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- Global calls to tackle Myanmar military's 'reign of terror' after worst mass killing
- The UK professor, a fake Russian spy and the undercover Syria sting
- Coronavirus live news: Moderna jab for under-50s in UK in April; Mexico death toll revised up by 60%
- Suez canal: Syria 'rations' fuel as efforts to free stuck ship fail
- Defiant Johnson tells China: ‘I stand behind sanctioned MPs’
- Republican senator Ted Cruz mocked for documentary-style trip to US-Mexico border
- Stalin statue site reveals chilling remains of Prague labour camp
- High court to rule on legality of Covid contracts for PM's 'chums'
- Scale of Tigray horror adds to pressure on Ethiopian leader
- Britain’s ‘brutal’ cuts to overseas aid put African science projects in peril
- ABC checking on presenter's wellbeing after expletives shouted during Adelaide news bulletin
- Mexico Covid death toll leaps 60% to reach 321,000
- Chile imposes lockdowns to fight new Covid wave despite vaccination success
- Unsafe workspaces: health fears grow as staff get set for the big return
- Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive
- Shanna Swan: 'Most couples may have to use assisted reproduction by 2045'
- ‘He’s riding a crest’: Ron DeSantis positions himself as keeper of Trump’s legacy
- Secular pilgrims: why ancient trails still pack a spiritual punch
- Yinka Shonibare: ‘You don’t want the next generation to be full of hate'
- Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat is a feast of favourite recipes and high camp
- Give us a clue: inside the world of amateur crime solvers
- Protest laws move UK towards paramilitary policing, says former chief
- The lawyer who took on Chevron – and now marks his 600th day under house arrest
- Coalition women call for MP drug and alcohol testing in response to sexual misconduct crisis
- 'Reclaim These Streets' and rubber duck rallies: human rights roundup – in pictures
- New Zealand's Covid quarantine fee change places politics over a citizen's right to return | Sarah Habershon
- Protesters face police in Myanmar in one of the bloodiest days since coup – video
| Global calls to tackle Myanmar military's 'reign of terror' after worst mass killing Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:56 PM PDT US secretary of state says Washington 'horrified' after bloodiest day since February coup The killing by Myanmar's military of more than 100 pro-democracy protesters in the single deadliest day since February's coup has drawn outrage from across the world, and calls for a stronger global response. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, strongly condemned the junta, saying Washington was "horrified" by the deaths on Saturday, and that the violence shows "that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few". Continue reading... |
| The UK professor, a fake Russian spy and the undercover Syria sting Posted: 28 Mar 2021 01:15 AM PDT Ex-Observer journalist tells of role in trap to expose disinformation tactics of defenders of the Assad regime A more sceptical academic than Paul McKeigue might perhaps have wondered if the emails flooding into his inbox from "Ivan", a purported Russian spy, were too good to be true. Ivan appeared to share many of McKeigue's own personal obsessions, particularly his desire to discredit investigators who compile evidence of war crimes committed in Syria. And he claimed access to both ready cash and secret intelligence. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: Moderna jab for under-50s in UK in April; Mexico death toll revised up by 60% Posted: 28 Mar 2021 02:15 AM PDT Minister confirms plans to roll out US vaccine to younger people within weeks; Mexico death toll revised by 60% to 321,000;
Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, has said the phased relaxation "could be delayed if the situation deteriorates" but at the moment the country is on track to continue easing. Asked by Andrew Marr if the Moderna vaccine will arrive in time to make up the delayed doses, Dowden said the government expects the US-made doses in April.
Palau's president has travelled to Taiwan to launch a travel corridor between the two coronavirus-free allies, AFP reports: A charter flight carrying president Surangel Whipps landed at Taoyuan international airport for the start of a four-day visit and to kick off what the two sides are billing as Asia's first travel bubble. He is set to return to Palau on Thursday with a group of 110 Taiwanese tourists on the first of weekly vacation flights. Continue reading... |
| Suez canal: Syria 'rations' fuel as efforts to free stuck ship fail Posted: 27 Mar 2021 09:48 PM PDT Syria oil ministry restricts supply as canal chief says 'technical or human errors' may have been behind stranding of the Ever Given Syrian authorities say they have begun rationing fuel as the blockage of the Suez canal stretched into a sixth day, delaying vital shipments and worsening the country's oil shortages. Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011 and faces a severe economic crisis. It had already announced a more than 50% rise in the price of petrol in mid-March. Continue reading... |
| Defiant Johnson tells China: ‘I stand behind sanctioned MPs’ Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:30 PM PDT Politicians facing Beijing ban for views on Uighurs are welcomed to Rose Garden Boris Johnson has made an orchestrated gesture of defiance to Beijing, and of support for its critics, by on Saturday meeting a cross-party group of MPs and peers sanctioned by China for their stance on human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Barely a month ago, the prime minister declared himself "fervently Sinophile", determined to pursue trade and investment deals with Beijing "whatever the occasional political difficulties". Continue reading... |
| Republican senator Ted Cruz mocked for documentary-style trip to US-Mexico border Posted: 27 Mar 2021 01:32 PM PDT Texas lawmaker recounted his mission to shed light on what conservatives have dubbed an immigration crisis Republican senator Ted Cruz has drawn criticism for taking a trip to America's southern border as the conservative Texan politician once again became the butt of internet jokes and memes. In the style of a wildlife documentary, Cruz captured his experience with the help of professional photographers and shared his recent journey to the US-Mexico border Thursday night on social media, where he aimed to shed light on what Republicans have dubbed a crisis. Continue reading... |
| Stalin statue site reveals chilling remains of Prague labour camp Posted: 28 Mar 2021 01:45 AM PDT Archaeologists have discovered foundations of the previously unknown structure in the city's Letná park The colossal monument to Joseph Stalin that towered over Prague at the height of the cold war stood as a frightening reminder of the Soviet dictator's tyranny and communism's seemingly unshakeable grip on the former Czechoslovakia. Nearly 60 years after its demolition, the brooding 15.5-metre (51ft) shrine retains a hold on the popular imagination, with locals referring to the now popular meeting point where it once stood as "Stalin's". Continue reading... |
| High court to rule on legality of Covid contracts for PM's 'chums' Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:15 PM PDT Campaigners claim Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock acted unlawfully Claims that Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock acted unlawfully by appointing their "chums" to three top jobs in the fight against Covid-19 – without opening the processes to competition – are to be the subject of an official legal challenge in the high court. Campaigners won an initial victory in the case last Thursday, when Mr Justice Swift granted their applications for a judicial review. In court, they will argue that the prime minister and the health secretary broke the rules and acted in a discriminatory way, running a "chumocracy" at the top of government. Continue reading... |
| Scale of Tigray horror adds to pressure on Ethiopian leader Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PDT New claims emerge of sexual atrocities and massacres by troops Pressure is mounting on Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, as the scale of horrors from his war against the northern Tigray region gradually emerge, revealing massacres, mass sexual violence and fears of ethnic cleansing. Ethiopia has for months insisted that its army's operations, which began in October last year, have officially ended and solely targeted the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) leadership and forces, which ruled Ethiopia for almost three decades before Abiy came to power. Continue reading... |
| Britain’s ‘brutal’ cuts to overseas aid put African science projects in peril Posted: 28 Mar 2021 12:15 AM PDT Lifesaving research on fighting drought and climate change at risk after snap decision to halt crucial funding For two years, the Rwandan-born scientist Anita Etale has been leading efforts to develop cheap methods to clean contaminated water supplies, a widespread problem in Africa. Based at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa, Etale had a £300,000 grant from Britain's Royal Society in 2019 to build a team of researchers, who went on to develop cleaning filters using maize and sugarcane stubble. "Finding cheap source materials is crucial to make affordable filters," Etale said Continue reading... |
| ABC checking on presenter's wellbeing after expletives shouted during Adelaide news bulletin Posted: 27 Mar 2021 06:20 PM PDT Radio presenter shouted multiple expletives and appeared to be ad-libbing bulletin before being taken off air An ABC radio presenter shouted an expletive twice during a late-night news broadcast in Adelaide before being abruptly taken off the air. The national broadcaster has said it is investigating the incident and making sure the staff member is OK. Continue reading... |
| Mexico Covid death toll leaps 60% to reach 321,000 Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:27 PM PDT New government report includes excess deaths and shows fatalities may exceed those of Brazil, the world's second worst-affected country Mexico's government has acknowledged that the country's true death toll from the coronavirus pandemic now stands above 321,000, almost 60% more than the official test-confirmed number of 201,429. Mexico does little testing, and because hospitals were overwhelmed, many Mexicans died at home without getting a test. The only way to get a clear picture is to review "excess deaths" and review death certificates. Continue reading... |
| Chile imposes lockdowns to fight new Covid wave despite vaccination success Posted: 28 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PDT Nearly half the population has received at least one vaccine dose but residents of the capital and other regions faces strict new curbs Despite mounting the world's fastest per-capita Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Chile has been forced to announce strict new lockdowns as it plunges deeper into a severe second wave of cases which is stretching intensive care capacity. Related: Chile emerges as global leader in Covid inoculations with 'pragmatic strategy' Continue reading... |
| Unsafe workspaces: health fears grow as staff get set for the big return Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:45 PM PDT Safety reps sound the alarm over lack of risk assessments, PPE and social distancing Millions of workers could be returning to unsafe workplaces without Covid risk assessments while the vaccines are still being rolled out and dangerous variants are circulating. A survey of union safety reps by the TUC suggests almost half of employers have not carried out a Covid risk assessment or have outdated, inadequate measures in place that may not prevent transmission of the virus. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive Posted: 27 Mar 2021 07:19 AM PDT The same thoroughness that made Angela Merkel's government a pandemic role model is now holding it back In December, two weeks before the European Medicines Agency authorised the first vaccine against Covid-19 for use across the European Union, Berlin unveiled a plan to rocket-fuel its immunisation drive with German precision engineering. Jabs would be mass-administered in purpose-built vaccination centres where patients could be shuttled through queuing lanes like cars through a car wash. A Lego display demonstrating the complex system's efficiency impressed journalists at a press launch, but set off alarm bells in the head of Janosch Dahmen, a former doctor turned Green party MP. "It all looked very logical in theory," says Dahmen, who worked on the pandemic frontline until November. "But looking at it as a doctor, I thought: that's not how vaccinations work in practice. Continue reading... |
| Shanna Swan: 'Most couples may have to use assisted reproduction by 2045' Posted: 28 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PDT The professor of environmental medicine explains how chemicals in plastics are causing our fertility to decline – and what we can do about it Shanna Swan is a professor of environmental medicine and public health at Mount Sinai school of medicine in New York City, studying fertility trends. In 2017 she documented how average sperm counts among western men have more than halved in the past 40 years. Count Down is her new book. You've spent more than 20 years examining the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals on reproductive health. Are you now sounding the alarm? |
| ‘He’s riding a crest’: Ron DeSantis positions himself as keeper of Trump’s legacy Posted: 28 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PDT The Florida governor appears to have the edge in the 'if-Trump-doesn't-win' primary as he claims victory over his pandemic critics "Covid's over, baby!" So proclaims a bare-chested man, wearing face paint like the Joker, nemesis of Batman, as he stands atop a car and waves the American national flag. This was the scene last weekend in Miami, Florida, a state that moved quickly to lift lockdowns, reopen schools, shelve mask mandates and become, in the words of its governor, Ron DeSantis, an "an oasis of freedom" during the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading... |
| Secular pilgrims: why ancient trails still pack a spiritual punch Posted: 28 Mar 2021 01:00 AM PDT Where kings and abbots walked, tourists now follow. Are these increasingly popular trips just another holiday or are we getting more religious? The numbers are striking and puzzling in our secular, sceptical age when organised religion in the west is in steep decline. In the early 1980s, the annual tally of those walking the Camino, the thousand-year-old Christian pilgrim route from France to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain, had dropped to a few thousand at best. By 2019, before Covid got in the way, it was almost 350,000. And this countercultural, modern-day resurrection of pilgrimage is not just limited to the Camino. As we dare this Easter to start making holiday plans again, plenty of pilgrim paths and destinations offer a chance to step back and get a perspective on the trauma we have lived through these past 12 months. Continue reading... |
| Yinka Shonibare: ‘You don’t want the next generation to be full of hate' Posted: 28 Mar 2021 01:30 AM PDT The artist on fostering hope, why he doesn't want a retrospective, and making work inspired by Picasso's African art collection The British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare makes work – often in sculpture, painting and tapestry – that looks unflinchingly at race, class and colonialism. The 58-year-old, who is partly paralysed after contracting a virus of the spine in his late teens, was one of the original YBAs and was shortlisted for the Turner prize in 2004. His 2010 sculpture Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, a scaled-down replica of HMS Victory with sails made from his signature batik fabric, was one of the most memorable artworks on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth and now has a permanent home outside the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Shonibare was recently given the 2021 Art Icon award by the Whitechapel Gallery. Congratulations on becoming the Whitechapel's eighth Art Icon. You join a storied list of artists, including Howard Hodgkin and Rachel Whiteread… |
| Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat is a feast of favourite recipes and high camp Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PDT The glorious sense of indulgence is matched by a life-saving sense of humour A still-warm yorkshire pudding is placed in a bowl. It's darker than I might like, but then my oven sometimes runs hotter than intended. I refuse to be judged for it. On top goes a dollop of thick, fridge-cold cream, bright white against the burnished brown. I lift the spoon from the tin to my side and hold it over the bowl to allow a slow, shimmering stream of golden syrup to join its pals. I pass each serving around the table to my family. There's a gentle chorus of sighs as they go in and, from my wife, a breathless "Oh God". Thank you, Nigella. You've gifted me my family's admiration. I can ask for no more. It is hard to describe this dessert as a recipe, although, of course, the yorkshire pudding demands one. It's more of an idea and a bloody good one at that: normally you eat yorkshire puddings that way but you could, you know, try it this way. That gets to the heart of How To Eat, by Nigella Lawson. It was first published in 1998 and announced less a cookery writer than a beguiling sensibility. It does, of course, contain many recipes. A lot of them are original to Nigella – excuse the first name familiarity; to do otherwise would be like referring to Madonna as Ms Ciccone – but many come from other people, because she thinks they're great. It's a cookbook with a bibliography. Here are nods to Arabella Boxer and Darina Allen, to Jane Grigson, Marcella Hazan and Alastair Little. Continue reading... |
| Give us a clue: inside the world of amateur crime solvers Posted: 28 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PDT They've got the time, the curiosity, the resources – and a thirst for true crime. Meet the amateur sleuths solving cases online It was the phone call from a police detective that told Tricia Griffith she had been right all along. In 2008, and in her late-40s, she had given up a 25-year career in radio to work full-time on websleuths.com, an online forum whose members band together from all over the world to investigate unsolved crimes. The call she took from the detective was about Abraham Shakespeare, a casual labourer who'd won $30m on the Florida lottery in 2006, before going missing in 2009. Not long after his disappearance, Websleuth members began discussing the case, and many became suspicious of Shakespeare's business partner, Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore, who had come into possession of Shakespeare's wealth and assets. Continue reading... |
| Protest laws move UK towards paramilitary policing, says former chief Posted: 28 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PDT Exclusive: Michael Barton, who led Durham force, says government should show common sense after pandemic A former police chief has warned that new protest laws move Britain dangerously in the direction of "paramilitary policing" and that UK ministers are "flexing their muscles via their police forces" like repressive regimes around the world. Michael Barton was head of crime operations for policing nationally, and chief constable of Durham constabulary until 2019, which inspectors rated as one of the best performing forces in Britain. Continue reading... |
| The lawyer who took on Chevron – and now marks his 600th day under house arrest Posted: 28 Mar 2021 01:00 AM PDT Steven Donziger has been detained at home since August 2019, the result of a Kafkaesque legal battle stemming from his crusade on behalf of Indigenous Amazonians Many of us will have felt the grip of claustrophobic isolation over the past year, but the lawyer Steven Donziger has experienced an extreme, very personal confinement as a pandemic arrived and then raged around him in New York City. On Sunday, Donziger reached his 600th day of an unprecedented house arrest that has resulted from a sprawling, Kafkaesque legal battle with the oil giant Chevron. Donziger spearheaded a lengthy crusade against the company on behalf of tens of thousands of Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest whose homes and health were devastated by oil pollution, only to himself become, as he describes it, the victim of a "planned targeting by a corporation to destroy my life". Continue reading... |
| Coalition women call for MP drug and alcohol testing in response to sexual misconduct crisis Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:28 PM PDT Liberal MPs Katie Allen and Sarah Henderson call for overhaul as another alleged incident of harassment reported Liberal MPs are calling for drug and alcohol testing of MPs as part of a shake-up of political culture following a series of sexual misconduct allegations plaguing the Morrison government. The call came as reports emerged of another alleged incident of harassment, with Nationals MP Anne Webster making a complaint against someone who harassed her in Parliament House. Continue reading... |
| 'Reclaim These Streets' and rubber duck rallies: human rights roundup – in pictures Posted: 27 Mar 2021 02:30 AM PDT Coverage on recent struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Cardiff Bay to Thailand Continue reading... |
| Posted: 27 Mar 2021 12:00 PM PDT The government knows that to quell the mutinous grumbling at home you have to nominate an 'outgroup' Since the beginning of the pandemic I've taken huge comfort in the knowledge that just about everyone I love is safely inside the fortress-like border that's been erected around New Zealand. I have no doubt that every other Kiwi still living or trapped in the Covid red-zones of the world feels the same way. But this week's announcement that returning citizens must now commit to a stay of at least six months, double the previous requirement of three, to avoid a NZ$3,100 (£1,600) fee for their managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) prioritises politics over their right to return. The government's official line on the issue is that the changes are being made in the interests of fairness and sustainability. In practice, the policy amounts to a thinly veiled deterrence strategy. A strategy with the additional bonus of delivering visible action in response to public restlessness following the recent series of lockdowns. It neither contributes meaningfully to meeting the cost of the policy nor makes the policy more equitable, but it does make for a satisfying user-pays narrative to placate resentment towards the border and those who cross it. Continue reading... |
| Protesters face police in Myanmar in one of the bloodiest days since coup – video Posted: 27 Mar 2021 12:52 PM PDT Unarmed civilians and children were reportedly killed on one of the bloodiest days since a military coup in Myanmar. Security forces killed more than 90 people on armed forces day as Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade in the capital the military would protect the people and strive for democracy State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot "in the head and back". Despite this, demonstrators against the 1 Feb coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns |
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