosling, who died aged 68. Ann Linstrand, head of the vaccine unit at Sweden's public health agency, remembered him as a kind and constantly curious genius who touched countless lives with his virtuosity for bringing figures to life, encouraging people around the world to engage with facts about population, global health and inequality that might otherwise have passed them by. Continue reading... |
| EPA head: US doesn't have to choose between environment and jobs – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 01:35 PM PST The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, told agency staff on Tuesday that the US should not have to choose between the economy and the environment. 'I believe that we as a nation can be both pro-energy and jobs, and pro-environment. We don't have to choose between the two,' Pruitt said in his first speech to EPA workers since he was confirmed as administrator last week Continue reading... |
| White House defends immigration orders that could increase deportations – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 01:18 PM PST White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the Trump administration's plans for a crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the US, saying that two memos issued to the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday offered 'explicit guidance' on how to enforce Donald Trump's executive orders. Spicer said the memos would allow for 'efficient and faithful execution' of immigration laws and help to 'repatriate illegal immigrants swiftly, consistently and humanely' Continue reading... |
| Antisemitic threats are 'horrible', says Trump – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 09:58 AM PST During a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donald Trump denounced antisemitic threats to the Jewish community as 'horrible' and 'painful'. Trump said they were a 'sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate, prejudice and evil.' His comments come after an unusual exchange with a Jewish journalist at a press conference last week Continue reading... |
| British Muslim teacher denied US entry: ‘I felt powerless’ – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 06:02 AM PST The schoolteacher who was denied entry to the US on a school trip has spoken about the moment he was removed from the plane in Iceland. Juhel Miah, from south Wales, and a group of children and other teachers were about to take off from Reykjavik on 16 February when the incident happened. Earlier this month a US appeals court upheld the suspension of President Trump's travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries Continue reading... |
| Car ploughs into New York shop – video Posted: 21 Feb 2017 04:48 AM PST A security camera captures the moment a car ploughs into a Mobil Mart in the Bronx, New York, on Sunday. A customer received hospital treatment, but was not seriously hurt. The driver climbs out of the vehicle after it comes to a standstill, apparently uninjured. CBS New York said there were three children in the back of the car Continue reading... |
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