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- Ukraine crisis: Biden to deploy more US troops to eastern Europe
- Northern Ireland minister orders halt to Brexit agri-food checks
- Johnson under pressure as more Tory MPs call for him to go
- Havana Syndrome could be caused by pulsed energy devices – US expert report
- Spotify stocks fall as executives seek to reassure amid Rogan controversy
- First patients of pioneering CAR T-cell therapy ‘cured of cancer’
- Chechen politician threatens to ‘rip heads off’ family of activist
- Michael K Williams: four men charged in overdose death of Wire actor
- Two or more chronic health problems in middle age ‘doubles dementia risk’
- 12 people found frozen to death near Turkey’s border with Greece
- Rotterdam to partly dismantle historic bridge for Jeff Bezos’s superyacht
- Ottawa police considering military intervention to end ‘unlawful’ blockade
- Organisers downplay fears as 11 at Winter Olympics in hospital with Covid
- US army begins discharging soldiers who refuse Covid vaccine
- Don’t panic: why Ukraine doesn’t like western talk of imminent attack
- Jackass Forever review – unstoppable comedy stunt show still has a sting in its tail
- Padua plans first female statue – but probably not with the 78 male ones in main square
- The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan review – who tipped off the Nazis?
- A surfing god rides The Cradle of Storms – Chris Burkard’s best photograph
- ‘Samba is politics’: struggle for Brazil’s future invades its dancefloors
- Will Wordle still be free after the New York Times buyout?
- Met officer was promoted despite misconduct over sexist and racist messages
- Allegations of worker exploitation at ‘world’s greatest show’ in Dubai
- Calls for security crackdown as 60 are killed in DRC camp violence
- Biden says ‘ending cancer as we know it a White House priority. Period’ – live
- Canada Conservatives oust leader Erin O’Toole
- New Zealand border will open in stages from end of February, Jacinda Ardern announces
- ‘Hand it in’: gun amnesty targets 260,000 unregistered firearms across Australia
- ‘We have to prepare’: Tigray’s neighbours on war footing as peace remains elusive
- ‘We’ll keep reporting, whatever the risk from the junta,’ say Myanmar’s journalists
- Teachers on the run: striking public sector workers hunted by Myanmar’s military
- Myanmar’s coup: a year under military rule in numbers
- Silent strike empties streets in Myanmar on anniversary of coup
- Trump and his enablers unwittingly offer Democrats the best hope in the midterms | Robert Reich
- Black communities are most victimized by gun violence. Too often it’s assumed we are to blame | Gordon Jackson Jr
- From eastern Europe we watch Ukraine in fear. Its fate could decide the continent’s future
- Has flu fizzled out? Experts assess the threat to NHS – analysis
- Landslide sends waves of mud through streets of Ecuadorian capital Quito – video
- ‘Clear and present danger’: Boris Johnson warns of imminent Russian campaign in Ukraine – video
- Why is this majority Black city grappling with 100-year-old sewers? - video
- Thousands protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Canada – video
- Portugal's PM António Costa wins surprise majority in snap election – video
| Ukraine crisis: Biden to deploy more US troops to eastern Europe Posted: 02 Feb 2022 11:35 AM PST More than 3,000 troops headed to Germany, Poland and Romania after talks between Washington and Moscow fail to ease tensions Joe Biden will deploy more than 3,000 US troops in Germany, Poland and Romania, as Russia continues to build up its forces around Ukraine, and after talks between Washington and Moscow failed to ease tensions. The US is sending 1,700 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland, a headquarters unit of about 300 from the 18th Airborne Corps will move to Germany and a 1,000-strong armoured unit is being transferred from Germany to Romania. Continue reading... |
| Northern Ireland minister orders halt to Brexit agri-food checks Posted: 02 Feb 2022 01:40 PM PST DUP's Edwin Poots says he has ordered top civil servant to stop port checks, but not clear whether he will comply Northern Ireland's agriculture minister has ordered all Brexit checks on food and farm products to be stopped from midnight in a unilateral move that will set him on a collision course with Brussels. The former leader of the Democratic Unionist party Edwin Poots threatened the move last week after he failed to get the backing of other parties in Stormont to intervene in the face of a delayed resolution to the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. Continue reading... |
| Johnson under pressure as more Tory MPs call for him to go Posted: 02 Feb 2022 11:54 AM PST Gary Streeter, Tobias Ellwood and Anthony Mangnall all make moves on Wednesday in sign of rising anger A fresh wave of Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson, breaking cover to criticise the prime minister as the fallout from Downing Street parties scandal continued to imperil his premiership. In a sign that Johnson's position is still under threat despite No 10's desperate attempts to move on from the crisis, three more MPs publicly called on the prime minister to resign, describing their shock and anger at Johnson's conduct since the publication of the interim report. Continue reading... |
| Havana Syndrome could be caused by pulsed energy devices – US expert report Posted: 02 Feb 2022 02:52 PM PST Concealable devices with 'modest energy requirements' which could emit pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound exist A US intelligence report by a panel of expert scientists has named pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound as plausible causes for the mystery Havana Syndrome symptoms suffered by US diplomats and spies in recent years. The report found that a group of cases could not be explained by health or environmental factors or by psychosomatic illness. It also said that devices exist with "modest energy requirements" which were concealable and could produce the observed symptoms and be effective over hundreds of meters or through walls. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Spotify stocks fall as executives seek to reassure amid Rogan controversy Posted: 02 Feb 2022 03:41 PM PST Subscriber outlook overshadowed fourth-quarter earnings as the company's shares fell nearly 18% in late trading Spotify on Wednesday forecast current-quarter subscribers lower than Wall Street expectations, but executives sought to reassure investors that growth had not cratered even as it deals with the fallout from the controversy around The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The company's shares fell as much as 18% in late trading after Spotify reported the subscriber outlook. Continue reading... |
| First patients of pioneering CAR T-cell therapy ‘cured of cancer’ Posted: 02 Feb 2022 08:00 AM PST Cancer-killing cells still present 10 years on, with results suggesting therapy is a cure for certain blood cancers Two of the first human patients to be treated with a revolutionary therapy that engineers immune cells to target specific types of cancer still possess cancer-killing cells a decade later with no sign of their illness returning. The finding suggests CAR T-cell therapy constitutes a "cure" for certain blood cancers, although adapting it to treat solid tumours is proving more challenging. Continue reading... |
| Chechen politician threatens to ‘rip heads off’ family of activist Posted: 02 Feb 2022 01:31 PM PST Death threat follow arrest in Russia of mother of exiled anti-torture lawyer Abubakar Yangulbayev A Chechen politician has threatened to "rip the heads off" the family of an anti-torture activist whose mother was arrested and forcibly returned to the tightly controlled republic. Zarema Musayeva, the mother of Abubakar Yangulbayev, an exiled former lawyer for the Committee Against Torture, was detained by Chechen forces in mid-January in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. Continue reading... |
| Michael K Williams: four men charged in overdose death of Wire actor Posted: 02 Feb 2022 12:02 PM PST Quartet charged with involvement in distribution of fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in death of Williams, 54, in September Four men have been charged in the overdose death of actor Michael K Williams, a federal prosecutor said on Wednesday. US attorney Damian Williams and the New York City police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, said the four were charged in criminal complaints unsealed on Tuesday and Wednesday in Manhattan federal court in a narcotics conspiracy alleging their involvement in the distribution of fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the death of Williams, who was best known for playing Omar Little on The Wire. Continue reading... |
| Two or more chronic health problems in middle age ‘doubles dementia risk’ Posted: 02 Feb 2022 03:30 PM PST Risk 2.5 times greater for those with multimorbidity at age 55, long-term study of 10,000 Britons reveals Having two or more chronic health problems in middle age more than doubles the risk of dementia, according to a study that researchers say underscores the importance of good health earlier in life. More than 900,000 people are living with dementia in the UK, and about 57 million people are affected globally. The worldwide toll is predicted to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050. Continue reading... |
| 12 people found frozen to death near Turkey’s border with Greece Posted: 02 Feb 2022 10:19 AM PST Turkish minister claims Greek border guards pushed back people whose bodies were 'stripped of shoes and clothes' The bodies of 12 refugees believed to have frozen to death have been found in an area straddling Turkey's frontier with Greece, igniting a war of words between the two countries. After the bodies were found on Wednesday, Ankara's interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, accused Greek guards of deliberately pushing the refugees back across the border. Several reportedly showed signs of frostbite while some were found near the Ipsala crossing point "without shoes and stripped of their clothes", he tweeted. Continue reading... |
| Rotterdam to partly dismantle historic bridge for Jeff Bezos’s superyacht Posted: 02 Feb 2022 01:11 PM PST Central section of Koningshaven Bridge to be removed to make way for Amazon founder's $485m superyacht A historic steel bridge in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam is to be partly dismantled to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to pass, local authorities have announced. Bezos's gigantic, 430-million-euro ($485m) yacht is too big for the iconic Koningshaven Bridge, which dates from 1878 and was rebuilt after being bombed by the Nazis in 1940 during the second world war. Continue reading... |
| Ottawa police considering military intervention to end ‘unlawful’ blockade Posted: 02 Feb 2022 01:54 PM PST Authorities also warned brining in the military carried a 'massive risk' as they believed the protesters are armed Police in Ottawa warned they may have to call in the military to disband "unlawful" protests in the nation's capital and a town near the US border, amid mounting tensions between protesters opposing Covid restrictions and local residents. The Ottawa police chief, Peter Sloly, warned on Wednesday that the officers did not have the resources to remove a fleet of trucks parked by the protesters in the national capital, adding the city was considering requesting help from Canadian armed forces. Continue reading... |
| Organisers downplay fears as 11 at Winter Olympics in hospital with Covid Posted: 02 Feb 2022 01:41 AM PST
Eleven people at the Winter Olympics are in hospital with Covid, Beijing 2022 officials have revealed, although none are in a life-threatening condition. Organisers have also downplayed concerns that the virus is spreading within the 'closed-looped' system in Beijing, which completely separates Olympic personnel from the general public, despite a further nine athletes and 23 team officials testing positive in the last 24 hours. Continue reading... |
| US army begins discharging soldiers who refuse Covid vaccine Posted: 02 Feb 2022 08:14 AM PST Army secretary says move is essential for combat readiness after vaccination made mandatory for service members in August 2021 US soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccine will be immediately discharged, the US army said on Wednesday, saying the move was critical to maintain combat readiness. The army's order applies to regular army soldiers, active-duty army reservists and cadets unless they have approved or pending exemptions, it said in a statement. Continue reading... |
| Don’t panic: why Ukraine doesn’t like western talk of imminent attack Posted: 02 Feb 2022 10:31 AM PST Analysis: While Putin's intentions remain unclear, Kyiv would rather it didn't get classed as the next Kabul Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has again insisted that Russia does not currently have enough troops in place to mount a further invasion of Ukraine, a day after Boris Johnson travelled to Kyiv and said there was a "clear and present danger" of an imminent military campaign. Even taken together, the troops currently massed on Ukraine's border with Russia, on the annexed Crimea peninsula and in neighbouring Belarus, are "insufficient for a large-scale military operation", said Kuleba in a briefing for foreign journalists on Wednesday. Continue reading... |
| Jackass Forever review – unstoppable comedy stunt show still has a sting in its tail Posted: 02 Feb 2022 09:00 AM PST The gang are back with more fantastically pointless and bad-taste feats involving bears, bulls, scorpions and spiders Twenty years on, after innumerable TV series and spin-offs, lawsuits and movie franchise iterations the Jackass crew is back with yet another festival of fantastically pointless and immature bad taste, including a new younger generation of Jackass stuntsters who tell the camera they can't believe they're on the show they grew up with. The last film was Jackass 3D in 2010, part of the 3D craze in cinema which has now been quietly abandoned without anyone noticing or caring. But Jackass marches on. As ever, the guys are taking turns doing stupid and dangerous things, while the rest of the gang scream with supportive, incredulous laughter and the participants scream with laughter right back at them once the stunt is over. In fact, the real Jackass gonzo discipline would seem to be keeping up the grinning party mood even after a heavyweight boxer has hit you in the balls. Are there any cutting-room-floor-moments when any of them seriously lost their sense of humour? Continue reading... |
| Padua plans first female statue – but probably not with the 78 male ones in main square Posted: 02 Feb 2022 10:06 AM PST Councillors forced to compromise on proposal to honour philosopher Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia Councillors in Padua have agreed to install the first statue honouring a woman in the city's historic centre, but it remains to be seen if the monument will be placed among the dozens of statues dedicated to men in the prominent Prato della Valle square. The decision followed a fiery debate that further exposed the scarcity of statues celebrating women not only in Padua but across Italy. Continue reading... |
| The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan review – who tipped off the Nazis? Posted: 02 Feb 2022 07:07 AM PST Despite controversy surrounding its findings, the work of a 'cold case team' powerfully illuminates what it was like to live under a genocidal regime On 4 August 1944 Gestapo officer Karl Josef Silberbauer, together with three Dutch policemen, marched into a spice merchant's on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht and demanded: "Where are the Jews?" It was a piercing moment in 20th-century history, one that never becomes dulled by retelling. Within minutes Silberbauer and his accomplices had located a dummy bookshelf, behind which lay a secret suite of rooms where two families had been hiding for two years. Placed under arrest, these eight men and women were subsequently sent to concentration camps in the east from which only one, the business's owner, Otto Frank, returned. We know all this because one of Frank's first postwar acts was to publish the journal that his 15-year-old daughter had kept during their immuration. The Diary of Anne Frank became a canonical text, one of the few accounts we have of living through Hitler's Final Solution in real time. And it is Anne's face – peaky, clever, ferociously alive – that has become the emblem of all the evil unleashed by antisemitism in Europe's terrible mid-century. Yet despite the story being so familiar, there is one detail that remains a mystery. Who tipped off the authorities that there were people hiding at the back of Prinsengracht 263? Continue reading... |
| A surfing god rides The Cradle of Storms – Chris Burkard’s best photograph Posted: 02 Feb 2022 06:50 AM PST 'This is Josh Mulcoy, the godfather of cold-water surfing, catching a wave in Alaska. The place is so windy and wild, it's known as The Cradle of Storms' The Aleutian Islands are fabled in surfing. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, they're a raw chain of islands connecting Alaska to Russia. The area is known as The Cradle of Storms because it's so windy and wild. Most of the islands are made up of tundra and there are big active volcanoes. This island, Umnak, is home to a very small Aleut community. I went there in 2013. The planning alone took two years. You need to be completely self-sustained. You need to charter a small plane and have enough food and supplies for your entire stay, with the means to charge all your equipment. Continue reading... |
| ‘Samba is politics’: struggle for Brazil’s future invades its dancefloors Posted: 02 Feb 2022 02:00 AM PST Outcry as club that is symbol of black resistance finds itself at the centre of politically charged squabble over Bolsonaro's far-right government The beer-soaked samba session was drawing to a close and, as usual, the crowd was preparing to vent its spleen. As percussionists from one of Rio's top samba groups hammered their tamborins and tantãs, revelers raised their glasses and let out loud, cathartic cheers demanding the removal of a president they despise. "Fora Bolsonaro!" jeered the sweat-drenched throng. "Bolsonaro out!" Continue reading... |
| Will Wordle still be free after the New York Times buyout? Posted: 02 Feb 2022 06:59 AM PST Will the hit game imminently be locked behind a paywall or stay as it is? What about ads? The NYT's head of games explains the plan In a month of spectacular video game industry buyouts, symbolised by Microsoft's incredible $68bn swoop for Activision Blizzard, there is one purchase that has sent paroxysms of fear across the planet. On Monday, the New York Times revealed that it had bought the viral megahit Wordle for a "low seven figure sum". The web-based word puzzle, which launched in October, was originally intended as a gift from software engineer Josh Wardle to his partner. But it has become a viral sensation, amassing an audience of millions – and key to its appeal is the fact that it's free, with no ads. So what does a big newspaper like the New York Times want with a game like Wordle, and what happens next? Continue reading... |
| Met officer was promoted despite misconduct over sexist and racist messages Posted: 02 Feb 2022 12:17 PM PST Exclusive: London mayor puts police chief on notice to reform or lose his confidence after seeing 'return to the bad days of the 1970s' A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London. Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station. Continue reading... |
| Allegations of worker exploitation at ‘world’s greatest show’ in Dubai Posted: 02 Feb 2022 06:00 AM PST Migrant workers employed at Expo 2020 allege confiscated passports, racial discrimination and withheld wages Security guards, cleaners and hospitality staff at Dubai's Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are allegedly working in highly abusive conditions that may amount to forced labour, according to a human rights group. Migrant workers employed at the international fair in the UAE – taking place now after being delayed by Covid – allege they have been forced to pay illegal recruitment fees, suffered racial discrimination and had wages withheld and passports confiscated, said the report by Equidem. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Calls for security crackdown as 60 are killed in DRC camp violence Posted: 02 Feb 2022 09:36 AM PST Casualties included 15 children, as families sheltering in a camp for displaced people were caught in escalating violence At least 60 people, including 15 children, were killed during an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, the latest in a series of violent assaults on civilians in the area. Armed men reportedly attacked the Plaine Savo camp in Ituri province, in the east of the country, with machetes and guns. Local sources who spoke to Reuters blamed the militia group Cooperative for the Development of Congo, or Codeco, for the attack. Continue reading... |
| Biden says ‘ending cancer as we know it a White House priority. Period’ – live Posted: 02 Feb 2022 04:24 PM PST
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is briefing right now. She's talking further about planned US troop deployments to NATO's eastern flank to bolster Ukraine's preparedness in facing massed Russian military might at its border. "They are not going to Ukraine to fight," Psaki said, attempting to clarify the mission, in response to questions from reporters about what they'll be doing. Continue reading... |
| Canada Conservatives oust leader Erin O’Toole Posted: 02 Feb 2022 11:07 AM PST Erin O-Toole, who only became leader in 2020, lost a secret ballot of MPS 73-45 amid accusations of 'flip-flopping' on Tory issues Canada's Conservatives have ousted their leader amid accusations of "flip-flopping" on key Tory issues, and a broader debate over whether the party should appeal to a more rightwing voting base. In a secret ballot held on Wednesday, 73 Conservative parliamentarians voted to remove Erin O'Toole as leader. Forty-five voted for him to keep his job. Continue reading... |
| New Zealand border will open in stages from end of February, Jacinda Ardern announces Posted: 02 Feb 2022 02:49 PM PST Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia will be the first people able to enter the country New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, starting at the end of February, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. It will be the first time the country has opened up since prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced its snap closure in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The country's borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years. "With Omicron's arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out – to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters – a chance most other countries never had," Ardern said in a speech on Thursday. Continue reading... |
| ‘Hand it in’: gun amnesty targets 260,000 unregistered firearms across Australia Posted: 02 Feb 2022 04:45 PM PST Campaign encourages people to surrender illegal guns and dob in neighbours, family and friends to Crime Stoppers A national gun amnesty has been launched across Australia, with holders told to surrender their illegal firearms or face the full force of the law. The three-month campaign is encouraging people to surrender any illegal guns in their possession and dob in neighbours, family and friends to Crime Stoppers. Continue reading... |
| ‘We have to prepare’: Tigray’s neighbours on war footing as peace remains elusive Posted: 01 Feb 2022 11:30 PM PST Ethiopia's government has declared a new phase of reconciliation, but a cycle of atrocities on all sides has left a legacy of mistrust. War is far from over, say those on the ground At first sight, it could have been any normal year. Pilgrims, shrouded in white shawls, smiled as they walked the winding cobblestone streets, shaded from the glare of the midday sun by a sea of colourful umbrellas. Young men and women danced and sang, thrusting wooden sticks joyously into the air, as priests blessed onlookers beside a church carved into the mountainside. The Epiphany of Saint George, an ancient Orthodox Christian tradition, was celebrated in Lalibela on 26 January just as it has always been. The northern Ethiopian town, a Unesco world heritage site renowned for its dazzling rock-hewn churches, is coming back to life after several angst-ridden months on the frontline of Ethiopia's devastating civil war. "It is a day of double joy for us," says Father Tsige Mezgebu, the archbishop who officiated the ceremony. Continue reading... |
| ‘We’ll keep reporting, whatever the risk from the junta,’ say Myanmar’s journalists Posted: 01 Feb 2022 10:45 PM PST To avoid arrest, the staff of the 74 Media left their home city, only to face shellfire in their border refuge. The editor describes the risks faced by his media outlet Shweeeee … Boooom. The noise of the exploding artillery shell startled me awake in the middle of a July night. Dazed, I stumbled out of bed and tried to check on the other journalists with whom I share a dormitory. As we ran outside, another shell flew overhead. It was five months after the military takeover in Myanmar and three months since we had been forced to relocate from the Kachin state capital, Myitkyina, to territory held by a group known in Myanmar as an ethnic armed organisation (EAO), fighting for self-determination for an ethnic minority state near Myanmar's border with China. Now this territory was being bombed. We were all terrified; some of my staff were crying as they looked to me for guidance and comfort. Continue reading... |
| Teachers on the run: striking public sector workers hunted by Myanmar’s military Posted: 01 Feb 2022 07:38 AM PST Protests against the coup mean hospitals and schools are on the brink of collapse, while workers have left their homes to avoid arrest and interrogation When hundreds of thousands of workers across the country walked out of their jobs in protest at the military's seizure of power in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, Grace* was among the first to join. Although she was seven months pregnant, the middle-school teacher from Chin state was determined to resist the military by refusing to work under its administration. Joining her was her husband, also a government employee. Continue reading... |
| Myanmar’s coup: a year under military rule in numbers Posted: 01 Feb 2022 03:00 AM PST With more than 1,400 civilians dead, thousands displaced and an economy on the brink of collapse, Myanmar is in crisis On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military seized power in a coup in the dead of night, hours before the newly elected parliament was due to convene for the first time. The military alleged voter fraud in the November 2020 election, when its proxy party was trounced by the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which won a landslide re-election victory. A few days after the coup, mass protests erupted in Yangon and across the country. While there were some isolated incidents of violence, security forces largely allowed peaceful demonstrations to take place throughout the month of February. But towards the end of the month, the junta deployed increasingly violent tactics, from water cannon, beatings and rubber bullets to live ammunition. Continue reading... |
| Silent strike empties streets in Myanmar on anniversary of coup Posted: 01 Feb 2022 02:56 AM PST Shops abandoned as public defies military threats and stays at home a year after ousting of government Streets were deserted and shops abandoned across many of Myanmar's towns and cities on Monday, as the public defied threats by the military junta and stayed at home in a "silent strike" on the first anniversary of the country's coup. Images posted on social media showed usually congested roads with no traffic and stores shuttered. In a photograph shared by Khit Thit Media, the usually busy Sule Pagoda road in downtown Yangon was completely empty. In Mandalay, the second largest city, a normally bustling market had virtually no customers. Continue reading... |
| Trump and his enablers unwittingly offer Democrats the best hope in the midterms | Robert Reich Posted: 02 Feb 2022 03:20 AM PST The former president and his allies may doom the Republicans by reminding the public of their attempted coup The midterm elections are just over nine months away. What will Democrats run on? What will Republicans run on? One hint came at a Houston-area Trump rally Saturday night. "If I run and if I win," the former guy said, referring to 2024, "we will treat those people from January 6th fairly." He then added, "and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly." Continue reading... |
| Posted: 02 Feb 2022 03:00 AM PST When I was shot, I was interrogated as if I were the guilty party. All people saw was a Black man with a gunshot wound who was in the wrong neighborhood As a nation, we witness the tragedy of gun violence on a regular basis. On the surface, it could be easy to look away – many Americans are desensitized to the devastation following the lives lost and the communities affected by someone with a gun. But if you take a closer look at the public portrayal of gun violence it correlates with the villainization of Black and brown Americans. When people of color are involved in acts of gun violence, the assumption is we are to blame. We are living in the wrong neighborhood, or the violence was result of criminal activity. However, it is our communities that are most affected and harmed by these tragedies. This past year we have seen a significant rise in shootings nationwide – an increase that disproportionately affects majority-minority communities like mine. While Black men and boys make up only 2% of the population, we are most likely to be victims of gun violence. Failure to recognize the humanity in victims, regardless of the color of their skin, inherently diminishes the personal and societal value of that individual. This negligence is consistently applied to Black people. If we are the criminals, we are at fault. If we are the victims, we are at fault. If we are bystanders, we are at fault because we live in a country that does not afford us the presumption of innocence. Continue reading... |
| From eastern Europe we watch Ukraine in fear. Its fate could decide the continent’s future Posted: 01 Feb 2022 05:00 AM PST Past trauma means we worry about Russia reclaiming its cold war sphere of influence and that the west will again abandon us Two points about the Ukraine crisis are crystal clear. First, Vladimir Putin wishes to reimpose Russian control over Ukraine, whatever the price. His political dream of restoring the Soviet sphere of influence is echoed in a wishlist of "security guarantees" presented to western governments by Russia in December 2021. Nato, he maintains, should return to the pre-1997 state of affairs; Russia, apparently, need not. Second, whatever Putin decides in the current crisis, there are real fears in central and eastern Europe that settled borders are now under threat. These fears are grounded in reason. What seemed unrealistic in the immediate post-cold war years is now again a real possibility. Questions about our collective safety and security have returned, along with memories of a traumatic and not so remote past. Karolina Wigura is a historian of ideas, board member of the Kultura Liberalna Foundation in Warsaw and a fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin Jarosław Kuisz is a political analyst and essayist, editor-in-chief of the Polish weekly Kultura Liberalna and a policy fellow at the University of Cambridge Guardian Newsroom: Will Russia invade Ukraine? Join Mark Rice-Oxley, Andrew Roth, Luke Harding, Nataliya Gumenyuk and Orysia Lutsevych discussing the developments with Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday 8 February, 8pm GMT | 9pm CET | midday PDT | 3pm EDT. Book tickets here Continue reading... |
| Has flu fizzled out? Experts assess the threat to NHS – analysis Posted: 01 Feb 2022 04:57 AM PST Analysis: Threat failed to materialise this winter but experts say all bets off for next season As winter approached the situation appeared perilous. Not only was the UK in the midst of a Covid pandemic, but experts feared familiar respiratory viruses could also hit hard. "I will emphasise that actually flu could be potentially a bigger problem this winter than Covid," Prof Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme in June. Continue reading... |
| Landslide sends waves of mud through streets of Ecuadorian capital Quito – video Posted: 01 Feb 2022 08:59 PM PST A landslide in Ecuador's capital city of Quito has left at least 24 people dead and dozens injured or missing after the heaviest rains in decades caused a landslide near the neighbourhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of further landslides. The mayor's office has set up shelters for affected families and has started clearing streets in the city Continue reading... |
| ‘Clear and present danger’: Boris Johnson warns of imminent Russian campaign in Ukraine – video Posted: 01 Feb 2022 12:09 PM PST A Russian invasion of Ukraine would end in a humanitarian, political and military disaster for Russia and the world, Boris Johnson has warned as he stood alongside the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kyiv, saying the UK would be judged by the level of help it gave to Ukraine Continue reading... |
| Why is this majority Black city grappling with 100-year-old sewers? - video Posted: 01 Feb 2022 02:00 AM PST In the shadow of New York City, one of the world's richest cities, the people of Mount Vernon, New York face an unpleasant problem inside their homes: sewage. The city's under-resourced sanitation crew struggles to keep up with complications stemming from its crumbling, 100-year old sewer system — a system strained even further by the extreme rain brought on by climate change. Meanwhile, residents must shoulder the financial, emotional and health burdens when sewage backs up into their basements and homes Continue reading... |
| Thousands protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Canada – video Posted: 31 Jan 2022 04:03 AM PST Thousands held a loud but peaceful protest in Canada's capital, Ottawa, against prime minister Justin Trudeau's Covid-19 vaccine mandates, on the streets and snow-covered lawn in front of parliament. The so-called Freedom Convoy started out as a rally of truckers against a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers, but turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic, with a strong anti-vaccination streak
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| Portugal's PM António Costa wins surprise majority in snap election – video Posted: 30 Jan 2022 11:24 PM PST Defying all odds, Portugal's centre-left Socialists have won an outright parliamentary majority in the country's snap general election. The result has secured a strong new mandate for the prime minister, António Costa, a champion of balanced public accounts. The result, boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic, comes as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls, and means Portugal will have a stable government to oversee the application of EU pandemic recovery funds Continue reading... |
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