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- International Women's Day 2017: protests, activism and a strike – live
- Top Republicans refuse to back up Trump's unproven wiretapping claim
- Gunmen dressed as doctors attack military hospital in Kabul
- Mosul: Iraqi troops find Assyrian treasures in network of Isis tunnels
- WikiLeaks publishes 'biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents'
- François Fillon faces fresh allegation over undeclared €50,000 loan
- Facebook to face MPs over failure to remove problem images
- Trump v US intelligence: growing feud puts NSA's legislative priority at risk
- US bill to target Russia's possible influence in European elections
- Libya falls back into civil war as rival sides fight to control oil terminals
- Dakota Access pipeline could open next week after activists face final court loss
- Former MI6 agent behind Trump dossier returns to work
- German court rules against Syrian refugee in Facebook case
- How do you solve a problem like North Korea? | Simon Tisdall
- Hungary to detain all asylum seekers in container camps
- Rhino shot dead by poachers at French zoo
- Iraqi forces seize key Mosul sites from Isis
- Eat, don't pay: 120 diners flee Spanish hotel with €2,200 bill unpaid
- UN says Trump's revised travel ban will worsen plight of refugees
- Nazi art theft: Germany helps Jewish collector's heirs hunt stolen works
- Adults are having less sex than 20 years ago, finds study
- Mannequin sting catches suspect in Las Vegas homeless murders
- H&M supply factory in Myanmar damaged in violent labour protest
- Barcelona to ban old cars from roads to tackle air pollution
- Hong Kong police to stage riot drills to prepare for Xi Jinping visit
- How are you marking International Women's Day?
- Spicer: providing evidence for Trump’s wiretap claims 'above my pay grade' – video
- Women at work around the world - in pictures
- On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder review – how to defend democracy in the age of Trump
- Six key charts you need to make sense of the budget
- How to win a feminist battle – six activists share their secrets | Leymah Gbowee, Laura Coryton, Krystyna Kacpura, Lucy-Anne Holmes, Jaha Dukureh and Antonia Ayres-Brown
- Canada sex assault acquittal signals 'open season on incapacitated women'
- China warns Trump he is facing a 'head-on collision' with North Korea
- Salvation Army says entry into funeral business will help disadvantaged
- The women's protest that sparked the Russian revolution
- Wednesday briefing: Happy women's day – and, Phil pays the bills
- 'We want action': call to return former Toledo synagogue to Jewish community
- Going underground: inside the world of the mole-catchers
- 'We don't have a life here': refugees find scant solace in hardline Hungary
- British man on mission for justice after wife gunned down in Philippines
- 'Barbie, and not a bad guy': meet Borut Pahor, Slovenia's Instagram president
- Fears over trial of '1984' surveillance system that anticipates antisocial acts
- 'We are international, we are everywhere': women unite in global strike
- CPS weighs prosecution of far-right activist on eve of legal challenge
- A day to strike a blow for women’s rights | Letters
- Universities’ drive to tackle sex harassment | Letters
- Free-range cows are a modern invention | Letters
- René Préval obituary
- Sex bans, strength and solidarity: women’s strikes through the ages
- All skiers safe after avalanche at Tignes resort in French Alps
- How does asylum in the UK work? – video
- Unbuilt Moscow: the 'new Soviet' city that never was – in pictures
- Accra a century ago: life in Ghana before independence – in pictures
- International Women’s Day: Pakistan’s ‘invisible’ female workers celebrate new legal status | Zofeen Ebrahim
- International Women's Day: how can you support the global strike? – video
- Leaders launch fund to counter Trump's 'gag rule', and huge cuts to US aid likely
- Replacement healthcare plan would cost poor and older people the most
- Health secretary: new healthcare plan is 'a work in progress' – video
- Chance the Rapper donates $1m to Chicago schools – video
| International Women's Day 2017: protests, activism and a strike – live Posted: 08 Mar 2017 01:50 AM PST Live global coverage of International Women's Day 2017 as events take place around the world to mark the ongoing fight for equality
If you needed any more reason to love the small but powerful nation of Iceland, here's another: the country has just become the first country in the world to require companies to prove they offer equal pay regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and nationality. This from the ministry of Social Affairs and Equality: The certification requires companies with more than 25 employees to not only offer equal pay for equal work, but also equal pay for work of the same value. The Equal Pay Standard, on which the certification requirements are based, does this by assessing a company's pay policies, classification of jobs according to equal value and wage research on the basis of the classification, as well as formalizing policies and processes related to pay decisions. As a country we set ourselves the challenge to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022 but, despite taking steps such as introducing dedicated paid leave for new dads and 40% quotas for women on boards of larger companies, we have not made the progress we would have wished. It is the right time to do something radical about this issue. We want to show the world that eradicating the gender pay gap is an achievable goal and we hope other nations will follow suit in adopting the Equal Pay Standard in years to come.
The UK parliament Women and Equalities Select Committee have done a video encouraging women to get into politics. On #IWD some of our members and our Chair discuss #WomeninParliament #BeBoldForChange @jessphillips @Maria_MillerMP @AngelaCrawleyMP pic.twitter.com/4tFNqid8Lp Yeah let's fix the #PowerGap call for #EqualSay SIGN & SHARE https://t.co/U8rnkFvC3n !!! https://t.co/uRfSCmDOqJ Continue reading... |
| Top Republicans refuse to back up Trump's unproven wiretapping claim Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:27 PM PST Mitch McConnell and Devin Nunes said they hadn't seen evidence to support baseless allegations that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump during the election While the White House on Tuesday stood by Donald Trump's assertion that he was wiretapped by Barack Obama during the 2016 presidential campaign, top Republicans on Capitol Hill provided little support to bolster his explosive and unsubstantiated claim. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said he had not seen any evidence to back up a series of tweets by Trump on Saturday that accused Obama of wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower. Continue reading... |
| Gunmen dressed as doctors attack military hospital in Kabul Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:49 PM PST The attack began with an explosion at the rear of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital close to the US embassy. Gunmen dressed as doctors have attacked a military hospital close to the US embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul. A security official said the attack began with an explosion at the rear of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital and three to five attackers with automatic weapons and hand grenades entered the complex. Continue reading... |
| Mosul: Iraqi troops find Assyrian treasures in network of Isis tunnels Posted: 08 Mar 2017 12:06 AM PST Archaeologists face race against time to save artefacts uncovered in crumbling labyrinths beneath the war-torn city Deep under a monument destroyed by Isis in Mosul, Iraqi archaeologists have discovered carvings dating from almost 2,000 years earlier in a network of escape tunnels dug by the extremists. Archaeologists in the west are avid for more news and better quality photographs of the carved stone reliefs, which appear to represent priests and religious ceremonies. The tunnels were dug under a high mound damaged in 2014 when Isis blew up a beautiful 12th-century mosque, believed to hold the tomb of the prophet Jonah. |
| WikiLeaks publishes 'biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents' Posted: 07 Mar 2017 08:42 AM PST The 8,761 documents published by WikiLeaks focus mainly on techniques for hacking and surveillance The US intelligence agencies are facing fresh embarrassment after WikiLeaks published what it described as the biggest ever leak of confidential documents from the CIA detailing the tools it uses to break into phones, communication apps and other electronic devices. The thousands of leaked documents focus mainly on techniques for hacking and reveal how the CIA cooperated with British intelligence to engineer a way to compromise smart televisions and turn them into improvised surveillance devices. Continue reading... |
| François Fillon faces fresh allegation over undeclared €50,000 loan Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:38 AM PST Rightwing presidential candidate failed to report interest-free loan from billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, French newspaper says The scandal-hit French presidential candidate François Fillon received an interest-free, undeclared loan of €50,000 (£43,000) from a billionaire businessman in 2013, according to the latest revelations by the French weekly Le Canard Enchainé. Fillon "did not deem it necessary" to report the loan from the French business tycoon Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière to a state transparency watchdog, the paper said. Fillon's lawyer told the paper that he had fully repaid the loan. The paper said Fillon explained to investigators that he had simply forgotten to mention the loan in his declaration. Continue reading... |
| Facebook to face MPs over failure to remove problem images Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:35 AM PST Scrutiny follows BBC investigation that found site took down only 18 out of 100 posts reported for sexualised pictures of children Facebook will be questioned by a powerful group of MPs over its failure to remove sexualised images of children following a BBC investigation that found posts reported under its own guidelines were not being taken down. The BBC investigation revealed that of the 100 images and posts it flagged using Facebook's tools, just 18 were deemed by moderators to breach Facebook's guidelines, which explicitly bar sexualised images of children. Continue reading... |
| Trump v US intelligence: growing feud puts NSA's legislative priority at risk Posted: 07 Mar 2017 04:04 PM PST Reauthorization of measure permitting sweeping surveillance in danger as intelligence community has been blamed for leaks about Trump and Russia The escalating feud between Donald Trump and US intelligence is now putting the top 2017 legislative priority of the intelligence agencies at risk. At the end of the year, a broad legal authority permitting sweeping surveillance is set to expire. The National Security Agency considers the authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), pivotal to fighting terrorism and stopping espionage. Civil libertarians consider the measure – the wellspring of the NSA's Prism and "upstream" mass communications-data collection – unconstitutional. Continue reading... |
| US bill to target Russia's possible influence in European elections Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:39 PM PST Proposed legislation looks ahead to concerns about hacking in 2017 European elections and Russia's desire to support 'extremist, pro-Moscow candidates' A bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives targeting Russia for its role in election hacking will be announced on Wednesday. The bill, introduced by Republican congressman Peter Roskam of Illinois and Democrat congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island, will declare that it is US policy "to sanction entities and individuals within Russia or associated with the Russian Government engaged in hacking, cyber-attacks, and propaganda campaigns with the intention of interfering in democratic elections". Continue reading... |
| Libya falls back into civil war as rival sides fight to control oil terminals Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:28 AM PST Conflict sparked by Benghazi Defence Brigade's capture from Libyan National Army of terminals at Sidra and Ras Lanuf Ambassadors to Libya from the UK, US and France have made an appeal for calm as Libya falls back into a bloody civil war with rival sides battling for control of the hugely lucrative Libyan oil terminals. Diplomats are concerned the fighting will severely damage the coastal oil infrastructure – the economic lifeblood of the country. Continue reading... |
| Dakota Access pipeline could open next week after activists face final court loss Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:47 AM PST Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux lose argument to prevent pipe from being laid under a stretch of the Missouri river, the last piece of construction A federal judge declined Tuesday to temporarily stop construction of the final section of the disputed Dakota Access pipeline, clearing the way for oil to flow as soon as next week. Related: Private investor divests $34.8m from firms tied to Dakota Access pipeline Continue reading... |
| Former MI6 agent behind Trump dossier returns to work Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:17 AM PST Christopher Steele speaks publicly for first time since the file was revealed and thanks supporters for 'kind messages' The former MI6 agent behind the controversial Trump dossier has returned to work, nearly two months after its publication caused an international scandal and furious denials from Washington and Moscow. Christopher Steele posed for a photograph outside the office of his business intelligence company Orbis in Victoria, London on Tuesday. Speaking for the first time since his dossier was revealed, Steele said he had received messages of support. Continue reading... |
| German court rules against Syrian refugee in Facebook case Posted: 07 Mar 2017 07:21 AM PST Anas Modamani's injunction rejected after judge says social network not obliged to seek out and delete defamatory posts A Syrian refugee who took a selfie with Angela Merkel has failed in his attempt to sue Facebook over a series of posts falsely linking him to terrorist attacks. The photograph which Anas Modamani, from Darayya near Damascus, took of himself and the German chancellor at a Berlin refugee shelter in September 2015 has since been repeatedly shared on doctored photomontages supposedly identifying him as the culprit behind crimes and terrorist attacks across Europe. Continue reading... |
| How do you solve a problem like North Korea? | Simon Tisdall Posted: 07 Mar 2017 04:38 AM PST The international community's impotent rage over Kim Jong-un's increasingly provocative actions underlines diplomacy's bankruptcy The chronic failure of diplomacy to resolve the long-running North Korea problem, dramatised by Tuesday's tit-for-tat "hostage taking" by Malaysia and Kim Jong-un's outlawed regime, is accelerating the militarisation of a conflict that threatens to suck in the US, China and other east Asian countries. North Korea's decision to prevent Malaysian diplomats and citizens leaving the country was condemned by Najib Razak, Malaysia's prime minister. "This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms," he said. Continue reading... |
| Hungary to detain all asylum seekers in container camps Posted: 07 Mar 2017 05:56 AM PST PM calls migration 'Trojan horse for terrorism' as parliament backs law to hold asylum applicants on southern border Human rights groups have heavily criticised a vote by the Hungarian parliament to force all asylum seekers into detention camps as the country's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, called migration "a Trojan horse for terrorism". The asylum seekers will be kept in converted shipping containers while they wait for their cases to be heard via video-link as part of measures Orbán said were designed to save Europe. He considers the migrants, many of whom are Muslims, as a threat to European Christian identity and culture. Continue reading... |
| Rhino shot dead by poachers at French zoo Posted: 07 Mar 2017 07:59 AM PST Horn removed from four-year-old Vince in 'act of extreme violence', says park director Poachers have broken into a French zoo, killing a four-year-old white rhinoceros and sawing off its horn. Keepers found the dead animal, named Vince, in the African enclosure of the zoo at Thoiry, west of Paris, on Tuesday morning. It had been shot in the head and its large horn removed with a chainsaw. Continue reading... |
| Iraqi forces seize key Mosul sites from Isis Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:35 AM PST Central Bank, Mosul museum and administration building taken during assault on western bank of Tigris river Iraqi forces have moved deeper into western Mosul, overrunning a district and edging closer to the most symbolic site of Islamic State's rule, the Great Mosque of al-Nuri where the "caliphate" was proclaimed more than two years ago. In a push along the western bank of the Tigris river, federal police units seized an administration building, the Central Bank and the Mosul museum, a site previously used as a meeting point for senior Isis leaders. The assault initially met fierce resistance, but that had ended by dawn on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Eat, don't pay: 120 diners flee Spanish hotel with €2,200 bill unpaid Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:12 AM PST Incident in Bembibre among a trail of similar cases at restaurants in north-western region being investigated by police They booked banquets for hundreds of guests. They ate, drank, danced and even set off fireworks. But when dessert arrived, they drove away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind unpaid bills amounting to thousands of euros. A trail of similar recent incidents in restaurants in north-western Spain is being investigated by police, who have detained one man from Romania, whose identity matches some of the bookings, authorities said on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| UN says Trump's revised travel ban will worsen plight of refugees Posted: 07 Mar 2017 05:17 AM PST High commissioner says refugees are not criminals as some affected Muslim-majority countries express disappointment Donald Trump's revised travel ban will increase the woes of the world's refugees, the United Nations has said, as some of the Muslim-majority countries affected by the ban expressed their disappointment, insisting they had fully cooperated with US anti-terrorist efforts. The executive order blocks entry to the US for citizens from six of the seven countries named in Trump's original order – Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya – for a period of 90 days and suspends the US refugee programme for 120 days. Continue reading... |
| Nazi art theft: Germany helps Jewish collector's heirs hunt stolen works Posted: 07 Mar 2017 08:09 AM PST Ancestors of Berlin publisher Rudolf Mosse working with state-funded experts to try to recover thousands of lost pieces The American heirs of a German-Jewish family have launched an unprecedented partnership with German state institutions to try to recover a vast art collection stolen by the Nazis. Ancestors of the Berlin publisher Rudolf Mosse will work alongside government-funded provenance researchers to seek information from leading art institutions and private collectors about what happened to the thousands of paintings, sculptures, archaeological artefacts, books and other antiquities that were lost. Continue reading... |
| Adults are having less sex than 20 years ago, finds study Posted: 07 Mar 2017 08:33 AM PST Finding may be down to factors including changing gender roles, social media use and living at home longer, but is not necessarily bleak, say researchers Adults are having sex less often than they were 20 years ago, according a US study based on a survey of almost 27,000 individuals. Researchers have found that adults, on average, were having sex seven fewer times annually in the early 2010s compared to the early 1990s, and nine fewer times compared to the late 1990s. Continue reading... |
| Mannequin sting catches suspect in Las Vegas homeless murders Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:00 AM PST Police used a unique ploy in their efforts to find the perpetrator behind brutal deaths of two men living on the streets of Las Vegas It was 3am at a secluded Las Vegas intersection, a place home to little else except the occasional homeless person sleeping on a bed of gravel. A figure strode back and forth, his attention drawn to a motionless form under some blankets. The man, identified by police as Shane Schindler, 30, pulled a hood over his head. He lifted a four-pound hammer with both hands to "generate maximum force", according to police, and brought it down on the recumbent shape "with the intent to kill". Continue reading... |
| H&M supply factory in Myanmar damaged in violent labour protest Posted: 07 Mar 2017 08:45 AM PST Workers destroy production line of Yangon factory making clothes for the Swedish fashion chain, in month-long dispute over conditions and benefits Workers demanding better conditions and benefits have destroyed the production line of a Chinese-owned factory in Myanmar making clothes for Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz, in one of the most violent labour disputes in the country in years. The month-old dispute, which also saw managers attacked, highlights the need for Aung San Suu Kyi's government to enact social and labour reforms, analysts say, while at the same time reassuring investors looking to tap the opening of one of the world's fastest growing economies after decades of isolation. Continue reading... |
| Barcelona to ban old cars from roads to tackle air pollution Posted: 07 Mar 2017 04:43 AM PST Motorists will be prohibited from driving vehicles older than 20 years on weekdays from 2019 in effort to cut emissions Barcelona will ban cars that are older than 20 years from the roads during the week to cut traffic emissions by 30% over 15 years. The measure – a joint initiative between the city council, the Catalan government and other metropolitan bodies – will come into force on 1 January 2019 and will cover Barcelona and the 39 surrounding municipalities. Continue reading... |
| Hong Kong police to stage riot drills to prepare for Xi Jinping visit Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:08 AM PST Protests and celebrations expected as Chinese president said to make trip on 20th anniversary of former British colony's return to China Police in Hong Kong have reportedly launched a security crackdown as the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, prepares to make a rare and potentially tempestuous trip to the former British colony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to China. The territory, which reverted to Chinese control in 1997, will mark two decades of Chinese rule on 1 July, a highly sensitive occasion likely to spark both celebration and street protest. |
| How are you marking International Women's Day? Posted: 08 Mar 2017 01:35 AM PST If you're taking part in an event to mark the ongoing fight for equality, we'd like you to share your messages of support, experiences and photographs Millions of people around the world are marking International Women's Day, in what campaigners are saying is the most political global event of its kind yet. Women in more than 50 countries will go on strike from paid and unpaid labour on Wednesday, while many more will be taking part in protests and direct action. In some countries women will wear black, or different colours, while the focus on issues from femicide to abortion will be decided in each nation. Continue reading... |
| Spicer: providing evidence for Trump’s wiretap claims 'above my pay grade' – video Posted: 08 Mar 2017 12:50 AM PST White House press secretary Sean Spicer is pressed on Donald Trump's unsubstantiated accusation that he was wiretapped by Barack Obama. In his first on-camera briefing in more than a week on Tuesday, Spicer was unable to offer any evidence for Trump's accusation Continue reading... |
| Women at work around the world - in pictures Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:40 PM PST On International Women's Day we meet a selection of women in a variety of professions around the world Continue reading... |
| On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder review – how to defend democracy in the age of Trump Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:30 PM PST Lessons from Nazi Germany and eastern Europe show us how democracy dies, and what we must do to save it Winston Churchill once famously declared: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Underpinned by the rule of law and the popular will, democracy is the only way we can prevent the arbitrary exercise of tyrannical power: suppression of free speech; curtailment or abolition of civil liberties; laws passed by decree without public debate or popular approval; arrest and imprisonment without trial; torture and murder by unchecked agencies of the government; and theft, extortion and embezzlement by politicians in power, who inevitably turn into kleptocrats when democracy is destroyed. Yet democracy is a fragile creation. After a period following the collapse of the Soviet Union, when constitutional democracy spread to many countries not just in Europe but across the globe, and Francis Fukuyama declared that history had come to an end, the tide seems to have turned. Democracies are now being destroyed in Russia, Hungary, Turkey and Poland, as strongmen such as Putin, Orban, Erdoğan and Kaczyński dismantle civil liberties, silence critical voices and suppress independent institutions. What makes it worse is that such would-be dictators enjoy popular support for what they are doing. A similar process may well be under way with the advent of the Trump regime in the United States. Continue reading... |
| Six key charts you need to make sense of the budget Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:41 PM PST Figures show public finances are looking in better shape – but Philip Hammond is likely to hold money back to help weather Brexit Philip Hammond will deliver his spring budget against the backdrop of a weak pound, rising inflation and growing worries about a squeeze on households. The chancellor is expected to unveil a brighter outlook for growth than at the time of his autumn statement in November. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 08 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PST From helping to end a civil war to fighting the tampon tax, six women explain how their campaigns achieved the unimaginable Continue reading... |
| Canada sex assault acquittal signals 'open season on incapacitated women' Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:02 AM PST Calls grow for provincial judge to be removed from bench after acquitting taxi driver of sexual assault on drunk passenger Calls are mounting for the removal of a Canadian provincial judge who told a courtroom "clearly, a drunk can consent", before acquitting a taxi driver accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger who was found half-naked and unconscious in his cab. The ruling by Judge Gregory Lenehan in Nova Scotia attracted widespread condemnation after it was handed down last week. Dozens of sexual assault centres and advocates for survivors of sexual violence joined forces to file a formal complaint, while others wrote letters demanding a judicial review. Continue reading... |
| China warns Trump he is facing a 'head-on collision' with North Korea Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:47 PM PST Chinese foreign minister scolds Kim Jong-un's regime for its nuclear ambitions but also blames Washington for stoking regional tensions The United States and North Korea are racing towards a catastrophic "head-on collision", China's foreign minister has warned, amid Chinese fury at America's deployment of a controversial anti-missile system. Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, Wang Yi said a "looming crisis" was brewing on the Korean peninsular. Continue reading... |
| Salvation Army says entry into funeral business will help disadvantaged Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:10 PM PST Consumer advocates welcome move, saying there is history of unscrupulous providers taking advantage of bereaved The Salvation Army has entered Australia's funeral industry, a move welcomed by consumer advocates concerned by a "long history" of unscrupulous providers taking advantage of the newly bereaved and a lack of competition. Salvo Funerals officially launched in Sydney this week, following a successful six-month trial in which it delivered more than 90 funerals. Malcolm Pittendrigh, the chief executive, said it was a social enterprise designed to both meet the needs of the community and return money to the not-for-profit. |
| The women's protest that sparked the Russian revolution Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PST International Women's Day demonstration in Petrograd on 8 March 1917 gave way to strikes that led to the overthrow of the tsar The first day of the Russian revolution – 8 March (23 February in the old Russian calendar) – was International Women's Day, an important day in the socialist calendar. By midday of that day in 1917 there were tens of thousands of mainly women congregating on the Nevsky Propsekt, the principal avenue in the centre of the Russian capital, Petrograd, and banners started to appear. The slogans on the banners were patriotic but also made forceful demands for change: "Feed the children of the defenders of the motherland", read one; another said: "Supplement the ration of soldiers' families, defenders of freedom and the people's peace". Continue reading... |
| Wednesday briefing: Happy women's day – and, Phil pays the bills Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:55 PM PST Chancellor budgets for Brexit … WikiLeaks publishes 'biggest ever CIA leak' … and why are homeless charities getting rough sleepers deported? Hello and happy International Women's Day. It's Warren Murray bringing you this morning's need-to-know news. Continue reading... |
| 'We want action': call to return former Toledo synagogue to Jewish community Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PST Spain's Catholic church owns Santa María la Blanca, now a popular museum, but shows little interest in giving it back Among the fans, parasols and knick-knacks in the gift shop of the Santa María la Blanca museum are bottles of kosher wine and tiles painted with menorahs and magens David. They are testament to the fact that, despite its name – not to mention its incarnations as a church, a barracks and a warehouse – the museum began its life in the 12th century as Toledo's main synagogue. Continue reading... |
| Going underground: inside the world of the mole-catchers Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PST A bitter battle is raging within the mole-catching community over the kindest way to carry out their deadly work Roger Page purchased his home in East Bilney, a Norfolk farming community, about 25 years ago. For the better part of those 25 years, he bore no ill will toward the moles. He was fond of wildlife, or at least what little of it remained in the country. A family of deer foraged in the backyard. Foxes lolled in the road at dusk. Moles were a rarity. Page worked as a commercial pilot and when the occasional molehill erupted on his lawn, he would pat it down before departing again to New York or Hong Kong. They seemed to have an understanding, he and the moles. They mostly kept to the woods, while Page mostly kept to the garden. Continue reading... |
| 'We don't have a life here': refugees find scant solace in hardline Hungary Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PST Rightwing government of Viktor Orbán is charging asylum seekers €1,200 to move them to 'open' camps that prove to be anything but Pias, a young Iraqi refugee who made it to Hungary, was initially keen to show off his English. But after four months in a detention camp, fear and uncertainty had rendered him mute. Despite paying the Hungarian authorities €1,200 (£1,018) to send him to a more open facility, the 19-year-old feared being hauled back into custody under a draconian new law. Continue reading... |
| British man on mission for justice after wife gunned down in Philippines Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:30 PM PST Stuart Green's wife Mia, a lawyer, was killed in a barrage of bullets that narrowly missed his children in a hit he blames on gangsters linked to one of her cases The two gunmen arrived on motorcycles and flanked the modest, family-sized Toyota at a busy intersection. Aiming at the driver, they fired a barrage of bullets, nine of which fatally hit Mia Mascariñas-Green in her head and neck. In the back seat, her 10-year-old daughter and 23-month-old twins watched. Their nanny – who was sitting in the third row – jumped over the divide to shield the children with her body. One of the attacker's guns jammed and they fled. Continue reading... |
| 'Barbie, and not a bad guy': meet Borut Pahor, Slovenia's Instagram president Posted: 07 Mar 2017 07:12 PM PST Pahor rode to power in 2012 on a wave of popularity aided by his candid and colourful Instagram account Donald Trump may rule Twitter but he is no match for his Slovenian counterpart on Instagram. Borut Pahor, also known as "Barbie", has been actively using social media to get his message across since 2012. Continue reading... |
| Fears over trial of '1984' surveillance system that anticipates antisocial acts Posted: 07 Mar 2017 04:34 PM PST Privacy advocates raise concerns over Toowoomba council's iOmniscient surveillance software that they say is 'invasive' and linked to racial profiling A behavioural surveillance scheme being trialled by a Queensland council in an attempt to anticipate antisocial and illegal acts has prompted concern, with civil liberties advocates saying the technology is "straight out of 1984" and has been linked to racial profiling. The Queensland privacy commissioner, Philip Green, confirmed he had not been consulted by Toowoomba regional council over its trial of "privacy-invasive" behavioural recognition software with CCTV cameras, which has been linked to racial profiling in the United States. Continue reading... |
| 'We are international, we are everywhere': women unite in global strike Posted: 07 Mar 2017 01:00 PM PST International Women's Day 2017 set to be one of the most political yet, with women in more than 50 countries downing tools Women in more than 50 countries will go on strike from paid and unpaid labour on Wednesday while millions more will be taking part in direct action on what is set to be one of the most political International Women's Days in history. From Thailand to Poland, the United States to Australia, the first International Women's Strike will see action on both the industrial and domestic fronts, with participants keen to show solidarity with an energised global women's movement. Continue reading... |
| CPS weighs prosecution of far-right activist on eve of legal challenge Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:21 AM PST Campaign Against Antisemitism challenges CPS decision not to charge Jeremy Bedford-Turner The Crown Prosecution Service is reconsidering whether to prosecute a far-right activist for alleged antisemitism on the eve of a highly unusual legal challenge to its decision to let the case drop. Government lawyers were due at the high court in London on Wednesday for judicial review proceedings brought by the Campaign Against Antisemitism. The case challenged the CPS decision not to charge a prominent far-right activist, Jeremy Bedford-Turner, for allegedly making antisemitic comments at a demonstration in July 2015. Continue reading... |
| A day to strike a blow for women’s rights | Letters Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:44 AM PST In the wake of the intensifying war against women internationally and the growing resistance to it, there is a call for an international women's strike on International Women's Day, 8 March. Inspired by the women's strikes in Iceland and then in Poland last autumn in response to the attempts to further criminalise abortion, women in Argentina who are part of the #NiUnaMenos (Not one less) protests against femicide launched a call for an international strike to protest against all violence against women – including economic violence. The magnificent women's protests against Trump gave further impetus with the call being taken up in the US and more than 30 countries across the globe. Continue reading... |
| Universities’ drive to tackle sex harassment | Letters Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:43 AM PST Your article is right to identify the need to do more to tackle sexual harassment and violence in our society (Calls for action by universities on 'epidemic' of harassment on campus, 7 March). It omitted, however, to mention the significant amount of work already done in universities to address the issue. We were members of Universities UK's taskforce that looked at this area last year. Having consulted widely with students, universities and support groups, the taskforce report, Changing the Culture, was clear that universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment and it made a series of recommendations to universities. This work is ongoing and there is more to come. While the focus on universities' procedures and reporting systems is important, it is also about promoting a general culture change in relation to sexual harassment and violence. We are pleased that universities are taking a lead role in this area, with a range of innovative campaigns and initiatives to highlight up-front the behaviours that are expected from all students and staff. While this is clearly not an issue isolated to university campuses, the sector is tackling it head-on to help ensure that students and staff can enjoy a safe and positive time at university. |
| Free-range cows are a modern invention | Letters Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:42 AM PST The overarching assumption in Joanna Blythman's anthropomorphic article on "free range" milk (1 March) is that it's better for cows to graze on pasture than be kept, milked and fed in a closed environment. That grazing is more "natural" (and so better) is a silly assumption. None of our domesticated beasts have led a "natural" life for thousands of years now and are evolved into creatures that are as dependent on us and our care as we are on them. If we use as a measure of "happiness" or "contentedness" the milk-yield of each cow and its susceptibility to illness, indoor husbandry wins hands down over traditional farming every time. "Cows belong in fields" may have an emotional appeal – but in a world of daft slogans it is surely one of the daftest. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:14 AM PST President of Haiti who managed to bring a measure of tranquillity to a country besieged by poverty and violence René Préval, who has died at the age of 74, will be remembered as the only president in Haiti's history who twice turned power over to a democratically elected successor in a country marked by coups and political strife. Haiti's leaders are often defined by their grandiose tastes and a love of the sound of their own voices, but Préval's style was understated. Whereas some previous Haitian rulers would hold court seated on what resembled a golden throne, Préval's ethos was better summed up by the time he arrived at the border town of Belladère on the back of a motorcycle-taxi to tell residents that his goal for the country was peace. Continue reading... |
| Sex bans, strength and solidarity: women’s strikes through the ages Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:11 AM PST The action planned for International Women's Day is a powerful weapon. Women withdrawing their labour have inspired Greek drama and changed the face of Icelandic politics There is a plan to mark this International Women's Day with a global strike; women everywhere expressing their solidarity with one another by withdrawing their labour. There is a good chance that by the time you read this, you will already be at work. There is another good chance that, if you are committed to global women's solidarity, the work you do is already more valuable to women than it is to the patriarchy, and, by withdrawing it, you are not even cutting off your nose to spite your face, you are cutting off your nose to spite someone else's face. And then there's the pitfall common to all strike action: that you redistribute oppression, if only in the form of inconvenience, to people who were previously on your side, while leaving unaffected the people you truly want to notice. Specific to women-only action is the question, knocking about since the worldwide Women's Marches in January, over whether or not this is a good time to be excluding men, just as a united front of everybody with a shared view of humanity is most important. Janelle Brown, from the activist group Sisters Uncut, reminds us that the practical benefits of women-only spaces can outweigh the theoretical downsides: "Just not having men in the room makes decision-making much quicker. When there's no interrupting – no bravado, essentially – you get shit done." Continue reading... |
| All skiers safe after avalanche at Tignes resort in French Alps Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:31 AM PST Officials say no victims from avalanche, which swept across blue piste on Tuesday morning Skiers on a "family slope" in the popular French Alpine resort of Tignes that was hit by an avalanche on Tuesday morning have all been found safe and well, French officials have said. Two hours after the avalanche, local gendarmes who feared a large number of skiers were under the snow, said they had examined every metre of the piste and found no victims. Continue reading... |
| How does asylum in the UK work? – video Posted: 07 Mar 2017 03:00 AM PST Britain's asylum system is a mixture of government bureaucracy and private provision of housing. People arriving from conflict zones and persecution are given around £5 per day and accommodation but are barred from employment while their case is decided. How does Britain measure up with the rest of Europe? Where are asylum seekers coming from? And how is the system really working? Continue reading... |
| Unbuilt Moscow: the 'new Soviet' city that never was – in pictures Posted: 07 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PST As the centenary of the Russian revolution approaches, the designs of top Soviet architects for the capital's future reveal their visionary aspirations Continue reading... |
| Accra a century ago: life in Ghana before independence – in pictures Posted: 07 Mar 2017 04:20 AM PST Founded in 1922, Deo Gratias is the oldest photography studio still in operation in Accra. As the city celebrates 60 years of independence this week, the studio has revealed new photos of life in the 1920s and 1930s Continue reading... |
| Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:00 PM PST Home-based workers in Sindh province, who prop up the country's informal economy, hope their historic victory will mean an end to exploitation Zehra Khan has much to celebrate on International Women's Day. It is exactly four months since members of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) in Sindh province, Pakistan – of which Khan is secretary general – finally received legal recognition. The province's chief minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, signed a policy that means the region's estimated 5 million home-based workers – the majority of whom are women – can register as workers and access benefits. Continue reading... |
| International Women's Day: how can you support the global strike? – video Posted: 07 Mar 2017 10:58 AM PST Women from more than 40 countries are staging a strike from all work, paid and unpaid, to highlight women's power within global economies. But what if you can't join them? Here are other ways you can show solidarity, from wearing red to avoiding the shops for the day |
| Leaders launch fund to counter Trump's 'gag rule', and huge cuts to US aid likely Posted: 07 Mar 2017 05:07 AM PST Nations pledge millions to mitigate Trump's block on funding to family planning services worldwide, and outline US budget indicates big fall in aid spending 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 World leaders at a conference in Brussels last week pledged millions to help plug the hole left by Trump's "global gag rule". Twenty countries aim to raise $600m (£490m) to compensate for Donald Trump's ban on funding for NGOs that offer abortion services or advocacy in the developing world, even if they use their own funds to do so. The UK has so far failed to contribute, instead highlighting its existing commitments to family planning. US spending on overseas aid is also expected to face huge reductions under Trump, as part of plans to increase defence funding by $54bn in his forthcoming budget. The US currently has the world's most expansive overseas aid programme, with a proposed federal spend of $50.1bn (£40.3bn) for 2017 alone (pdf). But an outline budget suggests Trump will make good on a campaign pledge to "stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us". Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Replacement healthcare plan would cost poor and older people the most Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:14 AM PST GOP Obamacare replacement bill's key provisions include cuts to Medicaid and leeway for insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more House Republicans unveiled their long-promised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, on Monday. And though Donald Trump promised Americans increased access and lower costs, many would in fact get the opposite. Some of the bill's key provisions include cuts to one of America's largest social safety nets, Medicaid; less generous tax credits for individuals who buy insurance on the open market; and the undoing of incentives for younger Americans to buy health insurance. Continue reading... |
| Health secretary: new healthcare plan is 'a work in progress' – video Posted: 07 Mar 2017 01:12 PM PST Health and human services secretary Tom Price spoke to reporters at the White House press briefing on Tuesday, touting the new Republican healthcare legislation overhauling the nation's existing healthcare law. Price said the new plan is 'about patients, not about money'. Price added that the proposed legislation is 'a work in progress' as it heads to the Senate for voting |
| Chance the Rapper donates $1m to Chicago schools – video Posted: 07 Mar 2017 09:25 AM PST The Grammy-winning artist Chance the Rapper is calling on the Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner, to use executive powers to better fund Chicago Public Schools and has donated $1m to a foundation for schools. The hip-hop performer from Chicago, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, announced the donation on Monday from an elementary school on the city's South Side near where he grew up Continue reading... |
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