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- SpaceX oddity: how Elon Musk sent a car towards Mars
- Kenya opposition figure deported as judicial row intensifies
- Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan grand military parade
- Kim Jong-un's sister to attend Winter Olympics opening ceremony
- UN outrage at Syrian suffering: ‘We can no longer stay silent’
- Trump: 'I'd love to see a shutdown' if Democrats don't yield on immigration
- Scientists capture exploding beetles' amazing escapes from toads' stomachs
- Man who let apartment to Paris attackers faces jail term
- Two children shot dead in Rio violence days before Carnival
- Vietnam jails activist for 14 years for livestreaming pollution march
- Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan is denied bail after rape charges
- El Chapo trial: Brooklyn judge rules jurors' names will be kept secret
- Two people confirmed dead in 6.4-magnitude Taiwan earthquake
- High-vis, low-conflict: Kampala gets its first Critical Mass cycle ride
- ‘It put an end to my childhood’: the hidden scandal of US child marriage
- Westminster abuse ring: accuser charged over child sex images
- Germany's CDU and SPD parties reach coalition deal
- Resisting the resistance: anti-liberal rage brews in California's right wing
- Justin Trudeau tells woman to say 'peoplekind' not 'mankind'
- Taiwan earthquake leaves tall building on dangerous lean - video
- Barnaby Joyce 'incredibly hurt' by media revelations about his private life
- UN 'grossly mishandled' inquiry into alleged sexual assault, say campaigners
- 'I believed no man would marry me if I didn’t cut': battling FGM in Uganda
- American court opens historic hearing into Venezuela rape and torture case
- Fearless: five years after Delhi gang-rape, has anything changed for women in India? – video
- Guests trapped in leaning hotel after Taiwan earthquake – video
| SpaceX oddity: how Elon Musk sent a car towards Mars Posted: 07 Feb 2018 01:29 AM PST A Starman sitting in a tin can is currently navigating the heavens, soundtracked by David Bowie. How did it – and we – get there? Elon Musk's giant SpaceX rocket makes triumphant launch It takes a beat or two for the brain to compute. The image is startling, incongruous, barmy. A car floats in space. At the wheel is a spacesuit, seatbelt on. Earth hangs behind it. The two objects don't work together. The image jars like bad Photoshop. But it is real. The photograph was beamed down to Earth courtesy of Elon Musk's ego, bravado and taste for the absurd. It is human folly and genius rolled into one, a picture that sums up 2018 so far. Life on Earth feels precarious, so we look to the stars. Continue reading... |
| Kenya opposition figure deported as judicial row intensifies Posted: 07 Feb 2018 12:36 AM PST Government crackdown on opponents sees lawyer Miguna Miguna put on flight to Canada Kenyan authorities have deported a senior opposition figure in a wide-ranging crackdown on political opponents and an intensifying confrontation with the judiciary. Miguna Miguna, who had been held in police custody in defiance of a court order demanding his release, was put on a flight to Canada via Europe at about 10pm on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan grand military parade Posted: 06 Feb 2018 06:51 PM PST President reportedly seeks parade in model of France's Bastille Day celebration, prompting one veterans' group to call him 'a wannabe banana republic strongman' Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to plan a military parade that would see soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the streets of Washington, it was reported on Tuesday. The move was instantly criticised, with one veterans' group comparing the president to "a wannabe banana republic strongman". Continue reading... |
| Kim Jong-un's sister to attend Winter Olympics opening ceremony Posted: 07 Feb 2018 01:49 AM PST Kim Yo-jong, younger sister of North Korean leader, to join official party in South Korea, as US vice-president says 'aggressive' sanctions coming soon Kim Jong-un's sister will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea on Friday, Seoul's unification ministry has said. Pyongyang notified Seoul that Kim Yo-jong would be accompanying Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's nominal head of state, along with Choe Hwi, the head of the national sports guidance committee, and Ri Son-gwon, who led inter-Korean talks last week, according to the Seoul ministry. |
| UN outrage at Syrian suffering: ‘We can no longer stay silent’ Posted: 07 Feb 2018 01:27 AM PST Humanitarian coordinator Panos Moumtzis calls for ceasefire to ease 'dramatic deterioration' The scale of suffering across Syria has reached unprecedented levels, with access to aid blocked in three major population centres, growing displacement and more than 13 million people in need across the country, the UN has said. The organisation called on Tuesday for a one-month ceasefire to ease what it described as an "extreme situation" that "we haven't seen before" at any point during the war, which is soon to enter its eighth year. The conflict has been marked by a mass exodus of Syrian citizens, sieges, starvation and a death toll that surpassed 500,000 people in 2016. |
| Trump: 'I'd love to see a shutdown' if Democrats don't yield on immigration Posted: 06 Feb 2018 01:47 PM PST
Congressional leaders on Tuesday moved closer to a broad budget deal to avoid another government shutdown, while Donald Trump signaled he would welcome another lapse in funding if he does not get his way on immigration. Speaking at the White House, Trump appeared to welcome a shutdown without Democrats yielding to his tough demands on immigration and billions in extra funding for border security. "I'd love to see a shutdown if we can't get this stuff taken care of," said Trump. Continue reading... |
| Scientists capture exploding beetles' amazing escapes from toads' stomachs Posted: 06 Feb 2018 04:01 PM PST Bombardier beetles observed causing audible toxic explosions inside toads stomachs causing them to vomit their lunch to freedom The toad's reaction to the explosion deep in its stomach is not instantaneous. But in time the body shakes, the mouth opens, and the culprit is expelled: a mucus-covered beetle that will live to fight another day. Japanese scientists captured footage of the great escape during lab tests that pitted the walking powder kegs that are bombardier beetles against hungry toads of different species and sizes. So effective were the beetle's defences against being eaten alive that even the researchers were taken aback. |
| Man who let apartment to Paris attackers faces jail term Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:08 AM PST There is insufficient evidence to convict Jawad Bendaoud on terror charges, prosecutors say Prosecutors have sought a four-year jail term for a man who hired out his apartment to two Islamic State jihadists after the 2015 Paris attacks, but said there was insufficient evidence to convict him on terror charges. Jawad Bendaoud, who was nicknamed the "Daesh [Isis] landlord" in the French media, has been on trial since 24 January accused of harbouring the ringleader of the team of gunmen who killed 130 people in the French capital in November 2015. Continue reading... |
| Two children shot dead in Rio violence days before Carnival Posted: 06 Feb 2018 01:55 PM PST
Days before the start of Rio de Janeiro's world-famous carnival, two children have been killed and police were forced to close three major highways in an outbreak of gun violence. It was the third time that police had closed a major highway in the city in a week. Nine people were also killed between Friday and Sunday, the G1 news website reported. Continue reading... |
| Vietnam jails activist for 14 years for livestreaming pollution march Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:16 AM PST Hoang Duc Binh had posted footage on Facebook of fishermen protesting following a huge chemical spill from a steel plant A court in central Vietnam has sentenced an activist to 14 years in jail for livestreaming fishermen marching to file a lawsuit against a Taiwan-owned steel plant's spill of toxins into the ocean. Hoang Duc Binh, 34, was convicted of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state, organisation and people, and opposing officers on duty, following a trial on Tuesday by the people's court in Nghe An province, lawyer Ha Huy Son said. Continue reading... |
| Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan is denied bail after rape charges Posted: 06 Feb 2018 01:03 PM PST Academic and TV personality in custody in France after two women alleged violent attacks The prominent Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan has been denied bail in France, four days after he was remanded in custody on charges of rape. Ramadan, a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, was charged with rape on Friday after two women accused him of violently assaulting them in hotel rooms in Lyon and Paris in 2009 and 2012 after conferences. Ramadan denies any wrongdoing. Continue reading... |
| El Chapo trial: Brooklyn judge rules jurors' names will be kept secret Posted: 06 Feb 2018 12:34 PM PST Jurors' names, addresses and places of employment will be shielded from Joaquín Guzmán, his lawyers, prosecutors and the press A US judge in Brooklyn has ruled that the identities of jurors expected to decide the fate of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán at a trial later this year will be kept secret. In a decision on Monday, US district Judge Brian Cogan said jurors' names, addresses and places of employment will be shielded from Guzmán, his lawyers, prosecutors and the press. |
| Two people confirmed dead in 6.4-magnitude Taiwan earthquake Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:29 AM PST More than 100 have been injured and guests are believed trapped inside a partially collapsed hotel A shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan has struck the eastern city of Hualien, killing at least two people and injuring more than 100. The Central News Agency reported that the ground floor of the Marshal hotel in Hualien had caved in and people were believed to be trapped inside. Continue reading... |
| High-vis, low-conflict: Kampala gets its first Critical Mass cycle ride Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:30 PM PST Uganda's first ever Critical Mass is missing the air of protest normally found in Europe or the US. This may be for the best in a country where dissent is often quashed with rubber bullets and tear gas "Do you know what is going on here today?" I ask Annette, the banana seller I'm buying a quick breakfast from. She doesn't, so I explain that people are gathering here to ride bicycles together. We're standing on Luwum street in central Kampala, looking out at a completely alien scene. With the usual sea of cars, minibus taxis and boda bodas (the city's famous motorbike taxis) absent, the whole road is visible and looks 10 times more spacious than usual. It has been adorned with colourful paintings – including green cycle lanes – and we can see people walking, talking and cycling, while children run around playing. It is a playground in the middle of a city where people rarely stop to play; there is too much work to be done. "I don't know how to ride a bicycle, but I'd like to learn," says Annette as she observes the scene, sighing: "But how can I learn? Are you going to teach me?" |
| ‘It put an end to my childhood’: the hidden scandal of US child marriage Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:43 AM PST In half of US states, there is no legal minimum age for marriage; a 40-year-old man can, in theory, marry a five-year-old girl. But Florida may soon ban the practice for under-18s. We meet the former child brides campaigning for change Sherry Johnson was 11 when her mother told her she was going to get married. The bridegroom was nine years older and a deacon in the strict apostolic church that her family attended. He was also the man who had raped her and made her pregnant. "They forced me to marry him to cover up the scandal," Johnson says. "Instead of putting the handcuffs on him and sending him to prison, they put the handcuffs on me and imprisoned me in a marriage." Johnson is now 58, but child marriage is not a thing of the past in the US: almost 250,000 children were married there between 2000 and 2010, some of them as young as 10. "Almost all were girls married to adult men," says Fraidy Reiss, the director of campaigning organisation Unchained at Last. Continue reading... |
| Westminster abuse ring: accuser charged over child sex images Posted: 06 Feb 2018 04:11 PM PST Man known as Nick, who claimed establishment figures raped him, faces trial on six charges A man who claimed he had been abused by a Westminster paedophile ring has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children. The man, who can only be referred to as Nick for legal reasons, provoked a massive police investigation after he told detectives he had been raped and abused for nine years by a VIP gang. Continue reading... |
| Germany's CDU and SPD parties reach coalition deal Posted: 07 Feb 2018 02:02 AM PST Talks end between Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Schulz's Social Democrats Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union has agreed on the terms of a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats following marathon talks in Berlin, German media has reported. In what would amount to a significant feat for its leader, Martin Schulz, the news outlet Spiegel said the Social Democratic party (SPD) had managed to secure the finance, foreign and labour ministries. Continue reading... |
| Resisting the resistance: anti-liberal rage brews in California's right wing Posted: 07 Feb 2018 02:00 AM PST Should California be split into two states, one conservative and one progressive? Under Trump, a far-fetched idea has found a home in fringe, frustrated communities In California's Central Valley an unexpected item is popping up for sale in souvenir stores: Confederate flags. There's a growing market for the hate symbol. "There's been an atmosphere of comfort for folks that were holding these very extreme conservative views," said Angel Garcia, an activist in Tulare County, an agricultural region where Confederate imagery has become commonplace in immigrant communities. Continue reading... |
| Justin Trudeau tells woman to say 'peoplekind' not 'mankind' Posted: 06 Feb 2018 07:42 PM PST Candian prime minister draws ridicule for being too politically correct, though it may have been lighthearted sarcasm The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has come under fire for "mansplaining" and being too politically correct after he interrupted a woman and lightheartedly corrected her for saying "mankind" not "peoplekind" at a town hall event in Canada on Friday. His correction came at the conclusion of a longwinded question from anaudience member that, over the course of three minutes, included a discussion of her church and the special power of "maternal love". Continue reading... |
| Taiwan earthquake leaves tall building on dangerous lean - video Posted: 07 Feb 2018 01:53 AM PST The Yun Men Tsui Ti block of flats near Taiwan's east coast is left leaning at a dangerous angle after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday night. At least four people were killed and more than 170 remain unaccounted for in the area Continue reading... |
| Barnaby Joyce 'incredibly hurt' by media revelations about his private life Posted: 07 Feb 2018 01:47 AM PST Australia's deputy PM says breakdown of marriage was 'painful for everyone involved' as new relationship with former staffer is exposed Barnaby Joyce has described the breakdown of his marriage as "one of the greatest failures in [his] life" but refused to answer questions about his relationship with a former staffer on the basis of privacy. On the ABC's flagship current affairs program 7.30, Australia's deputy prime minister denied any wrongdoing but refused to say whether the relationship started while Vikki Campion was his media adviser. Continue reading... |
| UN 'grossly mishandled' inquiry into alleged sexual assault, say campaigners Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:00 PM PST Group claims UNAids investigation into senior official undermined by conflict of interest and calls for independent review of allegations A UN agency has "grossly mishandled" an investigation into claims of sexual harassment and assault by a high-ranking official, claims the campaign group Code Blue in an open letter to António Guterres, the UN's secretary general. Last week, UNAids concluded that allegations against Luiz Loures, an assistant secretary general of the UN, and deputy executive director of programme at UNAids, were not substantiated. Continue reading... |
| 'I believed no man would marry me if I didn’t cut': battling FGM in Uganda Posted: 06 Feb 2018 07:45 AM PST On the day marking Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, survivors are educating communities in border areas with Kenya, where the practice is still a rite of passage In 2009, when Rebecca Chelimo was 12, she was forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM). "I feared abuse and insults from the community. I was told it was a shame to be an uncircumcised girl. I believed no man would marry me if I didn't cut. So I did it," says Chelimo, from her home in Alakas village, in eastern Uganda. Continue reading... |
| American court opens historic hearing into Venezuela rape and torture case Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:39 AM PST Linda Loaiza is challenging the Venezuelan state in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights over failure to deliver justice in case that highlights impunity on violence against women In March 2001, when she was 18 years old, Linda Loaiza was kidnapped and held inside an apartment in eastern Caracas. She was repeatedly raped and tortured by her abductor. Her relatives reported Loaiza's disappearance, but the Venezuelan authorities refused to investigate. After four months, she managed to escape. Continue reading... |
| Fearless: five years after Delhi gang-rape, has anything changed for women in India? – video Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:33 PM PST The brutal rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi shocked the world. The victim, who became known as Nirbhaya ('fearless'), succumbed to her injuries two weeks later, but not before giving testimonies against her attackers. Her death provoked outrage and protests across India as people demanded dramatic improvements to women's rights. But five years on, has anything really changed? We revisit the city to ask women what they think Continue reading... |
| Guests trapped in leaning hotel after Taiwan earthquake – video Posted: 06 Feb 2018 01:13 PM PST The Taiwanese city of Hualien has been struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, killing at least two people. Guests are reportedly still trapped inside the Marshal hotel, which has partially collapsed and is leaning at a sharp angle Continue reading... |
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