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

0 komentar

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


Mexican truckers blockade border crossings over Texas inspection delays

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:54 PM PDT

Business groups warn of supply chain disruptions after Governor Greg Abbott orders checks for people and contraband smuggling

Mexican truck drivers have blockaded bridges at the border with the United States for a second day to protest against an order by the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, to increase safety inspections that has snarled traffic at ports of entry and led business groups to warn of supply chain disruptions.

"Yesterday it took me 17 hours to cross into the United States and return," said Raymundo Galicia, a Mexican driver participating in a protest at the Santa Teresa bridge connecting San Jerónimo, Chihuahua, to Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Continue reading...

Organized crime and corrupt officials responsible for Mexico’s disappearances, UN says

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:53 PM PDT

Number of young people disappeared is increasing as total number of cases exceeds 95,000, very few of which are solved

Corrupt state officials and organized crime factions are to blame for Mexico's soaring number of enforced disappearances, whose victims increasingly include children – some as young as 12, according to a new UN investigation.

Just over 95,000 people were registered as disappeared at the end of November 2021. Of those, 40,000 were added in the past five years, according to the new report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

Continue reading...

Spiraling housing prices are an ‘intergenerational injustice’, says Canada’s deputy PM

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 09:48 AM PDT

Chrystia Freeland, who also serves as the finance minister, says the issue is her top domestic concern amid affordability crisis

Canada's finance minister has described the country's out-of-control housing prices as an "intergenerational injustice", as political leaders struggle to rein in a spiralling affordability crisis.

Chrystia Freeland, who also serves as Canada's deputy prime minister, said the issue is her top domestic concern.

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro faces stiff questioning over Brazilian army’s Viagra purchase

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 08:24 AM PDT

Navy and air force – which reportedly bought over 30,000 pills – claim drug is being used to treat pulmonary hypertension

Opponents of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, are demanding answers after the revelation that the country's armed forces had splashed out on tens of thousands of impotence pills.

"We must understand why the Bolsonaro administration is spending public money on buying such large quantities of Viagra," the lawmaker Elias Vaz declared after Brazilian media reported the seemingly unorthodox acquisitions on Monday.

Continue reading...

‘Hurricane Hazel’: Canada political icon, 101, still flying high as airport director

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:20 AM PDT

Hazel McCallion retired as mayor of Mississauga after 36 years in 2014 but the 'pragmatic populist' has shown little sign of easing up

When Hazel McCallion retired in 2014 as the mayor of the Canadian city of Mississauga, she was 93.

But while most people her age typically retreat from the spotlight of public life, "Hurricane Hazel" has shown little interest in slowing down. At 101, she recently accepted an offer to extend her role as a director for the greater Toronto airport authority, a contract that will last three years.

Continue reading...

iPhone maker Pegatron halts Shanghai production due to Covid lockdown

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:36 PM PDT

Operations stopped in Chinese cities of Shanghai and Kunshan as global supply chains feel pinch of Beijing's zero-Covid measures

Key iPhone maker Pegatron has halted operations at two subsidiaries in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Kunshan, as global supply chains feel the pinch of Beijing's strict zero-Covid measures.

The business hub of Shanghai has become the heart of China's biggest Covid-19 outbreak since the virus surfaced more than two years ago.

Continue reading...

Singapore hardens opinion against death penalty as ‘sense of injustice’ grows

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 08:41 PM PDT

High-profile death row case prompts some Singaporeans to call for executions to be halted though overall support for capital punishment remains high

The news was delivered in just a few cold sentences. An appeal for clemency for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a man on death row whose case has prompted a global outcry, had failed.

"Please be informed that the position...remains unchanged" wrote Singapore president's principal private secretary, in a letter to Nagaenthran's family: "The sentence of death therefore stands."

Continue reading...

Former Xinjiang detainee arrives in US to testify over repeated torture he says he was subjected to

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 08:17 PM PDT

Ovalbek Turdakun was given special authorization to enter the US after he had been imprisoned in detention camp in China

Ovalbek Turdakun still doesn't know what was in the shot the doctors in the Xinjiang detention centre gave him in 2018. He and his 23 cell mates were told it was a vaccine to prevent colds but Turdakun said that after the injection he and his cellmates felt pain in their ears, hands and feet; yellow fluid came out of their ears; some had trouble walking. When he was released after 10 months' detention, Turdakun still struggled to walk.

Turdakun is among the nearly 2 million people who are estimated to have been imprisoned in China's mass detention camps in the Xinjiang region. On Tuesday, Turdakun, his wife, Zhyldyz Uraalieva, and son Daniyel Ovalbek arrived in the US on a special immigration authorization called significant public benefit parole which grants entry to people who would provide "significant public benefit" such as testifying in a criminal or legal proceeding.

Continue reading...

‘Couldn’t sleep last night’: joy at New Zealand airports as Covid travel ban on Australians lifts

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 07:32 PM PDT

Change to border restrictions marks first step in welcoming international visitors back to country after two years

"Hello & kia ora & g'day & welcome" a sign waved at Auckland's international airport said on Wednesday morning as Australian travellers set foot on New Zealand soil for the first time since the short-lived travel bubble between the two countries abruptly ended in mid-2021.

More than 4,000 people travelling from Australia on Air New Zealand flights are expected to arrive at Auckland and Wellington airports on Wednesday, after the Covid-19 border restrictions lifted at midnight.

Continue reading...

Reader call-out: how has the changing mood in New Zealand’s housing market affected you?

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 03:26 PM PDT

House prices are dropping amid rising living costs and higher interest rates – what does that mean for you?

For the first time in more than a decade, New Zealand house prices recorded a quarterly drop. ANZ economists say the mood in the market has shifted – from "fear of missing out" to "I'm not paying that".

We're eager to hear from our New Zealand readers on how this might be affecting you.

Continue reading...

Gay references removed from Fantastic Beasts 3 for Chinese release

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 07:37 AM PDT

Big-budget fantasy sequel has had six seconds cut, as Warner Bros releases statement to say 'the spirit of the film remains intact'

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has been edited for release in China to ensure any gay references have been removed.

The fantasy sequel, which has an estimated budget of $200m, contains allusions to a romantic history between the characters of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, played by Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen respectively. Six seconds of dialogue, including the lines "Because I was in love with you" and "The summer Gellert and I fell in love", were taken out for the Chinese release on 8 April.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live update: PM distances government from private member’s bill on trans sport ban; Albanese campaigns in Melbourne

Posted: 13 Apr 2022 12:15 AM PDT

Prime minister says Warringah candidate Katherine Deves has 'apologised' over social media posts; Greens leader Adam Bandt speaks at press club; nation records at least 39 Covid deaths. Follow the day's news live

Adam Bandt, the Greens leader, will also be talking about the Greens' tax and Medicare plans at the National Press Club today, as Sarah Martin reports:

The Fireproof protests continue in Sydney:

Continue reading...

George Christensen says he will stand as One Nation candidate at federal election

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:55 PM PDT

Former LNP MP backtracks on retirement plans, saying he should have made the move to Pauline Hanson's party 'a long time ago'

The former federal Liberal National party MP George Christensen has defected to One Nation and will run for the rightwing party in the Senate, in what appears to be an attempt to boost Pauline Hanson's re-election bid.

Christensen, who was the MP for the Queensland seat of Dawson, announced last year he was leaving politics to spend more time with his family.

Continue reading...

Key independents say they will push next Australian government to lift jobseeker payment

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:46 PM PDT

Incumbent MPs and first-time 'teal' candidates say unemployment benefit below poverty line is unacceptable

High-profile independents vying for a place in the next parliament have vowed to push for an increase to the jobseeker payment after Labor dumped plans to review the benefit.

In a move that angered welfare groups, Labor on Tuesday confirmed it would not commit to lifting the payment – currently at a base rate of $46 a day – and had ditched an independent review proposed in 2019, citing budget constraints.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Mick Gatto defamation appeal against ABC fails

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:07 PM PDT

Appeal did not establish that judge had made an error in deciding previous defamation case, court rules

The underworld veteran Mick Gatto has failed again in a defamation case against the ABC over an article he says accused him of threatening to kill the gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

Gatto was granted permission to appeal one specific part of a larger case against the ABC and reporters Nino Bucci and Sarah Farnsworth over an online article in February 2019, but the case was ultimately dismissed.

Continue reading...

Baby spinach and Kinder chocolates recalled due to salmonella fears

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 09:16 PM PDT

Coles pulls salad bags from stores in Queensland, ACT and NSW, while Ferrero issues global recall of Kinder products over food poisoning risk

Baby spinach and Kinder chocolates have been recalled due to salmonella contamination fears, days out from the Easter weekend.

Coles is recalling packets of baby spinach after quality testing identified salmonella in 120g salad bags sold online and in supermarkets in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. (Stores in Lavington, Deniliquin and Albury were not affected.)

Continue reading...

Rental prices in Australian capital cities spike by up to 21% as available housing plummets

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 09:07 PM PDT

House and unit rental prices are up nationwide, research finds, as vacancies hit lowest national rate since 2006

The cost of renting a house has soared by up to 21.2% in Australia's capital cities, with further rises expected as the national rental crisis deepens.

Over the past 12 months, capital city house rents have recorded price increases of 14.7% while rental units have risen by 11.2%, SQM Research has found.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

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

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Biden accuses Putin of genocide; Russia building up troops on eastern border, satellite images show – live

Posted: 13 Apr 2022 12:02 AM PDT

Biden says Putin 'trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian'; satellite images show Russia building up troops in east of Ukraine

The world's chemical weapons watchdog has said it is "concerned" over reports of the use of chemical weapons in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

Reports first emerged on Monday from Ukraine's Azov battalion that a Russian drone had dropped a "poisonous substance" on troops and civilians in Mariupol.

The Technical Secretariat of the OPCW is monitoring closely the situation in Ukraine. The Secretariat is concerned by the recent unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol, which has been carried in the media over the past 24 hours.

This follows reports in the media over the past few weeks of shelling targeted at chemical plants located in Ukraine, together with accusations levelled by both sides around possible misuse of toxic chemicals.

Continue reading...

Civilians flee eastern Ukraine ahead of new Russian offensive

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:35 PM PDT

Governor of Luhansk urges people to evacuate as Vladimir Putin insists Moscow will achieve its 'noble' aims

Civilians have fled eastern Ukraine in advance of a forecast attack, as Russian forces closed in on the ruins of Mariupol – where 21,000 civilians have reportedly died – and Vladimir Putin said Moscow's invasion would proceed "calmly" and to plan.

Ukrainian forces in the east dug in on Tuesday for a major new Russian offensive, with the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Gaidai, urging all residents to evacuate as soon as possible using agreed humanitarian corridors. "It's far more scary to remain and to burn in your sleep from a Russian shell," Gaidai said on social media. "Evacuate: with every day the situation is getting worse. Take your essential items and head to the pickup point."

Continue reading...

‘I had blood all over me’: Kramatorsk station attack survivors face long road to recovery

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:00 PM PDT

Ukrainians who had narrow escape from missile attack are being treated for devastating injuries

The evacuation train that was supposed to arrive in the Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk last Friday was late.

Andrei Kovalov was standing on the busy platform waiting for the service that would take him west, far away from the fighting, which is on the verge of engulfing his home town of Bakhmut in Donetsk. The 45-year-old was among up to 4,000 other civilians at the train station that morning fleeing the advance of Russian troops across the country's east. The station was hot and crowded, witnesses said; everyone was willing to stand on the long train journey, if it meant at least they could leave.

Continue reading...

‘My classmates are like my grandchildren’: Italian woman returns to school at 90

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 09:00 PM PDT

Annunziata Murgia is oldest person ever to attend lessons for middle school diploma after second world war ruined her studies

An Italian woman who missed out on formal education because of the second world war has returned to the classroom to study for her school diploma – at the age of 90.

Annunziata Murgia is the oldest person to ever attend lessons for the licenza media, or middle school diploma, an exam typically taken by children in lower secondary education at the age of 14. She does so at the evening school close to her home in Dolianova, Sardinia.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 49 of the invasion

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 05:37 PM PDT

Biden accuses Putin of genocide, while Ukraine captures the Russian leader's closest ally in the country

Continue reading...

Palestinian man stabs Israeli police officer and is shot dead in Ashkelon

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 12:06 AM PDT

Police say assailant was man in his 40s from flashpoint city of Hebron who was being checked by officer

A Palestinian man stabbed a police officer with a kitchen knife and was shot dead in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.

Police said an officer was checking a person who had aroused his suspicion on Tuesday when "the attacker pulled out a knife and attacked the officer". The officer "responded quickly, fired and neutralised the suspect".

Continue reading...

Joe Biden vows to tackle ‘grave threat’ of untraceable ‘ghost guns’ – as it happened

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 02:11 PM PDT

The Democrat with perhaps the best chance to unseat Chuck Grassley, the Republican senator from Iowa, in the midterm elections in November has been knocked off the 7 June primary ballot – for now.

As the Associated Press reports, late on Sunday a state judge ruled that Abby Finkenauer cannot appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary, because of a technicality.

Continue reading...

Insulate Britain protesters praised by judge who fined them

Posted: 13 Apr 2022 12:11 AM PDT

Judge says environmental activists 'inspired me personally' after impassioned speeches in court

Insulate Britain protesters have been praised by a judge, who said he was "inspired" by their commitment to greener living, as he fined 12 of them over a demonstration that disrupted the journeys of drivers on the M25.

The protesters blocked traffic at junction 3 of the motorway. Some glued themselves to the tarmac, while another glued himself to a police car.

Continue reading...

Justin Welby backs removal of slave trader memorial in Cambridge college

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:47 PM PDT

Archbishop of Canterbury says Church of England has long way to go on journey towards racial justice

The archbishop of Canterbury has intervened for the second time in a dispute over a contested memorial in the chapel at Jesus College, Cambridge, stating emphatically that "memorials to slave-traders do not belong in places of worship".

Commenting on the legal battle over a memorial plaque to Tobias Rustat, a 17th-century benefactor who invested in slavery, Justin Welby gave his unequivocal support to those seeking its removal and suggested the Church of England still has a long way to go on its journey towards racial justice.

Continue reading...

Inflation hits 7% in March as Britain’s cost of living soars

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:05 PM PDT

Latest rise in CPI measure is the highest in three decades, coming a month after it hit 6.2%

Households in Britain have come under renewed pressure from the soaring cost of living after the official inflation rate reached 7% last month amid a record increase in petrol and diesel prices.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the latest rise in the consumer prices index was the fastest in three decades, coming a month after the barometer for rising living costs jumped by 6.2% in February.

Continue reading...

‘Liars and lawbreakers’: what the papers say about Johnson’s Partygate fine

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:12 PM PDT

The front pages offer differing perspectives on fines issued to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak over Covid breaches

As might be expected, there is a polarity to the coverage in today's papers of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak being among those to receive a fixed-penalty notice over Partygate.

"PM: I broke my own law but I refuse to go", with Johnson and Sunak shown side by side, is on the front page of the Guardian.

Continue reading...

V&A acquires ‘autograph suit’ signed by stars at Baftas and Oscars

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 04:01 PM PDT

Outfit worn by costume designer Sandy Powell bought by charity boss who has given it to museum

The costume designer Sandy Powell's one-of-a-kind "autograph suit", which was signed by more than 200 Hollywood celebrities and luminaries including Leonardo DiCaprio, Spike Lee and Donatella Versace, has been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The suit, worn by Powell during the 2020 film awards season, was auctioned as part of a fundraising effort by Art Fund to save Prospect Cottage, the creative studio of Powell's mentor and friend Derek Jarman. It was bought by Edwina Dunn, the chief executive of the educational charity The Female Lead, who has given it to the V&A.

Continue reading...

Replacing Human Rights Act will weaken protections, say peers and MPs

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 04:01 PM PDT

Joint committee on human rights says plans contravene principle that human rights are universal

Dominic Raab's proposal to replace the Human Rights Act with a British bill of rights is not evidence-based and will diminish protections for individuals, MPs and peers have said.

The criticisms by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) are the latest directed at the planned changes, which the justice secretary has said will counter "wokery and political correctness" and expedite the deportation of foreign criminals.

Continue reading...

Back from the dead? Elusive ivory-bill woodpecker not extinct, researchers say

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:00 PM PDT

An expedition to the forests of Louisiana say extinction of bird, last definitively seen in 1944, has been exaggerated

In terms of elusiveness, it is the Bigfoot or Loch Ness monster of the bird world, so rare and undetectable that the US government declared it extinct last year. But the ivory-bill woodpecker is, in fact, still alive and pecking in the forests of Louisiana, a team of researchers has claimed.

A series of grainy pictures and observations of the bird, which had its last widely accepted sighting in 1944, show that the scrupulously furtive woodpecker is still holding on in the swampy forests of the US south, according to the team's new research, which is yet to be peer-reviewed.

Continue reading...

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

Report raises alarm on ‘insidious’ effort to undermine US democracy

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:00 PM PDT

State legislatures using gerrymandering, voter suppression, misinformation and intimidation to make voting more difficult

An "insidious and coordinated" effort between lawmakers and extremist groups is under way to undermine American democracy, according to a new report.

On Tuesday, the nonpartisan civil rights organization National Urban League released the annual report in its analysis series The State of Black America. The report, called Under Siege: The Plot to Destroy Democracy, outlines the "conspiracy and the urgent case for a national mobilization to protect and defend our most sacred constitutional right".

Continue reading...

Brooklyn shooting: police search for suspect after more than 20 injured

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 07:31 PM PDT

Authorities identify person of interest in subway attack as Biden says 'we're not letting up until we find the perpetrator'

A gunman wearing a gas mask filled a crowded New York subway car with thick black smoke from a canister and opened fire on morning rush-hour passengers, injuring more than 20, including 10 with gunshot wounds.

A manhunt was under way on Tuesday after the shooter fled the scene. A 9mm semi-automatic handgun and extended magazines, a hatchet, a black garbage can, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades and a key to a U-Haul van were also found at the scene, authorities said. Officers located the vehicle, which will be examined by a bomb squad.

Continue reading...

Brooklyn subway attack: NYPD names ‘person of interest’ – live

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:07 PM PDT

A press conference updating on the Brooklyn subway shooting that happened this morning in the Sunset Park neighborhood just wrapped up, with officials updating that 16 people were injured in today's attack, including 10 people who were shot, and five people who are in critical but stable condition.

Officials also noted that other injuries from the incident included smoke inhalation, shrapnel, or panic induced from the incident, but said that the shrapnel was not from an explosive device.

Continue reading...

Twitter investor sues Elon Musk for failure to promptly disclose his shares

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 05:46 PM PDT

Musk took several weeks to reveal his stake, violating federal law requiring disclosure within 10 days

A Twitter shareholder is suing Elon Musk for failing to disclose that he had bought a substantial stake in the company, affecting share prices.

The Tesla CEO revealed on 4 April that he had acquired a 9.2% stake in Twitter. Shares in the social media company soared, as investors viewed the move as a vote of confidence from the richest man in the world.

Continue reading...

US teen overdose deaths double in three years amid fentanyl crisis

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 04:58 PM PDT

Deaths rise even as teen drug use drops overall, with researchers pointing to flood of deadly counterfeit pills

Drug overdose deaths among high school-aged US teens have more than doubled since 2019, driven by a rise in the deadly opioid fentanyl, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, who analyzed mortality rates among 14- to 18-year-olds over the past decade, found that while drug use among this age group is actually falling, fatalities are on the rise, jumping from 492 in 2019 to 954 in 2020, then climbing to 1,146 in 2021.

Continue reading...


Posting Komentar