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- Israel inquiry to look into alleged police use of Pegasus spyware
- Ottawa declares state of emergency as Canada trucker protest gridlocks city
- Ukraine crisis: Macron plays down expectations as he arrives for talks with Putin – live coverage
- UK drops ‘absurd’ case against Greenpeace for dropping rocks in sea
- French far-right presidential hopeful likens himself to Boris Johnson
- Trump’s incendiary Texas speech may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say
- Paralysed man walks again thanks to electrodes in his spine
- 1m UK adults ‘go entire day without food’ in cost of living crisis
- ‘Giant obstacle course’: call to reroute major shipping lanes to protect blue whales
- Jimmy Carr’s joke about Roma people ‘deeply disturbing’, says No 10
- Wit and wisdom of Germany’s anti-noise philosopher revealed to new readers
- Covid live news: Canadian capital declares state of emergency over protests; Vietnam reopens schools after year-long closure
- Harm to AstraZeneca jab’s reputation ‘probably killed thousands’
- Hong Kong reports highest number of Covid cases since pandemic began
- Australia to reopen international border on 21 February
- The big idea: can foreign policy be feminist?
- Death on the Nile review – Kenneth Branagh makes heavy weather of Christie caper
- ‘I was getting bored so hit the vodka’ – Shakespears Sister on how they made Stay
- Lata Mangeshkar obituary
- Jonathan Van Ness: ‘Systemic racism, toxic masculinity and capitalist greed drives society’
- Peter Andre looks back: ‘This sauna suit would always come off mid-song’
- Queen’s approval completes Camilla’s public image turnaround
- Margaret Atwood joins writers calling for urgent action over missing Rwandan poet
- Joe Biden to meet German chancellor as Ukraine tensions mount – live
- Peng Shuai says Weibo post sparked ‘enormous misunderstanding’
- George Christensen claims $10,000 a month for ‘e-material’ as he ramps up anti-vaccine mandate Facebook ads
- Scared, hungry and cold: child workers in Kabul – picture essay
- German bridge demolished using 120kg of explosives – video
| Israel inquiry to look into alleged police use of Pegasus spyware Posted: 07 Feb 2022 05:47 AM PST Newspaper claims businesspeople, politicians, activists and Netanyahu's son were targeted by phone intercepts Israel's police minister has announced the formation of a cabinet-level inquiry after a newspaper alleged that police had used powerful Pegasus spyware against a wide range of public figures including politicians from the left and right, businessmen, officials and activists. Pegasus, a mobile phone hacking tool made by Israel's NSO Group, was used to "phish for intelligence even before any investigation had been opened against the targets, and without judicial warrants", Calcalist newspaper said in an unsourced report. Continue reading... |
| Ottawa declares state of emergency as Canada trucker protest gridlocks city Posted: 07 Feb 2022 05:13 AM PST Police chief decries 'siege' after thousands of protesters join rallies against Covid restrictions The mayor of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency in the Canadian capital after a week-long protest by truck drivers over Covid-19 restrictions that has gridlocked its city centre and sparked allegations of interference in domestic affairs by groups from the US. The "freedom truck convoy" began as a movement against a national vaccine requirement for truckers crossing the border from the US but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures in Canada. Continue reading... |
| Ukraine crisis: Macron plays down expectations as he arrives for talks with Putin – live coverage Posted: 07 Feb 2022 08:24 AM PST Emmanuel Macron says he does not 'believe in spontaneous miracles' as he arrives for talks with Vladimir Putin
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed guarded optimism as he arrived in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin, Reuters has reported. I'm reasonably optimistic but I don't believe in spontaneous miracles. Continue reading... |
| UK drops ‘absurd’ case against Greenpeace for dropping rocks in sea Posted: 07 Feb 2022 06:00 AM PST Judge rebukes Marine Management Organisation for prosecution over direct action to stop bottom trawling The government agency charged with protecting the marine environment has dropped its case against Greenpeace over a protest intended to obstruct destructive fishing practices in UK coastal conservation areas. The judge in the case rebuked the Marine Management Organisation over the case, saying that the licensing regime, under which the case was brought, "could be better used as a source of protection against those who actively seek to harm the marine environment". Continue reading... |
| French far-right presidential hopeful likens himself to Boris Johnson Posted: 07 Feb 2022 05:51 AM PST Eric Zemmour says foreign leader he feels 'culturally and intellectually' closest to is the British PM The far-right French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour has said of all world leaders he is compared to he feels most like the British prime minister, Boris Johnson. The former journalist, who is often compared to Donald Trump, was speaking on France Inter's morning news programme when asked about "populist" foreign leaders. The interviewer mentioned Trump, the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, and Italy's former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and asked if they were models for Zemmour. Continue reading... |
| Trump’s incendiary Texas speech may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say Posted: 06 Feb 2022 11:00 PM PST Promising pardons for insurrectionists and calling for protests if indicted could help make a case for obstruction of justice Donald Trump's incendiary call at a Texas rally for his backers to ready massive protests against "radical, vicious, racist prosecutors" could constitute obstruction of justice or other crimes and backfire legally on Trump, say former federal prosecutors. Trump's barbed attack was seen as carping against separate federal and state investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and into his real estate empire. Continue reading... |
| Paralysed man walks again thanks to electrodes in his spine Posted: 07 Feb 2022 08:19 AM PST After a crash, Michel Roccati lost all movement in his legs – but his new implants mean he can now ride a bike A man who was paralysed in a motorcycle accident in 2017 has regained the ability to walk after doctors implanted electrodes in his spine to reactivate his muscles. Michel Roccati lost all feeling and movement in his legs after the crash that severed his spinal cord, but can stand and walk with electrical stimulation that is controlled wirelessly from a tablet. Continue reading... |
| 1m UK adults ‘go entire day without food’ in cost of living crisis Posted: 07 Feb 2022 06:20 AM PST Study finds one in 10 households report food insecurity while people with serious disabilities five times more at risk A million UK adults went an entire day without eating over the past month because they could not afford to put a meal on the table, according to research highlighting how the cost of living crisis has driven up food insecurity. Soaring energy and grocery prices – along with the removal in October of the £20 Covid top-up to universal credit – were having a devastating impact on the food consumption of millions of people, the Food Foundation thinktank said. Continue reading... |
| ‘Giant obstacle course’: call to reroute major shipping lanes to protect blue whales Posted: 06 Feb 2022 11:45 PM PST Unique colony of blue whales increasingly at risk from tankers and container ships, say marine campaigners
Since 2008, researchers have been painstakingly piecing together clues about a little-known, endangered population of blue whales that live off the southern tip of Sri Lanka. What they have discovered so far hints at one group of cetaceans or even a sub-species. Rather than migrating vast distances like most blue whales, the Sri Lankan population is thought to live in the region year-round, grazing on tiny shrimps and communicating via distinctive vocalisations. Continue reading... |
| Jimmy Carr’s joke about Roma people ‘deeply disturbing’, says No 10 Posted: 07 Feb 2022 01:46 AM PST Boris Johnson's spokesperson says it is unacceptable to make light of genocide after comedian's comments Jimmy Carr's comment about the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are "deeply disturbing", Downing Street has said, while declining to say that broadcasters should no longer feature the comedian. The response came after Sajid Javid, the health secretary, suggested viewers should boycott Carr after a much-condemned section of his Netflix special, His Dark Material. Continue reading... |
| Wit and wisdom of Germany’s anti-noise philosopher revealed to new readers Posted: 06 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST Theodor Lessing's newly collected early writings shine light on writer who later prophesied climate change In a nation of great thinkers who preferred the clean air of ivory towers over the hubbub of the streets, Theodor Lessing stood out for digging his knuckles into the dust. The great brawler of early 20th-century German philosophy picked fights with those he dismissed as "self-hating" fellow Jewish intellectuals, challenged the towering man-of-letters Thomas Mann to a duel, and skewered the sacred cows of the Nazis, who brutally murdered him shortly after seizing power in 1933. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 08:31 AM PST Residents furious as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions paralyse Ottawa; more than 17 million Vietnamese students due to return to school
Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has said he believes the NHS waiting list is going to grow even more due to 8-9 million people who have stayed away during the pandemic. Speaking on Sky News, he urged those who have stayed away to "please come forward". |
| Harm to AstraZeneca jab’s reputation ‘probably killed thousands’ Posted: 07 Feb 2022 04:35 AM PST Scientist who worked on jab criticises 'bad behaviour' by scientists and politicians who damaged reputation of Covid vaccine Scientists and politicians "probably killed hundreds of thousands of people" by damaging the reputation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to an Oxford scientist who worked on the jab. Prof John Bell said: "They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world." Continue reading... |
| Hong Kong reports highest number of Covid cases since pandemic began Posted: 07 Feb 2022 05:03 AM PST Officials confirm 614 new cases but insist outbreak can be controlled if people stay at home Hong Kong has reported a record 614 new cases of Covid-19, the vast majority of them the highly transmissible Omicron variant, but authorities are sticking to their guns on the territory getting back down to zero. On Monday, the authorities reported the city's highest daily number of cases since the pandemic began, a doubling of the previous day's total, with more than a third untraceable. Another 600 cases were recorded as preliminarily positive. The sharp rise was attributed to last week's lunar new year festivities, although the overall outbreak began late last year. Continue reading... |
| Australia to reopen international border on 21 February Posted: 06 Feb 2022 11:35 PM PST Scott Morrison announces all fully vaccinated visa holders will be able to enter, two years after Covid border closure
Australia will open its border for fully vaccinated tourists and all visa holders, a decision branded "bittersweet" by those who have missed funerals in recent weeks due to ongoing restrictions. Scott Morrison on Monday announced the nation would open to all fully vaccinated visa holders, including tourists, on 21 February, almost two years after borders were first closed. Continue reading... |
| The big idea: can foreign policy be feminist? Posted: 07 Feb 2022 04:30 AM PST Tying gender to military intervention has often been disastrous. Is there another way? From Laura Bush's famous radio speech declaring that the invasion of Afghanistan would liberate its women, to the Trump administration's invocation of women's rights as it pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, war-making in the modern world is often linked to gender equality. Those who push the west to take a muscular approach to advancing its interests in distant places, through bombing, droning or economic warfare, like to weave sepia-tinted images of women in miniskirts into their advocacy. Whatever the actual motives, accompanying them with rhetoric about securing women's freedom has become standard practice during western interventions. These cynical moves are often what come to mind when we hear the words "ethical foreign policy". But a whole realm of quiet work lies beyond them. As it stands, much of western foreign policy is concerned with shoring up peace and stability in areas of strategic interest to governments. That includes dispatching advisers to improve developing countries' militaries, supporting healthcare and education through development aid, and doing diplomatic work to get disagreeing parties to negotiate before things deteriorate too far. For years now, various governments have woven gender equality into these efforts. When development aid sits formally in the same department as foreign policy, as it now does in Britain, those efforts can get serious political backing. Continue reading... |
| Death on the Nile review – Kenneth Branagh makes heavy weather of Christie caper Posted: 07 Feb 2022 06:00 AM PST Branagh's spirited performance as Poirot and a big-name ensemble cast can't keep this stale and two-dimensional whodunnit afloat Long coronavirally delayed, Kenneth Branagh's latest Agatha Christie movie puffs effortfully into harbour. It's the classic whodunnit about a murder on a steamer making its way down the river in Egypt with an Anglo-American boatful of waxy-faced cameos aboard. The horrible homicide means that one of the passengers will have to spring into action, and this is of course the amply moustached Hercule Poirot, played by Branagh himself. It is Poirot who interviews suspects, supervises corpse-storage in the ship's galley freezer cabinet and delivers the final unmasking – and all without the captain insisting that the Egyptian police should possibly get involved. Screenwriter Michael Green has adapted the 1937 novel with some new inventions: some people of colour are introduced, and Christie's intense dislike for her wealthy-hypocrite leftwing character has been dialled down. Most startlingly, Green invents a very good prelude showing the young Poirot's service in the trenches of the first world war, and the origin of that moustache. Nothing in the rest of this rather stale and two-dimensional tale matches the brio of that opening. Continue reading... |
| ‘I was getting bored so hit the vodka’ – Shakespears Sister on how they made Stay Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:13 AM PST 'It was inspired by a fabulously kitsch 3D movie called Cat-Women of the Moon. A character has to go back to her planet and leave her human love behind' Stay came to life one morning in my converted garage in the back of my house in LA: a very unassuming studio, all knotty pine and carpet, my recording equipment in a cupboard. Siobhan Fahey lived down the road and her then-husband Dave Stewart [ex-Eurythmics] had given her a lift over, then he came in, because he had an idea. Hormonally Yours is released in a 2-CD deluxe edition and coloured vinyl on 17 February, the 30th anniversary of its release. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:58 AM PST One of India's most famous playback singers hailed as 'the nightingale of Bollywood' who had a four-octave vocal range Lata Mangeshkar, "the nightingale of Bollywood", who has died aged 92 after contracting Covid-19, was a much-loved Indian national and international figure, whose songs provided the backdrop to the lives of millions for seven decades. Music sung by her was heard constantly across India, in shops, restaurants, taxis or on the radio, and she became known as "Didi", or sister, because so many people identified with her often emotional songs. And yet she was best known as a playback singer, a vocalist who does not appear onscreen but provides the soundtrack for films in which actors lip sync to her singing. Continue reading... |
| Jonathan Van Ness: ‘Systemic racism, toxic masculinity and capitalist greed drives society’ Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:26 AM PST Jonathan Van Ness's new Netflix show Getting Curious sees them investigate gender, skyscrapers and pooing bugs. But beneath the curiosity lies a deep-seated anger at inequality and discrimination Jonathan Van Ness is best known for fabulous hairstyles, for killer styling tips, and for treading a path that keeps them firmly on life's glam side. Their new TV show may change that. "Being pooped on by a millipede is a lot," they exclaim. "It stained my hands for days – there's tar or resin in their poop!" The 34-year-old is talking via Zoom from their home in Texas about their new Netflix series, Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness. Based on their long-running podcast of the same name, each episode sees Van Ness – along with a coterie of experts and friends – tackle a topic, from skyscrapers to snack foods. As well, obviously, as assessing the kind of insects that go to the toilet on your hand if you pick them up in a laboratory. Or as Van Ness puts it: "Are bugs gorgeous or gross?" Continue reading... |
| Peter Andre looks back: ‘This sauna suit would always come off mid-song’ Posted: 07 Feb 2022 05:00 AM PST The 90s pop star recreates an old photograph and talks food, fame, family – and taking his top off Born Peter James Andrea in Harrow, London, in 1973, and raised in Sydney, Australia, Andre is one of the quintessential 90s pop stars. After winning the TV talent show New Faces in Australia aged 16, he signed to a record label and launched his career in the UK, finding fame with the breakout hit Mysterious Girl and the accompanying video in which Andre body-rolls in a pair of jeans in the tropical sea. After two No 1 singles, Andre retreated from the limelight before appearing on I'm a Celebrity … in 2004. On the show he met model and entrepreneur Katie Price, whom he married in 2005 and divorced in 2009. After a decade of reality TV, with multiple fly-on-the-wall franchises, Peter now lives in Surrey with his wife, NHS doctor Emily MacDonagh, and children. He is the co-founder of the "no guilt" health and fitness app #itsfine, available via Apple App Store and Google Play. Continue reading... |
| Queen’s approval completes Camilla’s public image turnaround Posted: 07 Feb 2022 06:08 AM PST Analysis: The duchess once portrayed as a 'rottweiler' has not put a foot wrong as a royal, close observers say A once vilified royal mistress perceived as a threat to the stability of the monarchy, Queen Camilla, as she will be crowned, is now seen as a guarantor of that institution's future smooth running. The Queen clearly believes the Duchess of Cornwall possesses key traits of past successful consorts, such as quiet supportiveness and a determination not to outshine the principal. Continue reading... |
| Margaret Atwood joins writers calling for urgent action over missing Rwandan poet Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:38 AM PST More than 100 authors from around the world have written to the Rwandan president about the case of Innocent Bahati, who disappeared a year ago today Margaret Atwood, Ben Okri and JM Coetzee have joined more than 100 writers from around the world in calling on the Rwandan president to intervene in the case of the poet Innocent Bahati, who disappeared one year ago today. According to human rights organisation PEN International, Bahati was last seen at a hotel in Nyanza district, in the Southern Province of Rwanda, on 7 February 2021. The poet, who is well-known in Rwanda and had published poetry on YouTube and Facebook, as well as regularly performing at live events, failed to return to Kigali, and his phones have been switched off since. Continue reading... |
| Joe Biden to meet German chancellor as Ukraine tensions mount – live Posted: 07 Feb 2022 08:40 AM PST Olaf Scholz will meet the president at the White House while France's Emmanuel Macron is to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow Tennessee governor Bill Lee, a Republican, gave final approval to the state's new congressional map on Monday, a plan that increases the number of Republican-controlled seats in the state's already heavily GOP congressional delegation. The map notably wipes out the state's 5th congressional district, a reliably Democratic one that includes all of Nashville. The new plan slices voters there up into three, far-flung solidly Republican districts. The plan also slices communities of non-white voters in Nashville and attaches them to districts that are overwhelmingly white, making it harder for them to have their voices heard. Taken together, veteran prosecutors say Trump's comments seemed to reveal that the former president now feels more legal jeopardy from the three inquiries in Atlanta, Washington and New York, all of which have accelerated since the start of 2022. ... Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor who is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy, told the Guardian that Trump "may have shot himself in the foot" with the comments. "Criminal intent can be hard to prove, but when a potential defendant says something easily seen as intimidating or threatening to those investigating the case it becomes easier," Aftergut said. Continue reading... |
| Peng Shuai says Weibo post sparked ‘enormous misunderstanding’ Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:54 AM PST Tennis star gave an interview to French sports daily L'Équipe on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, accompanied by a Chinese official The Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has given her first interview to an independent media organisation since she alleged on Weibo that a senior Chinese official had coerced her into sex, saying it was an "enormous misunderstanding". The interview with the French sports daily L'Équipe came as the International Olympic Committee said it was not up to them or anyone else "to judge, in one way or another, her position". Continue reading... |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 08:30 AM PST Facebook data shows Nationals MP spent thousands calling for an end to vaccine discrimination and 'medical apartheid'
Taxpayers have been paying more than $10,000 a month for George Christensen's "e-material" in the same period that he racked up an $85,000 Facebook advertising bill for issues including vaccine discrimination, and a conspiracy theory about the "unelected global elite". According to reports from the independent parliamentary expenses authority, Christensen claimed more than $50,000 for "e-material" over nine months in 2021, with the spend ramping up to an average of $11,000 a month from the middle of the year. Continue reading... |
| Scared, hungry and cold: child workers in Kabul – picture essay Posted: 06 Feb 2022 11:15 PM PST As temperatures fall below freezing, children as young as four trying to make a living on the Afghan capital's streets are all that stand between their family and starvation Amid the roadside restaurants and bustling crowds in one of Kabul's busiest markets, a 10-year-old girl is trying to sell plastic bags to shoppers squeezing past her. "If I don't work, we will go hungry," Shaista says. Shops in the Afghan capital are stacked with food, but her family cannot afford any of it. Each morning, Shaista buys a few shopping bags for 5 afghani (4p) each, then goes to the market to sell them for double that. As the UN predicts that 97% of Afghans could be living below the poverty line by June, the number of child labourers and beggars has tripled in Kabul, aid workers say. Many are fighting just to survive. Continue reading... |
| German bridge demolished using 120kg of explosives – video Posted: 06 Feb 2022 04:41 PM PST A 70-metre-high old Autobahn bridge was demolished for safety reasons in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The controlled detonation had to be monitored closely to prevent damage to the new bridge which was built alongside the old one. It was the first time ever a bridge of that height was detonated in Germany Continue reading... |
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