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- Israel air and ground forces hit targets in Gaza Strip as death toll climbs
- ‘A great day’: Biden hails relaxed CDC guidance for fully vaccinated Americans
- ‘Bodies are being eaten by hyenas; girls of eight raped’: inside the Tigray conflict
- Climate crisis is not a ‘partisan issue’, young Republican tells his own party
- Eighteen elephants found dead in Indian forest reserve
- ‘A game-changing moment’: Chile constitution could set new gender equality standard
- US officials confirm 130 incidents of mysterious Havana syndrome brain injury
- Prince Harry appears to criticise way he was raised by his father
- Agoraphobic pregnant woman can be forced into hospital, UK judge rules
- Nobel archives reveal judges’ safety fears for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Cat jumps from fifth-floor of burning Chicago building, bounces once and runs away
- Coronavirus live news: Japan prefectures to declare emergency; Ireland’s health IT systems suffer ransomware attack
- ‘No roadmap’: New Zealand mulls reopening options after a year of closed borders
- England will ‘flex’ Covid vaccinations to tackle India variant, minister says
- Taiwan reports record 29 new locally transmitted Covid cases
- ‘It’s impossible to take your eyes off this infinitely dear face’: the startling film about Stalin’s funeral
- Pedro Almodóvar and Tilda Swinton: ‘I love the idea of the woman on the edge of the abyss’
- ‘Hosnia had dreams’: grief in Kabul as girls’ school targeted
- Cyber Ninjas, UV lights and far-right funding: inside the strange Arizona 2020 election ‘audit’
- Heart singer Ann Wilson: ‘Success was a Faustian bargain we made’
- Oh yes! The best books about sex
- Israel launches fresh Gaza attacks amid rocket fire – updates
- ‘It’s a minefield’: US restaurant workers leave industry over Covid
- Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys loses defamation case against ABC over animal cruelty report
- Rape is being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia, say witnesses
- Campaigners lose court case to stop Ugandan forest clearance
- Violence against women ‘a pandemic’, warns UN envoy
- Samoa is experiencing a bloodless coup. The Pacific’s most stable democracy is in trouble | Fiona Ey
- Violence and mayhem offer Benjamin Netanyahu refuge | Harriet Sherwood
- Cat lands unharmed after jump from fifth-floor of burning Chicago building – video
- Eid al-Fitr celebrations around the world – in pictures
| Israel air and ground forces hit targets in Gaza Strip as death toll climbs Posted: 14 May 2021 12:18 AM PDT Military says ground forces are carrying out strikes on Gaza Strip – but are not operating inside territory – amid escalating crisis Israel's military has said its ground and air forces are attacking targets in the Gaza Strip as residents reported a massive bombardment, amid fears that Israel would launch an incursion into the blockaded territory. "[Israel Defense Forces] air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement just after midnight local time, without providing further details. Continue reading... |
| ‘A great day’: Biden hails relaxed CDC guidance for fully vaccinated Americans Posted: 13 May 2021 02:03 PM PDT Rochelle Walensky announces relaxation of guidelines: 'We have longed for this moment … [to] get back some sense of normalcy' As coronavirus cases and deaths decline across the US amid vaccination efforts, the director of the CDC said Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans could participate in most indoor activities without wearing a mask. An unmasked president Joe Biden heralded the announcement during an outdoor press conference several hours later, saying: "Today is a great day for America in our long battle with coronavirus." Continue reading... |
| ‘Bodies are being eaten by hyenas; girls of eight raped’: inside the Tigray conflict Posted: 14 May 2021 02:06 AM PDT A nun working in war-torn Tigray has shared her harrowing testimony of the atrocities taking place The Ethiopian nun, who has to remain anonymous for her own security, is working in Mekelle, Tigray's capital, and surrounding areas, helping some of the tens of thousands of people displaced by the fighting who have been streaming into camps in the hope of finding shelter and food. Both are in short supply. Humanitarian aid is being largely blocked and a wholesale crackdown is seeing civilians being picked off in the countryside, either shot or rounded up and taken to overcrowded prisons. She spoke to Tracy McVeigh this week. "After the last few months I'm happy to be alive. I have to be OK. Mostly we are going out to the IDP [internally displaced people] camps and the community centres where people are. They are in a bad way. Continue reading... |
| Climate crisis is not a ‘partisan issue’, young Republican tells his own party Posted: 13 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Peter Meijer, 33-year-old Michigan congressman, says Republicans are in midst of 'generational shift' – but progress is slow Lies that hamburgers will be banned, conspiracy-laden claims of government tyranny, blame for environmental degradation foisted upon immigrants – the Republican response to Joe Biden's climate agenda suggests the base instincts of Donald Trump still strongly animate the party. Related: Asia is home to 99 of world's 100 most vulnerable cities Continue reading... |
| Eighteen elephants found dead in Indian forest reserve Posted: 14 May 2021 02:25 AM PDT Lightning or poisoning cited as possible causes of deaths in protected area in Assam state Authorities are trying to establish how 18 wild Asiatic elephants died in a remote corner of India's north-east. The elephants, including five calves, were found dead in the protected Kondali forest reserve in the state of Assam, Jayanta Goswami, a wildlife official, told Associated Press. The forest guard reached the area on Thursday and found 14 elephants dead atop a hill and four at its bottom. Continue reading... |
| ‘A game-changing moment’: Chile constitution could set new gender equality standard Posted: 14 May 2021 02:30 AM PDT Chileans to elect 155-strong assembly made up of equivalent men and women to set out new framework and enshrine equal rights Women's rights activists in Chile say that the country's new constitution will catalyze progress for women in the country – and could set a new global standard for gender equality in politics. In a two-day vote this weekend, Chileans will elect a 155-strong citizens' assembly to write a new constitution for the country – the first anywhere in the world to be written by an equal number of men and women. Continue reading... |
| US officials confirm 130 incidents of mysterious Havana syndrome brain injury Posted: 13 May 2021 02:25 PM PDT US diplomats, spies and defence officials have reported serious symptoms, some within the past few weeks There have been more than 130 incidents of unexplained brain injury known as Havana syndrome among US diplomats, spies and defence officials, some of them within the past few weeks, it has been reported. The New York Times said three CIA officers had reported serious symptoms since December, following overseas assignments, requiring outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington. One episode was within the past two weeks. Continue reading... |
| Prince Harry appears to criticise way he was raised by his father Posted: 13 May 2021 03:26 PM PDT Duke of Sussex also speaks of 'genetic pain and suffering' in royal family in new interview in US The Duke of Sussex has appeared to criticise the way he was raised by Prince Charles, discussing the "genetic pain and suffering" in the royal family and stressing that he wanted to "break the cycle" for his children. In a wide-ranging 90-minute interview, Prince Harry, who is expecting a daughter with Meghan and is already father to Archie, two, likened life in the royal family to a mix between being in The Truman Show and being in a zoo. Continue reading... |
| Agoraphobic pregnant woman can be forced into hospital, UK judge rules Posted: 13 May 2021 11:20 PM PDT Judge rules medical staff can use minimum force on woman who has barely left home in four years Medics can use force to remove an agoraphobic pregnant woman from her home so she can give birth in hospital, a judge has ruled. Justice Holman concluded that it would be in the 21-year-old's best interests to allow staff trained in restraint techniques to use minimum force if the woman refused to leave home. Continue reading... |
| Nobel archives reveal judges’ safety fears for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Posted: 14 May 2021 02:56 AM PDT Swedish Academy documents reveal debate over naming the dissident writer the 1970 literature laureate, four years before his exile from the Soviet Union Newly opened archives at the Swedish Academy have revealed the depth of concern among Nobel judges for the consequences awaiting Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn if the dissident Soviet writer were awarded the prize for literature in 1970. The author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, who revealed the horrors of Stalin's gulags in his writings and was eventually exiled by the Soviet Union, was named the Nobel laureate that year, lauded by the committee for "the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature". Continue reading... |
| Cat jumps from fifth-floor of burning Chicago building, bounces once and runs away Posted: 13 May 2021 10:54 PM PDT Feline survives daring leap from office block in video captured by Chicago Fire Department A Chicago cat has survived after jumping out of a fifth-floor window to escape an apartment fire. Chicago Fire Department personnel were taking a video of the exterior of the building as firefighters were extinguishing the blaze when a black cat appeared through billowing smoke at a broken window. The feline briefly tested the side of the building with its front paws, and then jumped. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 14 May 2021 02:49 AM PDT Japan to declare state of emergency in three more prefectures; Ireland says vaccine programme will be unaffected by IT shutdown
Coronavirus is raging in India's hinterland, where in some places bodies are being buried in shallow graves or given up to rivers and the sick have little hope other than herbal remedies and amateur doctors. Kidwai Ahmad, from Sadullahpur village in Uttar Pradesh, a huge northern state, said the situation is "disastrous" with people dying all around his neighbourhood.
Not everybody is pleased with the way that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to lift its recommendation on face masks. Leana Wen writes for the Washington Post: For months, I have been criticizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for being too cautious with its guidance for what fully vaccinated people can do. I saw little incentive for people to be vaccinated against covid-19 if they had to keep wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and refraining from nonessential travel. On Thursday, the CDC abruptly reversed course, announcing that fully vaccinated people can essentially resume all aspects of pre-pandemic life. This announcement would be very welcome if not for one big problem: There is no concurrent requirement for proof of vaccination. Without it, the CDC announcement could end up increasing confusion, removing incentives for those yet to be inoculated and delaying the eventual goal of herd immunity that would get society truly back to normal. Continue reading... |
| ‘No roadmap’: New Zealand mulls reopening options after a year of closed borders Posted: 13 May 2021 10:25 PM PDT With international tourism frozen, families separated and expats feeling abandoned, the question of how to reopen is becoming pressing As vaccination continues around the world, the New Zealand government has begun providing glimpses of how the country will eventually reopen its borders. But there's no immediate end in sight, even for expats who have received vaccinations overseas. New Zealand has been closed to most international visitors for more than a year now. Anyone entering the country – except via recently-opened travel bubbles with Australia and the Cook Islands – is required to spend two weeks in government-run isolation. Even those spaces are only open to citizens, permanent residents or essential workers. For those eligible, access is still limited – at times, all spots in isolation have been booked out for months in advance. And while there are now spaces available, the cost of a visit is prohibitive for many: NZ$3,100 for anyone who left the country temporarily, or who is visiting for less than three months, and NZ$5,520 for those on a work visa. Continue reading... |
| England will ‘flex’ Covid vaccinations to tackle India variant, minister says Posted: 14 May 2021 01:51 AM PDT Deployment of jabs could be speeded up for multi-generational households in areas virus is spreading quickly Ministers will "flex" England's vaccination programme in response to concerns over the spread of the India variant, a government minister has confirmed. Areas where the B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, is spreading quickly could receive accelerated vaccinations for multi-generational households, with anyone over 18 offered the jab. Continue reading... |
| Taiwan reports record 29 new locally transmitted Covid cases Posted: 14 May 2021 01:55 AM PDT Rapid testing stations to be set up for first time after 16 cases linked to teahouses and hostess bars in Taipei Taiwan has reported 29 new community transmission cases of Covid-19, its highest single-day figure since the pandemic began, including seven with no known source. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control said 16 cases were linked to teahouses and hostess bars in the Wanhua neighbourhood in Taipei. One was linked to a cluster in Yilan and five to a cluster in New Taipei. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 14 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT Crafted from footage locked for years in an archive, Sergei Loznitsa's State Funeral focuses on the motivations of the mourners who lived under the brutal regime "At 21.50, due to cardiovascular and respiratory failure, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin died," intones an announcer. A woman takes off her hat, on the verge of tears. A handsome youth in a military uniform stares stoically at his feet. One middle-aged man glances self-consciously at the camera, as if to check it is still watching him, before looking down again. Again and again, our focus is drawn to faces in the crowds all across the Soviet Union. Not all are reverent. Some people shuffle, chat, chew, smoke, even half-smile. The broadcasters' praise for Stalin becomes ever more ludicrous: "We knew he was the best on our planet … It's impossible to take your eyes off this infinitely dear face. Your eyes are full of tears, you hold your breath, you are overwhelmed with sorrow shared by millions, hundreds of millions of people." Continue reading... |
| Pedro Almodóvar and Tilda Swinton: ‘I love the idea of the woman on the edge of the abyss’ Posted: 13 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT The director and actor have finally achieved 'a far-fetched dream' by working together on his first film in English, The Human Voice. They talk about their mutual admiration, filming in lockdown – and how falling in love can destroy your sense of humour For more than 30 years, the film-maker Pedro Almodóvar has had a voice in his head – The Human Voice, that is. In Jean Cocteau's monologue, first performed in 1930, a woman goes to pieces during a telephone conversation with her soon-to-be-ex lover. The audience hears only one side of the exchange, lending her the upper hand in the drama at the precise moment she has been robbed of everything else. Almodóvar has now adapted Cocteau's piece into a typically plush half-hour short starring Tilda Swinton as the injured party, though this isn't his first brush with the material. A performance of the play is glimpsed in his seamy 1987 masterpiece The Law of Desire, while it was also the inspiration for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the 1988 screwball comedy that gave him his first international hit. Continue reading... |
| ‘Hosnia had dreams’: grief in Kabul as girls’ school targeted Posted: 13 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Hazara community in mourning but defiant after more than 60 people killed in school bomb blasts
When Latifa transferred to Sayed Al-Shuhada, the two girls were immediately drawn to each other and became best friends, always together in their free time, studying side by side, walking home together after school. They found comfort in each other's presence; support in a place that has never been easy for girls and women. Continue reading... |
| Cyber Ninjas, UV lights and far-right funding: inside the strange Arizona 2020 election ‘audit’ Posted: 14 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT Election experts are watching the effort with alarm, saying officials are not using a reliable methodology – and fear it could be a model for Republicans to try elsewhere One of the first things you see when you step outside Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the ageing arena in Phoenix, is the Crazy Times Carnival, a temporary spectacle set up in the parking lot. In the evenings, just as the sun is setting, lights from the ferris wheel, the jingle of the carousel and shrieks of joy fill the massive desert sky. Continue reading... |
| Heart singer Ann Wilson: ‘Success was a Faustian bargain we made’ Posted: 14 May 2021 02:00 AM PDT As the trailblazing band approach their 50th anniversary, Wilson recalls the misery of fame, Heart's underrated male members and finally realising her creative ambitions as a solo artist Ann Wilson vividly remembers Heart's big break. In October 1975, the fledgling group, then based in Vancouver, were offered their biggest show to date, opening for Rod Stewart at a Montreal arena. Heart happened to be available – in fact, they had just been fired from a Calgary club gig – and were eager to drum up support for their recently released debut LP, Dreamboat Annie. But when the band walked on to the stage, Wilson was taken aback to be greeted with a sea of lit matches held aloft by the audience. "I thought that it was some kind of mistake," she says. "We started playing Magic Man and the place just came unglued. That's when I realised it was for us." It's difficult now to imagine Wilson feeling hesitant. Heart quickly went Top 10 in the US with that debut, and then went supernova in the 80s, twice topping the US singles chart with their ultra-emphatic power balladry. Wilson's fiery vocals were paired with her sister Nancy's piercing, intricate guitars, and the band exuded ferocious confidence on karaoke jams such as Alone – a No 3 hit in the UK – and All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You. Although her voice is frequently compared with that of Robert Plant, Ann's sinewy howl was a singular revelation, untethered from expectations of what a rock frontwoman should sound like. Continue reading... |
| Oh yes! The best books about sex Posted: 13 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT From a guide to being an 'ethical slut' to Charlotte Roche's disturbing Wetlands, historian Kate Lister picks the best books about the beauty, ugliness and joy of sexuality From sex history and modern erotica to self-help books and the art of penis origami, sex is a topic that spans every generation and culture in the world, so any "best" list can only offer the books that have meant the most to me, personally and professionally, as a historian of sex. Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France by Robin Mitchell is an impeccably researched history of how ideas of blackness and black women were appropriated by 19th-century white French culture as hypersexual, predatory and "exotic". It opens with the story of Sarah Baartman, the so-called "Hottentot Venus" who was paraded on tour before white paying tourists, and Mitchell's passionate rejection of the idea that historians should be objective and unemotional about their subject. The book is a triumph not only because it shows how narratives around black women's bodies have evolved, but because Mitchell unashamedly makes the personal political. Continue reading... |
| Israel launches fresh Gaza attacks amid rocket fire – updates Posted: 14 May 2021 02:38 AM PDT Latest news after IDF says ground forces have joined the attacks on Gaza Strip but have not entered the enclave
People across Gaza are fleeing their homes and taking refuge in temporary shelters, according to AP. Families arrived in pickup trucks, on donkeys and by foot at schools in the Strip run by the United Nations, hauling pillows and pans, blankets and bread. Men lugged large plastic bags and women carried infants on their shoulders, cramming into classrooms.
My colleagues published this photograph on the blog overnight, but it's such a powerful image it deserves to be shared with people who are now up and about in different time zones. On the right: rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. On the left: Iron Dome interceptors. Picture taken by Anas Baba, a photographer with Agence France-Presse. Continue reading... |
| ‘It’s a minefield’: US restaurant workers leave industry over Covid Posted: 14 May 2021 02:30 AM PDT Workers cite exploitative practices and lack of Covid safety protections as some employers and officials claim unemployment benefits deter people from returning to work Jake Galardi Marko has worked in the restaurant industry for the past 10 years, and recently took a new server position at a Cheesecake Factory in Las Vegas, Nevada, after quitting his job at the Olive Garden of two years during the pandemic due to abuse from customers over Covid-19 protections. Related: Cars, lumber and chicken: the shortages triggered by the end of lockdowns Continue reading... |
| Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys loses defamation case against ABC over animal cruelty report Posted: 14 May 2021 02:13 AM PDT Judge says ABC program made V'landys look 'rather foolish' but chief executive was not defamed in racehorses story Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys has lost his defamation case against the ABC over a report showing graphic footage of retired racehorses being slaughtered at a Queensland abattoir. While the 7.30 program titled The Final Race did not portray the chief executive in a positive light, it did not defame him, federal court justice Michael Wigney said on Friday. Continue reading... |
| Rape is being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia, say witnesses Posted: 13 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Ethiopian nun speaks of widespread horror she and colleagues are seeing on a daily basis inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray Thousands of women and girls are being targeted by the deliberate tactic of using rape as a weapon in the civil war that has erupted in Ethiopia, according to eyewitnesses. In a rare account from inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray, where communications with the outside world are being deliberately cut off, an Ethiopian nun has spoken of the widespread horror she and her colleagues are seeing on a daily basis since a savage war erupted six months ago. Continue reading... |
| Campaigners lose court case to stop Ugandan forest clearance Posted: 13 May 2021 08:10 AM PDT Court ruling gives go-ahead for sugar plantation in Bugoma forest, home to endangered chimpanzees Conservationists in Uganda have condemned as "shallow and absurd" a court ruling that authorised the government to allow swathes of a tropical forest to be cleared for a sugar-cane plantation. Three environmental groups had taken the government to court over a decision to allow Hoima Sugar Ltd to build on 5,500 hectares (13,500 acres) in the Bugoma Forest Reserve. Continue reading... |
| Violence against women ‘a pandemic’, warns UN envoy Posted: 13 May 2021 05:14 AM PDT A decade after Istanbul convention was drawn up to end gender-based violence, activists report decline in women's rights and safety A decade after the launch of the Istanbul convention, the landmark human rights treaty to stop gender-based violence, women are facing a global assault on their rights and safety, according to campaigners. This week marked 10 years since the first 13 countries signed up to the convention, seen as a turning point in efforts to address violence against women. Continue reading... |
| Samoa is experiencing a bloodless coup. The Pacific’s most stable democracy is in trouble | Fiona Ey Posted: 13 May 2021 05:20 PM PDT The government's actions after last month's elections call democracy into question and set a dangerous precedent for developing nations Samoa has long been touted as a beacon of democracy and political stability in the Pacific, a region troubled by military coups and civil strife. The prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is the world's second longest serving prime minister, having held the office for more than 22 years. But the latest election in the country, held last month, saw the most serious challenge to Malielegaoi's ruling Human Rights Protection party (HRPP), and has left the country without a clear result. In the weeks since, the government has used every method available to it – and some that arguably are not – to hold on to power. What the government is doing is effectively a bloodless coup. Continue reading... |
| Violence and mayhem offer Benjamin Netanyahu refuge | Harriet Sherwood Posted: 13 May 2021 05:58 AM PDT Analysis: The Israeli PM seemed to be on the way out, until the eruption of conflict with the Palestinians The escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza has put efforts to form a coalition government that excludes Israel's longest-serving prime minister on the back burner. Until violence erupted this week, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on the verge of losing his position at the helm of Israeli politics after 12 years as prime minister. Continue reading... |
| Cat lands unharmed after jump from fifth-floor of burning Chicago building – video Posted: 14 May 2021 12:24 AM PDT A cat in Chicago has survived after jumping out of a fifth-floor window to escape an apartment fire. Chicago fire department personnel were taking a video of the exterior of the building as firefighters were extinguishing the blaze when a black cat appeared through billowing smoke at a broken window. The feline briefly tested the side of the building with its front paws, then jumped. The cat survived the leap uninjured Continue reading... |
| Eid al-Fitr celebrations around the world – in pictures Posted: 13 May 2021 01:05 PM PDT Around the world, Eid al-Fitr celebrations have been taking place in another unprecedented year. With the uneven distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, Muslims in countries like the US and UK have been able to gather en masse for the first time in over a year and celebrate the end of Ramadan. Meanwhile, across Asia, some ceremonies have been more muted and somber, as families continue to lose members to the virus. Adding to the complex emotions amid this year's celebration, Muslim communities have been demonstrating solidarity with those affected by the crisis in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people, including many children. As millions share traditional feasts after a month of fasting, Eid will continue through the evening, and often through the week |
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