World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Otto Warmbier: student dies days after being returned from North Korea
- Australia suspends air operations over Syria after Russian threat to coalition forces
- Two-thirds of Europeans believe EU should take hard line on Brexit – poll
- Hitler bust among Argentina's biggest haul of Nazi artefacts found in secret room
- Ukrainian president to 'drop in' on Donald Trump during Washington visit
- Mexico accused of spying on journalists and activists using cellphone malware
- Emmanuel Macron plans cabinet reshuffle after parliamentary win
- Indian government: pregnant women should shun meat, eggs and lustful thoughts of sex
- Carrie Fisher had cocaine and heroin in system when she died, coroner finds
- Champs Élysées: driver dead as car carrying firearms rams police van
- Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong apologises for public family feud
- Facebook and Twitter are being used to manipulate public opinion – report
- Four foreign inmates escape Bali prison using 15-metre tunnel
- Russian 'gay propaganda' law ruled discriminatory by ECHR
- Trump-style border wall between Ecuador and Peru causes fierce dispute
- UK caves in to EU demand to agree Brexit divorce bill before trade talks
- Brexit divorce bill: what is it and how does it affect talks?
- Van driver dies in Calais crash caused by refugees' blockade
- YMCA partners with Boy George to embrace eponymous gay anthem for first time
- Lima's time bomb: how mudslides threaten the world's great 'self-built' city
- Sabha in the spotlight: the city where migrants are sold as slaves
- Britain's hottest day of the year – in pictures
- The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden review – an insider’s account of al-Qaida after 9/11
- On the run from the armed cattle rustlers of rural Kenya – in pictures
- No classrooms, lessons or homework: New Zealand school where children are free to roam
- Coalition should delay attempt to pass school funding changes, union says
- Met to increase number of officers with Taser electronic weapons
- Argentinian raid finds country's largest haul of Nazi artefacts – video
- Tuesday briefing: Deadly reality of Islamophobic terror
- Children to be sent to the Dominions for duration of war - archive, 20 June 1940
- Gay chorus group drowns out anti-gay protesters with music in Knoxville – video
- US student Otto Warmbier dies after being released by North Korea – video
- Five-metre-tall inflatable refugee floats through Melbourne – video
- The three US citizens still detained in North Korea
- Michel Barnier: 'very useful start' to Brexit talks – video
- Montreal opens first mobile supervised injection clinic in North America
- Champs Élysées: attack on French police foiled, says interior minister – video
- 'We have nothing to live for': anguish of family split by detention system
- Russia warns US its fighter jets are now potential target in Syria
- US Cuba policy has been hijacked by Cuban-Americans | Letters
- Europe’s border shifts and citizenship denial
- Contaminated air on planes linked to crew ill-health, study finds
- Iran and Saudi Arabia offer clashing accounts of offshore confrontation
- 'A grotesque spectacle': Cuba decries Trump's policy toward island
- The police hero, the maths genius and more: meet Macron’s new MPs
- First Turkish journalists go on trial over alleged coup support
- Portuguese wildfires: early warnings hindered by damaged phone lines
- No negotiation until sanctions dropped, says Qatari foreign minister
- Germany investigates possible political motive for rail arson attacks
- Rustlers, bandits and gun runners: the gangs vying for cattle in Kenya | Jacob Kushner
- Jailed for calling Ugandan president a 'pair of buttocks', activist vows to fight on | Alon Mwesigwa
- Robin Murray obituary
- Victories against Trump are mounting. Here's how we deal the final blow | Rebecca Solnit
| Otto Warmbier: student dies days after being returned from North Korea Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:38 AM PDT University of Virginia student, held for 17 months in prison with hard labor for trying to steal a propaganda poster, had been in a coma since returning home Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old student who was returned to the US in a coma last week after 17 months as a prisoner in North Korea, has died in a Cincinnati hospital, his parents announced. "It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2.20pm," Fred and Cindy Warmbier wrote in a statement on Monday. Continue reading... |
| Australia suspends air operations over Syria after Russian threat to coalition forces Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:32 PM PDT Threat comes after US shoots down Syrian SU-22 fighter jet it claims was bombing Syrian Democratic Forces fighters near Raqqa Australia has suspended air combat missions over Syria after Russia threatened that it would treat any plane from the US-led coalition flying west of the Euphrates river as a potential target. Russia said it was responding to US planes shooting down a Syrian air force jet on Sunday. The US said its planes had acted to defend US-backed forces seeking to capture Raqqa, the Islamic State (Isis) stronghold in north-east Syria. Continue reading... |
| Two-thirds of Europeans believe EU should take hard line on Brexit – poll Posted: 19 Jun 2017 04:01 PM PDT Chatham House-Kantar survey reveals strong opposition in nine countries to EU compromising on core principles for UK Two-thirds of Europeans believe the EU should take a hard line with the UK over Brexit, according to a survey. Sixty-five per cent of those questioned in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy Austria, Hungary and Poland said the EU, while trying to maintain a good relationship with Britain, should not compromise on its core principles. Continue reading... |
| Hitler bust among Argentina's biggest haul of Nazi artefacts found in secret room Posted: 19 Jun 2017 08:43 PM PDT Macabre medical device discovered in a hidden room in a house in Buenos Aires according to security minister In a hidden room in a house near Argentina's capital, police believe they have found the biggest collection of Nazi artefacts in the country's history, including a bust relief of Adolf Hitler, magnifying glasses inside elegant boxes with swastikas and even a macabre medical device used to measure head size. Related: Top 10 books about Weimar and Nazi Berlin Continue reading... |
| Ukrainian president to 'drop in' on Donald Trump during Washington visit Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:51 PM PDT Hours before Petro Poroshenko's arrival, details of the meeting had still not been confirmed with the apparently reluctant US president Donald Trump is expected to meet the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, at the White House on Tuesday but the encounter is likely to be a brief and leave questions unanswered over the administration's commitment to Ukraine. By the time Poroshenko had left Kiev on Monday, the meeting with Trump had still not been confirmed, but was still being negotiated with an apparently reluctant US president. Continue reading... |
| Mexico accused of spying on journalists and activists using cellphone malware Posted: 19 Jun 2017 03:39 PM PDT Targets received SMS messages with links which installed software that recorded keystrokes and compromised contact lists The Mexican government has deployed sophisticated software to spy on journalists, activists and anti-graft groups as they worked to highlight some of the country's most notorious cases of crime, corruption and abuse of authority. Targets received SMS messages with links which appeared legitimate but led to false sites and the installation of malware on their mobile phones, according to an investigation by the press freedom organisation Article 19 and Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Continue reading... |
| Emmanuel Macron plans cabinet reshuffle after parliamentary win Posted: 19 Jun 2017 06:19 AM PDT French president to unveil new government in days after La République En Marche won 350 of 577 seats on Sunday The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will announce a new cabinet within days after his start-up centrist political movement swept to a commanding majority in parliamentary elections on a promise of renovating the country's politics. The prime minister, Édouard Philippe, resigned on Monday as required after a parliamentary poll. Christophe Castaner, a government spokesman, told RTL radio that Philippe would be reappointed at the head of the new government "over the next few days". Continue reading... |
| Indian government: pregnant women should shun meat, eggs and lustful thoughts of sex Posted: 19 Jun 2017 08:22 PM PDT Mother and Child Care leaflet also recommends expectant mothers 'detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment' India's government is advising pregnant women to avoid all meat, eggs and lustful thoughts. Doctors say the advice is preposterous, and even dangerous, considering India's already poor record with maternal health. Women are often the last to eat or receive health care in traditionally patriarchal Indian households. Continue reading... |
| Carrie Fisher had cocaine and heroin in system when she died, coroner finds Posted: 19 Jun 2017 09:40 AM PDT
The actor Carrie Fisher had cocaine, morphine and ecstasy in her system when she died, her autopsy has revealed, but investigators are still unclear whether the drugs contributed to her death. The report, released on Monday, suggested that Fisher, 60, may have taken cocaine three days before she became unwell on board a plane on 23 December last year. Last week the coroner ruled that Fisher had died from sleep apnoea – a condition in which air cannot get into the lungs properly during sleep or when you are unconscious – as well as other undefined factors. Continue reading... |
| Champs Élysées: driver dead as car carrying firearms rams police van Posted: 19 Jun 2017 09:12 AM PDT Handguns, assault rifle and gas canister found in car used in 'attempted attack' on avenue in Paris, French officials say France's anti-terror prosecutor has opened an investigation after a car carrying firearms and a gas canister rammed into a police van on the Champs Élysées in central Paris. The French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said the driver of the car was killed in what he described as "an attempted attack" on a convoy of police vehicles on the avenue, the scene of two terror attacks in three months. |
| Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong apologises for public family feud Posted: 19 Jun 2017 07:36 AM PDT National TV airs video of Lee saying sorry for unprecedented dispute, which he said had damaged country's reputation Singapore's prime minister has apologised for a bitter family feud over his late father's legacy, saying it had damaged the country's reputation. Lee Hsien Loong and two younger children of the city-state's revered founding leader, Lee Kuan Yew, have been attacking each other on Facebook and international media for days as a dispute over the future of the family home became public in a spectacle that has shocked Singaporeans. Continue reading... |
| Facebook and Twitter are being used to manipulate public opinion – report Posted: 19 Jun 2017 10:57 AM PDT Nine-country study finds widespread use of social media for promoting lies, misinformation and propaganda by governments and individuals Propaganda on social media is being used to manipulate public opinion around the world, a new set of studies from the University of Oxford has revealed. From Russia, where around 45% of highly active Twitter accounts are bots, to Taiwan, where a campaign against President Tsai Ing-wen involved thousands of heavily co-ordinated – but not fully automated – accounts sharing Chinese mainland propaganda, the studies show that social media is an international battleground for dirty politics. Continue reading... |
| Four foreign inmates escape Bali prison using 15-metre tunnel Posted: 19 Jun 2017 03:21 AM PDT Prison officers became aware the men had fled while conducting a morning check at the Kerobokan penitentiary, police said Indonesian police are searching for four foreign inmates who escaped prison on Bali by crawling through a narrow tunnel dug under the walls, the authorities said. Prison officers became aware of the escape while conducting a morning check of inmates at the Kerobokan penitentiary in Denpasar, said Putu Ika Prabawa, an officer at Kuta Utara police station. Continue reading... |
| Russian 'gay propaganda' law ruled discriminatory by ECHR Posted: 20 Jun 2017 02:00 AM PDT Law banning promotion of homosexuality breaches freedom of expression rules, says European court of human rights The European court of human rights has ruled that a Russian law banning the promotion of homosexuality breaches European treaty rules on freedom of expression and is discriminatory against gay people. Three Russian gay rights activists brought the case against the 2013 federal statute, widely known as the "gay propaganda" law, which incorporated regional legislation. Continue reading... |
| Trump-style border wall between Ecuador and Peru causes fierce dispute Posted: 20 Jun 2017 02:00 AM PDT A mile-long wall Ecuador is building on one side of the busiest crossing point on the two countries' border is the source of a growing diplomatic row It is just over a mile long and only a few feet tall, but a wall which Ecuador is building along its frontier with Peru has prompted a fierce diplomatic row between the two South American countries. Peru's top diplomat for the Americas, Hugo de Zela, has demanded an urgent bilateral meeting over the structure, warning that it could create a flood risk for the Peruvian border town of Aguas Verdes. Continue reading... |
| UK caves in to EU demand to agree Brexit divorce bill before trade talks Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:56 AM PDT On first day of Brexit negotiations chief EU negotiator makes clear Britain cannot dictate timing of negotiations British negotiators have capitulated to key European demands for a phased approach to Brexit talks, agreeing to park discussions on free trade until they have thrashed out the cost of the multibillion-euro UK divorce settlement. Putting a brave face on a concession that may further strengthen the tactical dominance of the EU, the Brexit secretary, David Davis, insisted his initial retreat remained consistent with long-term government strategy. Continue reading... |
| Brexit divorce bill: what is it and how does it affect talks? Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:53 AM PDT The precise nature of the bill is dependent on what the relationship between the UK and the EU looks like after 2019 Britain's departure will leave a big hole in the European Union's finances, and the EU wants a settlement to ensure that all the financial promises the UK made during its period as a member state are kept, even if the UK ends up covering payments due long after it exits the bloc. It's known by officials as the reste à liquider, the money yet to be paid. Continue reading... |
| Van driver dies in Calais crash caused by refugees' blockade Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:42 AM PDT Polish-registered vehicle burst into flames on A16 after crashing into back of HGV forced to stop at barricade of tree trunks A van driver has died near Calais after refugees blockaded a motorway with tree trunks, causing a crash in which the vehicle caught fire. The vehicle, reportedly registered in Poland, ignited after ploughing into a lorry that had been forced to stop because of the obstruction, early on Tuesday morning. Continue reading... |
| YMCA partners with Boy George to embrace eponymous gay anthem for first time Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:27 AM PDT Australian branch of global Christian organisation says 'challenging' decision is a way to embrace issues of import to young people – including marriage equality Christian youth organisation the YMCA unexpectedly found itself the subject of a gay anthem when the Village People released what was intended to be a "filler" track as a single, in 1978. Soon, whether you were five or 50, you weren't just humming it but could do the dance too. These days, somehow, each new generation seems born knowing it – yet in 1978, rather than embracing it, the YMCA in America threatened legal action. Continue reading... |
| Lima's time bomb: how mudslides threaten the world's great 'self-built' city Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:15 PM PDT Evangelina Chamorro became a symbol of hope after she survived being swept two miles in a mudslide – but her story reveals the city's shaky foundations The extraordinary video of a Peruvian woman coated in mud emerging from a brown sea of pallets and wooden poles was viewed around the world. Evangelina Chamorro, who had been feeding her pigs when she was swept for two miles downhill in a huge mudslide, became the poster girl for resilience during the country's worst floods in living memory. Remarkably, the 32-year-old was treated for minor injuries and left hospital just a week after the incident in March. The psychological scars, however, are taking longer to heal. Continue reading... |
| Sabha in the spotlight: the city where migrants are sold as slaves Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:10 AM PDT Ahead of World Refugee Day, life is deteriorating in the Libyan desert city that used to be a 'melting pot' but has since become a hub for human trafficking Deep in the Libyan desert at the confluence of several migration routes from sub-Saharan Africa, this oasis city of 130,000 hit the headlines earlier this year. The United Nations migration agency reported that some new arrivals at this staging post to Tripoli and the Mediterranean coast, 400 miles north, were being "sold" at modern day slave auctions. It's a worrying development for Sabha – always liable to become involved in the modern refugee crisis by its position – and World Refugee Day 20 June serves as a reminder of how vulnerable migrants are in places like this semi-lawless enclave, caught between tribal and political factions in post-revolution Libya. Continue reading... |
| Britain's hottest day of the year – in pictures Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:21 AM PDT The UK has officially been put on heatwave alert as the government issued a level-three amber heat warning with temperatures reaching almost 33C on Monday Continue reading... |
| The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden review – an insider’s account of al-Qaida after 9/11 Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:00 AM PDT Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy's gripping history of the terrorist network, from 2001 to the present, reveals a dark web of familial and political machinations In the days following the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, there was a surge of interest in the family of the al-Qaida founder and leader. One son had been shot dead during the raid on the high-walled house in the northern garrison town of Abbottabad, while confused reports described at least a dozen children or grandchildren, and between two and four wives, left stunned and bloodied by the US special forces when they left. But the story moved on. Three years later, al-Qaida was pushed into the shadows by a breakaway faction, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis). The centre of gravity of Islamic militancy seemed to have shifted decisively to the Levant. The family of bin Laden were forgotten. Continue reading... |
| On the run from the armed cattle rustlers of rural Kenya – in pictures Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:00 PM PDT As drought grips parts of Kenya, cattle theft has become increasingly violent, with people forced to take refuge from the gun-toting bandits who steal livestock Rustlers, bandits and gun runners: the gangs vying for cattle in Kenya All photographs: Will Swanson Continue reading... |
| No classrooms, lessons or homework: New Zealand school where children are free to roam Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:58 PM PDT Pupils at Deep Green Bush school spend the majority of their day outdoors, exploring the countryside, learning to fish, hunt and trap possums Deep among the streams and Kauri trees of rural south Auckland, New Zealand's newest and most alternative school is in session. The weather is fine so a bout of fishing is in order, followed by lunch cooked on an open fire. Homework and classes? Indefinitely dismissed. "We are called a school but we look nothing like any school out there," says Joey Moncarz, co-founder and head teacher at Deep Green Bush School, which is in term two of its inaugural year. Continue reading... |
| Coalition should delay attempt to pass school funding changes, union says Posted: 20 Jun 2017 01:49 AM PDT The Australian Education Union says new concessions offered to the Catholic education sector and the Greens need to be understood properly The Turnbull government should abandon its attempt to legislate its schools funding package this week so the terms of mooted concessions to the Catholic sector and the Greens can be understood, the Australian Education Union has said. In a statement on Tuesday the AEU's federal president, Correna Haythorpe, said the government proposal was a "complete shambles" because the government's position now seems "completely different" to the package as first presented in May. Continue reading... |
| Met to increase number of officers with Taser electronic weapons Posted: 20 Jun 2017 02:00 AM PDT London force says an additional 1,867 officers will carry devices, taking total to 6,400 The Metropolitan police will significantly increase the number of its officers carrying Taser electronic weapons, to offer them more protection against a rising tide of violence. Under the plans announced on Tuesday, another 1,867 officers will carry the devices, taking the total in the Met to 6,400 of its frontline staff who police chiefs hope will be better able to defend themselves and the public. Continue reading... |
| Argentinian raid finds country's largest haul of Nazi artefacts – video Posted: 20 Jun 2017 12:59 AM PDT A raid on a home in Béccar, Argentina, has led to the discovery of the biggest collection of Nazi artefacts in the country's history, according to police. The find includes a bust relief of Adolf Hitler, magnifying glasses inside elegant boxes with swastikas and even a macabre medical device used to measure head size Continue reading... |
| Tuesday briefing: Deadly reality of Islamophobic terror Posted: 19 Jun 2017 10:25 PM PDT Theresa May vows to tackle all forms of violent extremism … US student dies after jailing in North Korea … and, can a vaccine protect against heart attacks? Good morning, it's Warren Murray with your Briefing today. Continue reading... |
| Children to be sent to the Dominions for duration of war - archive, 20 June 1940 Posted: 19 Jun 2017 09:30 PM PDT 20 June 1940: The first batch of 20,000 young emigrants from all classes of the community will sail almost immediately to the shelter of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa Plans are ready for sending the first batch of 20,000 children from Britain to the shelter of the Dominions for the duration of the war. Of these 10,000 are expected to go to Canada, 5,000 to Australia, and several thousand each to New Zealand and South Africa. As yet there is no scheme for the United States, but there are indications that the scheme will be taken up there most generously, and already offers have been received from private organisations. Continue reading... |
| Gay chorus group drowns out anti-gay protesters with music in Knoxville – video Posted: 19 Jun 2017 07:58 PM PDT The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington encircle anti-gay protesters and decide to confront them 'the only way the know how – with music'. The group give an impromptu performance of Make Them Hear You, from the musical Ragtime, after spotting the protesters while travelling back to their hotel. They had just performed at the Knoxville PrideFest in Tennessee. Continue reading... |
| US student Otto Warmbier dies after being released by North Korea – video Posted: 19 Jun 2017 06:41 PM PDT Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old US student released by North Korea in a coma after more than a year in detention, has died. Warmbier was arrested at Pyongyang airport in January 2016 and sentenced to hard labour for allegedly taking a propaganda poster from his hotel room. North Korea claim he fell into a coma after he took a sleeping pill and contracted botulism, an assertion his family reject. Donald Trump, US president, has condemned the regime as "brutal" and promised: "We'll handle it." Continue reading... |
| Five-metre-tall inflatable refugee floats through Melbourne – video Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:46 PM PDT An art installation is towed along the Yarra river in Melbourne. The five-metre-tall work was created by the Belgian artists Dirk Schellekens and Bart Peleman, and made its first appearance outside Europe in the city on Saturday as part of Refugee Week. The Inflatable Refugee will be on display at the Immigration Museum all week • Other countries must take more refugees, immigration boss Michael Pezzullo says Continue reading... |
| The three US citizens still detained in North Korea Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:16 PM PDT When Otto Warmbier was flown home from North Korea last Tuesday, three other remained behind When Otto Warmbier was flown home from North Korea last Tuesday, three other US citizens remained behind. The state department's special envoy on North Korea, Joseph Yun, met with the three detainees while he was negotiating Warmbier's release, and said he would like to see them freed as well, according to a state department spokesperson. Here are the three US citizens who remain in North Korean prisons: Continue reading... |
| Michel Barnier: 'very useful start' to Brexit talks – video Posted: 19 Jun 2017 01:28 PM PDT The EU's chief negotiator for the UK's departure from the EU said the first day of talks had set off on 'the right foot'. Speaking on Monday, Barnier said the first discussions would focus on dealing with the uncertainty caused by Brexit. Davis said he was encouraged by the talks Continue reading... |
| Montreal opens first mobile supervised injection clinic in North America Posted: 19 Jun 2017 12:42 PM PDT First site will operate beside a two-booth mobile unit will offer a medically supervised space and sterile equipment for people who use drugs intravenously Montreal has launched the first mobile supervised injection clinic in North America, as part of a package of services aimed at fighting back against an opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives across Canada. Related: Canada eases steps to open supervised drug injection sites amid opioid crisis Continue reading... |
| Champs Élysées: attack on French police foiled, says interior minister – video Posted: 19 Jun 2017 12:32 PM PDT The French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, says the driver of a car carrying weapons and explosives that rammed into a police van on Paris's Champs Elysées on Monday, has died. Collomb says the situation is under control but has been referred to anti-terrorism authorities. Continue reading... |
| 'We have nothing to live for': anguish of family split by detention system Posted: 19 Jun 2017 12:00 PM PDT Iranian man tells of his struggle to care for troubled teenage son on Nauru after wife and daughter taken to Australia for medical treatment A refugee family cleaved apart by Australia's offshore detention regime say their lives have been destroyed by being forcibly separated for more than three years with no prospect of being reunited. Jalal – not his real name, but a pseudonym to protect family members – is an Arab-Iranian asylum seeker who has been stranded with his son on the island of Nauru since they were transferred from Christmas Island three and a half years ago. Continue reading... |
| Russia warns US its fighter jets are now potential target in Syria Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:41 AM PDT US shooting down of Syrian jet seen as 'act of aggression' by Russia, which will track coalition warplanes west of the Euphrates The threat of direct Russian-American confrontation in Syria escalated on Monday after Moscow said it would treat any plane from the US-led coalition flying west of the Euphrates river as a potential target. Russia said it was responding to US planes shooting down a Syrian air force jet on Sunday. The US said its planes had acted to defend US-backed forces seeking to capture the Islamic State capital of Raqqa in north-east Syria. Continue reading... |
| US Cuba policy has been hijacked by Cuban-Americans | Letters Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:16 AM PDT A 55-year-old US trade embargo is still punishing Cuba, says Luis Suarez-Villa; and under Obama companies were fined $14bn for violations, adds Rob Miller US policy toward Cuba (Trump reverses Obama's Cuba deal, limiting travel and trade, 17 June) has been hijacked by a clique of Cuban-American politicians, who have sold their support in Congress to President Donald Trump. Above all, these individuals – and Trump – have demonstrated the corrupt and clientelist nature of the US political system. Can such a system serve as a symbol of "freedom" to anyone in the world? Cuba's medical brigades serve in over 100 nations, tending to the poorest and most disadvantaged – and they were instrumental in controlling the Ebola epidemic in Africa, a feat acknowledged by the WHO. It has one of the world's highest physician-to-population ratios, the longevity of its population is comparable to that of the US, and Cubans receive free healthcare, education, housing, pensions and employment security. Cuba has no drug traffickers, drug addiction, gangs, mobsters, homelessness, illiteracy or malnutrition. The country's advances in biotechnology stand alone in Latin America, as a symbol of what a small nation with very limited resources can do. Continue reading... |
| Europe’s border shifts and citizenship denial Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:16 AM PDT I don't know what my grandfather – who served in the German army in the first world war and was murdered in the Holocaust – would have considered his nationality to be, writes Christina Craig I too have been denied German citizenship (Letters, 17 June) because my mother and grandfather, both victims of Nazism, have been determined not to be German. This ruling ignores the historical context of fluid nations and borders. My mother came to England in 1939 on the Kindertransport. She was born in Berlin in 1925 to a German mother, whose German family is documented for three generations. But my grandfather came from Kolomyja. When he was born, Kolomyja was in the Austro-Hungarian empire. But at the end of both world wars, nations and their boundaries were redrawn. In 1919 Kolomyja found itself part of the newly created Polish republic. In 1945 it was transferred to Ukraine. My grandfather served in the German army in the first world war, spoke German and lived and worked in Berlin for 20 years until he was deported in 1938 by the Nazis. He was murdered in a forced labour camp. I do not know what he would have considered his nationality to be or if the concept had any meaning for him. I do know that he was murdered in the Holocaust because he was a Jew who lived in Germany. |
| Contaminated air on planes linked to crew ill-health, study finds Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:03 AM PDT Research looking at symptoms from dizziness to breathing and vision problems said to have 'flight safety consequences' Flying a plane should come with a hazard warning, according to researchers, after a study found a link between contaminated air and the health of the crew. A new study led by the University of Stirling is said to be the first of its kind to look in depth at the health of those suspected to have been exposed to contaminated air during their work. Continue reading... |
| Iran and Saudi Arabia offer clashing accounts of offshore confrontation Posted: 19 Jun 2017 09:46 AM PDT Iran says Saudi navy opened fire on fishing boats as Saudi navy says it captured boat and detained three members of Revolutionary Guards The Saudi navy said it had captured three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards from a boat seized last week as the vessel approached Saudi Arabia's offshore Marjan oilfield, Riyadh has said. Iran's interior ministry denied the Saudi claim, however, saying that the Saudi navy had opened fire on two Iranian fishing boats. Continue reading... |
| 'A grotesque spectacle': Cuba decries Trump's policy toward island Posted: 19 Jun 2017 09:10 AM PDT Foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez says country will not return US fugitives who have asylum in Cuba as Trump tightens restrictions on travel and trade Cuba's foreign minister has described Donald Trump's speech outlining a new policy towards the island as a "grotesque spectacle", saying that "we will never negotiate under pressure or under threat" and refusing to return US fugitives who have received asylum in Cuba. Related: Trump keeps rolling back Obama legacy by tightening travel and trade with Cuba Continue reading... |
| The police hero, the maths genius and more: meet Macron’s new MPs Posted: 19 Jun 2017 08:47 AM PDT The French president swept parliamentary elections on Sunday with a wave of non-career MPs who could be the most interesting politicians in Europe. But it was bad news for the party's celebrity bullfighter If Britons weren't so wrapped up in our own great political unravelling, we would be obsessing about developments on the other side of the Channel. Emmanuel Macron's party La République En Marche, founded little more than a year ago, has won a clear majority in the national assembly – something the Conservative party (founded 182 years earlier) signally failed to manage in the UK. Macron has effected a bloodless revolution, while the UK is mired in political paralysis. Part of Macron's appeal is that, rather like the Scottish National party when they swept the board in Scotland in the 2015 general election, he has brought a new set of people into politics. He determined that half his party's candidates should not previously have been politicians, that they should be younger and more diverse than existing assembly members, and that half the candidates should be women. Macron's directives have thrown up some intriguing new MPs: Continue reading... |
| First Turkish journalists go on trial over alleged coup support Posted: 19 Jun 2017 08:41 AM PDT Brothers Ahmet and Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak accused of using 'subliminal messaging' to overthrow government The first trial of journalists accused of taking part in or supporting last year's coup attempt in Turkey opened on Monday in a crucial test for freedom of expression in the country. Ahmet and Mehmet Altan have been held without trial since September, and face possible life sentences, along with fellow journalist Nazlı Ilıcak, for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government and acting on behalf of a terror organisation. Continue reading... |
| Portuguese wildfires: early warnings hindered by damaged phone lines Posted: 19 Jun 2017 07:36 AM PDT Prime minister says telephone cables and communications towers were destroyed by wildfires that have killed at least 62 people Early efforts to alert the public to the deadly wildfires that have killed at least 62 people in Portugal were hindered after the flames destroyed phone lines and communications towers, the country's prime minister has said. More than 1,500 firefighters are still battling to control the fires that have raged across central Portugal since the weekend, killing many people as they tried to flee in their cars and leaving dozens more injured. Continue reading... |
| No negotiation until sanctions dropped, says Qatari foreign minister Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:10 AM PDT Turkish troops take part in joint military exercises in the Gulf state, which has been under an embargo for two weeks Qatar will not negotiate with Gulf states that have cut economic and travel ties with it unless they reverse their sanctions, its foreign minister has said. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Monday that Qatar had still not received any demands from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which severed relations two weeks ago, triggering the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years. Continue reading... |
| Germany investigates possible political motive for rail arson attacks Posted: 19 Jun 2017 04:00 AM PDT Interior ministry says 13 cable fires caused by 'unconventional' explosive devices on Monday, weeks before G20 summit German police are investigating whether a string of arson attacks that have disabled parts of the rail network across the country could be part of a coordinated scheme with a political motive. Overnight fires at signal boxes and cable ducts caused huge delays on rail routes in and out of Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dortmund, Leipzig, Bremen and Bad Bevensen. Continue reading... |
| Rustlers, bandits and gun runners: the gangs vying for cattle in Kenya | Jacob Kushner Posted: 19 Jun 2017 11:00 PM PDT Theft of livestock turns more deadly as herders and raiders become desperate in drought-hit areas and a ragtag militia tries to restore order On the run from the armed cattle rustlers of rural Kenya – in pictures On a hot morning in May, Wilson Kemei stands with an old Soviet rifle in his hands, ready to protect the hundreds of people taking refuge in a tiny, makeshift camp in Baringo county. They have fled there after gunmen shot and killed their neighbours in January. Six years ago, Kemei was recruited to the Kenya Police Reserve (KPR), a ragtag militia whose members wear mismatching uniform – a camouflage jacket here, green army trousers there, with toes poking out of rubber sandals. They receive as little as a single day of training before being handed a gun, weapons like the wooden-stock SKS rifle clutched by Kemei. Continue reading... |
| Jailed for calling Ugandan president a 'pair of buttocks', activist vows to fight on | Alon Mwesigwa Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:38 AM PDT A Facebook post criticising Yoweri Museveni landed academic Stella Nyanzi in jail, but she vows to continue her fight against oppression and poverty in Uganda A few minutes into our interview at one of Kampala's hotels, Stella Nyanzi's lawyer tells us the place is no longer safe for her and she needs to leave. She is constantly monitored by security agents these days, she says, which is perhaps not surprising as the academic and activist is one of the fiercest critics of the Ugandan government. But she is not about to back down. Not even the 33 days she spent in the country's maximum security Luzira women's prison for describing the president, Yoweri Museveni, as a "pair of buttocks" could change her stance. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 19 Jun 2017 05:17 AM PDT Economist who promoted fair trade and recycling in his quest for more equitable social structures Robin Murray, who has died aged 76, advocated and implemented new forms of social and economic organisation by applying humanist principles to practical experience. In Britain and internationally he sought to tease out of today's structures clues for a more equitable tomorrow. He wanted to get beyond Fordism – industrialised mass production and mass consumption – and neoliberalism, with its emphasis on the private sector and free trade. As chief economic adviser to the Greater London council (1981-86), Robin led a team working for an inclusive, democratic economy. Their London Industrial Strategy involved trade unionists and user groups in economic planning, invested in child care and adult education, developed cultural and creative industries, gave a boost to co-operatives and other social enterprises, and helped set up the London Food Commission, whose work included the study of additives and the effects of food poverty. Continue reading... |
| Victories against Trump are mounting. Here's how we deal the final blow | Rebecca Solnit Posted: 18 Jun 2017 11:06 AM PDT The judiciary, legislative and media have all helped keep Trump in check. But it's the residents of the United States whose response will matter most in the end In this moment, populist intervention is everything, not as hate and attack but as an expression of popular will and power. Or as love, since we defend what we love. It is an extraordinary moment, an all-hands-on-deck emergency in which new groups and coalitions are emerging along with unforeseen capacities in many people who didn't previously think they were activists. It is saturated with possibility, as well as with danger. Of course there are also people residing in the US who love the dismantling of healthcare, education, environmental protection and the bill of rights, but they are an increasingly small minority. The most recent Gallup poll found nearly twice as many people – 60% disapprove of the president – than approve (36%). |
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