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- Donald Trump tells Nato allies to spend 4% of GDP on defence
- Czech communists return to government as power brokers
- Thai hospital releases video of rescued boys chatting in beds
- Global investors rattled as all-out trade war moves step closer
- One in five North Korean children malnourished, says UN chief during rare visit
- Catalan president cites 'Scottish model' in call for independence poll
- Buddhist group leader steps down over sexual assault claims
- Stone tools found in China could be oldest evidence of human life outside Africa
- Malala Yousafzai slams Trump for 'cruel' child separations
- Greece to expel Russian diplomats over alleged Macedonia interference
- 'As big as your head': giant avocado arrives in Australia
- Two Qantas pilots injured in fatal vintage plane crash in South Africa
- No single birthplace of mankind, say scientists
- Sri Lanka to begin hanging drug dealers to 'replicate success of Philippines'
- Influx of refugees from Yemen divides South Korean resort island
- Wings Over Scotland blogger's defamation case against MSP starts
- Algorithms are taking over – and woe betide anyone they class as a 'deadbeat' | Zoe Williams
- Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigns over racial slur
- 'Lesser evil': how Brazil's militias wield terror to seize power from gangs
- Thai court drops charges for workers who claimed they slept next to hens
- Former One Nation adviser's trial told he raped and threatened to kill woman
- Robot workers will lead to surge in slavery in south-east Asia, report finds
- Save the Children chief accused of being part of ‘cosy boys’ club’
- Risky contraceptive methods some women are forced to use – in pictures
- Britain's Trumpocracy: who are the president's biggest cheerleaders?
- Germany and Russia gas links: Trump is not only one to ask questions
- Man with world's longest fingernails finally cuts them off - video
- Smoke streams from vintage plane before fatal crash in South Africa – video
- Turkmenistan's president performs in rap video with his grandson – video
- Nato summit: world leaders gather in Brussels – in pictures
| Donald Trump tells Nato allies to spend 4% of GDP on defence Posted: 11 Jul 2018 11:51 AM PDT US president suggests doubling 2% spending target that only five countries have met Donald Trump left the opening day of the Nato summit in Brussels in disarray on Wednesday after making a surprise demand for members to raise their defence spending to 4% of GDP, and clashing with German chancellor Angela Merkel over a proposed pipeline deal with Russia. Trump left the assembled presidents and prime ministers floundering, unsure whether he was serious about the 4% target, double the existing Nato target of 2%, which many do not meet, or whether it was just a ploy. |
| Czech communists return to government as power brokers Posted: 11 Jul 2018 11:11 PM PDT Party gains real influence for first time since 1989 after deal to help prime minister win confidence vote Czech communists have savoured their first taste of power in nearly 30 years after their backing in a parliamentary confidence vote paved the way for a government headed by Andrej Babiš, a scandal-tainted billionaire tycoon, amid vehement protests against their return to the political mainstream. The 15 MPs of the Communist party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) provided the votes needed to allow a pact formed between Babiš' Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) movement and the Social Democrats (ČSSD) to survive its first test, ending nearly nine months of political stalemate that saw the Czech Republic governed by temporary administrations. Continue reading... |
| Thai hospital releases video of rescued boys chatting in beds Posted: 11 Jul 2018 11:17 AM PDT Footage shows boys waving to family members while recovering in an isolation ward A collective gasp rippled through a crowded room of reporters on Wednesday when a projector set up by the staff of Narongsak Osatanakorn revealed the first images of the 12 boys who had been rescued, along with their football coach, from the depths of a flooded cave over the previous three days. The video clips captured moments of levity shared between the boys, still confined to their beds and wearing surgical masks in an isolation ward, and the doctors who are now treating them at Chiang Rai's Prachanukroh hospital. Continue reading... |
| Global investors rattled as all-out trade war moves step closer Posted: 11 Jul 2018 09:46 AM PDT Beijing vows countermeasures if Trump administration acts on latest threat of tariffs Global investors have been rattled after a threat by the Trump administration to impose 10% duties on $200bn (£151bn) of imports prompted protests from Beijing and brought an all-out trade war a step closer. Stock markets headed lower in the US, Asia and Europe on Wednesday as the US warned that it would press ahead with further tariffs and China promised to "fight back as usual" with "firm and forceful measures" if they were enacted. Continue reading... |
| One in five North Korean children malnourished, says UN chief during rare visit Posted: 11 Jul 2018 09:09 PM PDT UN official touring country said there were also issues with access to clean water and lack of medical supplies About a fifth of all North Korean children are affected by malnutrition, the most senior United Nations humanitarian aid official has said during a tour of the country, the first such visit since 2011. Mark Lowcock, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, made the comments at the end of the first day of his tour of North Korea, which he has said is aimed at raising awareness of the dire conditions faced by ordinary people. Continue reading... |
| Catalan president cites 'Scottish model' in call for independence poll Posted: 11 Jul 2018 09:00 PM PDT Exclusive: Quim Torra insists there is consensus for fresh referendum during SNP visit The new president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, has insisted he has a strong mandate to push for another independence referendum, as he visited Scotland for a meeting with the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Despite a recent poll in the Catalan newspaper El Periódico, which showed only 21.5% of Catalans want an independent republic, with 62% in favour of increased self-government, Torra told the Guardian: "These surveys also always show 80% say that this should be solved by voting, so there is a consensus. Continue reading... |
| Buddhist group leader steps down over sexual assault claims Posted: 11 Jul 2018 07:11 AM PDT Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, leader of global Shambhala community, steps down while claims are investigated The head of one of the west's largest Buddhist groups has stepped down while allegations of sexual assault and misconduct are investigated. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the leader of the Shambhala Buddhist community – an organisation with more than 200 meditation centres globally – will "step back from his administrative and teaching responsibilities", a statement said. Continue reading... |
| Stone tools found in China could be oldest evidence of human life outside Africa Posted: 11 Jul 2018 05:14 PM PDT Discovery of simple stone tools suggests human ancestors were in Asia as early as 2.1m years ago The remains of crudely fashioned stone tools unearthed in China suggest human ancestors were in Asia 2.1m years ago, more than 200,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists said on Wednesday. If correctly dated, the find means that hominins – the group of humans and our extinct forefather species – left Africa earlier than archaeologists have been able to demonstrate thus far, a team reported in the scientific journal Nature. Continue reading... |
| Malala Yousafzai slams Trump for 'cruel' child separations Posted: 11 Jul 2018 04:40 PM PDT Nobel peace prize laureate criticises policy while in South America promoting girls' education Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has criticised as "cruel" Donald Trump's policy of separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border. "This is cruel, this is unfair and this is inhumane. I don't know how anyone could do that," Yousafzai said on Wednesday during her first visit to South America where she was promoting girls' education. "I hope that the children can be together with their parents." Continue reading... |
| Greece to expel Russian diplomats over alleged Macedonia interference Posted: 11 Jul 2018 11:56 AM PDT Russia accused of trying to fan opposition to deal which will weaken its influence in Balkans Four Russian diplomats will be banned from Greece after evidence revealed Russia was trying to foment opposition to a historic deal between Greece and Macedonia that is likely to pave the way for Macedonia's Nato membership and so weaken Russian influence in the western Balkans. Greece said it would expel two Russian diplomats and ban two others. Continue reading... |
| 'As big as your head': giant avocado arrives in Australia Posted: 10 Jul 2018 10:14 PM PDT The 'Avozilla', which is being farmed in Queensland, weighs more than a kilo and is expected to sell for $12 each They look like an avocado and taste like an avocado. The only difference from the avocados you know? These ones are about the size of your head. The Avozilla, as it has been dubbed, has arrived in Australia. Weighing an average of 1.2kg, the fruits are about four times the size of regular avocados and are expected to sell for $12 each. Continue reading... |
| Two Qantas pilots injured in fatal vintage plane crash in South Africa Posted: 11 Jul 2018 05:00 PM PDT Australian pilots hurt and two people killed when the 1954 era Convair CV-340 crashed soon after takeoff in Pretoria Two Qantas pilots are in hospital with "serious injuries" and two people have been killed after a vintage plane crashed while taking off from an airport in South Africa. The 64-year-old aircraft faltered soon after takeoff from Pretoria's Wonderboom airport on Tuesday afternoon, and crashed into a nearby factory. Continue reading... |
| No single birthplace of mankind, say scientists Posted: 11 Jul 2018 08:00 AM PDT Researchers say it is time to drop the idea that modern humans originated from a single population in a single location The origins of our species have long been traced to east Africa, where the world's oldest undisputed Homo sapiens fossils were discovered. About 300,000 years ago, the story went, a group of primitive humans there underwent a series of genetic and cultural shifts that set them on a unique evolutionary path that resulted in everyone alive today. However, a team of prominent scientists is now calling for a rewriting of this traditional narrative, based on a comprehensive survey of fossil, archaeological and genetic evidence. Instead, the international team argue, the distinctive features that make us human emerged mosaic-like across different populations spanning the entire African continent. Only after tens or hundreds of thousands of years of interbreeding and cultural exchange between these semi-isolated groups, did the fully fledged modern human come into being. Continue reading... |
| Sri Lanka to begin hanging drug dealers to 'replicate success of Philippines' Posted: 11 Jul 2018 06:12 AM PDT Government says executions will resume after moratorium of almost 50 years, citing Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs Sri Lanka will begin hanging drug dealers, ending a near-half-century moratorium on executions, as officials promised explicitly to "replicate the success" of the Philippines' grisly war on drugs. Sri Lanka's decision to cite the Philippines as its model is certain to draw criticism. Under president Rodrigo Duterte 4,200 drug suspects have been killed in the Philippines, although rights groups say the true number could be at least triple that figure. Continue reading... |
| Influx of refugees from Yemen divides South Korean resort island Posted: 11 Jul 2018 05:48 PM PDT Arrival of refugees has sparked debate about country's role in accepting asylum seekers Hamza al-Odaini had two paths before him after he graduated from secondary school in Yemen: be forced to pick up a gun and fight in the civil war now in its fourth year, or flee the country. In the end, his mother decided for him, sending the 17-year-old on a journey through Oman and Malaysia, before he landed on the South Korean resort island of Jeju. He hoped to study to become an engineer, but in the two months since he arrived there has been a rude awakening. Continue reading... |
| Wings Over Scotland blogger's defamation case against MSP starts Posted: 12 Jul 2018 02:15 AM PDT Stuart Campbell is suing Kezia Dugdale after she accused him of homophobic comment A £25,000 defamation action, brought by the notorious Wings Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell against the former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, will be heard in court in Edinburgh on Thursday. Campbell sued the Lothian MSP last year after she accused him of making a homophobic tweet. Continue reading... |
| Algorithms are taking over – and woe betide anyone they class as a 'deadbeat' | Zoe Williams Posted: 12 Jul 2018 02:00 AM PDT When big data decides if you deserve a loan, or classifies you according to bigoted stereotypes, we lose our freedom The radical geographer and equality evangelist Danny Dorling tried to explain to me once why an algorithm could be bad for social justice. Imagine if email inboxes became intelligent: your messages would be prioritised on arrival, so if the recipient knew you and often replied to you, you'd go to the top; I said that was fine. That's how it works already. If they knew you and never replied, you'd go to the bottom, he continued. I said that was fair – it would teach me to stop annoying that person. Continue reading... |
| Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigns over racial slur Posted: 12 Jul 2018 02:00 AM PDT Schnatter resigns from Pizza chain he founded in 1984 after apologising for using the N-word during conference call The founder and chairman and Pizza chain Papa John's has resigned hours after being forced to apologise for using a racial slur during a conference call in May. The Forbes news site reported that John Schnatter used the N-word during a media training exercise. When asked how he would distance himself from racist groups, Schnatter reportedly complained that Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, never faced a backlash for using the word. Continue reading... |
| 'Lesser evil': how Brazil's militias wield terror to seize power from gangs Posted: 12 Jul 2018 02:00 AM PDT Paramilitary groups implicated in the killing of Rio's city councillor Marielle Franco have taken control of swaths of areas by imposing 'violence, death and summary execution'
The gang wore black military fatigues and ninja masks when they arrived in Seropédica, a nondescript town of 84,000 near Rio de Janeiro, and began systematically driving out the drug gangsters. Continue reading... |
| Thai court drops charges for workers who claimed they slept next to hens Posted: 12 Jul 2018 02:30 AM PDT Rare victory for migrants from Myanmar who were accused of defamation after they claimed labour abuses at poultry farm A Thai court has dismissed defamation charges against 14 migrant workers who alleged labour abuses in the country's multimillion-pound poultry export industry. Activists hailed the move as a rare victory for migrant worker rights in Thailand. Continue reading... |
| Former One Nation adviser's trial told he raped and threatened to kill woman Posted: 12 Jul 2018 12:29 AM PDT Jury retires to consider verdict in Sean Black's Brisbane trial after defence lawyer accused woman of 'lies' A jury in Brisbane is deliberating in the case of a former One Nation staffer charged with assault and rape. Sean Black, a former media adviser to ex-senator Malcolm Roberts, faces three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one charge of rape over the alleged attacks in 2007. Continue reading... |
| Robot workers will lead to surge in slavery in south-east Asia, report finds Posted: 11 Jul 2018 11:00 PM PDT Research shows risk of trafficking will rise, as automation pushes low-skilled workers into 'race to the bottom' for jobs Robots will slash millions of jobs and create an upswing in trafficking and slavery across south-east Asia, research claims. In a report launched on Thursday, supply-chain analyst firm Verisk Maplecroft predicts that the rise in robot manufacturing will have a knock-on effect that results not only in lost livelihoods but in a spike in slavery and labour abuses in brand supply chains. |
| Save the Children chief accused of being part of ‘cosy boys’ club’ Posted: 11 Jul 2018 10:00 PM PDT MPs question Kevin Watkins on failing to investigate claims of sexual misconduct by senior charity staff The head of Save the Children, Kevin Watkins, was forced to defend his position as chief executive of the charity, amid accusations that he is part of a cosy boys' club. Appearing before MPs on Wednesday, Watkins said that he had been appointed chief executive following a competitive process, adding: "I don't regard myself as part of a network." |
| Risky contraceptive methods some women are forced to use – in pictures Posted: 11 Jul 2018 05:13 AM PDT From applying vinegar to jumping up and down after sex, millions of women without access to modern forms of family planning have to resort to archaic, often dangerous methods Photos and testimonies by UNFPA Continue reading... |
| Britain's Trumpocracy: who are the president's biggest cheerleaders? Posted: 11 Jul 2018 09:58 AM PDT Donald Trump's UK arrival is expected to be met by protest but some citizens see him as an ally As the US president arrives in the UK, he will be met with a chorus of disapproval – but also a smaller number of cheerleaders whose enthusiasm for his leadership is matched only by their gift for self-promotion. With millions of Twitter followers between them, considerable television appearance money (for those who are not incarcerated), and in some cases the endorsement of the president himself, the British Trumpocracy is still thriving – and ready for another moment in the limelight. Continue reading... |
| Germany and Russia gas links: Trump is not only one to ask questions Posted: 11 Jul 2018 04:43 AM PDT Politicians and energy experts say Nord Stream 2 will make Europe reliant on Russian gas Donald Trump may have used typically emotive – if premeditated – language from the outset at the Nato summit in Brussels to lambast Germany for its willingness to build a gas pipeline, but the US president's view that this will make Europe particularly dependent on Russian gas is widely shared by European politicians, thinktanks and energy specialists, including some in Berlin. No country is more angry about the pipeline than Ukraine, an ally Trump is supposedly poised to abandon when he meets the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki on Monday. Continue reading... |
| Man with world's longest fingernails finally cuts them off - video Posted: 12 Jul 2018 01:44 AM PDT Shridhar Chillal from Pune, India, who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest fingernails on one hand, finally had them cut off in a ceremony in New York on Wednesday. Chillal, 82, had been growing the nails on his left hand for 66 years and they had a combined length of 29ft 10.1in - about the same length as a London bus. They are now on display at Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in New York Continue reading... |
| Smoke streams from vintage plane before fatal crash in South Africa – video Posted: 12 Jul 2018 01:37 AM PDT A charter plane crashed in South Africa on Tuesday, killing two people and leaving three others in hospital. Two Qantas pilots were among those injured. The injuries in Tuesday's crash in the capital, Pretoria, range from minor to critical, according to Russel Meiring, a spokesman for paramedic company ER24. Amateur video of the plane taking off shows smoke streaming behind it |
| Turkmenistan's president performs in rap video with his grandson – video Posted: 11 Jul 2018 02:36 PM PDT Turkmenistan's unconventional dictator Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has released another of his supposedly self-written songs – this time, performing alongside his grandson. The president has previously been seen weight training, DJing and horse riding. In 2013, he was filmed falling off his horse during a stunt, which he reportedly tried to prevent from being leaked |
| Nato summit: world leaders gather in Brussels – in pictures Posted: 11 Jul 2018 07:37 AM PDT Donald Trump and Theresa May pose with other world leaders for traditional 'family' photographs at Nato's Brussels headquarters Continue reading... |
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