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

0 komentar

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


Hillary Clinton: I'm to blame for election loss but outside interference cost me

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:44 PM PDT

  • Clinton tells panel she takes 'absolute personal responsibility' for election loss
  • But Russian hacking and James Comey's letter played a decisive role, she says

Hilary Clinton said on Tuesday she takes "personal responsibility" for her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

But the former Democratic nominee also blamed Russian interference in the US election and the release just before the election of a letter by the FBI director, James Comey, pertaining to the investigation into her emails, saying such factors deprived her of an otherwise expected victory.

Continue reading...

Inequality, drought and the deadly fight for precious grazing land in Kenya

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:45 PM PDT

Arrival of hundreds of poor tribesmen seeking grazing lands for their cattle has triggered outbreak of violence in Laikipia

Early one morning last week, Richard Constant drove across the 24,000-acre ranch that he part-owns on a high plateau in central Kenya to discover what remained of his home.

In March, Constant's friend and business associate Tristan Voorspuy, a British army officer turned safari operator, had been shot dead on his horse while inspecting the damage caused by armed herders who had driven tens of thousands of cattle on to the ranch.

Continue reading...

Venezuela plan to rewrite constitution branded a coup by former regional allies

Posted: 02 May 2017 03:00 PM PDT

As Venezuelans take to the streets, Argentina says calling of constituent assembly 'poured petrol on the fire' while Brazil denounces a 'break with democracy'

Venezuela's former regional allies, Brazil and Argentina, have reacted with dismay to President Nicholás Maduro's plans to rewrite the constitution, as protesters in Caracas once again barricaded streets and clashed with riot police.

Argentina's foreign minister, Susanna Malcorra, said on Tuesday that the move "poured petrol on the fire" of unrest, which has claimed 29 lives over the past month, including victims on both sides of the political divide as well as bystanders.

Continue reading...

Merkel presses Putin over anti-gay purge in Chechnya

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:37 AM PDT

German chancellor raises reports of torture and persecution of gay men during joint press conference with Russian president

Angela Merkel has urged Vladimir Putin to investigate reports of the torture and persecution of gay men in Chechnya and to ensure the safety of LGBT people across the region.

The German chancellor, making her first visit to Russia for two years, in a trip described by her officials as bridge-building mission, said she had raised the issue with the Russian president along with other human rights concerns.

Continue reading...

Majority of Mélenchon supporters will not back Emmanuel Macron, poll finds

Posted: 02 May 2017 08:50 AM PDT

Poll suggests 65% of those who backed hard-left candidate will not vote for centrist fighting Marine Le Pen for French presidency

The majority of supporters of the hard-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon will abstain or spoil their ballot papers in Sunday's second round, according to the results of a consultation of members of his France Unbowed movement.

About 450,000 of his supporters were asked to say whether they would abstain, spoil their ballots or support Emmanuel Macron in the second round runoff this Sunday. Voting for the other candidate, he Front National's Marine Le Pen, was not an option.

Continue reading...

FBI translator married Isis recruiter she was meant to be investigating

Posted: 02 May 2017 06:15 AM PDT

Daniela Greene moved to Syria to be with her jihadi groom, a former German rapper, before realising she was involved 'way over her head'

An FBI translator travelled to Syria to marry a former German rapper turned Islamic State recruiter she was supposed to be investigating, it has been revealed.

Daniela Greene, who warned her jihadi bridegroom he was under investigation, quickly began having second thoughts and returned to the US shortly afterwards. She pleaded guilty to making false statements involving international terrorism and was sentenced to two years in prison. She was released in August last year.

Continue reading...

Greece will avoid default after bailout deal – but faces more austerity

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:24 AM PDT

Unions vow strike action after leftist-led government agrees to further slash pensions and cut tax breaks

The long road to Greece emerging from its worst financial crisis in modern times reached another milestone on Tuesday as the country concluded a crucial compliance review that will allow it to avert default in July.

At the cost of yet more painful austerity – in the form of extra pension cuts and tax increases – international creditors agreed to disburse €7.5bn (£6.3bn) in emergency loans to enable Athens to honour maturing debt repayments. More importantly, lenders accepted to set talks in motion on making Greece's debt mountain more manageable – vital if the country is to gain access to the capital markets from which it has been almost completely exiled since 2009.

Continue reading...

Iran is seeking 'to control Islamic world', says Saudi Arabian prince

Posted: 02 May 2017 02:46 PM PDT

Deputy crown prince and defence minister rejects notion of talks with 'extremist' Iran as proxy wars in Syria and Yemen grind on

Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince has said there is no space for dialogue with the Iran due to its ambitions "to control the Islamic world".

The rare and wide-ranging interview, which aired on multiple Saudi TV channels, offered a glimpse into how Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud views the kingdom's top rival. It also laid bare the breadth of his portfolio and powers.

Continue reading...

Trump and Putin had 'good' talk about ending Syria war, White House says

Posted: 02 May 2017 01:52 PM PDT

US and Russian presidents hold first known phone conversation since missile strikes last month, addressing question of safe zones and 'eradicating terrorism'

Donald Trump had a "very good" conversation with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, about a diplomatic resolution to the Syrian civil war, including the creation of safe zones, the White House said on Tuesday.

The two leaders held their first known phone discussion since last month's US missile strikes against a Syrian government airbase soured relations between Washington and Moscow.

Continue reading...

Erdoğan rejoins Turkey's ruling party in wake of referendum on new powers

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:44 AM PDT

President returns to Justice and Development party a fortnight after voters narrowly approved constitutional amendments

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has rejoined the ruling party that he co-founded, the first step in cementing his authority in the aftermath of a tight referendum victory that granted him sweeping new powers.

Erdoğan signed his membership form at a ceremony in the Justice and Development party (AKP) headquarters in the capital, Ankara, and is expected to be elected chair at an extraordinary congress later this month.

Continue reading...

United Airlines CEO calls passenger's removal a 'mistake of epic proportions'

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:52 AM PDT

  • Oscar Munoz contrite before House transportation committee
  • David Dao's 'terrible experience' described as a 'turning point' for airline

The United Airlines chief executive, Oscar Munoz, has told a congressional committee that an incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed from a flight, prompting a blizzard of bad publicity, was a "mistake of epic proportions".

Related: Doctor dragged off United Airlines flight reaches undisclosed settlement

Continue reading...

Man pays tribute to friend by flushing remains down 17 MLB ballpark toilets

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:50 AM PDT

  • Tom McDonald says gesture is fitting for his friend, who was a plumber
  • Roy Riegel's family support campaign – including ban on Wrigley Field

A New York City man is on a mission to flush the cremated remains of his lifelong friend – a plumber – down ballpark toilets around the US.

Tom McDonald told the New York Times that it's a fitting tribute for Roy Riegel. The two baseball fans were childhood friends in Queens, not far from – appropriately – Flushing Meadows, where the Mets play.

Continue reading...

Majority of men in Middle East survey believe a woman's place is in the home

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:41 AM PDT

Study carried out across Middle East and north Africa shows sexist attitudes prevail, with men's views of equality at odds with hopes of young women

Men's views of equality between the sexes are woefully out of sync with the hopes of young women, according to a survey across the Middle East and north Africa.

Male attitudes towards the role of women in the workplace and at home, and of their participation in public life, were stereotypically sexist in the study of views in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine.

Continue reading...

Runway potholes halt regular Ascension Island flights

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:24 AM PDT

Flights unlikely to resume for at least two years and issue will also affect travel between the UK and Falkland Islands

Eight hundred residents on the British-run Ascension Island will not be able to get a regular flight off the island until at least 2019 because of potholes on the only runway, a travel agency has said.

Ascension becomes the second British South Atlantic outpost unable to provide a regular way on and off the island, after plans to open a newly built £250m runway on St Helena were suspended because of strong winds that make landing planes dangerous.

Continue reading...

Mexico captures Sinaloa cartel boss who launched power bid after El Chapo arrest

Posted: 02 May 2017 07:38 AM PDT

  • Officials say Dámaso López was long considered El Chapo's right-hand man
  • El Chapo, AKA Joaquín Guzmán, extradited to US in January to face charges

Mexican soldiers and police have detained a Sinaloa cartel leader who was once Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's right-hand man, but more recently became locked in a power struggle with the imprisoned kingpin's sons.

Related: A murder house, a gold AK-47 and $1m bribes: how El Chapo built Sinaloa cartel

Continue reading...

'Everything is in chaos': protest, violence and looting engulf one Caracas district

Posted: 03 May 2017 01:30 AM PDT

In the working-class neighbourhood of La Valle, Venezuelans are angry and afraid, and hostility towards Nicolas Maduro's government runs high

The singed remains of an old fridge dumped on the side of a trash-covered street are the only sign of an outbreak of violence that erupted after anti-government protests in El Valle, a gritty working-class neighbourhood in south-east Caracas.

Other traces – ripped-out door frames, shards of broken glass – were swiftly tidied away by government workers, said Ana Sánchez, a local resident, who asked not to use her real name for fear of reprisals.

Continue reading...

North Korea says US professor detained for attempted subversion

Posted: 03 May 2017 01:23 AM PDT

Kim Sang-duk, accused of attempting to commit hostile acts, is third US citizen being held in country

North Korea says an American man it detained last month was intercepted because he was attempting to commit "hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country".

Kim Sang-duk was arrested on 22 April at Pyongyang airport. He is the third US citizen being held in the isolated country.

Continue reading...

Juncker will find me 'bloody difficult woman' in Brexit talks, says May

Posted: 03 May 2017 12:17 AM PDT

Comment comes as cabinet source says decision to leak details of PM's dinner with European commission chief was 'miscalculation'

Theresa May has said Jean-Claude Juncker will be the next person to discover that she can be a "bloody difficult woman" as cabinet frustration with the EU over the early phases of the Brexit negotiations intensified.

The prime minister made the comments about the European commission president after extensive details of a dinner she held with him and key negotiator Michel Barnier were leaked to a German newspaper over the weekend.

Continue reading...

Crab invasion in the Bay of Pigs in Cuba – in pictures

Posted: 03 May 2017 12:00 AM PDT

Every year, after mating season, millions of red, yellow and black landcrabs invade Playa Girón, on the eastern side of the Bay of Pigs or Bahía de Cochinos. The crabs migrate from the surrounding forests to the bay to spawn in the sea

Continue reading...

Donald Trump tells Duterte: 'You're doing a great job', Philippines claims

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:32 PM PDT

Despite thousands of deaths in controversial war on drugs, US president praised his counterpart in Manila, a spokesman says

Donald Trump has told Rodrigo Duterte that he is "doing a great job" despite knowing about the Philippine president's controversial war on drugs.

The US president's invitation to Duterte to visit him at the White House unleashed a storm of criticism in Washington because of the drugs campaign, which has killed thousands of people over the past 10 months.

Continue reading...

Most unlike her: Melania Trump sparks intrigue with fat-fingered favourite

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:25 PM PDT

First lady's verified personal account momentarily liked a Twitter post suggesting the president had built a 'wall' between them

Retweets are not endorsements, so goes the common caveat on Twitter – but could the First Lady of the United States be semaphoring for help on social media?

Melania Trump's verified account, @MELANIATRUMP, momentarily favourited a tweet late on Tuesday that suggested her husband had built a "#WALL" between them.

Continue reading...

Brexit could wipe out Welsh farming, says union

Posted: 02 May 2017 04:01 PM PDT

Farmers fear Westminster will impose England-centric replacement for CAP, with knock-on effects for tourism and language

Farming in Snowdonia will be wiped out by Brexit unless the next government matches subsidies under the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) pound for pound, the president of the Farmers' Union of Wales has said.

While CAP has been criticised in the past for supporting inefficient agricultural practices, FUW's Glyn Roberts said Welsh farmers were so impoverished they could not survive without the subsidy.

Continue reading...

Hillary Clinton: I was on way to presidency until leaks raised doubts – video

Posted: 03 May 2017 01:24 AM PDT

At a Women for Women International 2017 lunch in New York on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton says she takes 'absolute personal responsibility' for the Democrats' 2016 election defeat but questions the timing of campaign email leaks she blamed on Russian interference with election-season events

Continue reading...

Immigration department says it spent $200,000 on border force guns

Posted: 03 May 2017 12:05 AM PDT

Department tells Senate estimates it has bought 332 Glock pistols in the past three years – the vast majority last financial year

Immigration officials have spent more than $200,000 on hundreds of new handguns in the past three years.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has bought 332 Glock pistols since 2014-15, racking up a bill of $204,025.

Continue reading...

Suicide attack on Nato convoy in Kabul kills at least eight civilians

Posted: 03 May 2017 12:56 AM PDT

Islamic State claims responsibility for rush hour bombing that also wounds three US service members

A suicide car bomber has struck a US military convoy in the Afghan capital, killing at least eight Afghan civilians and wounding three US service members in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, confirmed the toll and said another 25 Afghan civilians were wounded in the morning rush-hour attack near the US embassy, which destroyed several civilian vehicles.

Continue reading...

Off with their heads: 3D scans reveal Lord Nelson and PM Pitt's secrets

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT

Wax portrait heads of historical figures captured in extraordinary detail in pioneering partnership of art and science

Adm Lord Horatio Nelson and William Pitt the Younger have travelled together by taxi across the Thames, from their home in Westminster Abbey to St Thomas' hospital, to have their heads run through some of the most sophisticated scanning equipment in the world in a pioneering partnership of art, conservation and science.

Scanning of the wax portrait heads, made at the time of their deaths in 1805 and 1806, was performed using state-of-the-art equipment owned by Guy's and St Thomas', with all the scientists, curators, conservators and abbey staff involved in the project working unpaid overtime.

Continue reading...

'I am Fan Yusu': China gripped by Dickensian tale of a migrant worker's struggle

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:25 PM PDT

The online essay chronicling the dismal plight of millions of Chinese has turned its unassuming author into an overnight literary sensation

As a girl, Fan Yusu looked to Charles Dickens for an escape from her life of rural poverty, immersing herself in the travails of Oliver Twist as he fled a Victorian workhouse and set off for the big smoke.

But it is the story of Fan's own flight to the big city that has captured hearts and minds in her native China after an online account of the migrant worker's struggles made her an overnight literary sensation.

Continue reading...

Wednesday briefing: Blame me but also Putin, says Hillary Clinton

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:58 PM PDT

Democrat says election loss not entirely her fault … why statin symptoms might be a 'nocebo effect' … and shooting a movie in Disneyland without permission

Hello, Warren Murray here with the news at breakfast time.

Continue reading...

Black rhinos return to Rwanda 10 years after disappearance

Posted: 02 May 2017 06:27 PM PDT

Around 20 eastern black rhinos are being moved to Akagera national park from South Africa

Around 20 endangered eastern black rhinos are returning in an "extraordinary homecoming" to Rwanda after the species disappeared from the country 10 years ago, the African Parks organisation has said.

The rhinos are being moved from South Africa to the Akagera national park in eastern Rwanda, according to the non-profit group that manages protected areas for African governments.

Continue reading...

Aung San Suu Kyi rejects UN inquiry into crimes against Rohingya

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:45 PM PDT

Myanmar leader says resolution for the investigation is 'not in keeping with what is happening on the ground'

Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected a decision by the UN's rights council to investigate allegations of crimes by Myanmar's security forces against minority Rohingya Muslims.

The UN body agreed in March to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the south Asian Asian country over claims of murder, rape and torture in Rakhine state.

Continue reading...

Nauruans jailed over political protest to appeal sentence in Australia

Posted: 02 May 2017 01:14 PM PDT

Lawyers for three men who had their sentences increased on appeal announce intention to appeal to high court of Australia

Three Nauruans charged over a 2015 protest at the suspension of opposition MPs from parliament, have had their prison sentences increased up to seven-fold on appeal, but will now take their case to the high court of Australia.

In an episode that has exposed long-running political tensions within Nauru's fragile democracy, the appeal of the sentences for John Jeremiah, Josh Kepae, and Job Cecil, was adjudicated by acting chief justice Mohammed Shafi Khan on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

There’s more violence in Darfur now, not less | Letters

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:47 AM PDT

Regarding the letter from the Sudanese ambassador, Khalid Mustafa, stating that violence in Darfur is much reduced (Letters, 17 April), I find this dismaying and far from reality. As a survivor of the Darfur genocide, I – like millions of Darfuris – long for peace, but not the fictional peace portrayed by Mr Mustafa and his government to re-establish international relations or end its self-imposed isolation. The trouble in Darfur has never been about the fighting between rebel and Sudanese forces. It's about the Sudanese government's systematic burning of villages, slaughter of innocent citizens and orders for the rape of women and girls – acts resulting in the international criminal court's indictment of President al-Bashir and others

Actually, violence has increased in 2016 and 2017, including allegations, brought by credible sources, of chemical attacks and rape. Attacks have been perpetrated by Sudanese armed forces, including the Janjaweed and Rapid Support Forces, against helpless internally displaced people. Just this past week, a camp was burned down.

Continue reading...

The cruelty of flying animals in the cargo hold | Letters

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:43 AM PDT

The giant rabbit which died during a long-haul flight (Report, 27 April) was failed first by the breeder – who churns out and sells baby bunnies when shelters and rescue groups are full of homeless rabbits – and then by United Airlines, which shipped it off in a cargo hold like an old suitcase. This rabbit's death is not unique. More than 300 animals have died in cargo holds since 2005, and many more have been injured or lost. Peta urges United to join JetBlue and Southwest in prohibiting companion animals from being flown as checked baggage in the confusion, noise, extreme temperatures, and improper pressurisation of a cargo hold.
Jennifer White
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta)

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Continue reading...

Lord Williams of Baglan obituary

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:42 AM PDT

Senior UN diplomat who acted as a bridge and barrier between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 war

Michael Williams, Lord Williams of Baglan, who has died aged 67 after suffering from cancer, was a senior United Nations diplomat with a knack for turning the organisation's principles into action on the ground, most successfully in the aftermath of the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah. Williams's work in Lebanon between 2006 and 2011 was the culmination of his role as an effective, if largely unsung, troubleshooter for the UN, in locations from Cambodia to the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East.

The six-week conflict had left large parts of Lebanon in ruins, but the Israelis felt they had failed to win a convincing victory. As for the Hezbollah fighters, they proclaimed themselves victors merely for surviving the Israeli onslaught. Inside Lebanon, the political situation was more than usually explosive following the 2005 assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, which the UN had promised to investigate.

Continue reading...

Merkel calls on Putin to support gay rights in Chechnya – video

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:34 AM PDT

Angela Merkel says she has asked Vladimir Putin to help protect the rights of gay people in Chechnya after reports of persecution. Merkel made the remarks during a visit to Russia for talks expected to focus on the unresolved conflict in eastern Ukraine

Continue reading...

French authorities detain five men in anti-terror operations

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:27 AM PDT

Suspects aged 18-24 picked up in operations in three sites across the country, five days before presidential runoff

French authorities have detained five men and seized weapons in anti-terrorist operations across France, five days before a tense presidential runoff.

Related: Shadow of terror attacks hangs over France as polls prepare to open

Continue reading...

Asylum seeker boat turnbacks illegal and don't deter people, report finds

Posted: 02 May 2017 07:01 AM PDT

Neither Australia's nor Europe's deterrence policies save lives, but rather 'hamper desperate people fleeing war and persecution from finding safety'

Turning back asylum seeker boats is illegal under international law and does not deter people from seeking sanctuary by sea, a new policy brief from the University of New South Wales's Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law argues.

The Interdiction of Asylum Seekers at Sea: Law and (mal)practice in Europe and Australia, argues that neither Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders, or the European Union's operations Sophia and Triton, meet international legal obligations, or are viable long-term strategies.

Continue reading...

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Spot the difference: Marine Le Pen accused of plagiarising François Fillon – video

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:22 AM PDT

Marine Le Pen, the far-right French presidential candidate, has been accused of plagiarising a speech from her defeated rival François Fillon in a May Day address to her supporters. The original speech, delivered by Fillon on 15 April, referred to the country's 'three maritime borders'. The similarities between the speeches were mocked by Le Pen's opponents. A Front National aide said they were well aware the speech resembled Fillon's

Continue reading...

Bob Marley, ganja and the green stuff – is selling Brand Jamaica just a pipe dream?

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT

Decades of debt are pushing Jamaica to cash in on its most famous exports, but small farmers fear losing out in the rush to market medicinal marijuana

When Bob Marley and the Wailers first performed Get Up, Stand Up to a restive 1970s Jamaica, never could they have guessed that the government would be cashing in on their lyrics, their Rastafarianism and even their spliffs 40 years later.

But decades of debt, coupled with a crippling austerity package instituted by the International Monetary Fund, means that nearly everything that makes Jamaica famous today – including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and ganja – is up for sale.

Continue reading...

As the search for Joseph Kony ends, we chart his reign of suffering in Uganda

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:20 AM PDT

Communities fear that a resurgence of the Lord's Resistance Army will mean a return to violence. Our gallery looks back over Kony's legacy

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

The US and Uganda called off their six-year hunt for warlord Joseph Kony, triggering concerns that the splintered Lord's Resistance Army could regroup, plunging communities into renewed violence. Hannah Summers charted the course of the fugitive's rise in a gallery of images, The fruitless quest for Kony, revealing the terror and suffering he and his army wreaked in Uganda and beyond.

Continue reading...


Posting Komentar