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- North Korea warns 'thermonuclear war may break out at any moment'
- Turkey vote curtailed fundamental freedoms, say European observers
- Devastation and a war that rages on: visiting the valley hit by the Moab attack
- Opening of UN files on Holocaust will 'rewrite chapters of history'
- Supreme court blocks Arkansas from flurry of executions
- Illegal wildlife trade threatens species at Unesco sites, says WWF
- Le Pen and Macron woo Paris as French election enters final stretch
- Receding glacier causes immense Canadian river to vanish in four days
- Jamaican woman, 117, is oldest person on Earth
- Bizarre bivalve: first living giant shipworm discovered in Philippines
- Former South Korean president facing possible life sentence
- Borussia Dortmund blasts: letters claiming responsibility may be fake
- Five die in plane crash near supermarket in Lisbon
- Prince's doctor prescribed oxycodone under friend's name days before death
- St Petersburg attack: Russian police question new suspect
- Teenage girl dies after shark attack while surfing in Western Australia
- Snapchat denies claim CEO did not want to expand into 'poor India'
- The Danish beermakers brewing up work for autistic people
- 'I was crying': 10-year-old bumped from Air Canada flight describes ordeal – video
- Weetabix sold to US firm after cereal fails to catch on at breakfast in China
- Hunting the KGB Killers – gripping documentary more outrageous than a spy movie
- Rauma in the spotlight: city celebrates 575 years as Finland turns 100
- Grief etched in stone: Sierra Leone finally lays Ebola to rest – in pictures
- Did Seattle's mandatory helmet law kill off its bike-share scheme?
- New Met police chief expresses ‘huge concern’ over gun and knife crime
- Asma al-Assad is a cheerleader for evil. Her UK citizenship should be revoked | Nadhim Zahawi
- Manus Island shooting caused by drunk soldiers, police say
- Trump congratulates Erdoğan after Turkey vote grants sweeping powers
- Tuesday briefing: Turkey result gets thumbs-up from Trump
- Air Canada apologises for bumping boy, 10, from family holiday flight
- Talk to the hand: Erdoğan tells election observers to 'know their place' – video
- Thermonuclear war possible ‘at any moment’, warns North Korea – video
- Giant shipworm examined by scientists for first time – video
- Could Asma al-Assad be stripped of her British citizenship?
- Hunting ban wrecked foxes’ country lifestyle | Letters
- Ellen Wilkinson finds her place on our Middlesbrough plinth | Letters
- ‘Wall-to-wall men’ at the Vatican’s Holy Thursday service | Letters
- EU leaders urge Erdoğan to show restraint after referendum victory
- Erdoğan's referendum victory unsurprising in a 'strongman' world
- Melania Trump nudges Donald during Easter egg roll national anthem – video
- Pence: strategic patience era with North Korea over – video
- How Atlanta's conservative suburbs became a frontier of liberal resistance – video
| North Korea warns 'thermonuclear war may break out at any moment' Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:44 AM PDT Country's deputy UN ambassador, Kim In-ryong, makes declaration as Trump tells Kim Jong-un he has 'gotta behave' A senior North Korean official has accused the US of turning the Korean peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment". North Korea's deputy UN ambassador, Kim In-ryong, described US-South Korean military exercises as the largest ever "aggressive war drill" and said his country was "ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US". Continue reading... |
| Turkey vote curtailed fundamental freedoms, say European observers Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:42 AM PDT Constitutional referendum took place on unlevel playing field and campaigners did not have equal opportunities, say monitors The Turkish referendum on presidential powers took place on an "unlevel playing field" and in a political environment where fundamental freedoms were curtailed, European observers have said. The observer mission said voting had proceeded in a largely orderly fashion on Sunday, but it criticised a controversial last-minute decision by the country's election board to count unstamped ballots as illegal and lifting an important safeguard against fraud. Continue reading... |
| Devastation and a war that rages on: visiting the valley hit by the Moab attack Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:11 AM PDT The US attack on Isis in Afghanistan means locals could return to their villages – but the scenes on the ground were grim, and the fighting is far from over The Afghan commando knew when the big bomb would hit, so he turned on his phone camera to capture the impact. When the blast came at 7.32pm – as the Americans had said it would – a giant white flash lit up the evening sky over the Spin Ghar mountains. But the explosion was not as loud as he had expected, the commando said. In the moment, it felt more like an earthquake. |
| Opening of UN files on Holocaust will 'rewrite chapters of history' Posted: 17 Apr 2017 04:01 PM PDT Archive used in prosecution of Nazis reveals detailed evidence of death camps and genocide previously unseen by public War crimes files revealing early evidence of Holocaust death camps that was smuggled out of eastern Europe are among tens of thousands of files to be made public for the first time this week. The once-inaccessible archive of the UN war crimes commission, dating back to 1943, is being opened by the Wiener Library in London with a catalogue that can be searched online. Continue reading... |
| Supreme court blocks Arkansas from flurry of executions Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:49 PM PDT Late-night decision stays death of Don Davis, and prevents start of schedule that planned killings of several prisoners this month The US supreme court has ended a dramatic day of legal tussles over Arkansas' unprecedented plan to execute eight prisoners in 11 days, declining to allow the state to go ahead with Monday night's scheduled killings in what amounted to a major victory for the condemned inmates' lawyers and anti-death penalty campaigners. The nation's highest court took several hours to reach its decision, finally announcing at 11.50pm that it had declined to lift a stay on the execution of Don Davis, 54, imposed earlier in the day by the supreme court of Arkansas. Continue reading... |
| Illegal wildlife trade threatens species at Unesco sites, says WWF Posted: 17 Apr 2017 04:01 PM PDT Conservation charity warns that almost half of world heritage sites designated for importance to nature are at risk Almost half of the Unesco world heritage sites designated for their importance to nature are threatened by the illegal wildlife trade, a WWF report has said. Poaching, illegal logging and fishing, and the trafficking of rare species are plaguing 45% of the world's most precious natural areas, the report from the conservation charity said. Continue reading... |
| Le Pen and Macron woo Paris as French election enters final stretch Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:06 PM PDT Just days before first round of voting in presidential race, polls show frontrunners not dead certs to face each other in runoff The French presidential election's two frontrunners held competing campaign rallies in Paris on Monday as one of the tightest and most unpredictable races in decades entered its final frantic stretch. With polls suggesting any two of four candidates could make the runoff, centrist Emmanuel Macron packed out the 20,000-seat Bercy arena while the far-right's Marine Le Pen addressed around 5,000 people at the Zenith concert hall later. Continue reading... |
| Receding glacier causes immense Canadian river to vanish in four days Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:00 AM PDT First ever observed case of 'river piracy' saw the Slims river disappear as intense glacier melt suddenly diverted its flow into another watercourse An immense river that flowed from one of Canada's largest glaciers vanished over the course of four days last year, scientists have reported, in an unsettling illustration of how global warming dramatically changes the world's geography. The abrupt and unexpected disappearance of the Slims river, which spanned up to 150 metres at its widest points, is the first observed case of "river piracy", in which the flow of one river is suddenly diverted into another. Continue reading... |
| Jamaican woman, 117, is oldest person on Earth Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:13 AM PDT Violet Brown becomes oldest registered person after death of Italian Emma Morano, also 117 A Jamaican woman born 117 years ago has become the oldest person in the world after the death of Emma Morano, the Italian woman who was previously the oldest human being on the planet when she died at 117 on Saturday. Morano, who was thought to have been the last surviving person born in the 1800s, was also one of the five oldest people in recorded history. Continue reading... |
| Bizarre bivalve: first living giant shipworm discovered in Philippines Posted: 17 Apr 2017 12:00 PM PDT Mud-dwelling organism that lives head down in a tusklike tube found alive for first time, although its existence had been known of for centuries About three feet long and glistening black with a pink, fleshy appendage, it looks like the entrails of an alien from a bad horror film. In fact, it is a giant shipworm. Discovered in the mud of a shallow lagoon in the Philippines, a living creature of the species has never been described before – even though its existence has been known for more than 200 years thanks to fossils of the baseball bat-sized tubes that encase the creature. Continue reading... |
| Former South Korean president facing possible life sentence Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:36 AM PDT Trial of Park Geun-hye to start within weeks after she was formally indicted on multiple charges of corruption South Korean prosecutors have formally charged Park Geun-hye over high-profile corruption allegations that could potentially send the former president to jail for life. The indictment covers multiple charges, including abuse of power, extortion, bribery and leaking state secrets. Continue reading... |
| Borussia Dortmund blasts: letters claiming responsibility may be fake Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:51 AM PDT German police investigating 'in all directions' amid doubt over authenticity of three separate declarations of responsibility Almost a week after the attack on a bus carrying the German football team Borussia Dortmund, police have said they are continuing to investigate "in all directions" and have questioned the authenticity of three separate statements that claimed responsibility for the attack. Copies of a statement suggesting an Islamist motive were found near the site where three explosive devices were detonated last Tuesday, and a 26-year-old Iraqi who had previously led an Isis unit was subsequently arrested. Continue reading... |
| Five die in plane crash near supermarket in Lisbon Posted: 17 Apr 2017 06:34 AM PDT Small aircraft comes down close to Portuguese capital, killing four people on board and a truck driver A small plane has crashed next to a supermarket near Lisbon, killing four people on board and one on the ground, Portuguese emergency services have said. Four other people were slightly injured. Operational commander Miguel Cruz said the Swiss pilot and three French passengers had died, along with a Portuguese truck driver who was offloading his cargo outside the shop. Continue reading... |
| Prince's doctor prescribed oxycodone under friend's name days before death Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:57 AM PDT Unsealed affidavits suggest musician was struggling with opioid addiction, as authorities searched for where he procured fentanyl that killed him A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed oxycodone under the name of a friend of the musician to protect the singer's privacy, according to an affidavit unsealed Monday. The document is one of several affidavits and search warrants unsealed in Carver County district court as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. Continue reading... |
| St Petersburg attack: Russian police question new suspect Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:14 AM PDT Suspect is ninth person to have been detained on suspicion of having colluded with the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov Russian law enforcement officials are questioning a new suspect over the bombing of a metro train in St Petersburg earlier this month, a source familiar with the investigation said on Monday. Fourteen people were killed in the attack. The suspect is the ninth person to have been detained on suspicion of having colluded with the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, who was killed in the explosion. Continue reading... |
| Teenage girl dies after shark attack while surfing in Western Australia Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:54 AM PDT Police confirm 17-year-old died after attack at Kelp Beds, near Wylie Bay in Esperance A 17-year-old girl has died after being attacked by a shark in Western Australia. Monday's attack happened at Kelp Beds, near Wylie Bay in Esperance, just before 4pm, police said. Continue reading... |
| Snapchat denies claim CEO did not want to expand into 'poor India' Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:53 AM PDT Former employee has alleged in lawsuit Evan Spiegel said the app was 'only for rich people' sparking a backlash among Indians Snapchat is facing a public relations crisis in India, the world's fastest growing smartphone market, after allegations its founder said the app was "only for rich people" and that he did not want to "expand into poor countries like India". The remarks, allegedly made by Evan Spiegel in a 2015 meeting, are contained in a recently unsealed complaint by Anthony Pompliano, a former employee of Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat. Continue reading... |
| The Danish beermakers brewing up work for autistic people Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:00 AM PDT Just 16% of autistic adults are in full-time paid employment, despite the vast majority saying they want to work. This beer company aims to help. With its collection of small vessels and hoses, plain tiled floor and bags of malt, the workplace of People Like Us in Skippinge, Denmark, is a typical brewing scene. But for Rune Lindgreen, a 39-year-old with Asperger Syndrome, it is much more than that. Lindgreen was out of work for almost a decade before landing a job as a beer developer in this company run by autistic adults. Continue reading... |
| 'I was crying': 10-year-old bumped from Air Canada flight describes ordeal – video Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:30 AM PDT Cole Doyle, the 10-year-old boy who was bumped from an Air Canada flight, and his mother Shanna speak to CBC about what happened. The airline says it has offered 'very generous compensation' after Cole Doyle was not able to join the rest of his family in the plane to Costa Rica Continue reading... |
| Weetabix sold to US firm after cereal fails to catch on at breakfast in China Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:27 AM PDT China's Bright Foods sells brand for $1.8bn to US owner of Shredded Wheat and Bran Flakes after too few Chinese choose Weetabix for breakfast UK cereal brand Weetabix is to be snapped up by the US company Post Holdings in a deal worth about $1.8bn (£1.4bn). The breakfast cereal favourite, made in Britain since 1932, was put up for sale in January by China's Bright Foods which took a majority stake in 2012. Continue reading... |
| Hunting the KGB Killers – gripping documentary more outrageous than a spy movie Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:20 PM PDT The extraordinary story of the poisoning of the former KGB agent whizzes by, while Inside the Freemasons explodes myths of a spooky cabal Given current events, any insight into the way in which Russia operates on the world stage is worth paying attention to, so the timing of Hunting the KGB Killers (Channel 4) feels apt. This is a rigorous and gripping documentary that tells the story of what happened to former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with one million times the lethal dose of polonium in London in 2006. It is all but certain that the highest levels of Russian government were involved, according to the British courts, which makes this film as alarming as it is fascinating. Many of those involved talk on screen here for the first time. We hear from Litvinenko's widow, Marina, who speaks with a quiet sense of loss and a furiously dignified sense of justice, as well as his son, Anatoly. The then foreign secretary Margaret Beckett offers her perspective on what it has done for Anglo-Russian relations. The detectives who worked on the case assess its impossibilities with professionalism and an occasional flash of grim humour. Continue reading... |
| Rauma in the spotlight: city celebrates 575 years as Finland turns 100 Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:15 PM PDT As Rauma reaches its 575th year, residents of this surprisingly cosmopolitan city will celebrate its the beauty of its Unesco-listed old town, and its history as an important medieval port The city of a smidgen under 40,000 people on Finland's west coast, clustered around an immaculate Unesco-garlanded wooden old town, celebrates its 575th anniversary this week. Depending on how you classify these things, that makes Rauma either the country's third, fourth or fifth oldest chartered town. Anyway, it's old … with enough of a concentration of culture to make Unesco look twice: the bronze age cairns at nearby Sammallahdenmäki also made it on to the World Heritage list. Continue reading... |
| Grief etched in stone: Sierra Leone finally lays Ebola to rest – in pictures Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT Cemeteries played a key role in the the fight to contain the Ebola outbreak that began in Sierra Leone in 2014. The traditional burial practice of washing bodies by hand was banned in order to prevent the disease spreading, and families were unable to witness the interment of loved ones. Finally, though, they are able to visit the country's Ebola cemeteries and seek closure All photographs by Peter Caton for VSO |
| Did Seattle's mandatory helmet law kill off its bike-share scheme? Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT Seattle has become the first major US city to shut a public bike share scheme. Was it the helmet law … or the lack of cycle lanes and the notorious hills and rain? A small group of supporters, journalists and a city councilman gathered at the end of last month to take Seattle's cycle share bikes out for one last spin. Mayor Ed Murray had pulled the plug on the Pronto system after two-and-a-half years of low ridership, financial troubles and waning political support. Sitting tall on the clunky, lime green bikes, our group of 10 pedalled through downtown's heavy evening rush hour traffic, picking up a few more mourners on Pronto bikes en route. Continue reading... |
| New Met police chief expresses ‘huge concern’ over gun and knife crime Posted: 18 Apr 2017 01:15 AM PDT Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police's first female commissioner, says tackling violent crime will define her time in role Britain's new most senior police officer has spoken of her "huge concern" about the rise in gun and knife crime and said tackling violence will define her time in the role. Cressida Dick, who formally began work last week as the first female commissioner of the Metropolitan police, pledged to "bear down across the wide spectrum of violent crime". Continue reading... |
| Asma al-Assad is a cheerleader for evil. Her UK citizenship should be revoked | Nadhim Zahawi Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:30 AM PDT The home secretary has the power to take Asma al-Assad's British privileges away from her. Considering the oppression in Syria, it would be the right thing to do In February 2011 I was part of the last UK parliamentary group to enter Syria, as the Arab spring began to spread through the region. When we returned home, we wrote a report for the then foreign secretary William Hague warning that the country could implode. It seemed likely that the Syrian people could soon join those in neighbouring countries and rise up against their government too. We came to these conclusions not because of meetings with senior regime officials, but because of the couple of hours we were able to spend with young Syrians learning English at the British Council. After the government minder had his say, I treated the session as a focus group, and the young Syrians soon began to open up and speak out. The language they used, the frustrations they had and the dreams they held dear were the same we had seen bring revolution in Tahrir Square just a few weeks before. Continue reading... |
| Manus Island shooting caused by drunk soldiers, police say Posted: 18 Apr 2017 01:09 AM PDT Police investigating 'nasty' Good Friday shooting at Australian-run detention centre blame Papua New Guinea's military The Good Friday shooting at the Manus Island detention centre was the work of "drunken" PNG soldiers, the regional police commander has said. During the incident on Friday multiple shots were fired and projectiles thrown at the detention centre as an armed mob, including members of the Papua New Guinea defence force, stormed the facility. Continue reading... |
| Trump congratulates Erdoğan after Turkey vote grants sweeping powers Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:16 AM PDT US president spoke with the Turkish leader Monday following a referendum that has escalated concern over Erdoğan's increasingly authoritarian grip Donald Trump called to congratulate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hours after the Turkish president claimed a narrow victory in a contested referendum that will grant him sweeping new powers, according to the White House. International observers monitoring the Turkish referendum concluded in a preliminary report on Monday that the campaign and vote took place in a political environment where the "fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed". Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Tuesday briefing: Turkey result gets thumbs-up from Trump Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:24 PM PDT US president calls to congratulate Erdoğan … North Korea insists nuclear war 'may break out at any moment' … and TV bids farewell to two big names Good morning, this is Claire Phipps bringing you Tuesday's top stories. Continue reading... |
| Air Canada apologises for bumping boy, 10, from family holiday flight Posted: 17 Apr 2017 07:40 PM PDT Airline says it has offered 'very generous compensation' after Cole Doyle was not able to join the rest of his family on the plane to Costa Rica Air Canada has apologised to a Canadian family and offered "very generous compensation" after the airline bumped a 10-year-old boy from a flight. Related: Passengers removed from overbooked flights on US airlines – in data Continue reading... |
| Talk to the hand: Erdoğan tells election observers to 'know their place' – video Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:16 PM PDT Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to his supporters in Ankara on Monday and criticises international election observers who have cast doubt on Sunday's referendum result. The vote, which gave Erdoğan sweeping new powers, has been judged by independent observers to have fallen short of international standards Continue reading... |
| Thermonuclear war possible ‘at any moment’, warns North Korea – video Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:11 PM PDT One of North Korea's most senior representatives to the United Nations warns that the Trump administration's aggressive approach to dealing with the secretive nation risks pushing the situation to "the brink of war". Kim In-ryong tells a press conference on Monday that his country is ready to "react to any mode of war desired by the US" Continue reading... |
| Giant shipworm examined by scientists for first time – video Posted: 17 Apr 2017 12:01 PM PDT Scientists have been able to examine a giant shipworm for the very first time. The giant worm was found near the Philippines, inside a giant tusk-like case. Shipworms are a form of clam and are found in wooden structures in the sea Continue reading... |
| Could Asma al-Assad be stripped of her British citizenship? Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:26 AM PDT The Syrian president's wife was born in the UK, but will the Home Office revoke her passport? Yes, if her support for a brutal regime and her tedious Instagram count as "unacceptable behaviours" Is Asma al-Assad a war criminal? Is she a threat to British national security? These are the questions the home secretary will consider if she gives any attention to the call by the Liberal Democrat's foreign affairs spokesman Tom Brake that she withdraw the Syrian president's wife's British citizenship. Al-Assad is acting as "a spokesperson for the Syrian presidency", he said. The British government could say to her, he added, "Either stop using your position to defend barbaric acts, or be stripped of your citizenship." Related: Home secretary urged to revoke Asma al-Assad's British citizenship Continue reading... |
| Hunting ban wrecked foxes’ country lifestyle | Letters Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:00 AM PDT It is no coincidence that the proliferation of foxes in urban areas (A brush with nature, G2, 10 April) has greatly increased since the Blair government's Hunting Act 2004. Life for the fox is nowadays far worse in many parts of our countryside, and consequently this intelligent animal seeks sanctuary in towns and suburbs. The Hunting Act was intended to ban hunting foxes with hounds, but in so doing it has greatly harmed the rural fox. Fox hunts observed a close season, not hunting foxes during most of their breeding and rearing cycle in spring and summer. The hunts culled foxes comparatively lightly, according to the needs of local farmers. Since the Hunting Act, the status of the rural fox is entirely that of vermin, rather than a conserved sporting quarry, which means that it is shot or snared at all times of the year, methods which can involve prolonged suffering compared with instant death when caught by hounds. Urban life is far from idyllic for the fox. Many become scavengers, "dustbin foxes", making them far more prone to contract mange, a horrible way to die. Before the Hunting Act, registered packs of hounds operating under a code of conduct allowed rural fox populations to survive with a far better lifestyle in the countryside where they could thrive as hunters not scavengers. |
| Ellen Wilkinson finds her place on our Middlesbrough plinth | Letters Posted: 17 Apr 2017 10:00 AM PDT The decision to commemorate Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square produced a number of letters (17 April). It is heartening to see women from history recognised and to hear of campaigns up and running across the country. Les Summers questioned why Ellen Wilkinson has not been chosen or given prominence. I am running the Eighth Plinth campaign in Middlesbrough to secure the first female statue in the town. Following a public vote, it will be of Ellen Wilkinson, who was MP for Middlesbrough East 1924-31, the first female education secretary and a huge advocate for women's rights. Continue reading... |
| ‘Wall-to-wall men’ at the Vatican’s Holy Thursday service | Letters Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:59 AM PDT Danish national anthems | UK national anthem | Life masks | Laicite | Vatrican's lack of diversity | 'Bank' holidays Nick Aitken asks if there is any national anthem other than Britain's "that praises an individual monarch rather than the bountiful nature of the homeland, its shining seas or wondrous mountains?" (Letters, 17 April). Denmark has two official anthems. One, played on royal and military occasions, has lyrics exclusively devoted to the martial exploits of King Christian IV (1577-1648). But the Danes have the good taste to reserve a different one for civilian use, extolling the beauty of their landscape and the noble qualities of Denmark's inhabitants. • Margaret Squires (Letters, 12 April) referred to anti-Scots sentiment in the UK national anthem. Nick Aitken reminds us that the sentiments refer to a very different period in our history. But the so-called Marshall Wade verse has never been part of the official anthem. |
| EU leaders urge Erdoğan to show restraint after referendum victory Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:07 AM PDT Senior figures say Turkey's attempt to join bloc could be off the table amid concerns death penalty could be reinstated European leaders offered a guarded response to the referendum result granting the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sweeping new powers, although some senior EU figures said it was the end of the country's decade-long attempt to join the bloc. Serious concerns about the implications of the result were signalled by Berlin, Paris and Brussels, although their statements fell short of outright condemnation, despite concerns about the fairness of the campaign. Continue reading... |
| Erdoğan's referendum victory unsurprising in a 'strongman' world Posted: 17 Apr 2017 07:30 AM PDT Leaders such as Turkish president look at Trump and Putin and conclude democracy can be made to be what you want it to be The Turkish vote to give Recep Tayyip Erdoğan virtually dictatorial powers seems hard to understand for Europeans accustomed to traditional forms of postwar democratic pluralism. Far from being an aberration, however, Turkey is following an growing trend for autocratic "strongman" leaders that has echoes around the world. Developed countries often mocked and stigmatised the tinpot dictatorships that disfigured Latin America during the 1970s and 80s, typified by Jorge Videla in Argentina, Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua. Africa's post-colonial "big men", such as Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko and Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam, were similarly reviled. Josef Stalin, an ally turned foe, came to be viewed in the west as the worst sort of totalitarian despot. Continue reading... |
| Melania Trump nudges Donald during Easter egg roll national anthem – video Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:26 AM PDT Donald Trump, along with his wife Melania and youngest son Barron, host the annual White House Easter egg roll on Monday. The event is traditionally arranged by the first lady and has been running since 1878. Addressing the crowd ahead of the roll Trump said the US will be "stronger and bigger and better" than ever before under his leadership Continue reading... |
| Pence: strategic patience era with North Korea over – video Posted: 17 Apr 2017 06:06 AM PDT Mike Pence, the vice–president, reiterates the new administration's stance towards North Korea on Monday, saying that the 'era for strategic patience is over.' Speaking in Seoul alongside South Korean Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, Mike Pence also referred to statements made by US president Donald Trump that 'if China is unable to deal with North Korea, the United States and our allies will' Continue reading... |
| How Atlanta's conservative suburbs became a frontier of liberal resistance – video Posted: 16 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT A progressive rebellion is brewing in Georgia. The special election to replace Donald Trump's health secretary, Tom Price, should have been a shoo-in for Republicans. Instead, Paul Lewis discovers Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old film-maker, is dominating the sixth district race as anti-Trump sentiment fuels his unlikely bid for Congress Continue reading... |
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