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- Marine Le Pen's use of Fillon phrases was tribute, not plagiarism, says aide
- Meeting with Trump comes at time of crisis for Palestine leader
- Separatism fears grow in Belgium as German speakers assert themselves
- Jimmy Kimmel opens up about his baby boy's heart surgery
- Donald Trump: I'd be honored to meet Kim Jong-un under 'right circumstances'
- Run against Trump? Elizabeth Warren will certainly stand and fight
- Celebrity lawyer files $100m lawsuit against Fyre festival organizers
- Hungarians send message to Orbán in march supporting European Union
- Severe turbulence on Aeroflot flight to Bangkok leaves 27 people injured
- Hamas presents new charter accepting a Palestine based on 1967 borders
- Brazilian farmers attack indigenous tribe with machetes in brutal land dispute
- Podemos to table no-confidence vote against Mariano Rajoy amid corruption scandal
- Man dies after being hit by vehicle in Germany while taking a selfie
- Fox News co-president and Ailes ally Bill Shine leaves company
- Fast or feast? Study shows alternate-day dieting too difficult to sustain
- Trump set to hand key family planning role to anti-contraception advocate
- Global slime craze sparks safety warnings after borax blamed for burns
- An oasis in a war zone: Iraqi sulphur spa reopens – in pictures
- Hollywood ending sees writers call off strike after last-minute deal
- Indonesian man who claimed to be oldest human dies aged 146 – video report
- 'If I had my gun on me, I'd shoot him': the civil war over statues in New Orleans
- Labour will put 10,000 extra police on streets, vows Jeremy Corbyn
- Ibrahim El Tayeb El Rayah obituary
- Trump voices confusion over US history: 'Why was there a civil war?'
- Mexico’s lost generation of young girls robbed of innocence and education
- Bob Brown's lawyer argues Tasmania's anti-protest laws designed to stop free speech
- Kashmir attacks: Indian soldiers mutilated and police shot dead
- What would Emmanuel Macron as France's leader mean for Europe?
- North Korea launches salvo of rhetoric, threatening nuclear test 'at any time'
- Protesters throw Pepsi cans at police during May Day demonstrations
- Tuesday briefing: Britain unplugged? Brexit warning over nuclear power
- Police and courts fail cyclists over road safety, says cross-party inquiry
- Greece reaches deal with creditors to pave way for bailout talks
- 'Oldest human' dies in Indonesia aged 146
- UK accused of failing victims of IRA killed by Libya-supplied weapons
- Venezuelan president Maduro calls for new constitution amid further clashes
- Police injured in May Day clashes with protesters in Paris – video
- Gay professor with a passion for fashion | Letters
- Marine Le Pen's party upbeat amid complaints of lethargy on the left
- May Day in France: six police injured as violent group hijacks Paris march
- May Day protests around the world – in pictures
- How Juncker's Downing Street dinner turned sour
- May Day protest poised for huge turnout as coalition of activists joins unions
- Bill Thornycroft obituary
- Ueli Steck obituary
- Indian mob beats two Muslims to death over suspected cow theft
- Trump's stance on North Korea missile defence 'chaotic', says Seoul media
- 'I agree 100%': NRA members back Wayne LaPierre attack on 'leftist zealots'
- Trump cuts short interview when asked about unfounded wiretap claims – video
| Marine Le Pen's use of Fillon phrases was tribute, not plagiarism, says aide Posted: 02 May 2017 02:05 AM PDT Presidential candidate's 1 May address mocked on social media for using lines straight from speech by François Fillon Aides of the French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen have brushed off criticism of her use of phrases from a speech by her conservative rival François Fillon in her May Day address to supporters. Florian Philippot, the deputy leader of Le Pen's Front National party, said the party "completely owned up" to the fact that the speech resembled one made by Fillon a month ago. The similarities were mocked by her opponents on social media on Monday night. Continue reading... |
| Meeting with Trump comes at time of crisis for Palestine leader Posted: 02 May 2017 02:00 AM PDT Mahmoud Abbas will arrive at the White House facing a crisis of legitimacy back home, and the most pro-Israel US president in decades Expectations have been set low for meetings between US presidents and Palestinian leaders for many years now, but never as low as the hopes for Donald Trump's first meeting with Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, Middle East observers argue. The Palestinian president will arrive at the White House facing a crisis of legitimacy among Palestinians, and new challenges to his leadership. He will meet the most vociferously pro-Israeli president in recent decades who has surrounded himself with Middle East advisers – foremost his son-in-law, Jared Kushner – with deep links to the Israeli settler movement. Continue reading... |
| Separatism fears grow in Belgium as German speakers assert themselves Posted: 01 May 2017 10:00 PM PDT Rebrand of community into 'Ostbelgien' causes alarm in Wallonia, but ministers insist they have no plans to leave At the Mattar bakery in Eupen, the apprentice master baker Veronica Meÿs presides over the goods on sale: dark German rye loaves, buttery French croissants and sweet Belgian waffles. The variety is no accident. Eupen is a German-speaking town in a French-speaking part of Belgium, where people zip across borders without a thought. Continue reading... |
| Jimmy Kimmel opens up about his baby boy's heart surgery Posted: 02 May 2017 02:01 AM PDT Emotional US late-night TV host recounts how son Billy needed emergency surgery after birth and defends Obamacare Jimmy Kimmel has opened up about his newborn son's open-heart surgery and pleaded for people to support the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in an emotional monologue on his TV show. Related: Late-night TV on Trump's first 100 days: 'He can write them off as a total loss' Continue reading... |
| Donald Trump: I'd be honored to meet Kim Jong-un under 'right circumstances' Posted: 01 May 2017 11:38 AM PDT
Donald Trump has said he would be "honored" to meet the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, "under the right circumstances". Related: Donald Trump builds relations with authoritarian Asian leaders Continue reading... |
| Run against Trump? Elizabeth Warren will certainly stand and fight Posted: 01 May 2017 03:00 AM PDT Senator who the president derides with a racist nickname has a book to promote, a seat to win and rumors of a White House bid to … neither confirm nor deny Donald Trump has named his most likely challenger in the 2020 presidential election. It is Elizabeth Warren. Related: 100 daze of Trump: euphoria and nausea on the White House rollercoaster Continue reading... |
| Celebrity lawyer files $100m lawsuit against Fyre festival organizers Posted: 01 May 2017 07:32 AM PDT Mark Geragos, who has represented Michael Jackson, has sued Ja Rule and Billy McFarland over the 'dangerous' situation created by the failed music festival Celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos has filed a $100m lawsuit against Fyre festival organizers Ja Rule and Billy McFarland. Related: Ja Rule 'heartbroken' after Fyre Festival descends into disaster Continue reading... |
| Hungarians send message to Orbán in march supporting European Union Posted: 01 May 2017 01:43 PM PDT Viktor Orbán still commands firm lead in opinion polls, but discontent is growing among voters concerned at rising Russian influence in Hungary Thousands of Hungarians have marched across central Budapest in a show of support for the European Union, protesting against what a new political movement sees as a creeping rise in Russian influence under prime minister Viktor Orbán. The rally follows a series of major demonstrations in Budapest in recent weeks, triggered by a new law that would drive out of Hungary a top university founded by US financier George Soros. Continue reading... |
| Severe turbulence on Aeroflot flight to Bangkok leaves 27 people injured Posted: 01 May 2017 07:57 AM PDT Flight from Moscow hit pocket of 'clear air', throwing passengers into the ceiling and leaving some with broken bones Severe turbulence has injured 27 people on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok, with passengers thrown into the aircraft's ceiling, leaving some with broken bones. The Boeing 777 hit a pocket of "clear air" turbulence – where there is no telltale cloud pattern or radar presence to warn pilots of the change in air pressure – as the flight prepared to land in Bangkok, shortly after midnight on Monday. Continue reading... |
| Hamas presents new charter accepting a Palestine based on 1967 borders Posted: 01 May 2017 08:47 AM PDT Document aims to heal divisions within Palestinian movement and ease peace process but Netanhayu says: 'Hamas is attempting to fool the world' Hamas has unveiled a new political programme softening its stance on Israel by accepting the idea of a Palestinian state in territories occupied by Israel in the six-day war of 1967. The new document states the Islamist movement it is not seeking war with the Jewish people – only with Zionism that drives the occupation of Palestine. Continue reading... |
| Brazilian farmers attack indigenous tribe with machetes in brutal land dispute Posted: 01 May 2017 01:38 PM PDT
Brazilian farmers in Maranhão state have attacked an indigenous settlement, severing the hands and feet of some of their victims in what appears to be a brutal escalation of a territorial conflict. Thirteen members of the Gamela community were hospitalised after the assault by ranchers armed with rifles and machetes in the municipality of Viana late on Sunday, according to the Indigenous Missionary Council. Continue reading... |
| Podemos to table no-confidence vote against Mariano Rajoy amid corruption scandal Posted: 01 May 2017 07:24 AM PDT Spanish anti-austerity party says it must hold PM to account after latest embezzlement claims involving governing People's party Spain's anti-austerity Podemos party has vowed to press ahead with a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, warning that the latest corruption allegations involving his governing People's party (PP) have crossed "red lines" and risk jeopardising the rule of law. Podemos's leader, Pablo Iglesias, said his party had an "ethical obligation" to hold Rajoy to account after Ignacio González, a former PP president of the Madrid region, was arrested as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement at a state-owed water company. Continue reading... |
| Man dies after being hit by vehicle in Germany while taking a selfie Posted: 01 May 2017 07:42 AM PDT Scottish man, named on social media as Dean Steele, was one of three men visiting a motorway rest area in Gudow A Scottish man has been knocked down and killed on a German motorway after trying to take a selfie, according to police. The man was named on social media as Dean Steele, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, who is believed to have been 22. He was one of three men from Scotland visiting a motorway rest area in Gudow on the former border between East and West Germany on Sunday. Continue reading... |
| Fox News co-president and Ailes ally Bill Shine leaves company Posted: 01 May 2017 12:27 PM PDT Exit comes amid questions over what he knew about workplace atmosphere after ousting of Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, both accused of harassing women Fox News said on Monday that Bill Shine, the network's co-president and a long-time lieutenant of the ousted chief executive Roger Ailes, has left the company. Related: Bill O'Reilly fans react to his firing: 'Where's the loyalty?' Continue reading... |
| Fast or feast? Study shows alternate-day dieting too difficult to sustain Posted: 01 May 2017 08:01 AM PDT Participants in US study shown to even out calorie intakes beyond prescribed levels on alternating regime, leaving results barely more effective than daily calorie counting From Beyoncé to Benedict Cumberbatch, celebrities have flocked to diets based on intermittent fasting, but it turns out such regimes might be less effective than previously thought. Among the diets experiencing a boom in popularity is the alternate-day fasting diet – a regime many experts believed would be more palatable than daily calorie counting for those hoping to lose weight. |
| Trump set to hand key family planning role to anti-contraception advocate Posted: 01 May 2017 09:56 AM PDT
Donald Trump has reportedly appointed to a position overseeing the US's family planning safety net a law professor who once stated that "contraception doesn't work" and "family planning is something that occurs between a husband and a wife and God, and it doesn't really involve the federal government." The prospect of Teresa Manning becoming deputy assistant secretary for population affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, first reported by PoliticoPro, has led reproductive rights activists to demand that Trump withdraw the appointment, saying his choice could jeopardize the federal program responsible for preventing millions of unplanned pregnancies, and by extension, abortions. Continue reading... |
| Global slime craze sparks safety warnings after borax blamed for burns Posted: 30 Apr 2017 08:42 PM PDT Parents say prolonged exposure to cleaning product may have caused burns although US authority says it is 'generally safe' A global slime-making craze sparked by social media has prompted safety concerns over the use of the cleaning product borax. Also known as sodium borate, borax has a range of household uses including as an insecticide, a stain remover and a deodoriser. It is also a pivotal ingredient of home-made slime, a perennial art or science project in which it is mixed with water, glue and food colouring. Continue reading... |
| An oasis in a war zone: Iraqi sulphur spa reopens – in pictures Posted: 02 May 2017 02:30 AM PDT Before Islamic State captured the town of Hamam al-Alil, south of Mosul, in 2014, visitors from all over Iraq flocked to its historic spa. Now that the area has been liberated, soldiers and civilians have returned to enjoy its healing properties Continue reading... |
| Hollywood ending sees writers call off strike after last-minute deal Posted: 02 May 2017 02:16 AM PDT Writers Guild of America secures 'good deal' for film and television industry members as deadline loomed, avoiding repeat of devastating 2007 industrial action As the deadline loomed on 1 May, the threat of a Hollywood writers' strike was averted as a last-minute deal was announced. According to Variety, an agreement was reached for a new three-year contract shortly after midnight, at almost the last possible moment as the previous contract expired. Emerging from the talks, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) released a joint statement the deal: "The Writers Guilds of America, West and East and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have concluded negotiations and have reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement." Continue reading... |
| Indonesian man who claimed to be oldest human dies aged 146 – video report Posted: 02 May 2017 01:58 AM PDT Mbah Ghoto, an Indonesian national who claimed to be the world's longest living human, has died at the age of 146 in his village in Central Java. He was not recognised as the longest living human, as Indonesia only started recording births in 1900. But officials believe his residency card, which states his birthdate as December 1870, was valid
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| 'If I had my gun on me, I'd shoot him': the civil war over statues in New Orleans Posted: 01 May 2017 04:00 AM PDT As New Orleans begins to take down statues of Confederate leaders, angry protesters are flooding into the city to face off - and nuance is the first victim The city of New Orleans surrendered early during the actual Civil War, after the Confederates left it poorly defended. This time, though, reinforcements from far afield have arrived to hoist the battle flag. "I will chain myself to that son of a bitch before I let them tear it down," Wilford Seymour said Thursday, waving a hand toward a statue of General PGT Beauregard mounted in a bronze saddle. "By God I will ride that horse myself." Continue reading... |
| Labour will put 10,000 extra police on streets, vows Jeremy Corbyn Posted: 02 May 2017 12:32 AM PDT Plan to challenge Tories on law and order in England and Wales with funding raised by reversing cuts to capital gains tax Labour has pledgedto put 10,000 additional police on to the streets of England and Wales in a policy designed to challenge the Conservatives in their own political territory of law and order. Jeremy Corbyn will promise on Tuesday to fund the extra "bobbies on the beat" by reversing Tory cuts to capital gains tax (CGT) if he wins next month's general election. Continue reading... |
| Ibrahim El Tayeb El Rayah obituary Posted: 01 May 2017 09:27 AM PDT Ibrahim El Tayeb El Rayah, who has died aged 93, was a Sudanese philanthropist who took doctors, nurses and vets on convoys from Britain to his home country to provide training and medical treatment. His work was conducted mainly under the auspices of the Sudanese National Council of the UK and Ireland (SNC), a company that he set up in London in 2007. The SNC sent 20 convoys to Sudan, in which about 300 doctors and nurses took part. Continue reading... |
| Trump voices confusion over US history: 'Why was there a civil war?' Posted: 02 May 2017 01:03 AM PDT President says roots of civil war go unquestioned as he lauds 'big-hearted' Andrew Jackson, who was 'very angry' about a conflict years after his death Donald Trump has expressed confusion as to why the American civil war took place and claimed that President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the war started, "was really angry" about the conflict. Related: 'If I had my gun on me, I'd shoot him': the civil war over statues in New Orleans Continue reading... |
| Mexico’s lost generation of young girls robbed of innocence and education Posted: 01 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT Study reveals rising number of Mexican girls in relationships and marriages with older men and casts fresh light on causes of child marriage in Latin America Hundreds of thousands of young girls across Mexico are being driven into relationships and marriages with older men, denying them a childhood and an education, new research reveals. Of the 320,000-plus Mexican girls between the ages of 12 and 17 who are cohabiting, nearly 70% are with a partner who is at least 11 years their senior, according to a report commissioned by the Ford Foundation. Continue reading... |
| Bob Brown's lawyer argues Tasmania's anti-protest laws designed to stop free speech Posted: 02 May 2017 01:27 AM PDT Ron Merkel tells high court laws not designed to protect businesses but to stop environmental protests The "true purpose" of Tasmanian anti-protest laws is not to protect businesses but to stop political communication such as environmental campaigns, Bob Brown's lawyers have told the high court. On Tuesday the high court held the first day of the full hearing of Brown's challenge to the controversial Tasmanian anti-protest laws after he was arrested in January 2016 at Lapoinya state forest near Burnie in Tasmania's north-west. Continue reading... |
| Kashmir attacks: Indian soldiers mutilated and police shot dead Posted: 02 May 2017 12:37 AM PDT Indian army accuses Pakistan of unprovoked attack on troops as militants kill five officers and two staff in bank raid India's security forces have suffered a double blow in Kashmir, with five police officers shot dead in a bank raid and two soldiers killed in an attack on the border with Pakistan. Early on Monday, the Indian army accused Pakistan of killing two of its soldiers and mutilating their bodies in an "unprovoked" rocket and mortar attack in the disputed border region. Continue reading... |
| What would Emmanuel Macron as France's leader mean for Europe? Posted: 01 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT A presidential win could offer a last chance for liberal reform of Europe but may prove bad news for Britain's Brexit trade hopes In a sign of how quickly European politics has moved, senior diplomats in the British embassy in Paris less than a decade ago held intense discussions about whether British officials could ever have a meeting with members of the French Front National. The party, then run by Jean-Marie Le Pen, was regarded as so off-limits as to be untouchable. The embassy's current occupants will doubtless be breathing a quiet sigh of relief that Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie's estranged daughter, is unlikely to make up a 20-point deficit to win the second round of the presidential elections, but know the alternative – the election of the almost romantically pro-European Emmanuel Macron – might prove to be an equally big diplomatic headache. Continue reading... |
| North Korea launches salvo of rhetoric, threatening nuclear test 'at any time' Posted: 01 May 2017 10:22 PM PDT Tensions high as US forces in South Korea announce activation of missile defence system while Kim regime condemns 'aggression and hysteria' North Korea has vowed to accelerate its nuclear weapons programme to "maximum pace" and test a nuclear device "at any time" in response to Donald Trump's aggressive stance towards the regime. The warning came as US military officials said a controversial missile defence system was now "operational" after being installed at a site in South Korea last week. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system – or Thaad – is designed to locate and intercept North Korean missiles in mid-flight, but its deployment has been met with opposition by China and confusion over who should foot the billion-dollar bill. Continue reading... |
| Protesters throw Pepsi cans at police during May Day demonstrations Posted: 01 May 2017 10:05 PM PDT Medic hit and demonstration shut down as Portland protesters mock theme of Kendall Jenner advertisement where she handed drink to police officer A May Day protest in Portland has been shut down after demonstrators threw full cans of Pepsi at officers, with one hitting a medic, according to police in the US city. Related: Diet Woke: how Pepsi's ad backfired for Kendall Jenner Continue reading... |
| Tuesday briefing: Britain unplugged? Brexit warning over nuclear power Posted: 01 May 2017 10:04 PM PDT Cloud of uncertainty over UK atomic energy … surfer found after 32 hours lost at sea … and broken housing market puts pressure on 'bank of mum and dad' Hello, Warren Murray welcoming you back after the bank holiday. Let's get on with it shall we? Continue reading... |
| Police and courts fail cyclists over road safety, says cross-party inquiry Posted: 01 May 2017 10:01 PM PDT Dangerous drivers are increasingly likely to escape prosecution and more people plead exceptional hardship to avoid ban Policing and the justice system are too often failing cyclists, making the roads too dangerous for people to ride on them, and then not properly prosecuting or banning motorists who commit offences, a cross-party group of MPs and peers has warned. Dangerous drivers are increasingly likely to be permitted by courts to stay behind the wheel, the report found, with the number of driving bans falling 62% over the last 10 years, and ever-more people claiming exceptional hardship to avoid a disqualification. Continue reading... |
| Greece reaches deal with creditors to pave way for bailout talks Posted: 01 May 2017 09:59 PM PDT Euclid Tsakalotos says 'negotiations are concluded' and agreement has been reached ahead of meeting with eurozone ministers at the end of May Greece has reached a preliminary deal with its creditors that should pave the way for long-awaited debt relief talks, the Greek finance minister said on Tuesday. "The negotiations are concluded," Euclid Tsakalotos told reporters, according to state agency ANA. Continue reading... |
| 'Oldest human' dies in Indonesia aged 146 Posted: 01 May 2017 09:53 PM PDT Indonesia says deceased man was born in December 1870, although his age was never verified A man who claimed to be the world's longest living human has died aged 146. According to his papers, Indonesian national Sodimedjo, also known as Mbah Ghoto (Grandpa Ghoto), was born in December 1870. He would have been 43 at the start of the first world war and turned 70 during the second world war. Continue reading... |
| UK accused of failing victims of IRA killed by Libya-supplied weapons Posted: 01 May 2017 04:00 PM PDT Damning report says successive governments failed to do enough to get compensation from post-Gaddafi Libya British governments have repeatedly let down IRA victims who were injured or had loved ones killed with Libyan-supplied weapons, a high-powered parliamentary report has concluded. The Northern Ireland affairs committee at Westminster is expected to accuse successive Labour and Tory administrations of failing to offer proper support to those individuals and families caught up in IRA terror attacks in which Libyan arms and explosives were used. |
| Venezuelan president Maduro calls for new constitution amid further clashes Posted: 01 May 2017 03:08 PM PDT
Venezuela's increasingly embattled president has called for a new constitution as an intensifying protest movement entered a second month amid clashes between police and demonstrators. After hundreds of thousands took to the streets again to call for his removal, President Nicolás Maduro announced that he was calling for a citizens assembly and a new constitution. He said the move was needed to restore peace and stop his political opponents from trying to carry out a coup. Continue reading... |
| Police injured in May Day clashes with protesters in Paris – video Posted: 01 May 2017 01:00 PM PDT Six riot police officers have been injured during clashes with protesters armed with molotov cocktails in Paris on Monday. A group of around 150 people are said to have hijacked the city's traditional May Day marches, organised every year by France's unions Continue reading... |
| Gay professor with a passion for fashion | Letters Posted: 01 May 2017 11:09 AM PDT Biographer of Brian Abel-Smith Professor Sally Sheard on the academic's business acumen As a gay man in the 1950s, Brian Abel-Smith reluctantly gave up the offer of a safe MP's seat (Hugh Dalton's), and instead forged a brilliant career as an academic, political adviser and welfare services expert (in the UK and worldwide). From 1965 he built a chain of high-end men's clothes shops called Just Men, with his barrister brother Lionel, who was also gay. They referred to their business as "Only Just Men", as it was popular with gay men in London, as well as with a celebrity clientele including the Who and the Rolling Stones (The evolution of gay style, G2, 26 April). Many of Brian's close colleagues knew nothing about his other lives until I published my biography of him, A Passionate Economist. How many university professors could now also run an international fashion business alongside their day jobs? This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Marine Le Pen's party upbeat amid complaints of lethargy on the left Posted: 01 May 2017 11:04 AM PDT Even on May Day, as anti-Front National marches took place, unions that once held firm against Jean-Marie Le Pen were split As the far-right Front National's Marine Le Pen enters the final days of her French presidential campaign, one factor has contributed to an upbeat mood inside her party. The concerted wave of mass street protests and condemnation that greeted her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, when he made it to the final round of the presidential election 15 years ago, has not been of the same order this time. Continue reading... |
| May Day in France: six police injured as violent group hijacks Paris march Posted: 01 May 2017 10:22 AM PDT About 150 people armed with molotov cocktails and stones invade event, with France divided over presidential election • May Day protests around the world – in pictures France's political, personal and social divisions divisions were laid bare on the streets of Paris on Monday as May Day marches dominated by the final round vote in the presidential election saw violent clashes between police and masked youths. Six riot police officers were injured, one with third-degree burns to his hand and face, in Paris when a group of about 150 people armed with molotov cocktails, stones and sticks hijacked the traditional May Day march organised by French unions. Continue reading... |
| May Day protests around the world – in pictures Posted: 01 May 2017 10:04 AM PDT Demonstrators take to the streets in support of workers' rights Continue reading... |
| How Juncker's Downing Street dinner turned sour Posted: 01 May 2017 09:55 AM PDT Talks between EU commission president and British PM started pleasantly enough, say reports, but then they started discussing Brexit Jean-Claude Juncker had prevaricated when he was first asked to Downing Street for dinner. The prime minister had already announced a general election when the surprise invite came from Theresa May, and he wasn't sure whether it would be appropriate to turn up in London in the midst of a political campaign. But Juncker reasoned to himself that as European commission president it was his responsibility to deal even-handedly with all 28 member states, and he would after all soon be attending a special summit in Brussels with the other 27, to which May had not been invited. Continue reading... |
| May Day protest poised for huge turnout as coalition of activists joins unions Posted: 01 May 2017 09:28 AM PDT Spurred by opposition to the Trump administration, demonstrators to march on behalf of women, LGBT community, immigrants, and ethnic minorities May Day organizers were expecting a surge of thousands of demonstrators on Monday as rights groups, galvanized by the Trump administration, came together for the annual workers' protest. Labor unions were joined by a broad coalition of groups supporting rights for women, religious and LGBT people, immigrants and ethnic minorities. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 01 May 2017 08:37 AM PDT After being sacked from several engineering jobs because of his membership of the Communist party, from 1953 onwards my friend Bill Thornycroft, who has died aged 90, dedicated himself to working for organisations affiliated affilitated to the party: Collet's bookshop, Central Books and Progressive Tours. Later he ran a grocery shop and made a living as an electrician. In the 1970s he joined the picket line at Grunwick, the film-processing factory in north-west London where mostly Asian female workers were on strike for the right to belong to a trade union. He was arrested by the Met's Special Patrol Group and spent the night in a police cell. He opposed racist and fascist organisations, and protested against the National Front's march in Lewisham in 1977 during which participants were pelted with bricks, concrete blocks and stones. He became a member of the Stop the War movement after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 01 May 2017 07:25 AM PDT Climber dubbed the 'Swiss machine' for his speed-record-breaking ascents Ueli Steck, who has died aged 40, in an accident on Nuptse in the Himalayas, was one of the finest alpinists of his, or any, generation, and was a much richer character than was suggested by the tag he had been given by the media – the "Swiss machine". Steck himself disliked the phrase, although it captured one aspect of his high-octane career, the focused application of sports science to his preparations for the astounding challenges he set himself. His physical and mental focus helped him break speed records on some of the biggest challenges in the Alps, most famously the original route on the north face of the Eiger. He reclaimed the speed record for this in November 2015, setting a new benchmark of 2h 22m 50s, a vertical marathon where any misstep carried the threat of death. For those who felt queasy at the notion of the Eiger being turned into a racetrack, Steck had persuasive arguments. "Speed is nothing new," he once said. "Times are." The difference seems subtle but Steck thought deeply about alpinism, and understood how speed in the mountains could make you safer. If sometimes he seemed too enamoured of the media, he was also imaginative about how to take his craft forward. Developing speed on familiar ground, he argued, could prepare you for challenges yet to be realised. Continue reading... |
| Indian mob beats two Muslims to death over suspected cow theft Posted: 01 May 2017 03:57 AM PDT Attack on pair in Assam captured on video and comes amid spate of attacks by 'cow protection' vigilante groups Two Muslim men were beaten to death by Indian villagers who suspected them of stealing cows, police said on Monday. It is the latest in a series of attacks over the animals, which are considered sacred by Hindus. Police in Nagaon district, in Assam state in the country's north-east, said they had registered a murder case over the deaths of Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali on Sunday. Two people have been detained for questioning. Continue reading... |
| Trump's stance on North Korea missile defence 'chaotic', says Seoul media Posted: 01 May 2017 02:27 AM PDT Editorials betray confusion over mixed messages from White House and Pentagon on who should pay for $1bn Thaad system The South Korean media has accused Donald Trump of weakening bilateral security ties at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after he said Seoul should pay for a controversial missile defence system. The US president was accused of dropping "a barrage of verbal bombs" and sending "confusing and contradictory" messages over Washington's commitment to the country's security. Continue reading... |
| 'I agree 100%': NRA members back Wayne LaPierre attack on 'leftist zealots' Posted: 01 May 2017 09:03 AM PDT Liberals condemn lobby group's president for lambasting universities and the media – but his comments seemed to chime at the NRA's annual meeting Academics and the media are two of the country's "greatest domestic threats", the National Rifle Association chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, argued on Friday, prompting outrage from the left. Related: Donald Trump tells NRA: 'I am going to come through for you' Continue reading... |
| Trump cuts short interview when asked about unfounded wiretap claims – video Posted: 01 May 2017 09:37 AM PDT Donald Trump cut short an interview with CBS This Morning when he was questioned by John Dickerson about his baseless claims that Barack Obama wiretapped him during the election campaign. When asked why he had referred to Obama as a 'sick' man, Trump told Dickerson he had his 'own opinions' before walking away Continue reading... |
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