‘Despotic’ Maduro accused of risking Venezuela-Guyana conflict over oil-rich region

Foreign minister of Guyana condemns Venezuela president for holding referendum on country’s claim to Essequibo

The foreign minister of the tiny South American nation of Guyana has said that neighbouring Venezuela is “on the wrong side of history” as it risks sparking conflict over an oil-rich and long-contested swath of rainforest.

Tensions between the two countries have reached unprecedented heights ahead of a referendum on Sunday intended to rubber-stamp Venezuela’s claim on the region of Essequibo.

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Chevron to buy oil and gas producer Hess in $53bn all-stock deal

Takeover puts Chevron head-to-head with ExxonMobil in oil-rich Guyana and US shale industry

Chevron has announced plans to buy the oil producer Hess Corporation in a $53bn (£44bn) deal, becoming the second American energy giant to place a vast bet on fossil fuel production this month.

The all-stock takeover, which will increase Chevron’s presence in oil-rich Guyana, was unveiled less than two weeks after another of the world’s largest oil companies, Exxon Mobil, said it would acquire the shale group Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5bn.

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Family of former British PM apologises for enslaver past in Guyana

Descendants of William Gladstone urge British government to discuss reparations in the Caribbean

The descendants of the former British prime minister William Gladstone have apologised for their family’s past as enslavers in Guyana and urged the UK to discuss reparations in the Caribbean.

Gladstone’s father was one of the largest enslavers in the parts of the Caribbean colonised by Britain.

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Guyana’s president asks European slave traders’ descendants to pay reparations

Irfaan Ali also demands posthumous charges for crimes against humanity for traders and enslavers

The president of Guyana has called on descendants of European slave traders to offer to pay reparations to right historical wrongs.

Irfaan Ali also demanded that those involved in the transatlantic slave trade and African enslavement be posthumously charged for crimes against humanity.

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‘A huge human drama’: how the revolt that began on the Gladstone plantation led to emancipation

The Demerara Rebellion failed, but it was a step towards ending slavery in the British empire

William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

The Demerara Rebellion of August 1823 was a pivotal event in the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

While the transatlantic slave trade, the largest forced migration in human history, was outlawed by Britain in 1807, slavery continued across the colonies. Conditions were brutal in Demerara, one of three provinces that made up British Guiana, where sugar plantations were among the most profitable in the world.

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How William Gladstone defended his father’s role in slavery

The great Victorian statesman’s glittering career was financed by huge profits made in the 1820s and 30s on Guyanese estates

William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

William Gladstone’s father, John, was an absentee landlord who never visited his estates in the Caribbean but became fabulously rich from the proceeds of slavery.

His pursuit of profit at the expense of free – and then cheap – labour in Guyana transformed the South American country for ever.

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‘I felt absolutely sick’: John Gladstone’s heir on his family’s role in slavery

Charlie Gladstone on why the only way he can live with his family’s dark past is to turn it into something positive
William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

For Charlie Gladstone, the question is not what sort of ancestor he had, but what sort of ancestor he wants to be.

When he learned about John Gladstone’s involvement in slavery he was moved to tears. “I felt absolutely terrible. I really, really hated it. It was a shock and I felt absolutely sick.”

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William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

Descendants of PM, whose father’s wealth came from sugar plantations, travel to Guyana for 200th anniversary of rebellion by enslaved Africans

The family of one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers will travel to the Caribbean this week to apologise for its historical role in slavery.

Six of William Gladstone’s descendants will arrive in Guyana on Thursday as the country commemorates the 200th anniversary of a rebellion by enslaved people that historians say paved the way for abolition.

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Thursday briefing: Inside South America’s summit to save the Amazon

In today’s newsletter: After years of rampant exploitation under a far-right government, Brazil has brought together leaders to help secure the future of the world’s biggest rainforest – and create ‘a just ecological transition’

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Good morning. “I think the world needs to see this meeting in Belém as the most important landmark ever … when it comes to discussing the climate question.” For once you can forgive the hyperbole of Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when he spoke about this week’s Amazon summit.

Leaders from the eight South American countries that share the river basin have been meeting this week in the Brazilian city to discuss an issue that, by any measure, is a global emergency: how to protect the vast rainforest and safeguard its critical role in regulating the planetary climate.

Education | Rising costs and family needs could force one in three students starting university this year to opt to live at home, according to new research. While some of the “Covid generation” of school-leavers said they planned to live at home because their preferred university was nearby, most said they could not afford to live away from home.

Northern Ireland | The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation into an unprecedented data breach that disclosed details of more than 10,000 police officers and staff in Northern Ireland. The agency, which regulates data privacy laws, is working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to establish the level of risk amid warnings that the leak may compel officers to leave the force or move their home address.

Hawaii | Six people were killed after unprecedented wildfires tore through the Hawaiian island of Maui. The fires, fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, destroyed businesses in the historic town of Lahaina, and left at least two dozen people injured.

Ecuador | Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign rally on Wednesday. The country’s president, Guillermo Lasso, said he was “outraged and shocked by the assassination” and would convene a meeting of his security cabinet.

Media | Employees at ITV’s This Morning were allegedly subjected to “bullying, discrimination and harassment”, according to staff members who have spoken out after Phillip Schofield’s departure from the programme. Some workers claim they attempted to raise concerns about the programme only to face “further bullying and discrimination” by bosses for speaking out.

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Girl, 15, charged with 19 counts of murder after fire at school in Guyana

Police have accused the teenager of starting the blaze in a dormitory that killed 18 schoolmates and a five-year-old boy

A teenage student whom police in Guyana accuse of deliberately setting a fire in a girls’ dormitory that killed 18 schoolmates and a five-year-old boy has been charged as an adult with 19 counts of murder.

The 15-year-old girl appeared virtually at the hearing on Monday in a court south of the capital, Georgetown, and was ordered to be held in custody pending further court proceedings.

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School dormitory fire in Guyana kills at least 20 pupils

Fire began shortly after midnight at school serving mostly Indigenous young people aged 12-18, say officials

At least 20 pupils have been killed in a fire in a school dormitory in Guyana, authorities have said.

The Guyanese government said in a press statement that the fire broke out in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the south-western border town of Mahdia, 200 miles (320km) south of the capital, Georgetown.

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Could Guyana’s Exxon ruling scare big oil off risky exploration?

Ruling requiring ‘unlimited guarantee’ from oil firms to cover costs of spills could change offshore drilling throughout region

A ruling from Guyana’s high court could change the face of offshore oil drilling throughout the Caribbean, according to financial and legal analysts.

The ruling ordered the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require an independent liability insurance policy from Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and an “unlimited guarantee” from its parent company, ExxonMobil, in the case of any damage caused by the company’s oil and gas development in the country.

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‘Finch-smuggling kingpin’ sentenced to prison for bird trafficking into US

Insaf Ali smuggled songbirds in hair curlers from Guyana to New York when JFK airport authorities discovered the ruse

A man who repeatedly admitted scheming to smuggle finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions was sentenced on Thursday to a year and a day in prison.

It was Insaf Ali’s second time being sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court for a crime related to bird trafficking, and he vowed it would be his last.

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Exxon’s oil drilling gamble off Guyana coast ‘poses major environmental risk’

Experts warn of potential for disaster as Exxon pursues 9bn barrels in sensitive marine ecosystem

ExxonMobil’s huge new Guyana project faces charges of a disregard for safety from experts who claim the company has failed to adequately prepare for possible disaster, the Guardian and Floodlight have found.

Exxon has been extracting oil from Liza 1, an ultra-deepwater drilling operation, since 2019 – part of an expansive project spanning more than 6m acres off the coast of Guyana that includes 17 additional prospects in the exploration and preparatory phases.

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All that glitters: why lab-made gems might not be an ethical alternative

Switching to synthetic gems may have environmental upsides but it could harm the very communities consumers worry about

Diamonds have long been in the debt of marketing genius. Until the 1940s they were not a popular choice for engagement rings. Then, in 1947, a stroke of brilliance: De Beers’ “A Diamond is Forever” campaign. The slogan was a hit. The market transformed. Today diamond engagement rings are ubiquitous, winking from the windows of upmarket jewellers.

Earlier this year came another glittering moment in diamond PR. Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery retailer, announced it would be switching entirely to lab-made diamonds. It generated positive headlines around the world, dubbed an “ethical stand against mined diamonds”.

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Claude James obituary

My friend and colleague Claude James, who has died aged 90, was the first black person to be elected to a railway trade union executive committee and the first black manager of Euston station. He fought for fairness and and against racism in the UK.

The eldest of six, Claude was born in Guyana to Gladys and Cyril, and lived in Kitty village. His grandmother was influential in his early life, taking him to meetings to discuss current affairs. He enjoyed his time at Britain high school in Queenstown before starting work for the City Engineer Council. He sailed for Britain alone in 1954.

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Guyana calls off plan for Taiwan ties after Beijing criticizes ‘mistake’

Foreign ministry said it terminated agreement with Taiwan to open office after Beijing urged country to ‘correct their mistake’

Guyana has abruptly terminated an agreement with Taiwan to open an office in the South American country, hours after China urged Georgetown to “correct their mistake”.

Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry announced it had signed an agreement with Guyana to open a Taiwan office – effectively a de facto embassy for the island that China claims as its sovereign territory with no right to diplomatic ties.

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Goldmining having big impact on indigenous Amazon communities

Study calls for more rights for indigenous reserves as rising gold price attracts more miners

A new report has exposed the scale and impact of mining on indigenous reserves in Amazon countries as gold prices soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 20% of indigenous lands are overlapped by mining concessions and illegal mining, it found, covering 450,000 sq km (174,000 sq miles) – and 31% of Amazon indigenous reserves are affected.

The report, released on Wednesday by the World Resources Institute, said indigenous people should be given more legal rights to manage and use their lands, and called for better environmental safeguards. As pressure mounts over the issue, a leading Brazilian thinktank has called for regulations tracing gold sold by financial institutions.

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Huge oil discovery off Guyana raises the stakes in election fraud case

If discredited president refuses to accept imminent ruling over March vote, investors likely to be scared off

Allegations of mass vote fiddling in the former British colony of Guyana may lead to the country’s discredited government being ostracised unless a court hearing next week can resolve a bitter dispute over election results.

The political stakes in Guyana have risen massively since May 2015 when Exxon Mobil discovered oil reserves potentially worth more than $100bn (£80bn) 200km (124 miles) off the coast – a find big enough to transform a Latin American country of fewer than 1 million people with a GDP of $3bn largely based on sugar, timber, molasses and bauxite. Its current income of $5,250 per head is projected to rise to above $10,000 next year alone.

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World Bank accused over ExxonMobil plans to tap Guyana oil rush

Washington DC-based bank grants funds to redraft south American state’s oil laws by lawyers linked to oil giant

The World Bank is to pay for Guyana’s oil laws to be rewritten by a legal firm that has regularly worked for ExxonMobil, just as the US producer prepares to extract as much as 8bn barrels of oil off the country’s coast.

The World Bank has pledged not to fund fossil fuel extraction directly, but it is giving Guyana millions of dollars to develop governance in its burgeoning oil sector, as the south American country prepares for an oil rush led by ExxonMobil and its partners.

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