Category Archives: World News

As China threat rises, can Aukus alliance recover from rancorous birth?

Posted on by

Questions mount about pact’s ultimate purpose and implications for other Asean countries

It was initially seen as an audacious enlistment by Joe Biden of Australia into the 21st-century struggle against China, elevating the country in the process to a significant regional military power and finally giving substance to Global Britain and its tilt to the Indo-Pacific.

But since then the “ruckus” about Aukus, as Boris Johnson described it, has not stopped. If this was the start of a new “anti-hegemonic coalition” to balance China’s rise, it has not quite blown up on the launchpad, but nor has it taken off as smoothly as intended.

Continue reading...

Biden pushes back against progressive criticism over renominating Powell as Fed chair – live

Posted on by

America’s democracy will be at “critical risk” if the US Senate fails to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, more than 150 scholars of American democratic systems said in an open letter published Sunday.

The academics called on the US Senate to get rid of the filibuster, the rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation through the upper chamber.

Continue reading...

Covid live: UK records 44,917 new cases; strict restrictions for unvaccinated come into effect in Greece

Posted on by

UK also reports 45 further Covid-related deaths; from today Greeks barred from all enclosed public spaces if they are unvaccinated

Here’s some more detail from Agence France-Presse in Vienna on Austria’s move into its fourth Covid lockdown:

People in Austria are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise, as the country returned to a Covid-19 lockdown on Monday morning.

Continue reading...

Kenyan police launch investigation into death of British BBC employee

Posted on by

Kate Mitchell’s body was found shortly after an emergency alarm was activated in her hotel room

A murder investigation has been launched in Kenya into the death of a British woman who worked for the BBC’s international development charity.

The body of Kate Mitchell, a senior manager at BBC Media Action, was found on Friday in the capital Nairobi shortly after an emergency alarm was activated in her room. Police in Kenya said the window to her eighth-floor hotel room had been broken and the body of a man Mitchell had been with earlier was found on the ground below.

Continue reading...

Germany and Netherlands face fresh Covid rules as Austria enters lockdown

Posted on by

Reintroduction of restrictions has led to violent protests in European cities

Germany and the Netherlands have been told they should face still tougher Covid restrictions as the German health minister, Jens Spahn, made the startling prediction that most of his compatriots would be “vaccinated, cured or dead” by the end of winter.

With Europe again the centre of the pandemic, ushering in tighter controls mainly on the unvaccinated across the continent, on Monday Austria became the first west European country to re-enter lockdown since vaccination began earlier this year.

Continue reading...

Aid workers say Mediterranean a ‘liquid graveyard’ after 75 feared dead off Libya

Posted on by

People smugglers are putting hundreds to sea this autumn despite stormy weather

More than 75 people are feared dead after their boat capsized in stormy seas off the coast of Libya while attempting to reach Europe in one of the deadliest shipwrecks this year, according to the UN.

Fifteen survivors were rescued by local fishers and brought to the port of Zuwara in north-western Libya. They said there were about 92 people onboard the vessel when the incident took place on 17 November. Most of those who died came from sub-Saharan Africa.

Continue reading...

Meredith Kercher killer Rudy Guede could be freed within days

Posted on by

Man convicted of murdering British student asks for sentence, due to end in January, to be reduced

Rudy Guede, the only person definitively convicted of the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher, could be freed in the coming days after completing 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

Guede’s sentence is due to end on 4 January, but he has asked magistrates to reduce it by a further 45 days.

Continue reading...

Improving migrant workers’ lives in Qatar | Letter

Posted on by

Faha Al-Mana responds to a report on allegations of exploitation and abuse by migrant workers in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup

Your report (‘We have fallen into a trap’: Qatar’s World Cup dream is a nightmare for hotel staff, 18 November) fails to acknowledge the progress Qatar has made to improve living and working standards for foreign workers, including those in the hospitality sector.

The impact of Qatar’s reforms is best highlighted through its numbers: over 240,000 workers have successfully changed jobs since barriers were removed in September 2020; more than 400,000 have directly benefited from the new minimum wage; improvements to the wage protection system now protect 96% of eligible workers from wage abuse; and hundreds of thousands of workers have left Qatar and returned without permission from their employer since exit permits were abolished.

Continue reading...

To fight global crime, Taiwan must be included in Interpol | Letters

Posted on by

Huang Chia-lu responds to the news that a Chinese official is seeking election to Interpol’s executive committee, and urges the international community to support Taiwan’s participation

You rightly point out the concerns of human rights activists and international politicians that China could misuse Interpol’s capabilities to track down overseas dissidents if Hu Binchen is elected as an executive committee member (Chinese official seeks Interpol role, sparking fears for dissidents, 15 November). One should also note that Taiwan is not included in Interpol, meaning there is a missing part in the global fight against international crime and cybercrime.

As cybercrime transcends borders, transnational cooperation is key to bringing international crime rings to justice. Taiwan’s police authorities have a hi-tech crime investigation unit and professional cybercrime investigators. Taiwan’s expertise will benefit global efforts to build a safer cyberspace.

Continue reading...

Peng Shuai backlash leaves IOC facing familiar criticism over human rights

Posted on by

Analysis: Olympic committee is accused of engaging in a ‘publicity stunt’ by taking part in video call

As human rights organisations and the world’s media questioned the whereabouts of the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, the International Olympic Committee opted for a “quiet diplomacy” approach, arguing that was the most effective way to deal with such a case.

“Experience shows that quiet diplomacy offers the best opportunity to find a solution for questions of such nature. This explains why the IOC will not comment any further at this stage,” the Lausanne-based organisation said in an emailed statement on Thursday about the case of Peng, who disappeared from public view after she made an accusation of sexual assault against a former senior Chinese official.

Continue reading...

Outrage after two journalists detained at Indigenous protest in Canada

Posted on by

Press organizations condemn arrest of Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano at pipeline protest in British Columbia

Press organizations in Canada have condemned the arrest of two journalists who were detained while covering Indigenous-led resistance to a controversial pipeline project and remain in custody.

Amber Bracken, an award-winning photojournalist who has previously worked with the Guardian, and Michael Toledano, a documentary film-maker, were arrested on Friday by Royal Canadian Mounted police officers who were enforcing a court-ordered injunction in British Columbia. More than a dozen protesters were also arrested.

Continue reading...

West weighs up costs of boycotting China’s Winter Olympics

Posted on by

Analysis: calls growing amid Xinjiang allegations and Peng Shuai fallout, but Beijing takes slights very seriously

Boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics in February may seem a simple, symbolic diplomatic gesture – when put alongside the allegations of labour camps in Xinjiang province and the apparent sexual exploitation of the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai – but such is the contemporary economic power of China that the step will only be taken after much agonising.

The threats and economic boycotts that Australia, Canada and more recently Lithuania have suffered at the hands of the Chinese for challenging Beijing’s authority in one way or another are not experiences other countries will want to copy lightly.

Continue reading...

Waukesha Christmas parade: man charged with homicide after five killed

Posted on by

Darrell E Brooks, 39, in custody as police chief says suspect was involved in a domestic disturbance before the incident

Authorities in Wisconsin on Monday identified a 39-year-old man as the person who ploughed his vehicle into a Christmas parade on Sunday night, killing five people and injuring another 48, including two children who remained in a critical condition.

Darrell E Brooks was in custody, charged with five counts of intentional first-degree homicide, Daniel Thompson, police chief of Waukesha, a city 20 miles west of Milwaukee, said at an afternoon press conference.

Continue reading...

Nasa to slam spacecraft into asteroid in mission to avoid future Armaggedon

Posted on by

Test drive of planetary defence system aims to provide data on how to deflect asteroids away from Earth

That’s one large rock, one momentous shift in our relationship with space. On Wednesday, Nasa will launch a mission to deliberately slam a spacecraft into an asteroid to try to alter its orbit – the first time humanity has tried to interfere in the gravitational dance of the solar system. The aim is to test drive a planetary defence system that could prevent us from going the same way as the dinosaurs, providing the first real data about what it would take to deflect an Armageddon-inducing asteroid away from Earth.

Our planet is constantly being bombarded with small pieces of debris, but these are usually burned or broken up long before they hit the ground. Once in a while, however, something large enough to do significant damage hits the ground. About 66m years ago, one such collision is thought to have ended the reign of the dinosaurs, ejecting vast amounts of dust and debris into the upper atmosphere, which obscured the sun and caused food chains to collapse. Someday, something similar could call time on humanity’s reign – unless we can find a way to deflect it.

Continue reading...

Russia accuses west of building up forces on its borders

Posted on by

Moscow, which has nearly 100,000 troops near Ukraine border, also criticises ‘provocative policy’ of US and EU towards Kyiv

Russia has accused the west of building up forces on its borders as well as those of Belarus in remarks that appeared tailored to mirror recent US warnings about Moscow’s aggressive positioning towards Ukraine.

The Kremlin, as well as Russian intelligence, security, and diplomatic officials, have all gone on the offensive in the past 48 hours after Vladimir Putin publicly instructed his diplomats that tensions should be maintained with the west as a form of aggressive deterrence.

Continue reading...

Women bore brunt of social and economic impacts of Covid – Red Cross

Posted on by

In 82% of countries surveyed, women were disproportionately hit, from loss of income to extra responsibility for caring, report shows

The social and economic burden of Covid-19 has fallen disproportionately on women around the world, the Red Cross has warned, in a stark analysis of the impact of the pandemic.

Women were particularly affected by loss of income and education, rises in domestic violence, child marriage and trafficking, and responsibility for caring for children and sick relatives, according to a comprehensive report published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Monday.

Continue reading...

‘All my friends went home’: a fruit picker on life without EU workers

Posted on by

With fellow Europeans leaving the UK, and no British workers taking their place, Eleanor Popa’s job harvesting strawberries has gone from tough to tough and lonely. Will the farm survive another year?

Eleanor Popa used to sleep in a six-berth caravan on the site of Sharrington Strawberries, a 16-hectare (40-acre) strawberry farm in Melton Constable, Norfolk. Now, there are only four people in her caravan: everyone else has left to work in EU countries. “My friends,” she says, “they went home, or to work in Spain and Germany. A lot of them did not come back to work this year.”

Popa, who is from Bulgaria, has been a fruit picker for two years. “It’s hard work,” she says. “We have to get up early and pick. It’s 6am in the summer. Now we get up at 7.30am. And we work in tunnels. Sometimes it’s cold, sometimes it’s hot. Sometimes it’s windy. It can be boring.” Picking strawberries is skilled work. “It took me a month to learn how to pick the fruit,” she says.

Continue reading...

The road to reform: have things improved for Qatar’s World Cup migrant workers?

Posted on by

A year before kick off, workers claim companies are refusing to enforce sweeping new labour laws created to stamp out human rights abuses

When Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup in 2010, the triumphant Gulf state unveiled plans to host the most spectacular of all World Cup tournaments and began an ambitious building plan of state-of-the-art stadiums, luxury hotels and a sparkling new metro.

Yet, over the next decade, the brutal conditions in which hundreds of thousands of migrant workers toiled in searing heat to build Qatar’s World Cup vision has been exposed, with investigations into the forced labour , debt bondage and worker death toll causing international outrage.

Continue reading...

Pregnant women at risk in Malawi as drug shortage prevents caesareans

Posted on by

Patients travelling long distances to find surgery cancelled as lack of anaesthetics shuts operating theatres in half of hospitals

Almost half of Malawi’s district hospitals have closed their operating theatres due to a dire shortage of anaesthetics.

Maternity care has been affected by a lack of drugs, said doctors. Surgery, including caesareans, has been cancelled and patients needing emergency care have been moved hundreds of miles around the country.

Continue reading...

Social media footage shows SUV speeding through Wisconsin Christmas parade – video

Posted on by

Social media footage shows a SUV speeding through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, narrowly missing a small child. The red vehicle continued down the road and hit more than 20 people, including children. Waukesha police chief Dan Thompson said a person of interest was in custody and the suspect vehicle had been recovered. 

Continue reading...