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- Trump reportedly urged James Comey to drop Michael Flynn investigation
- Doing a Macron: can Austrian minister copy French election success?
- Indonesian court sentences two gay men to public caning
- German oil firm accused of withholding $900m from Libya
- 'The Madoff of millennials’? Fyre Festival investors eye a court fight with organizer
- Ukraine blocks popular social networks as part of sanctions on Russia
- Revealed: year-long campaign to make conditions harsher for Manus refugees
- Wild boar gives British ambassador to Austria a scare
- '19th Century Fox': Murdoch firm 'clearly not fit' to take over Sky, lawyer warns
- 'A day we never thought would come’: Chelsea Manning's legacy explained - video
- Roman Heinze jailed for at least 17 years for attack on backpackers in South Australia
- Writing on the wall: urban political graffiti from Brexit to Trump – in pictures
- Girl found safe after car she had been in was 'stolen' in east London
- How will the general election affect Brexit? Brexit Means podcast
- Panic over the red devils threatening to strip Tunisia of its grand palm trees
- Flood warnings for Queensland and western NSW as rain band approaches
- Indian court allows 10-year-old rape victim to have an abortion
- Wednesday briefing: 'Let this go' – memo says Trump wanted FBI to back off
- Seeking medical abortions online is safe and effective, study finds
- 'Erdoğan's bodyguards' in violent clash with protesters in Washington DC
- Captain of Singapore cargo ship found drifting at sea off Spain
- Canada makes it illegal to remove passengers from overbooked planes
- Boy, 11, hacks cyber-security audience to give lesson on 'weaponisation' of toys
- Krystyna Skarbek’s wartime heroism will not be forgotten | Letters
- Fighting Gypsy discrimination: ‘What people ask me is insulting’
- Peter Hannon obituary
- RAF drone strike disrupted public killing staged by Isis, says MoD
- Middle East allies at physical and political risk from Trump leak
- Nigeria fights polio and Boko Haram, and Chibok girl is reunited with family
- Bankrupt, hungry and homeless: life after Madagascar's cyclone
- How Trump's Russia meeting spurred a crisis at the White House
- All you need to know about Trump, Russia and classified information
- Violence erupts at Erdoğan protest in Washington DC – video
- Trump's comments to Russian officials ‘appropriate to conversation’, says McMaster – video
- How to impeach a president – video explainer
| Trump reportedly urged James Comey to drop Michael Flynn investigation Posted: 17 May 2017 01:35 AM PDT Comey memos show president asked the former FBI director to 'let go' investigation, and House Republicans have called for a release of any documents Donald Trump directly asked the former FBI director, James Comey, to drop an investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, according to notes kept at the time by Comey and first reported on Tuesday by the New York Times. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Trump told Comey, according to Comey's record of the meeting, as reported by the Times. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." Continue reading... |
| Doing a Macron: can Austrian minister copy French election success? Posted: 16 May 2017 10:30 PM PDT Foreign minister Sebastian Kurz wants to replicate French president's independent platform in hope for high office The French president's feat of sweeping into high office after abandoning a traditional party and running on an independent platform is inspiring copycats elsewhere on the continent. Austria's 30-year-old foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz, announced on Sunday that he would scrap the constituency selection process for his Austrian People's party (ÖVP), which he chairs, and replace it with a gender-balanced list of independent candidates endorsed by the party. Continue reading... |
| Indonesian court sentences two gay men to public caning Posted: 17 May 2017 01:11 AM PDT Country's moderate image undermined as human rights groups criticise treatment of men as abusive and humiliating A sharia court in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province has sentenced two gay men to public caning, further undermining the country's moderate image after a Christian politician was imprisoned for blasphemy. The court said the men, aged 20 and 23, would each be subjected to 85 lashes for having sexual relations. |
| German oil firm accused of withholding $900m from Libya Posted: 16 May 2017 11:05 PM PDT Libya's National Oil Corporation chief also claims Wintershall colluded with unlawful efforts by Libyan government to take over sale of oil contracts A German oil producer has been accused by the head of Libya's National Oil Corporation of withholding more than $900m (£697m) from the Libyan state and colluding with unlawful efforts by Libya's UN-backed government to take over the sale of the country's vastly profitable oil contracts. The power struggle between the NOC and Wintershall – which denied that it owed any money and said it had always met its obligations to the state – has long-term implications for global oil prices and the Libyan economy, since more than 80% of Libyan state revenues derive from oil. Continue reading... |
| 'The Madoff of millennials’? Fyre Festival investors eye a court fight with organizer Posted: 17 May 2017 12:00 AM PDT Investor believes that until detailed accounts emerge, suspicions will mount that festival was an elaborate Ponzi scheme and buried in debt before it even began Investors in the ill-fated Fyre Festival in the Bahamas will begin to assert legal claims against organizer William "Billy" McFarland this week in what is likely to be a protracted effort to recover assets from the supermodel-fronted luxury private-island music festival that collapsed in spectacular discord last month, stranding hundreds. The first petition to freeze festival assets to get a court hearing comes from Oleg Itkin, a Manhattan investor who says he handed over a $700,000 loan from January to April to fund a Fyre-branded app designed to streamline the process of booking entertainers for private and corporate events. Continue reading... |
| Ukraine blocks popular social networks as part of sanctions on Russia Posted: 16 May 2017 09:40 AM PDT President's decree prevents access to some of country's most visited websites, sparking outcry from users The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, has banned the country's two most popular social networks, its most popular email service and one of its most widely used search engines as part of sanctions against Russian companies. A decree by Poroshenko posted late on Monday expanded sanctions adopted over Russia's annexation of Crimea and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine to include 468 companies and 1,228 people. Among them were the Russian social networks VK and Odnoklassniki, the email service Mail.ru and the search engine company Yandex, all four of which are in the top 10 most popular sites in Ukraine, according to the web traffic data company Alexa. The decree requires internet providers to block access to the sites for three years. Continue reading... |
| Revealed: year-long campaign to make conditions harsher for Manus refugees Posted: 16 May 2017 01:09 PM PDT Exclusive: Documents show how the Australian government sought to drive refugees and asylum seekers from its detention centre in Papua New Guinea For more than a year, camp managers and security staff have waged a campaign to make Australia's detention centre for refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island as inhospitable as possible, leaked documents reveal. A plan drafted in early 2016 outlines moves to coerce those recognised as refugees into leaving the detention centre and accepting resettlement in Papua New Guinea, while pushing asylum seekers to abandon their protection claims and return home. Continue reading... |
| Wild boar gives British ambassador to Austria a scare Posted: 16 May 2017 09:14 AM PDT Envoy recounts being charged at by 'massive' specimen, resulting in minor injuries as he slipped during his escape Britain's ambassador to Austria has generally been given a warm welcome, but a local wild boar appeared to have little time for diplomatic niceties. Leigh Turner, who took up the post last August, has revealed that while walking in woods near Vienna earlier this month, he was chased by a "massive" specimen and sustained minor injuries. Turning a corner, Turner found himself face-to-face with a group of "four or five hulking adults and countless piglets". He turned and walked away slowly. "Moments later I hear a noise behind me like a galloping horse, and turn to see a massive wild boar, head down, charging straight at me," Turner recounted on his blog. Continue reading... |
| '19th Century Fox': Murdoch firm 'clearly not fit' to take over Sky, lawyer warns Posted: 17 May 2017 12:00 AM PDT Lisa Bloom, who helped to expose alleged harassment at Fox News, urges Ofcom to kill the deal: 'This is a company that made choices against women's rights' The lawyer who has helped to expose the alleged sexual harassment at Fox News, ending the career of the star anchor Bill O'Reilly, has warned that the battle over workplace discrimination is far from over. "I hate to break it to you. Unfortunately, I don't think we are going to age out of this problem," said Lisa Bloom. Related: Calls for Ofcom to block Sky takeover until Fox News cases are resolved 21st century fox Continue reading... |
| 'A day we never thought would come’: Chelsea Manning's legacy explained - video Posted: 16 May 2017 11:56 PM PDT Ahead of Chelsea Manning's scheduled release from Fort Leavenworth military prison, Guardian US chief reporter Ed Pilkington and Manning's attorney, Nancy Hollander, explain the significance of her release and the impact of her legacy for the transgender community |
| Roman Heinze jailed for at least 17 years for attack on backpackers in South Australia Posted: 16 May 2017 11:44 PM PDT Judge says man who attacked pair at Salt Creek has not shown remorse and there are no reasonable prospects of rehabilitation A judge has said a man who attacked two young backpackers in South Australia is "utterly depraved" and lacking any moral compass. Roman Heinze has been jailed for at least 17 years for his "primitive" attack at on the pair at Salt Creek in 2014. Continue reading... |
| Writing on the wall: urban political graffiti from Brexit to Trump – in pictures Posted: 16 May 2017 11:15 PM PDT After Banksy's Brexit-inspired mural depicting the removal of an EU star recently appeared in Dover, we take a look at the world's most powerful political street art Continue reading... |
| Girl found safe after car she had been in was 'stolen' in east London Posted: 16 May 2017 03:07 PM PDT Father of Beatrice Felicia, 6, met man on Leyton High Road about sale of vehicle who 'jumped into car and drove away' A six-year-old girl who went missing in east London has been found safe and well by her grandmother, police have said. Beatrice Felicia was in the back seat of her father's car when officers believe it was stolen on Tuesday evening. Scotland Yard said that the girl's father met a man on Leyton High Road at about 6.30pm with a view to selling the vehicle. "The man jumped into the car and drove away. The seller's daughter was on the back seat of the car when it was taken," officers said. The girl was found at about 9pm. Continue reading... |
| How will the general election affect Brexit? Brexit Means podcast Posted: 16 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT Jon Henley and Dan Roberts discuss what a new crop of Tory MPs could mean for Brexit as well as Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel's new friendship Subscribe to us on iTunes, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Soundcloud and Acast and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. With the UK general election just three weeks away, a lot of the speculation around how the outcome might affect Brexit has centred on the idea that a big majority for Theresa May might give the prime minister political leeway at home to be a bit more flexible on the terms of the UK's departure – possibly leading to a softer Brexit. Continue reading... |
| Panic over the red devils threatening to strip Tunisia of its grand palm trees Posted: 16 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT A red palm weevil infestation is decimating trees and posing a threat to the country's date crop, a mainstay of the fragile economy It's an unlikely but very real crisis for a country with a teetering economy: a tiny red devil is invading Tunisia and it could cost hundreds of thousands of people their livelihoods. Morched Garbouj, president of a Tunisian environmental group, smiled as he told the popular legend of how the red palm weevil first arrived in Tunisia. "Some people say that it was the former dictator Ben Ali's son-in-law who brought it here. He was known for bringing in exotic animals, exotic trees, that kind of thing." He points to the fact that the area suffering the greatest devastation is in Carthage, around the presidential palace. "Well, maybe it's true!" Continue reading... |
| Flood warnings for Queensland and western NSW as rain band approaches Posted: 17 May 2017 01:42 AM PDT Some areas will get several months' worth of rain in a couple of days at the weekend, forecasters warn A heavy east coast rain band could bring months' worth of rain to coastal Queensland and western New South Wales over a few days, according to the bureau of meteorology. Flood warnings have been issued for coastal catchments in Queensland from Cairns to Gladstone, with up to 200mm of rain predicted in certain parts of state starting from Thursday. Continue reading... |
| Indian court allows 10-year-old rape victim to have an abortion Posted: 16 May 2017 11:07 PM PDT Girl had crossed 20-week legal limit after which terminations are usually only allowed if there is danger to life of mother or baby A 10-year-old girl who was raped will be allowed to have an abortion even though she has crossed the 20-week limit for terminations in India, police in the country said on Wednesday. The child has said she was repeatedly raped by her stepfather, who has since been arrested. Continue reading... |
| Wednesday briefing: 'Let this go' – memo says Trump wanted FBI to back off Posted: 16 May 2017 10:12 PM PDT Notes record president asking James Comey to let Michael Flynn off the hook … online abortion pills 'safe' according to study … and, return to Dreamland Good morning, it's Warren Murray here with the news again. Continue reading... |
| Seeking medical abortions online is safe and effective, study finds Posted: 16 May 2017 10:09 PM PDT Almost 95% of those seeking drugs and advice online safely ended their pregnancy, say researchers, although women should still be wary of scammers A study into women who seek abortion pills online in the face of strict laws against terminations has found that almost 95% safely ended their pregnancy without surgical intervention. Experts say the study underscores the safety of medical abortion, and highlights that women who go on to experience symptoms of possible complications do follow advice to seek medical help at clinics or hospitals. |
| 'Erdoğan's bodyguards' in violent clash with protesters in Washington DC Posted: 16 May 2017 07:54 PM PDT Nine people hurt and two arrests made during the altercation at the Turkish ambassador's residence in the US capital Nine people were hurt and two arrests were made during an altercation at the Turkish ambassador's residence in the US capital during a visit by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, police have said. Doug Buchanan, a DC Fire and EMS spokesman, said two of those hurt were seriously injured and were taken to hospitals by ambulance. He said by phone that emergency personnel were called to the residence about 4:30pm Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Captain of Singapore cargo ship found drifting at sea off Spain Posted: 16 May 2017 07:21 PM PDT Ship's crew had alerted Spanish rescue services that a man 'may have fallen overboard' hours earlier The captain of a large Singaporean cargo ship was found drifting at sea off the coast of southern Spain clinging to a life buoy in a "very serious state," police said Tuesday. Passers-by in the port of Tarifa told officers Monday they had spotted a man in visibly poor condition drifting at sea in high winds and strong waves, according to a police statement. Continue reading... |
| Canada makes it illegal to remove passengers from overbooked planes Posted: 16 May 2017 05:34 PM PDT New passenger bill of rights comes after man was dragged off United Airlines flight in Chicago No one who has bought a ticket for a domestic or international flight in Canada will be allowed to be removed because of overbooking, the transportation minister has announced, unveiling a new passenger bill of rights. Marc Garneau said the shoddy treatment of air passengers outlined in recent news reports would not be tolerated on any domestic flight as well as any flight leaving or arriving in Canada. Continue reading... |
| Boy, 11, hacks cyber-security audience to give lesson on 'weaponisation' of toys Posted: 16 May 2017 05:22 PM PDT Reuben Paul, 11, tells conference that smart cars, fridges, lights and even teddy bears can be used to spy on or harm people An 11-year-old "cyber ninja" has stunned an audience of security experts by hacking into their Bluetooth devices to manipulate a robotic teddy bear, showing in the process how interconnected smart toys "can be weaponised". Reuben Paul, who is in sixth grade at school in Austin, Texas, and his teddy bear Bob wowed hundreds at a cyber-security conference in the Netherlands. Continue reading... |
| Krystyna Skarbek’s wartime heroism will not be forgotten | Letters Posted: 16 May 2017 11:36 AM PDT Raf Orlowski recalls the mixed feelings of Polish émigrés in postwar Britain while Martin Sugarman says it cannot be doubted that Krystyna Skarbek was Jewish As the son of a Polish émigré, I read Clare Mulley's book about Krystyna Skarbek with great interest (Churchill's favourite spy honoured at last, 10 May). It portrays not only the fantastic wartime feats of bravery by Krystyna on behalf of the British but evokes the very mixed feelings of Polish émigrés in postwar Britain who had lost the mother country they'd fought for. The new statue of Krystyna in London is a reminder of her bravery and that of her countrymen and the fate that befell them – some ending up cleaning toilets as Krystyna herself did. I'm very much looking forward to a film about Krystyna – I do hope they make it and soon. • Your superb article about the wartime hero SOE agent, Krystyna Skarbek, should have made absolutely clear; her mother was indeed Jewish – and not just "probably" – and the surname was Goldfeder. Thus not only according to Jewish law – where ethnicity passes through the maternal birth line – was Krystyna Jewish, but also by her own admission. Indeed she tried to get her mother out of occupied Poland because of this fact but her mother refused as she remained protected by her marriage to a Polish Christian count. Krystyna thus is remembered in our book, We Will Remember Them: A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown from 1939, in the awards section – George Medal and Croix de Guerre. |
| Fighting Gypsy discrimination: ‘What people ask me is insulting’ Posted: 16 May 2017 10:40 AM PDT Gypsies and Travellers still face routine daily racism. A mother of six and a young student explain why they became the faces of a poster campaign aiming to change attitudes Mena Mongan remembers her time at school in Ireland in the 1970s as a miserable experience. Her primary school had never admitted Traveller children before, and she was shunned by fellow pupils. "Our school lunch was walked on top of. We had a terrible time. It hit us straight away that we were different. You wouldn't even tell your parents; you wouldn't want them to go down the school and complain and make things worse," she says. School has been somewhat easier for her six children, brought up on Travellers' sites in east London, but all of them have been bullied to some degree. Her oldest son would be shouted at by other children and never brought anyone back from school. "They called him names – you dirty Gypsy, you live in a caravan." For the younger ones, anti-bullying rules have tackled casual abuse, but the discrimination has taken more subtle forms. None of the children have ever been invited to a birthday party by school friends and Mongan hasn't had a lot of success at getting classmates to come to her children's birthdays. "The mums say: 'Oh no, we have things to do.'" Continue reading... |
| Posted: 16 May 2017 08:21 AM PDT My friend Peter Hannon, who has died aged 89, devoted his life to building bridges between antagonists – both in his native Northern Ireland and in South Africa. Born into the Church of Ireland ascendancy, he had a rare ability to make people feel that they were at last being heard and understood, and had an even rarer willingness to acknowledge that his privileged background – and the attitudes that went with it – made him part of the problem. Peter's friends included Protestant loyalists and Catholic republicans in his own country and people on both sides of the apartheid struggle in South Africa. Franklin Sonn, later South Africa's first post-apartheid ambassador to the US, said Peter's wise counsel and support during the darkest years of apartheid "enabled me to remain focused and to resist bitterness", adding that "he convinced me that the higher ground of moral leadership and reconciliation was my calling". Continue reading... |
| RAF drone strike disrupted public killing staged by Isis, says MoD Posted: 16 May 2017 04:28 AM PDT Isis sentry killed by missile in Abu Kamal, eastern Syria, after RAF realised that crowd were gathering for killing of two prisoners An RAF drone strike disrupted a public killing being staged by Islamic State in Syria last week, according to the Ministry of Defence. A sentry from Isis was killed by a Hellfire missile fired from a Reaper drone, the MoD said. Continue reading... |
| Middle East allies at physical and political risk from Trump leak Posted: 16 May 2017 01:44 AM PDT Few in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia or Jordan will appreciate Russia knowing its secrets, or the US leader's willingness to share them
Among intelligence partners, two maxims govern how business is done: don't disclose more than is needed, and never allow a source to be compromised. This code of conduct has been especially relevant in the campaign against Islamic State (Isis), where regional and global powers have collaborated to quash the terrorist group, often at enormous risk to individuals. |
| Nigeria fights polio and Boko Haram, and Chibok girl is reunited with family Posted: 16 May 2017 06:35 AM PDT Nigerian volunteers battle to eradicate polio across the country, and one of the 82 girls freed by Boko Haram is able to see her family again 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 An army of volunteers is going door to door across Nigeria administering the polio vaccine to as many of the 30 million children under five as they can find. Tracy McVeigh examines the country's battle against the disease and against the Boko Haram militants who reject the vaccination drives as unnecessary influence from the west. And we have a video of one polio sufferer's drive and determination to help those afflicted by the disease. Emmanuel Akinwotu and Karen McVeigh also report on the "amazing joy" as one Chibok schoolgirl from among the 82 recently released by Boko Haram is reunited with her family in Nigeria. Continue reading... |
| Bankrupt, hungry and homeless: life after Madagascar's cyclone Posted: 16 May 2017 04:40 AM PDT Cyclone Enawo was the biggest storm in more than a decade to hit Madagascar. It left scores dead and triggered floods and landslides, destroying tens of thousands of homes. Two months on, the remarkable story of the village of Antanandava is a testament to Madagascan resilience It was late morning when Cyclone Enawo made landfall on Madagascar's north-east coast. The most severe tropical storm to hit the Indian Ocean island in more than 10 years brought with it winds of up to 290km/h and 25cm of rainfall. The devastating cyclone ravaged Madagascar for almost two days in March, cascading vast amounts of water on the deforested slopes of the country's high plateau, triggering floods and landslides. Continue reading... |
| How Trump's Russia meeting spurred a crisis at the White House Posted: 16 May 2017 04:09 PM PDT The timing of Trump's meeting with Russian officials raised eyebrows. As it turned out, what the president told them would cause the real storm Donald Trump's entanglements with Russia date back to the 1980s but the immediate origins of the latest White House crisis lie in a trip secretary of state Rex Tillerson made just over a month ago to Moscow. It was the first visit by a senior Trump administration official to the Russian capital and it was weighed down with baggage. Like his president, Tillerson was under scrutiny for his past ties to the Russian government. Continue reading... |
| All you need to know about Trump, Russia and classified information Posted: 16 May 2017 09:29 AM PDT The US president stands accused of revealing highly classified information when he met the Russian foreign minister and ambassador last week The US president is accused of revealing highly classified information to the Russian foreign minster, Sergei Lavrov, and the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, during an Oval Office meeting last week. Continue reading... |
| Violence erupts at Erdoğan protest in Washington DC – video Posted: 16 May 2017 08:38 PM PDT The Armenian National Committee of America has captured scenes of violent protests on the streets of Washington, DC after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with US President Trump at the White House. According to witnesses, the brawl erupted when the Turkish president's security detail attacked protesters carrying the flag of the Kurdish PYD party outside the residence. Continue reading... |
| Trump's comments to Russian officials ‘appropriate to conversation’, says McMaster – video Posted: 16 May 2017 11:09 AM PDT The US national security adviser, HR McMaster, speaks in defence of Donald Trump's comments to Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. The Washington Post alleged that Trump revealed 'highly classified' details about a threat from Isis during their meeting last week Continue reading... |
| How to impeach a president – video explainer Posted: 16 May 2017 08:49 AM PDT With what seems like a constant flow of controversy coming out of the White House, impeachment does not seem completely out of the realms of possibility. But what does it take to impeach a president? Has it ever happened before? And if Donald Trump does get impeached, what happens next? The Guardian takes a look at the history of impeachment, from Andrew Johnson to Bill Clinton Continue reading... |
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