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

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


EU vows to help nationals 'outside the mainstream' stay in UK

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PST

Bloc's first UK ambassador says right to remain for many vulnerable Europeans must be protected

Prisoners and members of the Roma community, along with elderly people and the poorest in society, will be the focus of a new EU push to help Europeans "outside the mainstream" to remain in the UK after Brexit.

There are concerns that thousands of EU nationals will fail to apply to the Home Office to stay because they lack information or the means to see the digital application process through.

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Pete Buttigieg drops out of 2020 race to be Democratic presidential nominee

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 06:20 PM PST

Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, leaves the race to take on Donald Trump after a poor showing in the South Carolina primary

Pete Buttigieg has ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a call for Democrats to unite in their fight to beat Donald Trump in the election.

Related: People turn backs on Mike Bloomberg at Bloody Sunday church service in Selma

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'Just run': on the Turkey-Greece border as refugees try to break through

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 01:48 AM PST

Fleeing war and hardship in Middle East and Africa, thousands head for perceived promised land

It was, or so they believed, the start of their journey to the promised land, a place of safety they had longed for. Hours after the Turkish government announced that it would not stop refugees from attempting to reach Europe, a stream of people from the Middle East and Africa, seeking refuge from wars and economic hardship, left a bleak bus station in the Turkish town of Edirne and begun their journey to the border.

After leaving the buses they broke into smaller groups based on the countries they had left. Ethiopians stood in an orderly queue, as one of the crowd went to negotiate with taxi drivers. Algerians looked at their phones and argued loudly, while two Palestinian couples from Gaza stood by a concrete pilar and debated in hushed voices whether they could afford the taxi ride to the border 15km away.

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Israel election: round three begins as voters head to the polls

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 09:00 PM PST

Netanyahu says main rival Gantz 'not a leader', while Gantz has focused on PM's alleged corruption

Israelis have begun voting in the country's third election within the space of a year in a fight Benjamin Netanyahu is desperate to win on the eve of a criminal corruption trial against him.

More than 6.3 million people are eligible to cast their votes in polling stations that will close at 10pm (8pm GMT) on Monday, after which exit polls will be reported.

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Australia's summer of 2019-20 country's second hottest on record

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 01:12 AM PST

Australia is heating more rapidly than the global average, with a rise of 4C expected by 2100, Bureau of Meteorology says

The summer just finished was Australia's second-hottest on record, with the temperature 1.88C above average, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

The only hotter summer on record was the previous year, which was 2.14C above average. Temperatures this summer were above average across almost the entire country.

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China cracks down on 'sexual innuendo' and 'celebrity gossip' in new censorship rules

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 10:11 PM PST

Controls on the 'online information content ecosystem' bring heightened concern about freedom of speech

Sweeping new internet censorship rules have gone into effect in China, prompting concerns that authorities will further control information and online debate as the country reels from the coronavirus outbreak.

China's cybersecurity administration has since Saturday implemented a set of new regulations on the governance of the "online information content ecosystem" that encourage "positive" content while barring material deemed "negative" or illegal.

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Jacinda Ardern brushes off criticism from Peter Dutton on deportation stance

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 08:45 PM PST

Australia's home affairs minister had linked New Zealand prime minister's comments to her upcoming re-election bid

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has brushed off criticism from Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton, saying his policy decisions are "regrettable".

At her weekly news conference in Wellington on Monday, Ardern was scathing about Dutton's criticism of her recent meeting with Scott Morrison, saying it was not her plain-talking that was to blame for increasing tensions between the neighbours – but Australia's policy decisions on immigration matters which were hurting Kiwis.

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Remain in Mexico: asylum seekers at border see hopes raised then dashed

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 02:15 AM PST

Many hoping to enter the US but kept out by Trump policy remain stuck in squalid and dangerous conditions

Esmeralda Martínez got the news via a WhatsApp message: a court had invalidated the US "remain in Mexico" program, which had obliged her to stay put south of the border while her asylum claim was heard.

Related: Trump's 'shameful' migrant stance condemns thousands to violent limbo in Mexico

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Revealed: fake 'traders' allegedly prey on victims in global investment scam

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PST

Suspected fraudsters lure investors with fake ads featuring celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay

An army of more more than 200 fake "traders" based in Ukraine have been persuading victims all over the world to part with their savings, according to a whistleblower from the operation who describes it as a huge investment scam.

British and Australian victims of a sophisticated enterprise were apparently lured by fake ads posted on Facebook and mobile phone games featuring celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Jackman and the moneysaving expert Martin Lewis.

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Trump tweets praise for under-fire Mexican restaurant – but gets city wrong

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 11:22 AM PST

  • Sammy's owner pictured at rally in 'Latinos Love Trump' hat
  • President promises visit when in Phoenix but grill near Tucson

The owners of a Tucson-area Mexican restaurant are fending off social media attacks after appearing in the VIP area at a Trump rally in Phoenix last month.

The Arizona Daily Star reported that a Facebook group posted a screenshot image from the rally that showed Sammy's Mexican Grill co-owner Betty Rivas standing behind Trump, wearing a red cowboy hat emblazoned with "Latinos Love Trump".

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Top authors take to Instagram to defend teenage book lover

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 11:30 AM PST

Callum Manning, 13, whose reviews were mocked by pupils, backed by Matt Haig and others

A 13-year-old boy who was taunted for his online book reviews has received messages of support from bestselling authors.

Callum Manning, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, created an Instagram account last week to write posts about some of the books he had read. But he was left "devastated" after other pupils at his new school began to mock the reviews in a group chat he had joined.

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Parties make me feel like an alien in a person suit – and drinking to survive them didn’t help

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PST

After one too many humiliations, I turned down the invitations, gave up the booze and learned to accept myself

I'm not entirely sure when I decided I should stop going to parties. To eschew dos, drinks things, screenings, soirees and shindigs. It might have been the time, at a fancy dress party, that I found myself telling a complete stranger how, when I was wearing a costume like theirs, I wet myself after underestimating the time to take off the outfit. (A straitjacket, if you're interested.)

Or it might have been the time I actually wet myself.

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Country diary 1920: early morning frost at the bottom of the great down

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 10:00 PM PST

6 March 1920 The rough cocksfoot and spear grass along the lane ditches bent over as with a light fall of snow, while the horses shivered down their quarters

Surrey, March 4
Hoar frost fell heavily in the early morning – it came from the south in a mist that clouded the moon; the rough cocksfoot and spear grass along the lane ditches bent over as with a light fall of snow. Cattle turned on to the pasture land smelt the air and stopped to low; when, a little later, the horses were set, some to the harrow and some to the drill, they shivered down their quarters; the labourers at each turn of the field swung their arms and called cheerily. The sound carried a long way; it roused an old sheep-dog in his kennel, and presently the ducks called to each other while they waddled about the farmyard.

Related: Country diary: Hurt Wood, Surrey Hills

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Coronavirus escalation could cut global economic growth in half – OECD

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PST

Several countries at risk of recession as Covid-19 spreads around the world

An escalation in the coronavirus outbreak could cut global economic growth in half and plunge several countries into recession this year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned.

Sounding the alarm as the disease spreads around the world and rattles investors, the OECD said that global GDP growth could plunge this year to as little as 1.5%, almost half the 2.9% rate it forecast before the outbreak took hold.

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Dominic Raab heads off to the Gulf with a full agenda

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 09:00 PM PST

War in Yemen and Saudia human rights repression will keep foreign secretary busy

Dramatic Houthi rebel advances and threats to end humanitarian aid in Yemen will lead Dominic Raab's agenda when he makes his first visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The British foreign secretary will also travel to Muscat later this week to meet the new Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, to discuss his role in any mediation talks in Yemen.

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Europe has turned its back on the Mediterranean – but there is still hope

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 12:01 AM PST

Growing up in the Maghreb, novelist Leïla Slimani remembers when the Mediterranean sea was not a border but the outline of a community, joining Africa to Europe

What if the future of freedom were being written in the Maghreb? What if we looked to the other side of the Mediterranean to find the most exciting collective adventures, to discern the outline of a new form of democracy where people questioned violence, economic power and the development of society in a new way?

Between 2011 and 2019, popular uprisings changed the destinies of first Tunisia and then Algeria. I was on Avenue Bourguiba when the Jasmine revolution began, and I have some extraordinary memories of those moments shared with the Tunisian people. I covered Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's Tunisia as a journalist from 2008 to 2011, and I had the feeling at the time that this country and its youth were dying. Young people were being driven to illegal emigration and suicide by the nation's ills: police brutality, the economic crisis, endemic corruption and mass unemployment. Tunisia had been undermined so deeply and systematically by its ruling regime that it was hard to see a way out of the situation. In Algeria, similar causes produced comparable effects. And there was a sense of amazement there too, among observers and the protesters. As the Algerian journalist and author Kamel Daoud put it: "We had forgotten that we were a people, and in the street, we were united once again, amid joy and laughter."

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Mike Bloomberg: why a troubling record on women could derail his 2020 bid

Posted: 02 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PST

The billionaire's past treatment of women has come under intense scrutiny – and the disquiet runs much deeper than lewd jokes

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has launched one of the most audacious campaigns for the presidency in modern America: pouring almost half a billion dollars of his vast fortune into creating the most expensive nomination bid in US history.

But as Bloomberg has toured the country seeking to be the Democratic pick to fight Donald Trump – and his ads have swamped the air waves and social media – the former New York city mayor's record on his behavior towards women, and women's issues, has come under intense scrutiny.

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Faulty condoms leave charity facing court case in Uganda

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 11:00 PM PST

Two men sue over alleged HIV and gonorrhoea infections that they claim were caused by defective contraceptives

Two Ugandan men have taken court action against an international charity for distributing faulty condoms which, they claim, led to one of them contracting HIV and the other gonorrhoea.

In a lawsuit, Joseph Kintu and Sulaiman Balinya say they bought Life Guard condoms from stores supplied by the Marie Stopes organisation in Uganda in October last year.

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Europe (and yes, that includes Britain) can still be a superpower | Timothy Garton Ash

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 11:00 PM PST

The key to European power projection isn't institutional reform, it's a shift in attitude and a willingness to cooperate

As a European leader once remarked, Europe should be a superpower, not a superstate. Faced with an increasingly powerful and authoritarian China, global heating, the challenge of AI, not to mention an aggressive Russia, chaotic Middle East and Trumpian United States, this argument is more compelling than ever. In a world of giants, you need to be a giant yourself. If we Europeans don't hang together, we will hang separately.

Most Europeans agree with this simple proposition. Indeed, this is one of the big things they want the European Union to do. But is Europe up to the job? The answer is not a simple yes or no. It depends what dimension of power we are talking about. In trade negotiations, the EU, which represents the biggest and richest multinational single market in the world through a single negotiator, is already a superpower. It has made trade deals with major economies, such as Canada and Japan, of which Brexit Britain can only dream.

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Britain is leaving Europe. The Guardian is not | Katharine Viner

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 10:19 PM PST

The editor-in-chief explains why the Guardian is deepening its commitment to European voices, issues and people

Today we are making a renewed and deeper commitment to reporting on every aspect of Europe – the continent, its people, its politics, institutions, economy and culture.

The Guardian is a European news organisation with a close relationship with our large and committed audience in Europe. And we believe readers, from Paris to Porto, Madrid to Munich, want journalism that tries to understand our continent better and to explore hopeful solutions to the crises and challenges facing it. At this critical moment in history, where many are turning to disengagement, introspection and national self-interest, we will stay open to shared perspectives and the public sphere.

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After early Iowa success, Pete Buttigieg's fiery campaign floundered in more diverse states

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 04:22 PM PST

The 38-year old former Indiana mayor has dropped out of the Democratic primary race after early success in Iowa and New Hampshire

Pete Buttigieg, the former Indiana mayor whose long-shot bid for the presidency saw brief success in Iowa and New Hampshire, has dropped out of the Democratic primary.

When Buttigieg launched his campaign in April of last year, the millennial mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana acknowledged his relative lack of experience in a growing primary field that came to include a former vice president, multiple senators and mayors of much larger cities.

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What happens if coronavirus spreads in Australia?

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 02:19 PM PST

Covid-19 is spreading around the globe but Australia has not yet had a case of community transmission. That is likely to change

With novel coronavirus (Covid-19) spreading with astonishing speed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that many health systems are not prepared to control infections if the disease hits. To mitigate the risk of outbreaks, WHO warned that countries need to have proactive surveillance, rapid diagnosis and immediate quarantine, plus an education campaign so the public knows proper hygiene and what to do if they become sick.

Australia reported its first Covid-19-related death on Sunday – 78-year-old James Kwan from Perth, a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. To date 30 cases have been reported in Australia and of those, 15 have recovered. There have been two cases of community transmission in NSW. One case involved a woman catching it from her brother who had recently returned from Iran. However, in a second case, a healthcare worker is believed to have contracted it without having travelled to an infection zone or been in direct contact with one of the few known infected people. Some health experts and researchers have said community spread is inevitable in Australia, and questions are being asked about how many people might need treatment in hospital and how many might become critically ill – and whether resources will cope.

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Pete Buttigieg quits Democratic race: 'The path has narrowed to a close' – video

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 08:00 PM PST

Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sunday, saying he no longer saw a chance of winning, the day after fellow moderate Joe Biden won a big victory in South Carolina.

The move shook up the Democratic contest to pick a candidate to take on Republican president Donald Trump in November's election and came two days before the 14-state Super Tuesday nominating contests that will offer the biggest electoral prize so far.

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Matt Hancock says Covid-19 outbreak could force UK to shut down cities – video

Posted: 01 Mar 2020 04:20 AM PST

The health secretary tells BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that the government is considering all options, from closing schools to banning large gatherings of people at sporting events or concerts, if the coronavirus continues to spread in the UK. Asked if it might follow the Chinese strategy of isolating cities with large outbreaks, he said: 'We don't take anything off the table at this stage'

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