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

Tory quarrels determined UK’s post-Brexit future, says Barnier
Revealed: 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks
Coronavirus live: India G7 delegation self-isolating after two members test positive; no decision in UK on booster shots yet
People’s party wins Madrid snap election but fails to get majority
Explosives and weaponry found at US far-right protests, documents reveal
Jersey hits back at ‘disproportionate’ French threat to cut electricity
Myanmar junta bans satellite dishes in media crackdown
US seen as bigger threat to democracy than Russia or China, global poll finds
France still split over Napoleon as it marks bicentenary of death
Derek Chauvin: ex-officer convicted in George Floyd’s murder asks for new trial
Giant wood moth: ‘very heavy’ insect rarely seen by humans spotted at Australian school
Pfizer forecasts $26bn from annual sales of Covid-19 vaccine
UN raises serious human rights concerns over Australia’s India travel ban
The US won’t reach herd immunity this year. So how will it live with Covid?
As UK nears zero Covid deaths, there’s good reason for optimism
Times change but Guardian values don’t: 200 years, and we’ve only just begun | Katharine Viner
Posy Simmonds returns with a new work to mark the Guardian’s 200th anniversary
Donald Trump returns to social media with glorified blog
Gaming in colour: uncovering video games’ black pioneers
Kremlin bears down on Moscow bureau of US-funded radio station
‘It was truly an experiment’: how did we get to Sesame Street?
‘I’m going to follow my mind’: Falle Nioke, the Guinean musician who moved to Margate
Anger mounts as death toll from Mexico metro overpass collapse rises to 24
Brisbane father of two claims $2m in damages after being jailed by judge during family law hearing
More trafficking victims facing forcible removal from UK under rule change
UN condemns violent repression of Colombia protests after at least 18 die
Threats to safety force dozens of Afghan journalists to go into hiding
Child marriage ‘thriving in UK’ due to legal loophole, warn rights groups
Japanese town spends Covid funds on 13-metre squid statue – video

Tory quarrels determined UK’s post-Brexit future, says Barnier

Posted: 05 May 2021 01:15 AM PDT

Revealed: EU chief negotiator's diaries, The Great Illusion, give blow-by-blow account of moves behind UK's departure

Britain's post-Brexit future was determined by "the quarrels, low blows, multiple betrayals and thwarted ambitions of a certain number of Tory MPs", the EU's chief negotiator has said in his long-awaited diaries.

The UK's early problem, writes Michel Barnier in The Great Illusion, his 500-page account, was that they began by "talking to themselves. And they underestimate the legal complexity of this divorce, and many of its consequences."

Revealed: 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks

Posted: 04 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT

A Guardian analysis finds EU countries used brutal tactics to stop nearly 40,000 asylum seekers crossing borders

EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe's borders during the pandemic, linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.

In one of the biggest mass expulsions in decades, European countries, supported by EU's border agency Frontex, systematically pushed back refugees, including children fleeing from wars, in their thousands, using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.

Coronavirus live: India G7 delegation self-isolating after two members test positive; no decision in UK on booster shots yet

Posted: 05 May 2021 02:25 AM PDT

UK government says two members tested positive for Covid; UK minister says experts still deciding when booster shots are needed

10.25am BST

Gibraltar has announced it will not require UK tourists to be tested for coronavirus when foreign holidays resume.

In a phrase further torturing the very concept of what a "staycation" actually is, chief minister Fabian Picardo said the Rock offers a "great British staycation in the Mediterranean".

10.22am BST

Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout at Reuters have summed up one of the key moments from this morning's UK media round – vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi says the UK government is assessing the possible need for a third Covid-19 vaccine dose for the elderly and vulnerable, to be given in the autumn, after all adults are given their initial two-shot regime.

"The clinicians haven't yet made their decision when they will need to boost, whether to give more immunity to the most vulnerable, to increase the durability of the protection, or to deal with a variant," Zahawi told Sky News.

People’s party wins Madrid snap election but fails to get majority

Posted: 04 May 2021 03:34 PM PDT

Isabel Díaz Ayuso's conservatives take 65 of 136 seats and will need support of far-right Vox party

Spain's conservative People's party has won a resounding victory but fallen just short of an absolute majority in a Madrid regional election dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and marked by a bitter and deeply polarised campaign.

The PP, led by incumbent regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, won 65 seats in the 136-seat regional assembly, more than doubling its tally in the 2019 regional election and taking more seats than all three leftwing parties combined. However, its failure to cross the majority threshold of 69 seats means it will now have to rely on the help of the far-right Vox party to form a new government.

Explosives and weaponry found at US far-right protests, documents reveal

Posted: 05 May 2021 02:00 AM PDT

Law enforcement discovers wide range of incendiary devices while NYPD document defines rightwing groups as extremists

Federal government documents obtained by the Guardian show a wide range of explosives, flamethrowers and incendiary devices found by law enforcement agencies outside political conventions, public buildings and protests during 2020 and 2021.

The extent of the weaponry – including timed devices deposited as part of a suspected pro-Trump bomb plot –reveals the perils and potential violence circulating through American politics in the grip of unrest linked to pandemic shutdowns, anti-racism protests and rightwing activism and insurrection that culminated in the attack on the Capitol in Washington.

Jersey hits back at ‘disproportionate’ French threat to cut electricity

Posted: 05 May 2021 02:07 AM PDT

Paris threatens to take retaliatory measures in row over post-Brexit licences for French fishing boats

Jersey has accused France of making "disproportionate" threats after Paris warned it could cut off electricity to the island in a row over post-Brexit fishing rights.

The maritime minister, Annick Girardin, warned on Tuesday France was ready to take "retaliatory measures" after accusing the Channel Island of dragging its feet over issuing new licences to French boats.

Myanmar junta bans satellite dishes in media crackdown

Posted: 04 May 2021 11:07 PM PDT

Anyone who installs satellite dishes could face a one-year prison sentence or $320 fine, military-controlled media reported

Myanmar's military junta has banned satellite dishes, threatening prison sentences for anyone who violates the measure, as it intensifies its crackdown on access to independent news outlets.

The junta, which faces unanimous opposition from the public and has struggled to maintain order, has imposed increasingly tough restrictions on communication since seizing power on 1 February.

US seen as bigger threat to democracy than Russia or China, global poll finds

Posted: 05 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Belief in importance of democracy high in 53 sampled countries but inequality and big tech companies seen as biggest threats

The US faces an uphill task presenting itself as the chief guardian of global democracy, according to a new poll that shows the US is seen around the world as more of a threat to democracy than even Russia and China.

The poll finds support for democracy remains high even though citizens in democratic countries rate their governments' handling of the Covid crisis less well than people in less democratic countries.

France still split over Napoleon as it marks bicentenary of death

Posted: 04 May 2021 09:00 PM PDT

President to tread fine line as he lays a wreath to 'commemorate rather than celebrate' anniversary

On 5 May 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in a surprisingly small bed surrounded by his French coterie in exile in a damp and reportedly rat-infested house on the British island of Saint Helena.

His last words, uttered shortly before he expired around 5.59pm local time were relayed back: "La France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine …" (France, the army, head of the army, Joséphine). He was 51.

Derek Chauvin: ex-officer convicted in George Floyd’s murder asks for new trial

Posted: 04 May 2021 04:49 PM PDT

Attorney Eric Nelson alleges prosecutorial and jury misconduct and errors of law at trial and says the verdict was contrary to law

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, has asked a judge for a new trial, according to a court document filed Tuesday.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, said his client had been deprived of a fair trial, adding that there had been prosecutorial and jury misconduct and errors of law at trial and that the verdict was contrary to law.

Giant wood moth: ‘very heavy’ insect rarely seen by humans spotted at Australian school

Posted: 04 May 2021 10:38 PM PDT

Mammoth moth which can have 25cm wingspan found by builders working on Queensland primary school

A giant moth with a wingspan measuring up to 25cm has been found at a Queensland school next to a rainforest.

Builders found the giant wood moth, the heaviest moth in the world, while constructing new classrooms at Mount Cotton state school.

Pfizer forecasts $26bn from annual sales of Covid-19 vaccine

Posted: 04 May 2021 06:12 AM PDT

Vaccine will generate 73% more than forecast based on contracts signed until mid-April

The US drugmaker Pfizer has smashed its sales forecasts and now expects to bring in $26bn (£19bn) of revenue from its Covid-19 vaccine this year, with its soaraway product accounting for more than a third of the company's annual income.

The company had expected the vaccine to bring in $15bn over the course of 2021, and the 73% increase in expected revenues to $26bn is still likely to be an underestimate as it counts only orders received by the middle of April and Pfizer is expected to sign more multibillion dollar supply contracts.

UN raises serious human rights concerns over Australia’s India travel ban

Posted: 04 May 2021 05:35 PM PDT

'Nobody's going to be jailed … at this time,' deputy PM Michael McCormack says

UN human rights officials have raised "serious concerns" about the Morrison government's ban on Australians returning from India, and the severe penalties attached to breaches.

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights has questioned whether the controversial temporary measure – which can attract maximum penalties of five years' imprisonment or $66,600 – is consistent with Australia's human rights obligations.

The US won’t reach herd immunity this year. So how will it live with Covid?

Posted: 05 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Daily life will vary depending on where you live, and how local officials decide to implement – or ignore – public health measures

For many months, members of the public have equated a return to "normal life" with the phrase "herd immunity": that threshold reached when the Covid-19 pandemic would be boxed in by immunization campaigns, find no new hosts and society would return to a 2019-style normal.

As UK nears zero Covid deaths, there’s good reason for optimism

Posted: 04 May 2021 09:54 AM PDT

Analysis: the vaccine strategy and staggered easing of restrictions have worked well. The next step is crucial

The handling of the coronavirus crisis in the UK has provided few moments to celebrate, but the day we reach zero deaths from the disease will clearly be one to toast. That day may not be far off. On Tuesday, the UK reported four Covid deaths within 28 days of a positive test. On Monday it was only one. Months of painful lockdown, in the face of more transmissible variants, and the rapid rollout of effective vaccines, have proven their worth. We have good reason to feel optimistic for the months ahead.

No one will have forgotten the brutal winter. In January alone, the UK reported nearly 32,000 Covid deaths, an appalling tally directly linked to locking down too late. In April, the death toll fell to 753. This month, scientists advising the government expect deaths to fall further. It is worth remembering that it's been more than nine months since the UK last reported zero Covid deaths. We may see more in May, though people will continue to die of Covid, and the numbers might well rise again when restrictions are lifted on indoor mixing.

Times change but Guardian values don’t: 200 years, and we’ve only just begun | Katharine Viner

Posted: 04 May 2021 11:35 PM PDT

On the Guardian's 200th anniversary, our editor-in-chief sets out how media can help rebuild a better world beyond Covid

I remember the day, in late March 2020, when I first worried that we might not be able to publish a newspaper, for what would have been only the second time in the Guardian's history. I had driven into the office – no one was taking the train any more. Classed as an essential worker, I was permitted to travel, but the streets were utterly silent, with every school, cafe and shop closed.

I sat down with colleagues, spaced apart by yellow tape, to work out whether we could gather enough people to produce a print edition. We could publish the digital Guardian from anywhere, but to publish the newspaper, we needed a small number of people in the office. A handful of colleagues volunteered, but I wondered how we would be able to keep everything going. People were anxious for their families and friends and themselves – and frightened, too, for what kind of world we were entering, and what we would be left with.

Posy Simmonds returns with a new work to mark the Guardian’s 200th anniversary

Posted: 05 May 2021 02:00 AM PDT

Join the throng for the bicentenary celebrations on our party page

Donald Trump returns to social media with glorified blog

Posted: 04 May 2021 03:36 PM PDT

Ex-president unveils retro webpage featuring series of statements resembling blogposts ahead of Facebook oversight board's decision on his suspension

Banned by Facebook and Twitter, Donald Trump has gone back to the future with an online communication tool that might be described as a glorified blog.

His retro webpage, billed "From the Desk of Donald J Trump", appears at DonaldJTrump.com/desk and features a small photo of the 45th president writing in a book on his desk.

Gaming in colour: uncovering video games’ black pioneers

Posted: 05 May 2021 01:30 AM PDT

Jerry Lawson led the invention of cartridges, Ed Smith made a hybrid console/PC, and designer Muriel Tramis won France's highest honour for bringing history into play. How many more names are forgotten?

In the 1970s, in the fledgling days of the video games industry, an engineer named Gerald "Jerry" Lawson designed one of the earliest game consoles, the Channel F, and also led the team that invented the game cartridge, a defining innovation in how games were made and sold. His son, Andersen Lawson, recalls that he was often working on gaming projects in the garage of their family home in Santa Clara, California. "There have been conversations recently about the struggles he might have had that were related to his colour," he says. "Was it difficult [for him]? Yes, I'm quite certain. But I never heard any grumblings from him. And I'm also certain that he earned his respect … My father was a person of colour and I think that would inspire young people today to jump in and help move the industry along."

Black people, and especially black women, are still underrepresented in the video games industry. The Independent Game Developers' Association records that only 2% of US game developers identify as black; in the UK, meanwhile, according to UKIE's 2020 census of the entire industry, 10% of its workers are black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME). But black innovators such as Jerry Lawson have been present and influential since the earliest days of the video games industry – and there is not enough recognition for their achievements.

Kremlin bears down on Moscow bureau of US-funded radio station

Posted: 04 May 2021 09:00 PM PDT

RFE/RL faces threat of raids over refusal to pay fines for not attaching 'foreign agent' label to its content

In 1991, Boris Yeltsin gave Radio Liberty, the US government-funded broadcaster that had fought for decades to bypass Soviet jamming equipment, permission to open its own Moscow bureau. Now, 30 years later, the Kremlin looks close to shutting it down.

A deadline for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to pay the first of an estimated $2.4m (£1.7m) in fines will pass for the foreign broadcaster next week, threatening its bureau in Russia with potential police raids, blocked bank accounts, or the arrest of senior employees.

‘It was truly an experiment’: how did we get to Sesame Street?

Posted: 04 May 2021 11:03 PM PDT

A new documentary, Street Gang, traces the early days, radical roots and creative energy of the groundbreaking childhood TV show

In 1970, cast members of Sesame Street, still in its first season on public television, traveled the country to gauge interest in the iconoclastic new show and its strange, magnetic array of puppet characters. The program was, at the time, an experiment, both as a madcap mosaic of creative talent, especially puppeteer Jim Henson and his cast of singularly endearing Muppets – and as a test of television's potential as an educational medium, with eight expert-designed learning objectives measured in test groups of small children.

‘I’m going to follow my mind’: Falle Nioke, the Guinean musician who moved to Margate

Posted: 05 May 2021 01:18 AM PDT

The singer spent hard years touring west Africa to pursue his dream of a music career, but a chance holiday meeting – and relocation to the Kent coast – sealed the deal

Ten years ago, Falle Nioke was sitting with only his bolon drum for company in a Gambian jail cell, some 3,000 miles from the Kent seaside town of Margate where he now lives and light years from his current world of domestic bliss and critical acclaim.

Raised in Conakry, Guinea, the 33-year-old singer and percussionist spent most of his 20s as part of a touring group of musicians that played across west Africa, a pursuit often hamstrung by arrests pertaining to immigration permits. Nioke survived by whatever means necessary to hold on to his musical passion. "I used to make soap and go to the market to sell it to pay the rent," he says today. "If someone was selling rice, we would sing for them and we would get some fees and some food." His indelibly positive worldview was forged during these years. "Everywhere I have been, there are people who will be happy to help," he says.

Anger mounts as death toll from Mexico metro overpass collapse rises to 24

Posted: 04 May 2021 02:37 PM PDT

Mexico City mayor promises thorough investigation
Subway train crashed on to traffic on street below

The death toll from the collapse of an overpass on the Mexico City metro has climbed to 24, as crews worked to clear the wreckage – and anger grew over the latest in a string of catastrophes to hit one of the world's largest mass transit systems.

Officials refused to speculate on the cause the disaster which sent two carriages crashing into passing traffic on the street below on Monday night. The city's mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, promised a thorough investigation by an outside firm and the federal prosecutor's office – though she stood by the embattled director of the metro, Florencia Serranía.

Brisbane father of two claims $2m in damages after being jailed by judge during family law hearing

Posted: 05 May 2021 02:12 AM PDT

Man jailed for contempt of court is suing judge Salvatore Vasta for loss and damages after allegedly being traumatised in Queensland jails

A father of two is claiming $2m in damages in a rare civil case against sitting judge Salvatore Vasta after he jailed the father during routine family law proceedings.

In late 2018, Vasta presided over a case in the federal circuit court between "Mr Stradford", a pseudonym, and his ex-wife, involving a routine property settlement and division of the pair's assets.

More trafficking victims facing forcible removal from UK under rule change

Posted: 05 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT

Rights groups warn many more survivors face being locked up after MPs back Home Office change

More victims of trafficking will be locked up in detention and forcibly removed from the UK after MPs approved a change in Home Office rules relating to this vulnerable group, campaigners have warned.

MPs recently confirmed what is known as a statutory instrument. This change in rules relating to the detention of trafficking victims comes into force on 25 May and will require them to provide a higher standard of proof that they should not be detained.

UN condemns violent repression of Colombia protests after at least 18 die

Posted: 04 May 2021 10:33 AM PDT

Riot police rampage across streets, shoot protesters and charge at crowds with motorcycles in week of unrest across the country

The United Nations has condemned the violent repression of protests in Colombia, after clashes between police and demonstrators left at least 18 dead and 87 people missing.

In a week of unrest across the country, riot police have rampaged across the smoke-filled streets, shooting protesters at point-blank range and charging at crowds with their motorcycles.

Threats to safety force dozens of Afghan journalists to go into hiding

Posted: 04 May 2021 08:39 AM PDT

Network of safe houses set up amid fears of rising violence as Nato forces prepare to pull out in September

Dozens of journalists have moved to safe houses across Afghanistan, and others have been sent abroad, as threats against media workers continue to rise.

New safe houses have been set up in several Afghan cities as evacuations increase, offering some security for targeted journalists.

Child marriage ‘thriving in UK’ due to legal loophole, warn rights groups

Posted: 04 May 2021 07:34 AM PDT

In a letter to the PM campaigners say forced marriage law fails to protect young people

A legal loophole that allows 16- and 17-year-olds in England and Wales to marry with parental consent is being exploited and used to coerce young people into child marriage, campaigners have warned.

More than 20 organisations have signed a letter to the prime minister insisting current forced marriage law does not go far enough in protecting young people.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Japanese town spends Covid funds on 13-metre squid statue – video

Posted: 04 May 2021 10:10 PM PDT

The Japanese coastal town of Noto is facing criticism after a giant squid statue was installed using emergency funding intended for coronavirus measures. Crafting the pink-and-white creature with flared tentacles came at a cost of ¥25m (£164,000), with the 13-metre-long statue installed as part of a tourism drive to help the area's virus hit economy

Japanese town spends Covid funds on huge squid statue

Aneka Info

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

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

About the author

Posting Komentar

Categories

Popular Posts

Link list

Categories

Tags