World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Trump threatens ex-FBI head Comey with possible 'tapes' of conversations
Ebola outbreak declared in Democratic Republic of the Congo after three die
Brexit: EU's chief negotiator vows 'always a way' to avoid hard Irish border
'What is wrong with you?' Michelle Obama savages Trump's gutting of her legacy
Costa Concordia captain hands himself into prison
Tesla employee bus crashes into car, killing off-duty officer in California
US signs treaty to protect Arctic, giving some hope for Paris agreement
Mexican woman who uncovered cartel murder of daughter shot dead
Brazil announces end to Zika public health emergency
The 20 photographs of the week
Chelsea Manning prepares for freedom: 'I want to breathe the warm spring air'
Scott Morrison willing to take Medicare levy increase to next election
Macron to visit Germany to seek support for a beefed up eurozone
I gave a room in my house to a refugee – now she’s like my sister
FBI director job: the four people being interviewed on Saturday
Time to test the track record of privatisation | Letters
Backlash after anti-abortion flag raised at Ottawa city hall during March for Life
Falling for feijoas: the fruit New Zealand wants the world to love
Neil Perry restaurant issues black customer receipt printed with racial slur
At least 11 Russian activists detained on Moscow’s Red Square, says monitor
‘Widespread’ torture by police in Pakistan condemned by United Nations
US nears $100bn arms deal for Saudi Arabia in time for Trump's visit
The Red Pill screening divides campus 'libertarians' from pro-women groups
Historic Turkish tomb moved to make way for hydroelectric dam
Fresh warning to holidaymakers about bogus food complaints
Erdoğan to urge Trump to ditch deal to arm Kurds in Syria during US visit
Best photos of the day: a hot horse and flower moon
Italian police investigate small bomb blast at Rome post office
Popularity of sushi has brought rise in parasitic infections, warn doctors
Australian Isis fighter Neil Prakash to be extradited from Turkey within months
Indian train network makes history by employing transgender workers
‘It only takes one terrorist’: the Buddhist monk who reviles Myanmar’s Muslims | Marella Oppenheim
Sean Spicer says 'no comment' when asked about Trump taping FBI director – video
California swimmers warned about 15 great white sharks – video

Trump threatens ex-FBI head Comey with possible 'tapes' of conversations

Posted: 12 May 2017 11:51 AM PDT

President's tweet suggests he had been secretly taping White House meetings, after the New York Times reported that he demanded 'loyalty' from Comey

Sean Spicer refuses to deny that Trump is taping White House visitors

Donald Trump threatened former FBI director James Comey on Twitter on Friday morning.

Ebola outbreak declared in Democratic Republic of the Congo after three die

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:34 AM PDT

World Health Organization confirms cases of virus in north-east Bas-Uele province, bordering Central African Republic

An Ebola outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where three people have been confirmed dead and another six are suspected to be infected with the virus, the World Health Organization has said.

Investigations are still being carried out into how the Ebola virus – which killed 49 people in DRC during a three-month outbreak in 2014 – suddenly occured in the equatorial forest region of Bas-Uele province, which borders Central African Republic (CAR).

Brexit: EU's chief negotiator vows 'always a way' to avoid hard Irish border

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:53 AM PDT

Michel Barnier makes remark to cross-border entrepreneurs whose businesses are threatened by prospect of customs checks and tariffs after Brexit

The EU's chief negotiator for Brexit has for the first time promised there will be a way of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, saying that if there is a political will, there will be a way.

Michel Barnier's remarks came as Tony Blair told a meeting of Europe's centre-right political groups in the Irish Republic that a hard border would be a disaster.

'What is wrong with you?' Michelle Obama savages Trump's gutting of her legacy

Posted: 12 May 2017 12:16 PM PDT

Former first lady attacks president's reversal of regulations to help improve school lunches: 'Think about why someone is OK with your kids eating like crap'

Michelle Obama has made her strongest political intervention since leaving the White House, stating bluntly at a health conference: "Think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap."

One of the former first lady's signature legacies was an effort to reduce childhood obesity. Earlier this month, Donald Trump's administration froze regulations that would cut sodium and increase whole grains served in school meals.

Costa Concordia captain hands himself into prison

Posted: 12 May 2017 01:14 PM PDT

Francesco Schettino turns himself in after Italian court upholds 16-year sentence for his role in cruise liner tragedy

The captain of the doomed Costa Concordia cruise liner has turned himself in after Italy's highest court upheld his 16-year prison sentence for his role in the 2012 tragedy that killed 32 people.

Francesco Schettino, described as "Captain Coward" by the press for abandoning the stricken ship, passed through the gates of the Rebibbia jail in Rome as soon as the judges made their ruling.

Tesla employee bus crashes into car, killing off-duty officer in California

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:43 AM PDT

A bus carrying more than 50 workers of the electric car company rear-ended and crushed a Volkswagen Beetle, killing the law enforcement officer

A bus carrying Tesla employees crashed into a vehicle on a California highway Friday morning, killing an off-duty law enforcement officer, police said.

The bus, which was carrying more than 50 employees of the electric car company, was driving on a freeway east of the Tesla factory in Fremont when it rear-ended a Volkswagen Beetle around 7am, crushing the car and killing the driver, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

US signs treaty to protect Arctic, giving some hope for Paris agreement

Posted: 12 May 2017 07:48 AM PDT

Secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, signs a commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to extend scientific cooperation in the Arctic region

Environmental campaigners were given some hope that the US may stick to its commitments under the Paris climate change treaty when Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, signed a commitment to protect the Arctic and extend scientific co-operation.

He was speaking at the end of a meeting of the eight-nation Arctic Council in Alaska, a consultative body dedicated to sustaining the Arctic.

Mexican woman who uncovered cartel murder of daughter shot dead

Posted: 12 May 2017 02:05 AM PDT

Human rights commission attacks government failure to protect Miriam Rodriguez, who was killed on mother's day

A Mexican woman who doggedly pursued her daughter's killers in a region plagued by with drug cartel violence has been shot dead in her home, reflecting both the lawlessness plaguing large swaths of the country and the risk faced by victims' families who pursue justice.

Brazil announces end to Zika public health emergency

Posted: 12 May 2017 02:18 AM PDT

Fall in cases brings end to the emergency 18 months after the virus hit headlines around the world

Brazil has declared an end to its public health emergency over the Zika virus, 18 months after a surge in cases drew headlines around the world.

The mosquito-borne virus was not considered a major health threat until the 2015 outbreak revealed that Zika can lead to severe birth defects. One of those defects, microcephaly, causes babies to be born with skulls much smaller than expected.

The 20 photographs of the week

Posted: 12 May 2017 11:54 PM PDT

Riots in Venezuela, Banksy's Brexit mural, the ongoing fighting in Mosul and Vladimir Putin on ice – the news of the week captured by the world's best photojournalists

Chelsea Manning prepares for freedom: 'I want to breathe the warm spring air'

Posted: 12 May 2017 11:10 PM PDT

On Wednesday, after seven years, Chelsea Manning will walk out of military prison a free woman. Edward Snowden leads the tributes, and tells the Guardian how Manning 'left behind the safety of silence to speak a truth that saved lives'

On Wednesday, some time after dawn, the security gates at the US disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, will be thrown open and a slight 5ft 2in woman will walk out into the open air and freedom.

For Chelsea Manning, release from military incarceration will mark a colossal turning point. Having been arrested seven years ago when she was an unknown, lowly and outwardly male soldier, she will emerge into an entirely new life as a civilian, a celebrity, and an openly transgender woman.

Scott Morrison willing to take Medicare levy increase to next election

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:31 PM PDT

Treasurer faces Senate battle on his hands but says 'we'll meet the parliament in the middle and we're going to stand there waiting for support'

The federal government is prepared to take its proposed increase to the Medicare levy all the way to the next election, and Labor is squaring up for the fight.

The treasurer, Scott Morrison, is staring down a looming Senate battle over his proposed increase in the Medicare levy to pay for the national disability insurance scheme.

Macron to visit Germany to seek support for a beefed up eurozone

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Emmanuel Macron, inaugurated as French president on Sunday, will fly to Berlin the next day

Emmanuel Macron will take power as French president on Sunday and immediately face the twin challenges of European Union reform and loosening strict labour laws in France.

After walking up the red carpet to the Élysée Palace on Sunday morning, being briefed on the nuclear deterrent by the outgoing Socialist leader François Hollande, and making his first speech, Macron will on Monday fly to Berlin to meet the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

I gave a room in my house to a refugee – now she’s like my sister

Posted: 12 May 2017 09:59 PM PDT

When Lucy Pavia and her husband offered Loujean Alsaman, a refugee from Syria, a room in their home, none of them knew what to expect. But over the six months they spent together, the women forged a close, sisterly bond

It was when girls started disappearing that my family decided it wasn't safe for me to stay in Syria any longer. They would be stopped by police at roadblocks and wouldn't return home. Damascus, where I was born and grew up, is one of the safest cities in Syria but the situation there is still very dangerous. I remember the sound of shells exploding at night and the electricity flashing on and off. At the time I was 20 and studying English literature at the University of Damascus. I really didn't want to leave. My grandparents had brought me up, and before making the journey to the UK, the furthest my family had allowed me to travel alone was to the shops.

FBI director job: the four people being interviewed on Saturday

Posted: 12 May 2017 07:12 PM PDT

Potential successors are acting director Andrew McCabe; Alice Fisher, a defence lawyer; Michael Garcia, a judge; and Texas senator John Cornyn

Senior Trump administration officials are due on Saturday to interview four candidates to succeed James Comey as the FBI's permanent director.

The potential successors are Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI Director; Alice Fisher, a defence lawyer who used to lead the department's criminal division; Michael Garcia, a New York state appeals court judge; and John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas.

Time to test the track record of privatisation | Letters

Posted: 12 May 2017 11:07 AM PDT

Brian Bean looks forward to the gradual renationalisation of the railways as set out in Labour's manifesto, while Paul Plummer defends the current system

The Conservatives claim to favour market competition. By gradually taking the existing rail franchises back under public control when each runs out (Report, 11 May), we will be able to compare how well public and private management of this key public service perform. As franchises terminate at different dates over the next 10 to 15 years, there will be a period when public and private provision can be impartially compared, both in terms of fare prices and the quality of service provided. Currently we have one of the most expensive rail services in Europe. Annually commuters are asked to pay fare increases above both inflation and salary increases (particularly for nurses and other public service workers across the whole country). Rail franchises have been able to make large profits (their management's prime measure of success) because they lack any real competition. The problems of taking them back under public control will be minimal: the government already has experience of taking back several franchises which had failed to provide adequate levels of service.

Apparently Theresa May's manifesto is to adopt Ed Miliband's proposal to regulate consumers' energy prices by ensuring these are reduced as market prices fall. Do you think she will now include a variant of Corbyn's proposals for the rail network?
Brian Bean
London

Backlash after anti-abortion flag raised at Ottawa city hall during March for Life

Posted: 12 May 2017 03:30 AM PDT

Many expressed outrage and Canada's capital city promised to review its policies after the flag was hoisted over city hall for the first time

Canada's capital city has promised a review of its policies after a decision to raise the flag of an anti-abortion movement at Ottawa city hall prompted a heated backlash.

The flag was raised as part of the March for Life, an annual rally that sees thousands of anti-abortion campaigners from across North America descend on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Falling for feijoas: the fruit New Zealand wants the world to love

Posted: 12 May 2017 06:11 PM PDT

At this time of year, New Zealanders in the diaspora will do just about anything to get their hands on 'green gold'. Now exporters have their eye on a wider market

"To most New Zealanders, imagining life without feijoas is almost unthinkable." Yes, this is marketing copy, but as with all the best marketing copy, it is also true. At this time of year, these small, smooth green fruits are plentiful in New Zealand, traded by the bucket for next to nothing and infusing everything from chocolate to crumbles, ice-cream to vodka with their distinctive, soapy-citrus flavour.

Physically they are unassuming, a little like oval limes of a darker green, but their taste defies description, which is "rather challenging" for Pole to Pole, the company "on a mission to promote NZ Feijoas around the world!". They give it a go anyway, in a guide for growers to "marketing your fruit".

Neil Perry restaurant issues black customer receipt printed with racial slur

Posted: 12 May 2017 10:01 PM PDT

Burger Project outlet in Melbourne dismisses staff member over insult, while Perry contacts customer to apologise

A staff member from a Burger Project restaurant in Melbourne has been fired after using the word "niggas" on a receipt given to a black man.

On Friday, Rutendo Ruth Muchinguri posted a photo on Facebook of the receipt her husband Nicholas received from the store, owned by celebrity chef Neil Perry's Rockpool Dining Group.

At least 11 Russian activists detained on Moscow’s Red Square, says monitor

Posted: 12 May 2017 06:39 PM PDT

At least 11 activists taken to police station, says group that monitors protest activity

At least 11 activists were detained on Moscow's Red Square on Friday as they were reading Russia's constitution out loud, a group that monitors protest activity said.

OVD-Info, a website that tracks the detention of activists, said among the activists detained was Ildar Dadin, the first and only person in Russia to have served prison time for contravening a tough law clamping down on protests in the country.

‘Widespread’ torture by police in Pakistan condemned by United Nations

Posted: 12 May 2017 06:15 PM PDT

UN urges Pakistan to 'incorporate into its legislation a specific definition of torture' to be applied without exception

A UN committee has condemned the "widespread practice of torture" in Pakistan by police, the military and intelligence agencies in a report published on Friday, and called on Islamabad to implement urgent reforms to the law.

"The police engage in the widespread practice of torture throughout the territory ... with a view to obtaining confessions from persons in custody," the UN Committee against Torture wrote in its first report on the situation in the country, made public after months of investigation.

US nears $100bn arms deal for Saudi Arabia in time for Trump's visit

Posted: 12 May 2017 05:37 PM PDT

Senior White House official says it is close to completing a series of deals to boost Saudi defense capabilities, as Trump readies for trip next week

The United States is close to completing a series of arms deals for Saudi Arabia totaling more than $100bn, a senior White House official said on Friday, a week ahead of Donald Trump's planned visit to Riyadh.

The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the arms package could end up surpassing more than $300bn over a decade to help Saudi Arabia boost its defensive capabilities while still maintaining US ally Israel's qualitative military edge over its neighbors.

The Red Pill screening divides campus 'libertarians' from pro-women groups

Posted: 12 May 2017 04:12 PM PDT

The controversial film about men's rights prompts protests at Sydney University and a heated debate about freedom of speech

In both the fictional world of the 1999 film The Matrix and the very real one of the men's rights movement, the red pill represents embracing reality in all its uncomfortable complexity. Proponents tell of their "red pill moment", the point at which they rejected blissful ignorance for reality. In the context of men's rights activism, their uncomfortable truth is that men's lives are of lesser value than women's (The Matrix itself doesn't appear to have any particular notions on gender equality).

At Sydney University on Thursday night, a large group of students had either taken their medicine, or were part of groups strenuously resisting it. The Conservative Club and Students For Liberty (for "classical liberals" and libertarians) had organised a screening of The Red Pill, Cassie Jaye's controversial documentary on men's rights activism (MRA). Fascist Free USyd and the Socialist Alternative Club had organised a protest against it.

Historic Turkish tomb moved to make way for hydroelectric dam

Posted: 12 May 2017 09:04 AM PDT

1,100-tonne Zeynel Bey monument relocated despite legal challenge to Tigris river construction project

An enormous 15th-century tomb in south-eastern Turkey has been moved to make way for a hydroelectric dam on the Tigris river.

The 1,100-tonne Zeynel Bey monument was lifted whole on Friday and transported more than a mile on a wheeled platform, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Fresh warning to holidaymakers about bogus food complaints

Posted: 12 May 2017 08:48 AM PDT

Portugal joins countries clamping down on fake food poisoning claims prompted by no-win, no-fee law firms

British holidaymakers in Portugal have been told they face prosecution if they lodge bogus food poisoning claims against hotels.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has updated its travel advice to urge visitors to only pursue genuine complaints. It said fake cases could lead to legal action in the UK or Portugal.

Erdoğan to urge Trump to ditch deal to arm Kurds in Syria during US visit

Posted: 12 May 2017 07:05 AM PDT

Turkish president also expected to lobby for extradition of cleric Ankara blames for failed coup during 'milestone' meeting next week

The Turkish president will seek to persuade Donald Trump to reverse his "mistaken and shortsighted" plan to arm Kurdish forces in Syria, announced as part of an American attempt to crush Islamic State's final stronghold in Raqqa.

US officials this week announced a deal to directly supply arms to the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia that Turkey has long argued is a terrorist organisation affiliated with its own homegrown Kurdish insurgent group, the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).

Best photos of the day: a hot horse and flower moon

Posted: 12 May 2017 06:13 AM PDT

The Guardian's picture editors bring you a selection of photo highlights from around the world, including a baby giraffe, Christian pilgrims and Victorian criminals

Italian police investigate small bomb blast at Rome post office

Posted: 12 May 2017 04:42 AM PDT

Explosion outside building near Aventine hill, which damaged a car but caused no injuries, was probably 'a demonstrative act'

A rudimentary explosive device detonated between parked vehicles outside a post office in Rome, causing no injuries but damaging a car.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the blast was likely to have been "a demonstrative act, showing that it could be done", rather than being devised to cause major damage, Rome police official Massimo Improta told reporters on Friday.

Posted: 12 May 2017 04:29 AM PDT

Doctors have highlighted the need for awareness of anisakiasis, caused by the larvae of a worm found in contaminated undercooked or raw fish or seafood

From nigiri to temaki, sushi has boomed in popularity in the west, but now doctors are warning of a less appetising trend: a rise in parasitic infections.

A team of doctors from Portugal raised concerns after a 32-year old man was admitted to hospital complaining of pain in his abdomen just below his ribs, vomiting and had a slight fever, all of which had lasted for a week.

Australian Isis fighter Neil Prakash to be extradited from Turkey within months

Posted: 12 May 2017 01:49 AM PDT

Malcolm Turnbull says Prakash, who was captured in November 2016 on Turkish-Syrian border, will face Australian courts

Neil Prakash, allegedly Australia's most senior Islamic State terrorist, will likely be extradited from Turkey within months, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has said.

The Melbourne-born 25-year-old, who is also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, has been held in a Turkish maximum-security prison since his arrest last year.

Indian train network makes history by employing transgender workers

Posted: 12 May 2017 08:42 AM PDT

An initiative offering jobs to a handful of members of Kerala's hijra community aims to tackle prejudice and bring transgender people into the mainstream

They used to beg on India's train network, but this month, for the first time, transgender women will have proper jobs, serving passengers and selling tickets in the south Indian city of Kochi.

In an effort to integrate trans people into Indian society, Kochi's metro has hired 23 members of the hijra community, who will start working behind ticket counters and on housekeeping teams before the end of this month.

‘It only takes one terrorist’: the Buddhist monk who reviles Myanmar’s Muslims | Marella Oppenheim

Posted: 12 May 2017 06:46 AM PDT

Critics of Ashin Wirathu and his denim-clad disciples say the monk incites racial violence against Rohingya refugees. He claims he is merely protecting his people

Myanmar army allegedly left Rohingya refugees with bullet wounds and burns

"Aung San Suu Kyii would like to help the Bengali, but I block her," says Ashin Wirathu with some pride.

Branded the "Face of Buddhist Terror" by Time magazine, Wirathu has his own compound within the Masoeyein monastery in Mandalay. Before being offered a comfortable chair, visitors are greeted by a wall of bloody and gruesome photographs.

Sean Spicer says 'no comment' when asked about Trump taping FBI director – video

Posted: 12 May 2017 12:31 PM PDT

White House press secretary Sean Spicer offered no comment when asked whether Donald Trump has used recording devices in the Oval Office. His remarks follows a recent tweet from the president suggested there may be taped conversations involving himself and former FBI director James Comey. 'The president has nothing further to add on that,' says Spicer. 'The tweet speaks for itself,' he adds

California swimmers warned about 15 great white sharks – video

Posted: 12 May 2017 01:54 AM PDT

Footage from an Orange County police helicopter shows 15 great whites swimming as close at 10ft (3 metres) from shore. The sheriff's department uses a loudspeaker to advise anyone in the water to exit 'in a calm manner'

Aneka Info

World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

About the author

Posting Komentar

Categories

Popular Posts

Link list

Categories

Tags