World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk |
- Russia-Ukraine latest news: Zelenskiy says Putin’s plan ‘derailed’; captured Russian soldiers ‘don’t know why they are here’
- Russian forces advance inside Ukraine: what we know so far
- Battle for Kyiv as Ukrainians attempt to hold off Russian forces
- ‘We’ve got used to the explosions’: Ukrainian civilians on life in war
- Poland will refuse to play Russia in World Cup 2022 playoff in March
- Video of Ukrainian ‘tank man’ trying to block Russian military convoy goes viral
- ‘Noise, speed, chaos and fuss everywhere’: diary of evacuation from Kyiv
- ‘Terrible and fantastical’: fear and farewells on the road out of Ukraine
- Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin
- Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to become first Black woman on supreme court
- House committee requests White House records recovered from Trump’s home
- Russia is banned from Eurovision after invasion of Ukraine
- Judge orders new trial for US woman sentenced to six years for trying to register to vote
- British Airways cancels all short-haul flights from Heathrow before midday
- South Africa grants permits to hunt 10 critically endangered black rhino
- El Salvador’s former president charged over 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests
- Ireland’s film industry booms on back on record investment
- An inch apart: new troubles for San Francisco’s Millennium Tower
- Argentina scientists unearth dinosaur with ‘puny arms’ and hard head
- ‘So many rabbit holes’: Even in trusting New Zealand, protests show fringe beliefs can flourish
- Covid recovery funding pits Italy’s dying towns against each other
- UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals
- Lockdown lifestyles: how has Covid changed lives in the UK?
- Daisy Edgar-Jones on life after Normal People: ‘Should I be living it up more? Is this how our 20s are supposed to be?’
- Warsan Shire talks to Bernardine Evaristo about becoming a superstar poet: ‘Beyoncé sent flowers when my children were born’
- The Chagos Islanders taking back their birthplace from the British: 'they uprooted us' - video
- Improving literacy means a book – or an iPad – at bedtime, say researchers
- ‘She’s like a spinning wheel’: the mum supporting 200 other single mothers in her WhatsApp group
- She found out she had complex PTSD. Then she realized how insidious trauma really is
- Flat cap nation: how Peaky Blinders went from a TV show to a way of life
- Journalist refuses to disclose source material in 1974 Birmingham pub bombings
- How a single case challenged the LA prosecutor’s reform agenda: ‘Nobody is happy’
- ‘We just keep going’: the Tongan resort destroyed by nature’s fury – for the third time
- Queensland floods: SES worker killed as death toll rises to five and part of Gympie evacuated
- Dominican Republic starts work on border wall with Haiti
- Tycoon’s son sentenced to death in Pakistan in high-profile rape and murder case
- Catching the bug: are farmed insects about to take off in Africa?
- ‘House of love’: the calm, creative space changing young lives in Karachi
- UK government accused of ignoring victims in efforts to tackle ‘sex for aid’
- The antisemitism animating Putin’s claim to ‘denazify’ Ukraine | Jason Stanley
- Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination is rare moment of celebration for Biden
- ‘It’s not rational’: Putin’s bizarre speech wrecks his once pragmatic image
- Western powers have realised Russia is largely immune to sanctions
- Explosions and gunfire across Kyiv during Russian night assault – video
- Ukrainian ambassador calls for a moment of silence at UN security council – video
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy to nation: 'we must withstand tonight' – video
- Video shows Ukrainian ‘tank man’ trying to block Russian military convoy
- Putin references neo-Nazis and drug addicts in bizarre speech to Russian security council – video
- Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians he will remain in Kyiv – video
- Ukrainian man survives after military vehicle swerves and drives over his car – video
| Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:57 AM PST Ukrainian president insists his forces will win in face of attacks that have seen 198 Ukrainians so far killed in invasion
Reuters reports that President Joe Biden has instructed the US state department to release $350m in military aid to Ukraine as it struggles to repulse a Russian invasion. In a memorandum to the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, Biden directed that $350m allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine's defence. Fierce fighting has broken out in Kyiv as Russian forces tried to push their way towards the city centre and were met with resistance from the Ukrainian military. Throughout Friday night, explosions rocked the capital. Artillery fire could be heard in the streets and as dawn broke, a post on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Facebook page said "active combat" was taking place in the city. Continue reading... |
| Russian forces advance inside Ukraine: what we know so far Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:12 AM PST Russian forces have pressed towards the capital, Kyiv, as the death toll in the conflict rose to at least 198 Russian troops pressed towards Ukraine's capital on Saturday after a night of explosions and street fighting that sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground. The death toll so far in the Russian invasion of Ukraine is at least 198, according to the Ukrainian health ministry. Three children are among those dead. The ministry's head was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying 1,115 people had been injured, including 33 children. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said at press briefing that his country will triumph over Russian forces. He said Ukrainian forces controlled Kyiv and key areas, adding: "We are defending our land and the future of our children." Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia could cut diplomatic ties with the west. The Russian RIA news agency said senior lawmaker Andrei Klimov said Russia would decide in which areas it would work with the west and where it no longer made sense to cooperate. More European countries are in favour of cutting Russia out of the Swift global payments system, Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, have said. France supported the move, said Kuleba, while the Cypriot finance minister said his country was not opposed. The leader of Italy's PD, a main coalition party, has said Rome would support a block. A Russian shell has hit a residential building in the centre of Kyiv, Ukraine says. Video shared by Zelenskiy's press service shows the missile exploding in a private flat, sending smoke and debris into the living room. The UN refugee agency has said that nearly 120,000 people have so far fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries in the wake of Russian invasion. The agency expects up to 4 million Ukrainians could flee if the situation deteriorates further. On Friday night Zelenskiy warned of a difficult night ahead for the capital. "This night will be the hardest," the Ukrainian president said in an address. "This night the enemy will be using all available means to break our resistance. This night they will launch an assault." Many Ukrainians have been preparing to fight. City authorities have urged residents to stay home but prepare molotov cocktails for a citizen uprising against Russian fighters if they break through defensive lines. In one district they handed out rifles to any citizen who wanted to fight, and the defence ministry has opened the army to any Ukrainian citizen. Joe Biden has released $350m in military aid to Ukraine. In a memorandum to the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, Biden directed that $350m allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine's defence. Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian army to overthrow its leadership, whom he labelled as a "gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who has lodged itself in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people". Continue reading... |
| Battle for Kyiv as Ukrainians attempt to hold off Russian forces Posted: 25 Feb 2022 11:42 PM PST Defence forces wage ferocious resistance in the capital as Zelenskiy says 'we will not lay down our arms' Fierce fighting broke out in Kyiv as Russian forces tried to push their way towards the city centre from multiple directions in the early hours of Saturday, and as the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, bluntly rejected a US offer to evacuate him from the country's capital. "The fight is here," Zelinskiy said. By 8am, however, residents were reporting a lull in the attack as it appeared Kyiv's defenders had held out against another night of Russian advances from multiple directions, including both north and south of the main western route from Zhitomyr to Kyiv, and in the area of the motorway towards the country's south. Continue reading... |
| ‘We’ve got used to the explosions’: Ukrainian civilians on life in war Posted: 26 Feb 2022 02:03 AM PST Five Ukrainians share their experiences since the Russian invasion • Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed, according to the head of the Russian health ministry. A further 1,115 people, including 33 children, have been wounded. Reuters said it was as yet unclear whether the ministry was only referring to civilian casualties. There was heavy fighting in Kyiv on Friday night as Russian ground forces attacked on multiple fronts across the city. Ukrainian armed forces said they resisted Russian advances on an army base and a major road. Continue reading... |
| Poland will refuse to play Russia in World Cup 2022 playoff in March Posted: 26 Feb 2022 01:47 AM PST
Poland will refuse to fulfil their scheduled World Cup playoff against Russia next month in protest against the invasion of Ukraine, the president of Poland's Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, said on Saturday. The decision was immediately backed by the team's players, including their star forward Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich. Russia were due to host Poland in 'Path B' of the European qualifying playoff semi-finals, with the winners progressing to face either Sweden of Czech Republic for a place at the Qatar World Cup later this year. Kulesza said the Polish association was in discussions with its Swedish and Czech counterparts regarding the matches. Continue reading... |
| Video of Ukrainian ‘tank man’ trying to block Russian military convoy goes viral Posted: 25 Feb 2022 03:40 PM PST Thirty-second clip shared by Ukrainian news outlet HB shows a man standing in front of what appears to be military vehicles A video which apparently shows a Ukrainian man attempting to block a Russian military convoy has gone viral online, with comparisons being drawn to the "tank man" of Tiananmen Square. The 30-second clip, shared by Ukrainian news outlet HB, shows a man standing in front of what appear to be military vehicles. As the vehicles try to swerve around him, the man jockeys to the side, seemingly in an attempt to block their progress. Continue reading... |
| ‘Noise, speed, chaos and fuss everywhere’: diary of evacuation from Kyiv Posted: 25 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST Larisa Kalik documents the Russian invasion of Ukraine and being forced to leave the city she loves • Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news When Vladimir Putin announced he would recognise the Luhansk and Donetsk "people's republics", I was in the centre of Kyiv. I read the quotes from his speech, but I could not bring myself to look at his face or listen to his voice. It had seemed that he would declare war that very evening, so many people initially exhaled when they heard his words. But then they realised that he would not stop there. Continue reading... |
| ‘Terrible and fantastical’: fear and farewells on the road out of Ukraine Posted: 25 Feb 2022 09:41 AM PST A great caravan dozens of miles long was leaving Kyiv as the Russians approached, while others stayed to fight Within minutes of the first explosions, Ukraine's great exodus began. Some had been planning for a Russian invasion for months. They had carefully filled the car with petrol, bought food supplies and packed a getaway bag, just in case. And, in many cases, a carrier for much-loved family pets. Others had done nothing whatsoever. Until Russia's blitzkrieg invasion began early on Thursday, many people in Kyiv believed the prospect fanciful. And yet the nightmare was real enough: air raid sirens, Russian helicopters flying low against a grey sky in attack formation, the roar of enemy warplanes. Continue reading... |
| Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin Posted: 25 Feb 2022 11:00 PM PST The Fox News host has defended the Russian leader's invasion of Ukraine, saying 'Has Putin ever called me a racist?' As Russian troops encircled Ukraine, politicians and media pundits in the US were largely united in their condemnation of Vladimir Putin's imminent attack. Tucker Carlson, however, took a different approach. Hours before Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine, Fox News' biggest star was still praising the Russian president. Continue reading... |
| Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to become first Black woman on supreme court Posted: 25 Feb 2022 10:31 AM PST
Joe Biden on Friday nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the supreme court, seeking to elevate a Black woman to the nation's highest court for the first time in its 232-year history. Biden's decision to nominate Jackson to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, for whom she clerked, sets up a fierce confirmation battle in the deeply partisan and evenly-divided Senate. Breyer, the most senior jurist in the court's three-member liberal wing, will retire at the end of the court's current session this summer. Continue reading... |
| House committee requests White House records recovered from Trump’s home Posted: 25 Feb 2022 06:58 AM PST Letter to National Archives requests files found in boxes at Mar-a-Lago that should have been turned over when Trump left office The investigation into whether Donald Trump broke federal records laws when he took White House documents home after leaving office took another step forward on Friday when a congressional oversight committee requested the materials from the National Archives. The letter to the archivist, from the House committee on oversight and reform, requests the content of the documents taken by Trump to Mar-a-Lago, his residence in Florida. They also asked for any records that the former US president attempted to destroy, and communications on the issue by Trump's White House aides. Continue reading... |
| Russia is banned from Eurovision after invasion of Ukraine Posted: 25 Feb 2022 09:22 AM PST After a U-turn, organisers say Russia's inclusion could 'bring the competition into disrepute' Russia will no longer be allowed to compete in this year's Eurovision song contest, with organisers saying its inclusion could "bring the competition into disrepute". On Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union said Russia would still be allowed to compete, despite its invasion of Ukraine. But after pressure from broadcasters across Europe, the EBU made a U-turn, publishing a statement on Friday stating the country would no longer be allowed to take part. Continue reading... |
| Judge orders new trial for US woman sentenced to six years for trying to register to vote Posted: 25 Feb 2022 01:43 PM PST Pamela Moses, who has been in prison since December but is being released on Friday, says she had no idea she was inelegible A Memphis judge ordered a new trial for Pamela Moses, a woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote. The case attracted national attention in recent weeks, following a Guardian report, because of the severity of the sentence. Moses said she had no idea she was ineligible. Continue reading... |
| British Airways cancels all short-haul flights from Heathrow before midday Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:25 AM PST Travellers angry with 'poor' communication as many try to take first holiday since pandemic began Travellers were left frustrated on Saturday after British Airways announced it had cancelled all short-haul Heathrow flights before midday due to technical problems. The cancellations were unrelated to cyber-attacks and involved hardware issues, the company said. Continue reading... |
| South Africa grants permits to hunt 10 critically endangered black rhino Posted: 25 Feb 2022 06:38 PM PST Government says black rhino population is growing and also gives permission to hunt 10 leopards and 150 elephants The South African government has granted annual hunting and export permits for big game including 10 critically endangered black rhinoceros and a similar number of leopards. It also gave permission for more than 100 elephants to be killed, in keeping with international laws on the trade of endangered species, saying its elephant population was growing and that fewer than 0.3% were hunted each year. Continue reading... |
| El Salvador’s former president charged over 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests Posted: 25 Feb 2022 11:20 PM PST Alfredo Cristiani and former military officers to face trial in long process to bring killings' masterminds to justice Prosecutors in El Salvador have charged the former president Alfredo Cristiani over the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests that sparked international outrage. Prosecutors also announced charges against a dozen other people, including former military officers, over the massacre. The list of charges will apparently include murder, terrorism and conspiracy. Continue reading... |
| Ireland’s film industry booms on back on record investment Posted: 26 Feb 2022 12:00 AM PST Figures show funding surged 40% in 2021, amid growing demand for content by streaming platforms Olivia Colman and Josh O'Connor were last on screen together as the Queen and Prince Charles, but since then the stars of The Crown are among an array of A-listers who spent part of pandemic in Ireland where film and TV production has hit record levels. Figures released by Screen Ireland show that industry investment surged 40% in 2021, beating the previous record levels of 2019 despite Covid restrictions. Continue reading... |
| An inch apart: new troubles for San Francisco’s Millennium Tower Posted: 25 Feb 2022 02:28 PM PST Engineer overseeing the luxury tower's retrofit discovered the space between it and a smaller building had widened by an inch San Francisco's troubled Millennium Tower, which has continued to sink despite multimillion dollar efforts to correct it, has developed yet another problem. The luxury tower, popular among star athletes and retired Google employees before the tilting issues were widely publicized, has sunk 18in since its construction was completed in 2009 and has a 26in tilt at the top. Now, the engineer overseeing the retrofit of the tower has said the movement caused the formation of a one-inch gap between the building and a smaller 12-story adjacent structure. Continue reading... |
| Argentina scientists unearth dinosaur with ‘puny arms’ and hard head Posted: 25 Feb 2022 02:56 PM PST Dinosaur probably belongs to carnivorous group called abelisaurs and may have used its head to ram its prey Scientists in Argentina have unearthed the remains of a previously unknown species of meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 70m years ago that had puny arms and may have used its powerful head to ram its prey. The fossil skull of the Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai, was discovered in Argentina's north-western Salta province. The researchers said it likely belongs to a carnivorous group of dinosaurs called abelisaurs, which walked on two legs and possessed only stub-like arms, even shorter than those of North America's Tyrannosaurus rex. Continue reading... |
| ‘So many rabbit holes’: Even in trusting New Zealand, protests show fringe beliefs can flourish Posted: 25 Feb 2022 10:00 AM PST Researchers say country's successful Covid pandemic response and high-trust society is no inoculation against misinformation New Zealand's anti-vaccine convoy is hoping to be there for the long haul. Once a ragtag collective of tents, it has become a fully fledged encampment: it has free clothing tents, admin checkpoints, yellow-vested security guards, portable toilets, tents for charging phones, and a "blues lounge" where the band plays a light, jazzy reimagining of Pink Floyd's Brick in the Wall. "We don't need no vaccination, we don't need no thought control," a woman croons, tapping the bongos. On the surface, the occupation of parliamentary grounds evokes a poorly planned but amiable music festival, but an undercurrent of violence – or its threat – throbs below. As well as chalked messages of peace and love, some protesters came bearing nooses, promises of a "war crimes trial" for politicians, journalists, and scientists, or outright demands to "hang them high". Continue reading... |
| Covid recovery funding pits Italy’s dying towns against each other Posted: 25 Feb 2022 05:16 AM PST Programme that involves small communities bidding for slice of €420m fund sparks controversy and division Perched on a rock surrounded by a vast nature reserve, the hilltop hamlet of Trevinano sent tremors across the Lazio region when it was announced this month that it and its 142 residents were in line for €20m (£16.73m) from a Covid recovery fund to save small villages on the verge of extinction – equal to a whopping €140,845 per resident. "This initiative is generating a lot of envy and bad feeling," said Alessandra Terrosi, the mayor of Trevinano, who has the responsibility for spending the millions before 2026, when the funding programme ends. The hamlet's good fortune has fuelled rancour among its neighbours who missed out, raised questions over how efficiently Italy will invest some of the €191bn coming its way from the EU's post-pandemic recovery fund and had critics asking if €20m is just too much money for one small village. Continue reading... |
| UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals Posted: 25 Feb 2022 09:24 AM PST Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak said to have agreed to decision not to follow public health advice on testing in vulnerable settings Public health advice is no longer being followed under Boris Johnson's "living with Covid" strategy to end mass testing, senior civil servants have acknowledged in a leaked account of a cross-Whitehall briefing. The briefing by a senior member of the Covid taskforce was delivered to civil service leaders across Whitehall on Thursday afternoon, making clear that following public health advice was no longer the sole priority. Continue reading... |
| Lockdown lifestyles: how has Covid changed lives in the UK? Posted: 25 Feb 2022 12:43 AM PST Nearly two years after the first lockdown was implemented, legal restrictions related to coronavirus are finally being lifted. Here we chart what has changed in people's lives It's nearly two years since the prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the first national Covid lockdown and, for many Britons, life feels close to normal. As of Thursday, there are no longer any restrictions in England – no legal requirement to wear masks or to self-isolate after a positive Covid test. But have our lives changed in other ways that will outlive the pandemic? Have our habits changed for good? Continue reading... |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2022 12:00 AM PST The steamy lockdown smash turned the actor into a star overnight. Just one problem: she couldn't leave the house. Can she belatedly adjust to fame? 'I've been told," says Daisy Edgar-Jones, "that the trick for posing at film premieres is to put one foot forward, lift your chin, and basically try to emanate with your face that you're a top-class lawyer who's won a big case." We're standing together in a London park, not far from where the 23-year-old actor grew up, on a cold but sunlit morning in February. Soon, Edgar-Jones will fly to Los Angeles for the premiere of a gory and provocative new thriller she has made called Fresh. Although her career exploded in spring 2020, when she starred with Paul Mescal in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney's Normal People, the years since then have been Covid-straitened and quite weird ("smudged" is how Edgar-Jones puts it), and she has not yet had any red carpet practice. This will be her first premiere. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2022 01:45 AM PST One is a breakout poet, the other is a Booker-winning champion of Black talent. They swap notes on class, impostor syndrome and the day pop's biggest star came knocking When an email from Beyoncé's office first landed in Warsan Shire's inbox, she assumed it was some kind of prank. It wasn't. Beyoncé – the real Beyoncé – was inviting Shire, a 27-year-old British-Somali poet from Wembley, north-west London, to collaborate. The result was the revolutionary 2016 visual album Lemonade, on which Shire is credited with "film adaptation and poetry"; her verses are read aloud between songs. Shire has also since contributed work to Beyoncé's 2020 film Black is King and wrote a specially commissioned poem, I Have Three Hearts, to announce the singer's 2017 pregnancy with twins. But even before Beyoncé came knocking, Shire was starward bound. After a responsibility-laden adolescence, spent combining writing with co-parenting her three younger siblings, Shire published her debut chapbook of poems, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth in 2011, aged just 23. In 2013, she was appointed the first Young People's Laureate for London and in 2015, her poem Home became a viral anthem for the refugee crisis. Shire's first full poetry collection, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, comes out next month. In between these professional milestones, she also found time to meet and marry a Mexican American charity worker called Andres, move continents, and have two children. Continue reading... |
| The Chagos Islanders taking back their birthplace from the British: 'they uprooted us' - video Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:45 AM PST More than 50 years after they were forcibly removed from their homes, the former residents of Britain's last colony in Africa are challenging the UK's claim to the archipelago. After a five-day journey across the ocean, which they returned from this week, a small delegation of Chagos Islanders made an emotional return to their homeland. They were there to symbolically lay claim to the islands for Mauritius, in the hope of eventually resettling there. Olivier Bancoult was just four-years-old when his family was deported to Mauritius from the Chagos Islands. We follow his journey |
| Improving literacy means a book – or an iPad – at bedtime, say researchers Posted: 26 Feb 2022 12:15 AM PST If ministers want to boost reading and maths scores in schools, they must involve parents, according to social mobility experts Bev Wong, a single parent from Brixton, south London, would never have taken her teenage daughters to visit a university like Oxford. It wasn't just that she and other mums in her community didn't believe elite universities wanted black state school kids. They also couldn't afford the public transport to get there. But after being approached in her local church, Wong became part of Parent Power, a programme run by the prestigious King's College London and the community organising charity Citizens UK. The aim of the project was to listen to what was deterring under-represented parents from encouraging their kids to go to selective universities, and then train groups of parents up to talk to others and campaign for a level playing field in education for their children. Continue reading... |
| ‘She’s like a spinning wheel’: the mum supporting 200 other single mothers in her WhatsApp group Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:00 AM PST Queeny Singh transformed the lives of desperate mums at a homeless hostel in London. Now it's her turn to be treated During her first year in the England's Lane homeless hostel in north London, Queeny Singh barely left her room. She didn't speak to her family, or the other residents. "I was embarrassed," says the mother of three from south London. It was 2018. Singh had just been made redundant from her job as a deputy manager at the clothing chain Dorothy Perkins. She couldn't find another job that would accommodate childcare. Singh fell behind on her rent, and lost her home. She moved into England's Lane with her baby daughter Anyah and was also pregnant with son Zavier. Continue reading... |
| She found out she had complex PTSD. Then she realized how insidious trauma really is Posted: 26 Feb 2022 02:00 AM PST Writing a book helped Stephanie Foo come to terms with how childhood traumas impacted her outwardly successful adult life In 2017, Stephanie Foo was slapped with a complex PTSD diagnosis. She was dumbfounded. Foo, a successful podcast producer on shows like This American Life, had heard of PTSD – the disorder associated in popular culture with war veterans who witnessed death, or had guns held to their heads. She knew those afflicted were frequently revisited by traumatic memories, often in flashbacks playing before their eyes. Continue reading... |
| Flat cap nation: how Peaky Blinders went from a TV show to a way of life Posted: 26 Feb 2022 01:00 AM PST In the space of six series, the crime drama set in 1920s Birmingham has become a ratings hit, spawning theme pubs, fashion lines and festivals. How did it become a cross-cultural phenomenon? When Shane Milligan picks up the phone, the plasterer and part-time magician from Kent launches straight into an impression of a character he feels he embodies so fully that he sometimes loses sight of himself. "By order of the Peaky Blinders, this place is under new management!" he bellows in guttural Brummie from his home in Gravesend. The line comes early on in Peaky Blinders, the Birmingham-set gangster drama that is about to come to a presumably bloody conclusion in its sixth series on BBC One and Netflix. In the episode, Arthur Shelby (played by Paul Anderson), the tortured brother of crime boss Tommy (Cillian Murphy), has just violently taken over a London jazz club owned by Italian capo Darby Sabini. Continue reading... |
| Journalist refuses to disclose source material in 1974 Birmingham pub bombings Posted: 25 Feb 2022 12:47 PM PST Chris Mullin is challenging action by West Midlands police at Old Bailey to make him reveal source's identity A former MP and investigative journalist has refused to divulge the sources of his information about the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings in a hearing at the Old Bailey. Chris Mullin, 74, is challenging an application by West Midlands police to require him to disclose source material dating back to his investigation in 1985 and 1986. Continue reading... |
| How a single case challenged the LA prosecutor’s reform agenda: ‘Nobody is happy’ Posted: 26 Feb 2022 03:00 AM PST The developments show how media coverage of horrific crimes can help derail criminal justice reform The Los Angeles district attorney's handling of a sexual assault case and decision to backtrack on part of his reform agenda has caused political division and media outrage, in a case that signals the intensifying opposition to progressive prosecutors across the US. George Gascón, who leads the largest local prosecutor's office in the nation, had banned the practice of charging youth as adults at the start of his term in 2020. But over the weekend, in response to outrage over a sexual assault case, he announced he would shift his policy so that juveniles could be tried as adults "in the most extraordinary of cases". Continue reading... |
| ‘We just keep going’: the Tongan resort destroyed by nature’s fury – for the third time Posted: 25 Feb 2022 01:00 PM PST Despite a narrow escape from last month's tsunami and the arrival of Covid in Tonga, Ha'atafu manager Moana Paea is determined to rebuild her resort once again When the Ha'atafu beach resort was levelled by the tsunami that hit Tonga last month, it was the third time that the family-run business had been completely destroyed by a natural disaster. In 1982, the resort was wiped out by Cyclone Isaac and 11 years later by Cyclone Kina. Continue reading... |
| Queensland floods: SES worker killed as death toll rises to five and part of Gympie evacuated Posted: 26 Feb 2022 12:02 AM PST People urged to stay home and not to drive on flooded roads as parts of state hit by worse flooding than in 2011 Three people, including a State Emergency Service volunteer, have died after being swept away in flood waters in Queensland overnight, as some parts of the state experience worse flooding than 2011. It brought the death toll from the floods to five, and at least one person remained missing. Continue reading... |
| Dominican Republic starts work on border wall with Haiti Posted: 24 Feb 2022 10:31 PM PST Officials claim the controversial barrier will stop migrant crossings, as well as drugs and contraband, from crisis-hit Haiti The Dominican Republic has begun work on a border wall with Haiti, sparking controversy between the neighbouring Caribbean countries. Construction began this week on a concrete barrier that will span nearly half of the 244-mile (392km) border between the two countries, with Dominican officials claiming it will reduce flows of migrants, drugs, weapons and contraband. Continue reading... |
| Tycoon’s son sentenced to death in Pakistan in high-profile rape and murder case Posted: 24 Feb 2022 05:40 AM PST Zahir Jaffer tortured and beheaded Noor Mukadam, in July last year, in case that sparked outrage over violence against women A court in Islamabad has sentenced to death the tycoon's son who raped and murdered Noor Mukadam, a case that sparked outrage in Pakistan. Mukadam, 27, the daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was held captive, tortured and beheaded in July last year by Zahir Jaffer, a member of a well-known industrialist family. Continue reading... |
| Catching the bug: are farmed insects about to take off in Africa? Posted: 24 Feb 2022 01:00 AM PST Tasty, cheap, but often difficult to catch in the wild, this source of protein is increasingly being seen as a possible answer to food insecurity The boarding of Uganda Airlines flight 446 from Entebbe to Dubai was momentarily disrupted at the end of last year when two of the passengers started hawking bush crickets in the aisles. Their fellow travellers couldn't believe their luck: nsenene are a prized delicacy in Uganda, but despite November usually being peak season for the insects, there had been hardly any around. Continue reading... |
| ‘House of love’: the calm, creative space changing young lives in Karachi Posted: 23 Feb 2022 11:00 PM PST In Lyari, a slum notorious for violence in Pakistan's most populous city, Mehr Ghar offers young people a safe place to hang out and study – and, for many, an alternative path to gang life Living in Lyari was like living on the frontlines of a war, says Nauroz Ghani, who grew up in the Karachi slum notorious for its bloody gang battles. So used to the constant gunfire, he says he would "become restless if a day passed by without hearing the sound of a firing". "My teenage years were lost to violence," says Ghani, 24. "I had no interest in getting an education. Instead, I was attracted by their guns and activities." He saw dead bodies on the street and one boy was killed in front of him. "All of us who lived during those days have such memories. We lived in terror, but it had become habitual." Continue reading... |
| UK government accused of ignoring victims in efforts to tackle ‘sex for aid’ Posted: 23 Feb 2022 10:00 PM PST Foreign office's 'top-down' approach failing people it is seeking to protect, says watchdog, with abuse cases still underreported The British government has not listened to victims in its efforts to tackle abuse in the humanitarian sector after the "sex for aid" scandals, a UK watchdog has said. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (Icai) said the government was falling short because of a "top-down" approach and needed to listen and learn from recipients of aid who remained reluctant to report abuse allegations. Continue reading... |
| The antisemitism animating Putin’s claim to ‘denazify’ Ukraine | Jason Stanley Posted: 25 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST The Russian leader's pretext for invasion recasts Ukraine's Jewish president as a Nazi and Russian Christians as true victims of the Holocaust When Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Russia's invasion of Ukraine at dawn on Thursday, he justified the "special military operation" as having the goal to "denazify" Ukraine. The justification is not tenable, but it would be a mistake simply to dismiss it. Vladimir Putin is himself a fascist autocrat, one who imprisons democratic opposition leaders and critics. He is the acknowledged leader of the global far right, which looks increasingly like a global fascist movement. Continue reading... |
| Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination is rare moment of celebration for Biden Posted: 25 Feb 2022 01:02 PM PST Biden is embattled on all fronts – from a stalled domestic agenda to international order – but a supreme court pick is an enduring act Two years ago exactly, Joe Biden stood on a debate stage in Charleston, South Carolina, his candidacy on the ropes, and made a promise: if elected president, he would nominate the first Black woman to the supreme court. Days later, Biden won the South Carolina primary on the strength of his support among Black voters. The victory propelled him to the Democratic nomination and then to the presidency. Last month, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, presenting Biden with an opportunity to fulfill that campaign commitment. Continue reading... |
| ‘It’s not rational’: Putin’s bizarre speech wrecks his once pragmatic image Posted: 25 Feb 2022 11:30 AM PST Analysis: President makes appeal to Ukraine's military to abandon its 'drug-addicted, neo-Nazi' leaders • Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news Looking dead-eyed into the camera on Friday, Vladimir Putin gave one of the most bizarre speeches of his 22 years as Russia's leader, a directive that managed to sound alarming even in a week when he has ordered tanks into Ukraine and missile strikes on Kyiv. "Once again I speak to the Ukrainian soldiers," he said, addressing his enemy. "Do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the elderly as a human shield. Take power into your own hands. It seems that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis." Continue reading... |
| Western powers have realised Russia is largely immune to sanctions Posted: 25 Feb 2022 08:57 AM PST Analysis: Only the financial equivalent of unleashing a nuclear arsenal will dent Russia's foreign assets war chest The war against Russia is one western countries want to fight with only economic sanctions, not guns. Russia's conflict with Ukraine, despite its long gestation and planning by Vladimir Putin and his supporters in the Kremlin, was supposed to end quickly once financial retaliation began. Yes, there would be military skirmishes on the ground, but little more than a few casualties were expected once a range of penalties began to bite. Continue reading... |
| Explosions and gunfire across Kyiv during Russian night assault – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 10:01 PM PST Footage shared on social media appears to show explosions, gunfire and anti-aircraft tracer fire across multiple areas of Kyiv. The invading Russian forces tried to push their way towards the city centre and were met with resistance. The Ukrainian military said Russian troops attacked an army base on a main Kyiv avenue but the assault was repelled. Continue reading... |
| Ukrainian ambassador calls for a moment of silence at UN security council – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 08:31 PM PST Ukraine's UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, addressed an emergency meeting of the UN security council on Friday 26 February in New York. During his address, Kyslytsya called for a moment of silence to pray for peace, and for the souls of those already killed after Russia invaded his country on 25 February.
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| Volodymyr Zelenskiy to nation: 'we must withstand tonight' – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 06:45 PM PST The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said to his nation on Friday that 'we must withstand tonight' as he warned of an impending Russian assault on Kyiv and other cities across the country. In his address, Zelenskiy declared that Ukraine 'cannot lose the capital'. The invasion of Ukraine began early on Thursday with missile strikes on cities and military bases, followed by a multi-pronged ground assault that rolled troops in from separatist-held areas in the east; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.
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| Video shows Ukrainian ‘tank man’ trying to block Russian military convoy Posted: 25 Feb 2022 04:57 PM PST Footage shared by Ukrainian news outlet HB apparently shows a Ukrainian man attempting to block a Russian military convoy. The 30-second clip shows a man standing in front of what appear to be military vehicles. As the vehicles try to swerve around him, the man jockeys to the side, seemingly in an attempt to block their progress. The clip has gone viral, with comparisons being drawn to the 'tank man' of Tiananmen Square.
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| Putin references neo-Nazis and drug addicts in bizarre speech to Russian security council – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 12:36 PM PST The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Friday briefed his country's security council on the invasion of Ukraine. He claimed that most Ukrainian military units have been reluctant to engage with Russian forces and said the units offering resistance are mostly volunteer battalions made up of rightwing Ukrainian nationalists. He offered no evidence for his claims, which could not be independently verified Continue reading... |
| Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians he will remain in Kyiv – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 12:19 PM PST The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Friday said he is remaining in Kyiv, even as Russian forces pounded the capital and other cities with airstrikes for a second day. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fuelled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop
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| Ukrainian man survives after military vehicle swerves and drives over his car – video Posted: 25 Feb 2022 11:41 AM PST An armoured vehicle has been filmed crashing into and then crushing a civilian car in a Kyiv suburb. Before the incident, recorded from multiple angles, the vehicle was being driven down a main road leading through a residential area. Separate footage showed that the driver survived after local residents helped free him from the wreckage. It is not yet clear whether Russian or Ukrainian forces were driving the vehicle. Russian forces are approaching Kyiv from the north and north-east, Ukraine's army said, with many fearing that the capital could fall on the second day of Moscow's offensive
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