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• John Bercow defects to Labour with withering attack on Johnson
• Biden threatened with communion ban over position on abortion
• Lewandowski saves Poland as Spain’s Morata misses rebound of redemption
• ‘It was war’: party-goer loses hand amid clashes with French police at illegal rave
• Body of missing US student Catherine Serou found in Russia
• Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi hailed as Iran’s new president
• EU founding father Robert Schuman moves a step closer to sainthood
• David Miliband charity pushes ‘white supremacy culture’, workers allege
• US marks Juneteenth after recognizing it as federal holiday
• Police interviewed Prince Charles over ‘plot to kill Diana’
• Paris police search for two e-scooter riders after pedestrian killed
• ‘It’s such a relief’: how Europe’s Covid vaccine rollout is catching up with UK
• London stadiums host ‘super Saturday’ of mass rapid Covid vaccinations
• Carbs are king: cereals sales surged amid pandemic panic buying, new data shows
• Fresh protests in Brazil against Bolsonaro’s handling of Covid pandemic
• In praise of fathers: the making of the modern dad
• How a cancer diagnosis inspired a fresh outlook for one young musician
• Death at sea: the fisheries inspectors who never came home
• Isabel Waidner: ‘Different doesn’t need to be scary. It can be fun’
• The martyr who may rise again: Christian right’s faith in Trump not shaken
• David Schwimmer: ‘I was a roller-skating waiter’
• Police explore whether Derbyshire deaths are result of stalking
• Guinea Ebola outbreak declared over by WHO
• Juneteenth gallery – in pictures
• Australia Covid update: Qld records one new local case as new Sydney exposure sites named
• ‘Don’t betray women of Tigray’: calls grow for international action against rape in war
• ‘They beat him’: fear and anger at latest police killing in Tunis
• ‘Never stop dreaming’: refugees get behind the camera – in pictures
• ‘We have more in common than what separates us’: refugee stories, told by refugees
• Pride month in Guatemala marred by killings of three LGBTQ+ people
• Lack of citizens at EU’s citizens’ debate raises eyebrows
• People across New York celebrate Juneteenth as federal holiday – video
• Ebrahim Raisi hailed as Iran’s new president – video
• 'That's a private matter': Biden on rebuke from Catholic bishops – video
• Ukrainian couple break up after being handcuffed together for 123 days – video report
• Israel responds to incendiary balloons with airstrikes on Gaza – video
• Why brutal protests have been sweeping across Colombia – video explainer

John Bercow defects to Labour with withering attack on Johnson Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:49 PM PDT Former Speaker says party has become reactionary and xenophobic under its current leadership • The blue wall: what next for the Tories after shock defeat? John Bercow, the former Tory MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, has delivered an extraordinary broadside against Boris Johnson and the Conservative party as he announces he has switched his political allegiance to Labour. In an explosive interview with the Observer, Bercow says he regards today's Conservative party as "reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic". Continue reading...

Biden threatened with communion ban over position on abortion Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:36 AM PDT US bishops vote to stop pro-choice Catholics receiving eucharist Roman Catholic bishops in the US have voted to press ahead with moves that could result in Joe Biden being banned from receiving communion because of his stance on abortion, and that risks increasing tensions in a divided church. After three days of online debate, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted by three to one to draft new guidance on the eucharist. The unexpected strength of support for the move among the bishops was a rebuff to the Vatican, which had signalled its opposition. Continue reading...

Lewandowski saves Poland as Spain’s Morata misses rebound of redemption Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:07 PM PDT At the final whistle Poland's players headed towards the stands and celebrated renewed opportunity while Spain departed to whistles, wondering how they had failed to win again and why this keeps happening to them. Even Álvaro Morata scoring the opening goal he so badly needed was not enough, a tense evening instead finishing with a draw that leaves la selección edgy and this group wide open. Robert Lewandowski scoring a second-half equaliser, Gerard Moreno hitting a penalty against the post and Wojciech Szczesny making a desperate late save summed it all up. That was how close it had been, how close it is in Group E. After all the whistles and criticisms, the finger of blame pointing his way, Morata gave Spain the lead here, but his redemption would remain incomplete because while he scored one, he didn't score two, three, or more when he might have done. No one else did either, nerves frayed as Spain again discovered there was no way through and Poland resisted the late pressure to take these two teams, Slovakia and Sweden into next Wednesday when anything can happen. Continue reading...

‘It was war’: party-goer loses hand amid clashes with French police at illegal rave Posted: 19 Jun 2021 05:49 PM PDT Authorities accuse party-goers of throwing Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks at officers, who fired teargas to break up party French police clashed for hours with party-goers at a 1,500-strong illegal rave over the weekend, with one party-goer losing a hand and five officers injured. Local official Emmanuel Berthier said party-goers threw "Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks" at officers during "very violent clashes" in western France. Continue reading...

Body of missing US student Catherine Serou found in Russia Posted: 19 Jun 2021 06:12 PM PDT Man arrested after body of former US marine is discovered in woods near Nizhny Novgorod Russian investigators have detained a man on suspicion of murder after finding the body of a foreign woman identified by media as a missing American student. Russian news agencies identified the woman as 34-year-old US citizen Catherine Serou. Continue reading...

Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi hailed as Iran’s new president Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:36 AM PDT Three main rivals congratulate candidate whose election is likely to unlock talks on reviving nuclear deal Ebrahim Raisi, the hardline head of Iran's judiciary, has been hailed the country's new president after his three main rivals congratulated him on his victory and preliminary results showed he had secured 17.8m votes, a huge 14.5m more than his nearest rival. With 90% of the votes counted, Iranian officials said 28.6 million people had cast their ballots. More than 41 million did so in 2017. Continue reading...

EU founding father Robert Schuman moves a step closer to sainthood Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:04 AM PDT Pope Francis gives 'venerable' status to post-war French statesman and supporter of European unity Robert Schuman, a French statesman who was an early advocate for the bloc that evolved into the European Union, has moved ahead on the Catholic church's path toward possible sainthood. The Vatican said Pope Francis on Saturday approved a decree declaring the "heroic virtues″ of Schuman, a former prime minister and finance minister after the second world war. In 1950, as foreign minister, he developed a plan to promote European economic unity in hopes of furthering peace. Continue reading...

David Miliband charity pushes ‘white supremacy culture’, workers allege Posted: 18 Jun 2021 11:00 PM PDT International Rescue Committee hires law firm to review internal policies as leadership accused of 'belittling and gaslighting' staff The International Rescue Committee reinforces "white supremacy culture", staff have alleged, with the aid organization subsequently hiring a law firm to review its policies relating to discrimination, harassment and retaliation, the Guardian can reveal. Headed by former UK foreign secretary David Miliband, the IRC is a major NGO with 20,000 staff and volunteers and a budget of $800m. It delivers aid in more than 40 countries, primarily in Africa, and helps resettle refugees across the US, with operations mainly directed out of New York. Continue reading...

US marks Juneteenth after recognizing it as federal holiday Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:54 AM PDT George Floyd's brother Terrence unveils statue in Brooklyn Biden: 'Great nations don't ignore their most painful moments' Days after Juneteenth was made a national holiday, communities across the US are coming together to celebrate 19 June 1865, the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, freeing slaves in the final Confederate state to have abolition. Related: The martyr who may rise again: Christian right's faith in Trump not shaken Continue reading...

Police interviewed Prince Charles over ‘plot to kill Diana’ Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:49 AM PDT Former Met chief reveals he questioned prince as a witness in 2005 about note written by princess The former Metropolitan police chief John Stevens has disclosed that he questioned Prince Charles over allegations that he had plotted to kill Diana, Princess of Wales. Charles was interviewed as a witness in 2005, during a three-year investigation into Diana's death in a Paris car crash in 1997, the Daily Mail reported. Continue reading...

Paris police search for two e-scooter riders after pedestrian killed Posted: 19 Jun 2021 04:40 AM PDT Italian woman walking along Seine suffered head injury after collision with two women on electric scooter Police are searching for two women after a pedestrian who was hit by an electric scooter while walking in Paris died. The victim, a 31-year-old Italian named only as Miriam, had been in a coma since she was hit by the e-scooter, which was reportedly travelling at speed, while she walked along the Seine in the early hours of Monday. Continue reading...

‘It’s such a relief’: how Europe’s Covid vaccine rollout is catching up with UK Posted: 19 Jun 2021 04:59 AM PDT More supplies and vaccination centres have put France, Italy and Germany back on track in battle against coronavirus On Friday morning, Leyla Çelik woke up with butterflies in her stomach. For weeks, the 22-year-old student at Berlin's Freie Universität had tried in vain to get an appointment for her first Covid-19 vaccine shot so she could volunteer as a polling station administrator at federal elections in September. "I'd basically given up hope." But last week her university had suddenly got in touch via email, offering her a chance to get a first dose of Moderna vaccine on campus, and within a few days. By 9am on Friday, the anxiety has turned into euphoria: "It's such a relief," said the native Berliner, nursing her achey shoulder at Freie's biology institute, converted into a vaccine delivery point as of this week. "At last I can catch a train or a bus without feeling anxious." Continue reading...

London stadiums host ‘super Saturday’ of mass rapid Covid vaccinations Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:28 AM PDT Tens of thousands turn up to grounds of West Ham, Spurs and others, as young people are urged to get jabs Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Londoners received tens of thousands of Covid jabs in just a few hours on Saturday as football grounds in the capital were transformed into mass vaccination centres. Huge jab clinics have been set up at the London Stadium, Stamford Bridge, the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the Valley, home of Charlton Athletic, and Selhurst Park. Continue reading...

Carbs are king: cereals sales surged amid pandemic panic buying, new data shows Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:00 PM PDT Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals cereals spiked by 40% in March 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak When the panic set in at the start of the pandemic, Australians rushed out and bought a whole lot of carbs, new food sales data reveals. Sales of cereals – which include pasta, rice and flour – spiked by 40% in March 2020 compared with the month prior as people stocked up for the first of the Covid-19 lockdowns, the figures show. Continue reading...

Fresh protests in Brazil against Bolsonaro’s handling of Covid pandemic Posted: 19 Jun 2021 12:01 PM PDT Country's death toll nears 500,000 as opposition to the president grows and vaccination rates remain low Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Thousands of Brazilians returned to the streets on Saturday in protest against the response of Jair Bolsonaro's administration to a pandemic that has killed close on half a million people in the country – the most after the United States. On the second day of demonstrations in less than a month, the anti-Bolsonaro mobilisation is gaining momentum amid an ascendant curve of Covid-19 infections, while only 11% of 212 million Brazilians have been fully vaccinated, according to local media. Continue reading...

In praise of fathers: the making of the modern dad Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:00 AM PDT Once they were only seen as breadwinners and disciplinarians. A leading anthropologist highlights 10 ways in which the role of fathers has been transformed The role of dads in the UK has changed beyond all recognition in the past 50 years. Today, fathers no longer want to be limited to the role of family breadwinner and disciplinarian; they want to be true co-parents, providing nurture and care to their children. This change is due in part to the rise of two-earner households, reductions in hospital-based post-birth care and an absence of geographically close extended family, requiring dad to step in. But as we in the research community have learned more about who dad is biologically and psychologically, and the unique role he plays in the family, fathers have felt empowered to get involved, safe in the knowledge that they are as important to their kids and family as mum is. Continue reading...

How a cancer diagnosis inspired a fresh outlook for one young musician Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:00 AM PDT At the age of just 22, the very last thing you want to hear is that you have stage 4 cancer, but for some people the only response is to tackle it head on – which is just what Ellie Edna Rose-Davies did I barely noticed it at first. A bump on the right side of my neck, small but definite. I was 22 and had no health issues (I'd never even broken a bone), so I didn't think much of the lump. But my boyfriend was concerned, so I made an appointment to go to the GP. For the next few months, I would see and feel more lumps spreading up my neck, and even larger ones under my armpits. I went to the doctor three times, where I was told: "It's not cancer" and that I had "nothing to worry about". Continue reading...

Death at sea: the fisheries inspectors who never came home Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:00 PM PDT Eritara Aati Kaierua is one of more than a dozen observers who have died since 2009. A year later his family are still waiting for answers In his last email to his family, Eritara Aati Kaierua told them he loved them and apologised for not being in touch sooner. "Fish is a little scarce or maybe this location is not fertile, we are now fishing in Papua New Guinea and we are still here," he wrote to his wife, Tekarara, on 21 February 2020. "Please try to stay well … and I will try my best to stay healthy from here too," he wrote. Continue reading...

Isabel Waidner: ‘Different doesn’t need to be scary. It can be fun’ Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:00 AM PDT The writer of experimental fiction on their debt to America's 'new narrative' tradition, the benefits of a German state education, and exploring homophobia through Franz Beckenbauer Isabel Waidner, 47, is the author of three novels, including We Are Made of Diamond Stuff, which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths prize and the Republic of Consciousness prize. In their new novel, Sterling Karat Gold, a non-binary migrant cleaner is arrested after being attacked by bullfighters on a London street; the story also involves UFOs, the history of Iraq and the death of the footballer Justin Fashanu. Waidner, who hosts the ICA's online literary chatshow This Isn't a Dream, spoke to me over Zoom from their home in London, where they teach at the University of Roehampton. In your first novel, Gaudy Bauble, someone called Belá writes "awkwardgarde fiction". Is that how you would describe your work? That was my starting point, it's true. I was always thinking about how to produce formally innovative writing to address some of the questions I had about fiction itself, and that's where this term "awkwardgarde" came from, but I probably wouldn't use it now. Gaudy Bauble was more rooted in traditional avant-garde strategies like punning, giving agency to the materiality of language. I always wanted to do something different with experimental fiction, something contemporary and queer/trans, but I also wanted to combine that with an engaging narrative. What I've created now is less "awkward"! Sterling, the protagonist of your new novel, works as a cleaner while co-producing a crowdfunded performance art project… That reflects my life until a few years ago. Many people who come to London as migrants, especially queer and trans migrants, work these jobs while trying to do something more ambitious and at the same time juggling the oppressive structures impacting on our lives. I worked minimum-wage jobs until my mid-30s, when Roehampton gave me a scholarship to do a PhD. I'm staging a complexity we don't always see in novels: working-class characters often do one thing – work – and then maybe they're a little bit criminal, and that's it. When Sterling is unjustly put on trial after being assaulted, the judge offers to drop the case if he can appear on Sterling's show… That was partly for comic effect, but it's true that power structures and institutions that have long participated in the oppression of trans and black people suddenly want a little piece of the pie – if anything is marketable, they're in there like a shot. That part of the novel ended up a bit of a revenge fantasy, because it gave the queer main characters the chance to determine the narrative and they take advantage of it. I guess I was saying, don't think we're so harmless; maybe people in power feel it's fine now to capitalise on marginalised writers, but giving us actual power could result in real change. Why do you play with real-life figures in your work? I ask myself that sometimes! Using Franz Beckenbauer as a character let me bring in some of the history of racism and homophobia via the context of football. But there's autobiographical stuff going on too; I merged figures from my life with the real Beckenbauer. My dad played football, so I wanted to use a 70s footballer roughly his age, and my "Franz Beckenbauer" is gay and has died of Aids, which is what happened to my uncle. One of the things I like to do in my fiction is to produce tension and energy from working across different registers without smoothing over the differences between them. How easy was it for you to get published? The art world embraced my work more readily to begin with. I published Gaudy Bauble through Dostoyevsky Wannabe, two working-class people operating a print-on-demand press [in Manchester] with zero capital. We submitted it to the Republic of Consciousness prize, and then We Are Made of Diamond Stuff was eligible for the Goldsmiths prize because I was British by then. Getting shortlisted meant that without any traditional infrastructure we started to reach a quite wide readership. But people shouldn't be surprised if my work looks so different; instead, people should ask, why are other books so similar? Because it's really simple: when different writers publish work, you get different forms of literature. What am I trying to say with my work is that "different" doesn't need to be scary or boring or hard; it can be fun. You were born and grew up in Germany; do you see yourself as a German writer? It's probably not a coincidence that I'm doing this kind of unusual writing, because I had a German education and that shaped me fundamentally: my parents don't read books but I was introduced to ambitious literature as a kid at a state school and that's one of the differences of the German education system compared with the UK. But the truth is I feel really alienated from Germany. I come from the Black Forest, a tiny, conservative part of south Germany, and I came to London at 20, not knowing anyone, to start a life where I could come out as a queer person. There are lots of us; queer migration used to be a thing, but I don't know how much it's happening since Brexit. What have you been reading lately? America has longer traditions of innovative queer/trans writing and a new press called Cipher Press is publishing interesting stuff, like Large Animals by Jess Arndt. This is the kind of writing I'm excited about and it's coming through in the UK now – Shola von Reinhold [author of Lote, winner of this year's Republic of Consciousness prize] is obviously part of that. Which authors inspired you to write? Kafka: as a teenager I read everything. Later, I discovered the American queer tradition of "new narrative" writing, people like Dodie Bellamy, Robert Glück and Kevin Killian, whose poetry sequence Action Kylie is about Kylie Minogue. This is the stuff that has most influenced me, but it has never really crossed over into the UK; because they're queer and working class, they're not getting the credit they deserve. • Sterling Karat Gold is published by Peninsula Press on 24 June (£12.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...

The martyr who may rise again: Christian right’s faith in Trump not shaken Posted: 19 Jun 2021 06:36 AM PDT The talk in the carpeted corridors of the Road to Majority conference suggests the ex-president's big lie has firmly taken root Young alligators swam in the water or lazed on artificial rocks as a waterfall cascaded nearby. "Alligators are found primarily in freshwater and swamps and marches," noted a nearby sign. "... Alligators are opportunistic feeders." Related: Conservative Christians jeer 'traitor' Pence for refusing to overturn election Continue reading...

David Schwimmer: ‘I was a roller-skating waiter’ Posted: 19 Jun 2021 06:00 AM PDT The actor, 54, on childhood activism, studying drama at Oxford, bringing up his daughter and learning to fight the good fight My parents are my heroes. I marvel how they were able to work as young lawyers while keeping family as a priority. They raised my sister and me with a hyper-awareness of justice, equality and gay rights. I have memories of protesting on picket lines. It really informed my worldview and perspective. I wanted to be a surgeon. I was fascinated by the human body: I knew everything about the lymphatic, the vascular and the skeletal systems. I was a big science geek, but I found that I could talk to more girls in acting class than in the science lab. So that kind of derailed my medical career. Continue reading...

Police explore whether Derbyshire deaths are result of stalking Posted: 19 Jun 2021 11:18 AM PDT Police not looking for anyone else in connection with deaths of man and woman in Duckmanton Police investigating the deaths of a 23-year-old woman and a man in his 30s are probing whether the incident was the result of stalking. The deaths occurred within hours of each other in fields near the Derbyshire village of Duckmanton on Friday. Continue reading...

Guinea Ebola outbreak declared over by WHO Posted: 19 Jun 2021 06:21 AM PDT Resurgence of virus in west Africa infected 16 people and killed 12 since outbreak in February An Ebola outbreak in Guinea that started in February, infecting 16 people and killing 12, has been declared over, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. Health authorities were able to move swiftly to tackle the resurgence of the virus, which causes severe bleeding and organ failure and is spread through contact with body fluids, after lessons learned from previous outbreaks in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...

Juneteenth gallery – in pictures Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:47 PM PDT People across the US came together to celebrate 19 June 1865, the day which commemorates the end of slavery in America Continue reading...

Australia Covid update: Qld records one new local case as new Sydney exposure sites named Posted: 19 Jun 2021 05:30 PM PDT NSW health authorities have issued alerts for hotspots in Tempe, Sydney's CBD and Shellhabour NSW and ACT hotspots; Victorian hotspots Queensland hotspots A member of a flight crew who is believed to have been infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus was in the community in Brisbane for 12 hours before testing positive, Queensland health authorities have said. The news comes as the Queensland government announced an easing of restrictions after a coronavirus scare prompted by a couple from Victoria travelling to the Sunshine Coast. Continue reading...

‘Don’t betray women of Tigray’: calls grow for international action against rape in war Posted: 18 Jun 2021 11:00 PM PDT Politicians among signatories of two open letters urging investigation into reports of sexual violence in Ethiopian conflict The former prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, and Zimbabwean author and 2020 Booker prize nominee Tsitsi Dangarembga are among the signatories of two separate letters demanding international action after shocking reports of sexual violence in Tigray. In one, more than 50 women of African descent call for an immediate ceasefire and express horror at reports that African women and girls are "once again the victims" of violence and rape in war. Continue reading...

‘They beat him’: fear and anger at latest police killing in Tunis Posted: 18 Jun 2021 06:35 AM PDT Protests erupt again in Tunisian capital after man 'beaten to death' amid claims of police impunity Almost everyone in the streets around Ahmed Ben Ammar's house in the Tunis district of Sidi Hassine claims to have known him or his family. Nearly everyone also has a slightly different account of his death in police custody on Tuesday. Details vary but all agree that the 32-year-old was beaten to death by police this week. Sidi Hassine is to the west of Tunisia's capital, on the far side of the Sebkha Sijoumi wetlands and the hulking landfill at Borj Chakir, already years past its scheduled closure date. The smell and the mosquitoes fill the air. At one end of the road is a thriving market, at the other – near where Ben Ammar lived – cafes and shops line the dusty street. Continue reading...

‘Never stop dreaming’: refugees get behind the camera – in pictures Posted: 18 Jun 2021 04:04 AM PDT Witness Change, a project for the Open Society Foundation, photographed 1,000 people who left their homes for a new life, and found a common thread of humanity in the dreams that sustain them 'We have more in common than what separates us': refugee stories, told by refugees Continue reading...

‘We have more in common than what separates us’: refugee stories, told by refugees Posted: 18 Jun 2021 04:04 AM PDT In One Thousand Dreams, award-winning photographer Robin Hammond hands the camera to refugees. Often reduced by the media's toxic or well-meaning narratives, the portraits and interviews capture a different and more complex tale 'Never stop dreaming': refugees get behind the camera – in pictures Robin Hammond has spent two decades crisscrossing the developing world and telling other people's stories. From photographing the Rohingya forced out of Myanmar and rape survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to documenting the lives of people in countries where their sexuality is illegal, his work has earned him award after award. But for his latest project the photographer has embarked on a paradigm shift: to remove himself – and others like him – from the process entirely. Instead, as part of an in-depth exploration of the refugee experience in Europe, the stories of those featured are told by those who, arguably, know them best: other refugees. Continue reading...

Pride month in Guatemala marred by killings of three LGBTQ+ people Posted: 18 Jun 2021 03:30 AM PDT Celebrations become 'month of mourning' after three murders in a week, with calls for urgent state reform Guatemala's LGBTQ+ community is in mourning after two transgender women and a gay man were murdered in less than a week during pride month. Andrea González, a prominent activist and leader in the transgender women's organisation Otrans Reinas de la Noche (Queens of the Night) was shot dead on 11 June in the street near her home in Guatemala City. Her murder followed the killing of another Otrans member, Cecy Ixpatá, who was assaulted and died from her injuries on 9 June in a hospital in Salamá, about 50 miles north of Guatemala City. José Manuel Vargas Villeda, a 22-year-old gay man was also shot and killed on 14 June in Morales, 150 miles north-east of the capital. Continue reading...

Lack of citizens at EU’s citizens’ debate raises eyebrows Posted: 18 Jun 2021 07:51 AM PDT Analysis: legitimacy of Future of Europe talks called into question as only a quarter of citizens likely to take part The socially distanced places are set, the guests will soon arrive. Everything is ready for the EU's most ambitious attempt to debate with citizens. Everything, except most of the citizens who are meant to be involved. The Conference on the Future of Europe, an 11-month consultation whose centrepiece will be citizens' assemblies across the EU, holds its first working session at the European parliament in Strasbourg on Saturday. While a full complement of EU politicians and officials are expected in the Rhine city, only about 27 citizens are likely to take part – a quarter of the total who would usually participate in such meetings, according to the conference website. Continue reading...

People across New York celebrate Juneteenth as federal holiday – video Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:35 AM PDT Days after Juneteenth was made a national holiday, communities across New York came together to celebrate 19 June 1865, the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, freeing slaves in the final Confederate state to abolish slavery. Prior to Biden signing this legislation, Juneteenth was recognised in 48 states and Washington DC either as a ceremonial or state holiday, said USA Today. And, although the history of Texas's emancipation is the most well known, other watershed events in the history of emancipation happened on and around 19 June 1865. US comes together to mark Juneteenth after recognizing it as federal holiday Continue reading...

Ebrahim Raisi hailed as Iran’s new president – video Posted: 19 Jun 2021 07:54 AM PDT The hardline head of the Iranian judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, has been congratulated by his three main rivals on his victory in the country's presidential election after preliminary results showed he had secured 17.8m votes, a huge 14.5m more than his nearest rival Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi hailed as Iran's new president Iran's president-elect, Ebrahim Raisi, is hardliner linked with mass executions Continue reading...

'That's a private matter': Biden on rebuke from Catholic bishops – video Posted: 18 Jun 2021 02:01 PM PDT On Friday, Biden was asked for his response to the US Conference of Bishops taking steps toward rebuking Catholic politicians who receive communion and support abortion rights. 'I don't think that's going to happen,' the president said of the suggestion politicians may be blocked from receiving communion. 'That's a private matter,' he said before leaving the briefing. The president took a couple questions from reporters after concluding his prepared remarks on his administration's coronavirus vaccination efforts Covid 'remains a serious and deadly threat' for unvaccinated people, Biden says – live Continue reading...

Ukrainian couple break up after being handcuffed together for 123 days – video report Posted: 18 Jun 2021 10:48 AM PDT The couple, from the eastern city of Kharkiv, decided to handcuff themselves together on Valentine's Day in a last-ditch attempt to break the cycle of breaking up and making up. After 123 days handcuffed together to save their on-again, off-again relationship, Ukrainians Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova shed their bonds on national TV, saying the experiment had brought home uncomfortable truths Ukraine's inseparable couple ditch handcuffs and go separate ways Continue reading...

Israel responds to incendiary balloons with airstrikes on Gaza – video Posted: 18 Jun 2021 04:59 AM PDT Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for a second time since a ceasefire ended May's 11-day conflict with Palestinian militants. The strikes came after incendiary balloons were launched into Israel for a third day running. Israel's military reported that fighter jets struck Hamas 'military compounds and a rocket launch site'  and said its forces were preparing for a 'variety of scenarios including a resumption of hostilities' Israel launches new airstrikes on Gaza in response to incendiary balloons Continue reading...

Why brutal protests have been sweeping across Colombia – video explainer Posted: 18 Jun 2021 04:53 AM PDT From the Amazon to the Caribbean coast, several weeks of protests have swept Colombia – dozens have died as demonstrators have faced sometimes deadly retaliation from police.  The catalyst was a proposed tax hike, since withdrawn, in response to the coronavirus crisis. Demands expanded to calls to end inequality, economic disparity and police violence in Colombia – in almost two months, demonstrations have caused food and goods shortages. Protest leaders have temporarily suspended in-person demonstrations due to a rise in Covid cases, but Joe Parkin Daniels, reporting for the Guardian, explains why this widespread discontent is unlikely to end  'This is a revolution': the faces of Colombia's protests Continue reading...

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