World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Trump blasts Russia investigation as Mueller convenes grand jury
- Israeli police confirm Netanyahu is suspect in fraud investigation
- Al-Qaida-linked militants' advance throws west's Syria plans into disarray
- South Korea spy agency admits trying to rig 2012 presidential election
- Oyster top-up: vending machines on the cards for French seafood sellers
- Irish taoiseach: Brexit is 'challenge of our generation'
- Briton who stopped WannaCry attack arrested over separate malware claims
- China demands India remove troops from disputed border region
- Gun-toting president of Turkmenistan goes Commando in state TV footage
- ‘We are treated like sporting slaves’: Ethiopian lifts lid on trade in athletes
- Moules frites with a difference: Belgium cooks up reefs scheme to save beaches
- Flames engulf 86-storey residential tower in Dubai
- Oscar Pistorius taken to hospital with chest pains, media says
- Nato soldier killed in Afghanistan suicide bombing
- Heavily armoured dinosaur had ginger camouflage to deter predators – study
- Pearson to axe 3,000 jobs after slump at main US business
- Oxford college urges employee to hand himself in over Chicago murder
- 'Faster, cheaper, cleaner': experts disagree about Elon Musk's Hyperloop claims
- ‘Tourism kills neighbourhoods’: how do we save cities from the city break?
- When eight-year-olds worked the streets: Lewis Hine's portraits of young workers in America
- Northern Irish unionist parties alienating young Protestants, study says
- Without Irish unification, a hard Brexit is impossible | Simon Jenkins
- ‘Rwanda is like a pretty girl with a lot of makeup, but the inside is dark and dirty’
- Ken Livingstone: Venezuela crisis due to Chávez's failure to kill oligarchs
- Same-sex marriage: Dean Smith evokes Menzies and Howard in plea for conscience vote
- Friday briefing: Trump cries 'fake' again as Mueller sets up grand jury
- Italian mountaineers conquer K2 – archive, 1954
- Keeping the faith: religious diversity in Australia – photo essay
- Royal snub as prince of Denmark refuses to be buried with his queen
- Firefighters battle blaze at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market
- India, 70 years on from independence: a painful history but a bright future? | Letters
- Millions of eggs removed from European shelves over toxicity fears
- Mexico spying scandal: human rights lawyers investigating murders targeted
- Pilot and instructor in court in Portugal after deadly beach crash
- Father of Afghan robotics team captain killed in Isis attack
- China has 'all kinds of weapons' to take on Trump threats, says ex-trade adviser
- Amnesty condemns 'campaign of harassment' against Nicaragua canal critics
- God's own field and a gigantic bubble: today's most stunning photos
- Who is Turkmenistan president Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov? – video report
- Al-Qaida frees South African man held in Mali for six years
- Vegan activists force California butcher to hang animal rights sign in window
- 'White queers are really good at erasing us': the lives of LGBTQ Somali-Americans
- Syrian groups complain that other countries are hijacking UN peace talks
- UK pledges £100m to global efforts to eradicate polio
- UK urged to stop funding 'ineffective and unsustainable' Bridge schools
- Leaked Trump transcripts show his incoherent, ill-informed narcissism
- Two-faced Trump: the president says one thing in public, another in private
- Is nothing sacred? Now Trump's White House is targeting the Statue of Liberty
- Nissan dispute could go down as most vicious anti-union crusade in decades | Bernie Sanders
- 'Trump asks rally crowd: 'Are there any Russians here tonight?' – video
| Trump blasts Russia investigation as Mueller convenes grand jury Posted: 04 Aug 2017 01:57 AM PDT Rally for thousands of diehard supporters held on same day news emerged that special counsel has set up panel to examine evidence of alleged collusion Donald Trump has sought to rally thousands of diehard supporters against the investigation into his campaign's alleged collusion with Russia – on the same day news emerged that the special counsel, Robert Mueller, has convened a grand jury in the case. "They're trying to cheat you out of the leadership that you want with a fake story," Trump told a rally in Huntington, West Virginia. Continue reading... |
| Israeli police confirm Netanyahu is suspect in fraud investigation Posted: 04 Aug 2017 01:35 AM PDT Court document reveals for first time that prime minister is subject of inquiries into alleged 'fraud, breach of trust and bribes' Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is a suspect in two investigations into allegations of "fraud, breach of trust and bribes", according to an Israeli police document produced in court. The suspicions against Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, were revealed in a court application by detectives seeking a gag order on reporting details of negotiations with his former chief of staff, Ari Harow, to become a state witness. Continue reading... |
| Al-Qaida-linked militants' advance throws west's Syria plans into disarray Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:00 PM PDT Growing success of Hayat Fateh al-Sham in northern province of Idlib raises fears that regime and allies will use move as pretext to wage military campaign The west's policy on Syria has been thrown into disarray due to sweeping advances by al-Qaida-linked militants in the north-west of the country, gaining the military upper hand in the largest area of opposition-held territory. The assertion of control by Hayat Fateh al-Sham (HTS), the former al-Qaida affiliate previously known as the al-Nusra front and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, over the province of Idlib amid the scaling back of American support for rebel groups has led to fears that Assad's allies, including Moscow, would use the move as a pretext for a broad and devastating military campaign. Continue reading... |
| South Korea spy agency admits trying to rig 2012 presidential election Posted: 04 Aug 2017 12:15 AM PDT National Intelligence Service says it mobilised cyberwarfare experts to ensure Park Geun-hye beat rival and now president Moon Jae-in South Korea's spy agency has admitted it conducted an illicit campaign to influence the country's 2012 presidential election, mobilising teams of experts in psychological warfare to ensure that the conservative candidate, Park Geun-hye, beat her liberal rival. An internal investigation by the powerful National Intelligence Service also revealed attempts by its former director and other senior officials to influence voters during parliamentary elections under Park's predecessor, the hardline rightwinger Lee Myung-bak. Continue reading... |
| Oyster top-up: vending machines on the cards for French seafood sellers Posted: 03 Aug 2017 05:14 PM PDT Farmers follow in footsteps of other producers of fresh food who once manned roadside stalls for long hours but now use machines In a change from chocolates and fizzy drinks, the French are starting to sell fresh oysters from vending machines. One pioneer is Tony Berthelot, an oyster farmer whose automatic dispenser of live oysters on the Ile de Re island off France's western coast offers a range of quantities, types and sizes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Continue reading... |
| Irish taoiseach: Brexit is 'challenge of our generation' Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:56 PM PDT Leo Varadkar to use keynote speech in Belfast to say Britain's exit from EU will affect all aspects of life in Northern Ireland The Irish taoiseach is to warn that every aspect of life in Northern Ireland could be affected by Brexit. In his first visit to Northern Ireland since taking over as Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar is due to make a keynote speech at Queen's University in Belfast. Continue reading... |
| Briton who stopped WannaCry attack arrested over separate malware claims Posted: 03 Aug 2017 12:42 PM PDT Marcus Hutchins arrested over his alleged role in creating Kronos malware targeting bank accounts Marcus Hutchins, the 23-year-old British security researcher who was credited with stopping the WannaCry outbreak in its tracks by discovering a hidden "kill switch" for the malware, has been arrested by the FBI over his alleged involvement in another malicious software targeting bank accounts. According to an indictment released by the US Department of Justice on Thursday, Hutchins is accused of having helped to create, spread and maintain the banking trojan Kronos between 2014 and 2015. Continue reading... |
| China demands India remove troops from disputed border region Posted: 03 Aug 2017 06:31 PM PDT Beijing's foreign ministry claims India has been building up forces and repairing roads along its side of the border near Bhutan China has demanded India immediately remove troops from the border amid an increasingly tense stand-off in the remote frontier region beside the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday said India had been building up troops and repairing roads along its side of the border next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim. Continue reading... |
| Gun-toting president of Turkmenistan goes Commando in state TV footage Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:29 AM PDT State media footage of Berdymukhamedov showing off gun and knife skills spliced with excerpts from Arnold Schwarzenegger film After serenading the country in song and on his guitar, pumping iron in a gym, DJing and finishing first in car and horse races galore, Turkmenistan's unconventional president has showcased another of his many talents. State media has broadcast footage of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, dressed in a commando outfit and sunglasses, firing at targets with an automatic rifle and pistol and throwing knives – all with predictable pin-point accuracy. Continue reading... |
| ‘We are treated like sporting slaves’: Ethiopian lifts lid on trade in athletes Posted: 03 Aug 2017 01:45 PM PDT Lily Abdullayeva, who says she had prize money stolen and was tricked into taking drugs after moving to Azerbaijan, reveals the dark side of athletics where African runners are bought by richer nations and exploited The smell of fish stew pervades Lily Abdullayeva's house, a 40-minute drive from central Addis Ababa, past a throng of roadside villages of colourful ramshackle huts where legs of beef hang from corrugated iron roofs and children in Manchester United shirts play barefoot. A modest but smart brick building, it is shielded by rusty gates, beyond which several cows graze on a thirsty patch of grass. In the back room her mother-in-law lays on a mattress on the floor with Beheyaw, Lily's 13-month-old son, snoozing beside her. Continue reading... |
| Moules frites with a difference: Belgium cooks up reefs scheme to save beaches Posted: 03 Aug 2017 07:43 AM PDT Mussels among materials tested in pilot project to see if small artificial reefs can protect beaches from North Sea storms The humble mussel, that much-loved staple of Belgian cuisine, has been deployed by scientists in an innovative attempt to save the country's storm-battered beaches. Small artificial reefs of mussels, algae and tube worms have been built off the Belgian coast to test whether eco-friendly barriers can protect Flemish beaches from storms brewing in the North Sea. |
| Flames engulf 86-storey residential tower in Dubai Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:09 PM PDT Blaze at the Torch Tower, one of the world's tallest residential buildings, is under control and residents have been evacuated A fire that engulfed an externally clad residential tower in the United Arab Emirates' world-famous Marina in Dubai was under control early on Friday morning, officials said. Civil defence officials said they successfully evacuated the 337-metre (1,105ft) skyscraper, which has 676 apartments. Continue reading... |
| Oscar Pistorius taken to hospital with chest pains, media says Posted: 03 Aug 2017 10:02 AM PDT Paralympian serving six-year sentence for murder of girlfriend in 2013 to stay in hospital overnight for examinations Oscar Pistorius has been taken from prison to hospital for medical examinations amid media reports that the convicted murderer and former track star was experiencing chest pains. Logan Maistry, a spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services, initially told the Associated Press that Pistorius was taken to hospital in Pretoria on Thursday morning and was expected to return to prison later the same day. However, Pistorius would now stay overnight in the hospital for observation, Maistry said. Continue reading... |
| Nato soldier killed in Afghanistan suicide bombing Posted: 03 Aug 2017 03:10 PM PDT US official says the soldier killed in attack on convoy in Kabul province was not American A Nato soldier has been killed and six other personnel have been wounded in Afghanistan after a suicide bomber attacked their convoy in Kabul province, a coalition statement said. Related: The war America can't win: how the Taliban is regaining control in Afghanistan Continue reading... |
| Heavily armoured dinosaur had ginger camouflage to deter predators – study Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:00 AM PDT Analysis of organic material from the 110m-year-old nodosaur suggests it had red and white camouflage, indicating its spikes alone did not put off predators It was built like a tank, covered in armour, and weighed about the same as a caravan – but this beefy dinosaur was still at risk of being gobbled up by predators, scientists have discovered. Thought to have lived about 110m years ago, the giant herbivore is believed to be a type of heavily armoured dinosaur known as a nodosaur and would have reached up to 5.5 metres in length. |
| Pearson to axe 3,000 jobs after slump at main US business Posted: 04 Aug 2017 01:53 AM PDT Cost-cutting move aims to save educational publisher around £300m a year with a 10% cut in global staff after biggest loss in history in 2016 Pearson is to cut 3,000 jobs as the embattled company looks to slash costs after a slump at its US higher education business. The world's largest education company, which has issued five profit warnings in the last four years, intends to cut about 10% of its 32,000 global workforce by the end of 2019. |
| Oxford college urges employee to hand himself in over Chicago murder Posted: 04 Aug 2017 12:29 AM PDT Police investigating Trenton Cornell-Duranleau murder say they are closing in on Somerville's Andrew Warren and US academic An Oxford University college has urged one of its employees to hand himself in as police investigating a murder in the US say they are closing in on him and an American academic also suspected of involvement. Officers in Illinois said their search for Somerville College's senior treasury assistant, Andrew Warren, and Wyndham Lathem, a microbiology professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, was "intensifying". The men are suspected of stabbing to death a 26-year-old man, Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, in Lathem's Chicago apartment. Continue reading... |
| 'Faster, cheaper, cleaner': experts disagree about Elon Musk's Hyperloop claims Posted: 04 Aug 2017 12:00 AM PDT Elon Musk claims Hyperloop pods will be faster than trains, safer than cars and less damaging to the environment than aircraft. But is that likely to be true? Elon Musk's plans for magnetically-levitated pods are back in the news after South Korea signed an agreement to develop a full-scale Hyperloop testbed, with the intention of ultimately building a system to zip across the country in 20 minutes. Slovakia, Abu Dhabi, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden and Indonesia are also interested in building their own Hyperloops. Continue reading... |
| ‘Tourism kills neighbourhoods’: how do we save cities from the city break? Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:30 PM PDT Historic cities are buckling under the pressure. Could targeting repeat visitors be one way to make tourism less of a burden on people who live there year-round Not all tourists count getting drunk before noon and desecrating a local monument or two as top priority for a break away, but those that do have come to represent the masses in the cities where they let loose. Across Europe, where increasing numbers of visitors can overwhelm residents in the summer months, the backlash has started. "War" – and a new awareness campaign – has been declared in Venice. Fines for eating, drinking or sitting on historic fountains have been increased in Rome. Basilica steps where tourists congregate are being hosed down daily in Florence. Continue reading... |
| When eight-year-olds worked the streets: Lewis Hine's portraits of young workers in America Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, Lewis Hine documented the working and living conditions of children in American cities between 1908 and 1924 Continue reading... |
| Northern Irish unionist parties alienating young Protestants, study says Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:00 PM PDT Study shows pro-unionist Protestants aged under 40 turned off by ultra-conservative attitudes on gay rights and abortion Younger pro-union Protestant voters in Northern Ireland are increasingly turned off unionist politicians due to their parties' social conservatism on issues such as gay rights and abortion, according to a post-election survey. While support among Protestants aged under 40 for staying in the UK remains solid at 82%, a majority of them no longer vote in elections for the Northern Ireland assembly or Westminster. Continue reading... |
| Without Irish unification, a hard Brexit is impossible | Simon Jenkins Posted: 04 Aug 2017 01:57 AM PDT Any additional border controls would further isolate the north's struggling economy. The DUP must fight for a single market and open borders Is Northern Ireland the poison pill of hard Brexit? The visit of the new Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, to Belfast today is remarkable. This is not just for the astonishing sight of a southern politician who believes passionately in gay rights visiting the still conservative north – given how long the south's reactionary Catholicism has been butt of northern ridicule. The visit is also part of Varadkar's campaign to exploit Brexit as a tool of unification. The north-south border is one of the three "starter" issues of British EU withdrawal, to be resolved before a post-Brexit deal can be discussed. Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists hold two contradictory positions: that hard Brexit is good; and that the border with the south must remain "porous", for goods and people. They want tighter control on immigration into the UK, but know perfectly well that the border with the south cannot be closed. It is another case of wanting Brexit – "but not for me". Continue reading... |
| ‘Rwanda is like a pretty girl with a lot of makeup, but the inside is dark and dirty’ Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:00 PM PDT With Paul Kagame set for a landslide victory in Friday's election, Diane Rwigara, a fierce critic of the Rwandan president, is challenging his human rights record Diane Rwigara asks to postpone the interview. "My personal adviser is missing," explains the text message. This is the new normal for Rwigara, who was until recently a loyal scion of Rwanda's ruling elite. Since the death of her father in 2015, the 35-year-old businesswoman has become a fierce critic of Paul Kagame, the country's all-powerful president, and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Continue reading... |
| Ken Livingstone: Venezuela crisis due to Chávez's failure to kill oligarchs Posted: 03 Aug 2017 10:28 AM PDT Ex-London mayor says wealthy families using power over trade to undermine Hugo Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro Ken Livingstone, a former mayor of London, has blamed the turmoil in Venezuela on the unwillingness of the former president, Hugo Chávez, to execute "oligarchs" after he came to power. Livingstone, who is suspended from the Labour party, also blamed the economic crisis in the country on the government's failure to take his advice on investment in infrastructure, which he said would have reduced the Latin American state's dependence on oil. Continue reading... |
| Same-sex marriage: Dean Smith evokes Menzies and Howard in plea for conscience vote Posted: 04 Aug 2017 12:58 AM PDT WA Liberal senator says his bill will be a 'true and accurate reflection' of Senate committee report on marriage equality Dean Smith has evoked Robert Menzies and John Howard in a plea to the Liberal party to allow a conscience vote on same-sex marriage before a special party meeting to discuss the issue on Monday. The WA Liberal senator rejected the suggestion that the issue was a test of Malcolm Turnbull's leadership. Continue reading... |
| Friday briefing: Trump cries 'fake' again as Mueller sets up grand jury Posted: 03 Aug 2017 10:40 PM PDT Panel will examine evidence in Russian collusion case … fears that Syrian ruler Assad will bomb Idlib province … and why hard Brexit is impossible Hello, it's Warren Murray with the main stories. Continue reading... |
| Italian mountaineers conquer K2 – archive, 1954 Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:00 PM PDT 4 August 1954: An expedition led and organised by Professor Ardio Desio of Milan University is the first to reach the summit of the world's second highest mountain Skardu (Kashmir), August 3 It is believed that the summit was reached on July 23 or 24. The party consists of ten members of the Italian Alpine Club, with Sherpa porters. It is led by Professor Ardito Desio, of Milan University. Continue reading... |
| Keeping the faith: religious diversity in Australia – photo essay Posted: 03 Aug 2017 08:42 PM PDT For his project The Devoted, photographer Michael Wickham made portraits of religious leaders and spoke to them about their faith's relevance in modern society Continue reading... |
| Royal snub as prince of Denmark refuses to be buried with his queen Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:04 PM PDT Prince Henrik, 83-year-old husband of Queen Margrethe, says he does not want grave beside hers as he is unhappy at never being made king Prince Henrik of Denmark has announced that he does not wish to be buried next to his wife, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, saying he is unhappy he was never acknowledged as her equal. Henrik, 83, married Queen Margrethe in 1967 and was later named prince consort. But he has repeatedly said he would have liked to be named king consort. Continue reading... |
| Firefighters battle blaze at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:34 AM PDT
Dozens of firefighters have battled a fire at Tokyo's famous Tsukiji fish market, an area packed with tiny seafood vendors, sushi restaurants and tourists. Efforts to bring the fire under control continued late into Thursday evening. Continue reading... |
| India, 70 years on from independence: a painful history but a bright future? | Letters Posted: 03 Aug 2017 10:52 AM PDT Nitin Mehta on a more optimistic view of the country today; Kartar Uppal on intercommunal brotherhood amid the pain of partition; Jane Ghosh on Bengal Mihir Bose's pessimism regarding India's future is misplaced (No dazzling dawn for midnight's children, 2 August). Starting with nothing in 1947 after 200 years of colonial rule, India has slowly, steadily built a nation which today has the fastest-growing economy. Such was India's immense diversity that many in the west did not think it would last long. India has achieved this miracle and remained a vibrant democracy. Narendra Modi, the prime minister, has ushered in a new form of governance whereby corruption is being squeezed out along with the politics of dividing the country on grounds of caste and religion. Modi is not shy of saying that the vast majority of the country is Hindu and that some of the values they hold dear should be acknowledged. This takes nothing away from the minorities. • It was very painful to read the accounts from people affected by the partition of India in 1947 ('The wounds have never healed', G2, 3 August). My grandmother's family, from Muthada in Punjab, India, protected Muslims as the senseless killings occurred throughout the Punjab and helped them get across the border. She was never bitter about the fact that the partition split her Sikh homeland. She, like many Sikhs of her generation, saw Muslims and Hindus as brothers and sisters to be cared for like your own. Today, I am very grateful to my friends from Punjab, Pakistan, who treat Sikhs with great respect given what has happened. |
| Millions of eggs removed from European shelves over toxicity fears Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:47 AM PDT Recalls in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium and criminal inquiry launched as tests show high levels of insecticide fipronil Millions of eggs are being recalled from shops and warehouses in Germany and the Netherlands and being blocked from sale in Belgium after some were found to contain high levels of a toxic insecticide banned from use in the production of food for human consumption. About 180 Dutch farms have been temporarily shut down and a criminal investigation has been launched as authorities seek to establish the scale of the problem. Continue reading... |
| Mexico spying scandal: human rights lawyers investigating murders targeted Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:42 AM PDT Karla Micheel Salas and David Peña were targeted in 2015, weeks after they questioned prosecutors' handling of the killings of an activist and a journalist Mexico's surveillance scandal has widened to include a pair of prominent human rights attorneys investigating a multiple homicide case whose victims include a photojournalist and an activist. The internet watchdog Citizen Lab said lawyers Karla Micheel Salas and David Peña were targeted in 2015, weeks after they questioned prosecutors' handling of the killings of activist Nadia Vera, journalist Ruben Espinosa and three other women in a Mexico City apartment in July that year. The victims were tortured and shot dead. Continue reading... |
| Pilot and instructor in court in Portugal after deadly beach crash Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:01 AM PDT Man in 50s and eight-year-old girl killed on São João beach when they were hit by plane carrying student and instructor from local flying school A flight instructor and the trainee pilot of a small plane that crash landed on a crowded beach near Lisbon, killing a 56-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl, have appeared in court. The two men refused to speak to reporters as they arrived at the building in Almada, across the Tagus river from the Portuguese capital, to be questioned by a prosecutor behind closed doors. Continue reading... |
| Father of Afghan robotics team captain killed in Isis attack Posted: 03 Aug 2017 08:25 AM PDT Death toll from attack on Herat mosque climbs to at least 36, including father of 14-year-old Fatima Qaderyan The death toll from a suicide attack on a mosque in Herat in western Afghanistan has climbed to at least 36, prompting anti-government rallies in what is usually regarded as one of Afghanistan's safest cities. Among the victims was the father of a teenage girl who captained an all-female team in an international robotics competition in the US last month. Continue reading... |
| China has 'all kinds of weapons' to take on Trump threats, says ex-trade adviser Posted: 03 Aug 2017 08:09 AM PDT As Trump reportedly plans to investigate alleged intellectual property and trade abuses, ex-adviser to Beijing warns of lawsuits and other forms of retaliation China has "all kinds of weapons and ammunition" to fight back against Donald Trump's "petulant" threat to investigate alleged Chinese intellectual property and trade abuses, a former trade adviser to Beijing has warned. According to some reports, Trump will use a speech at the White House on Friday to announce a wide-ranging trade inquiry targeting Beijing – a move that has received the blessing of senior Democrats, in a rare show of bipartisan solidarity. "We should certainly go after them," the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, was quoted as saying by Reuters on Thursday. Continue reading... |
| Amnesty condemns 'campaign of harassment' against Nicaragua canal critics Posted: 03 Aug 2017 08:00 AM PDT The interoceanic canal and its 'murky legal framework' was also criticized by former model Bianca Jagger, who called the canal 'an insane project' Nicaragua's former revolutionary leaders have led a campaign of harassment and persecution against communities opposing the construction of a controversial canal that threatens the homes and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, according to Amnesty International. Plans to construct a $50bn shipping canal 175 miles long and 500 yards wide have provoked a mix of anger, fear and defiance not witnessed since the civil war between the Sandinista government and US-backed Contra rebels ended in 1988. Continue reading... |
| God's own field and a gigantic bubble: today's most stunning photos Posted: 03 Aug 2017 07:30 AM PDT A selection of unmissable photos, including a field in Yorkshire, Edinburgh illuminations and bubbles in Central Park Continue reading... |
| Who is Turkmenistan president Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov? – video report Posted: 03 Aug 2017 07:09 AM PDT Turkmenistan's president, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov, is an unconventional dictator. He has performed pop songs, played live DJ sets and won a car race that he set up. His most recent stunt, a video intended to make him look like an action hero, has been ridiculed. An opposition group edited the video to include clips from Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando Continue reading... |
| Al-Qaida frees South African man held in Mali for six years Posted: 03 Aug 2017 05:24 AM PDT Stephen McGown was kidnapped from a Timbuktu hostel in 2011 but South African government says he is back home Al-Qaida's north Africa branch has freed a South African man who was held hostage for six years in Mali and he has returned home, South Africa's government has announced. Stephen McGown, who was released on Saturday, was the longest-held of a number of foreigners seized by Islamist extremists in Mali, where several armed groups roam the west African country's north. Continue reading... |
| Vegan activists force California butcher to hang animal rights sign in window Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT The Local Butcher Shop, a small business focused on sustainable meat, says deal struck in order to end months of protest amounts to 'ethical extortion' Feet away from the butchers carving pork loins and beef shanks, the owners of a California meat shop have installed a peculiar sign in their window: "ATTENTION: Animals' lives are their right. Killing them is violent and unjust, no matter how it's done." The odd poster seeming to discourage customers from buying their meats is the result of a months-long dispute between the owners of the Local Butcher Shop – which sells "locally sourced, sustainably raised" meat – and animal rights activists who have staged more than a dozen loud and gruesome protests outside the family-owned business in Berkeley. Continue reading... |
| 'White queers are really good at erasing us': the lives of LGBTQ Somali-Americans Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT Minneapolis is known for its large Somali-American and LGBTQ communities. But for those who are part of both, a sense of belonging can be hard to find Hassan remembers watching his friend spiral. It was 2013, and Hassan's 25-year-old friend had just told his family that he was gay. They disowned him and rebuked him publicly before kicking him out of their house. Hassan's friend descended into a deep depression and drank heavily, drifting to the edge of his circle of friends before falling off the radar completely. Continue reading... |
| Syrian groups complain that other countries are hijacking UN peace talks Posted: 03 Aug 2017 03:13 AM PDT Letter from 160 civil society groups says UN has allowed too much interference from countries such as Turkey and Russia The UN-brokered Syrian peace talks are failing due to external interference and can only be rescued by refocusing on the issue of political transition, a coalition of 160 Syrian civil society groups has said in an open letter to the UN's special envoy. The letter to Staffan de Mistura reveals a deep frustration that the UN has allowed the peace process to be hijacked by regional players with their own agendas. Continue reading... |
| UK pledges £100m to global efforts to eradicate polio Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:01 PM PDT Money will fund vaccination of 45 million children annually until 2020, when the world could finally be declared polio-free The UK has pledged £100m to the global fight against polio, in an attempt to eradicate the debilitating disease by 2020. The cash, to be announced by the international development secretary, Priti Patel, on Friday, will fund the immunisation of 45 million children a year until 2020. The last case of polio is likely to be announced in 2017 and there would then need to be three years without a single case to prove eradication. Continue reading... |
| UK urged to stop funding 'ineffective and unsustainable' Bridge schools Posted: 03 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT Civil society groups call on foreign donors not to fund Bridge International Academies, citing high fees, low pay and poor teaching methods A coalition of 174 civil society organisations has called on international donors, including the UK government, to drop support for a private school company operating in Africa. Bridge International Academies (BIA) provides technology-driven education in more than 500 primary and nursery schools in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia and India. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are among the high-profile philanthropists from whom the American startup has received funding. Continue reading... |
| Leaked Trump transcripts show his incoherent, ill-informed narcissism Posted: 03 Aug 2017 11:10 AM PDT The leak of conversations between the US president and the leaders of Mexico and Australia may well be a cry for help from within the administration One of the most significant aspects of the published transcripts of Donald Trump's conversations with his Mexican and Australian counterparts is the fact they were leaked. Related: Trump to Peña Nieto: border wall not so important – just don't say you won't pay Continue reading... |
| Two-faced Trump: the president says one thing in public, another in private Posted: 03 Aug 2017 10:08 AM PDT From the border wall to refugees, the White House transcripts paint a sobering picture of the president's conflicting statements The transcripts of Donald Trump's phone calls with the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, and the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, released by the Washington Post, confirm the extent to which the president is prepared to say one thing in private and another in public. Related: 'So far from God, so close to the US': Mexico's troubled past with its neighbour Continue reading... |
| Is nothing sacred? Now Trump's White House is targeting the Statue of Liberty Posted: 03 Aug 2017 09:19 AM PDT Stephen Miller's tirade over the famous poem inscribed on the statue's base makes it clear: the huddled masses can no longer breathe free in America The surest mark of regime change is when they start attacking the statues. Americans appreciate this as well as anyone – hence the carefully stage-manged toppling of Saddam Hussein in Firdos square in Baghdad in 2003. Stephen Miller, one of the key ideologues of the Trump regime, surely knew what he was doing when he took a symbolic axe to the Statue of Liberty in a heated argument with CNN's Jim Acosta over the president's proposals to drastically limit legal immigration. Continue reading... |
| Nissan dispute could go down as most vicious anti-union crusade in decades | Bernie Sanders Posted: 03 Aug 2017 03:00 AM PDT Nissan's efforts to stop workers from forming a union is an all-too-familiar story of how greedy corporations divide and conquer working people, writes Bernie Sanders A few months before the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr Martin Luther King Jr wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail: "We know from painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This week, thousands of courageous workers at a Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, are doing just that. They are voting for the right to join a union, the right to make a living wage and the right to job security and pensions. And they are doing so by connecting workers' rights with civil rights, as the plant's workforce is over 80% African American. Continue reading... |
| 'Trump asks rally crowd: 'Are there any Russians here tonight?' – video Posted: 03 Aug 2017 06:23 PM PDT US president Donald Trump renewed his attack on the investigation into suspected Russian meddling in the US election last year and on allegations of collusion between his campaign and the Russian government at his rally in West Virginia. 'They're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us and most importantly demeaning to our country and demeaning to our constitution,' Trump told supporters. Continue reading... |
| You are subscribed to email updates from World news | The Guardian. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Posting Komentar