Category Archives: World News

Germany urges unity as crisis worsens for migrants at Poland-Belarus border

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German interior minister says Poland needs support to deal with ‘hybrid threat’ of politically organised migration

Germany needs to get the “whole of the democratic world” onboard to support orderly immigration to Europe, its interior minister has said, amid a worsening crisis at the Poland-Belarus border.

Horst Seehofer accused Belarus and Russia of exploiting refugees and migrants in an attempt to destabilise the west, and said EU countries must stand together in the face of a “hybrid threat” posed by “politically organised migration”.

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Greek minister urges victims to ‘speak up’ amid wave of domestic violence

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New campaign will encourage survivors to access help and support in response to spate of femicides and rise in reports of abuse

Greece is to launch a public campaign urging victims of domestic violence to “speak up” after a spate of femicides whose ferocity has stunned the nation.

The country has seen a rise in domestic violence cases so far in 2021, accentuated by a number of brutal murders of women that have dominated media coverage as people from the arts and sports worlds – including the Olympic gold medallist Sofia Bekatourou – have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse.

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‘I will never get my eyes back’: the Chilean woman blinded by police who is running for senate

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Fabiola Campillai was shot in the face by a teargas canister as she walked to work in 2019 amid nationwide protests against social inequality. Now she is running for office as an independent

On a November evening two years ago, Fabiola Campillai stepped out into the fading sunshine to head for her night shift at a food processing plant.

For weeks, Chile had been racked by a wave of mass protests against social inequality, but there were few signs of demonstrators in Cinco Pinos, the quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Santiago where Campillai lives.

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California women gave birth to each other’s babies after IVF mix-up

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Couples to sue clinic after raising girls for months that were not theirs, says lawsuit, before babies were swapped back

Two California couples gave birth to each other’s babies after a mix-up at a fertility clinic and spent months raising children that were not theirs before swapping the infants, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

Daphna Cardinale said she and her husband, Alexander, had immediate suspicions that the girl she gave birth to in late 2019 was not theirs due to the child’s darker complexion.

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Bitcoin price surges to record high of more than $68,000

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Other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum also reach records as investors hedge against inflation

The bitcoin price has reached a new record high, breaking through $68,000 (£50,000), and analysts predict that the world’s best-known cryptocurrency will rise further in the coming weeks.

This beats the previous record high set in late October, when bitcoin reached nearly $67,700 before falling back again when investors discovered a new cryptocurrency, shiba inu. Other cryptocurrencies have also risen to record highs, such as ethereum, which soared to $4,837.

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A wealth of sorrow: why Nigeria’s abundant oil reserves are really a curse

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It is known as the resource curse: assets that should bring wealth and stability but instead lead to corruption and poverty. And for Nigeria, oil is the culprit

In Nigeria, oil has been more of a curse than a blessing. Weak institutions of state and poor governance in managing the vast revenues have led the country to fail to realise its full potential in a textbook example of what academics know as the “resource curse”.

First coined by Prof Richard Auty in 1994, the term refers to the inability of nations to use their windfall wealth to improve their population’s lot and bolster their economies. The rich natural resources bring corruption and poverty to a nation, rather than positive economic development and, counterintuitively, these countries end up with lower growth and development than those without natural resources.

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‘We are sinking’: Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech standing knee deep in seawater – video

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Tuvalu's foreign minister has given a speech to the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow standing knee-deep in seawater to show how his low-lying Pacific island nation is on the frontline of the climate crisis. The video of Simon Kofe standing in a suit and tie at a lectern set up in the sea delivering his speech draws attention to Tuvalu's struggle against rising sea levels. 

'We will not stand idly by as the water rises around us. We are not just talking in Tuvalu, we are mobilising collective action at home, in our region, and on the international stage to secure our future,'  Kofe said

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Malawian campaigner makes history as country’s first elected MP with albinism

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Overstone Kondowe’s election hailed as ‘giant step forward’ in continent where people with albinism face stigma and attacks


The first Malawian with albinism to become an elected MP took his seat in the new parliament on Monday, making history in the southern African country. It also marks a significant milestone in a continent where people with the hereditary lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes face severe discrimination and physical attacks.

Overstone Kondowe, the 42-year-old son of a teacher, grew up in a village without any help to ease the pain in his sun-sensitive skin or glasses to aid his poor eyesight.

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Chinese city offers cash for clues as Covid outbreak declared a ‘people’s war’

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Authorities announced the 100,000 yuan ($15,640) rewards for residents in Heihe, saying illegal hunting or crossing the border should be reported

Residents of a Chinese city bordering Russia have been offered major cash rewards for tips on the continuing Delta outbreak, with local officials declaring a “people’s war” on the virus.

Authorities announced the 100,000 yuan ($15,640) rewards for residents in Heihe, in the north-eastern Heilongjiang Province, as its total tally of cases in this outbreak reached 240.

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Tensions rise as Belarus escorts migrants towards Polish border – video

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Polish authorities have accused Belarus of trying to spark a major confrontation as footage showed hundreds of migrants walking towards the Polish border. Belarusian State Border Committee shared drone footage of Polish police in riot gear guarding the Polish border as migrants were gathering on the Belarusian side, behind barbed wire. The US has called on the government of Belarus to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating and coercing irregular migration flows across its borders.

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New Zealand finally welcomes godwit two months after it was blown 2,000km back to Alaska

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The bird has failed to complete the non-stop, 12,200km journey three times in the past year

A plucky migrating godwit that captured New Zealand’s attention after it was forced to make a dramatic U-turn back to Alaska after 33 hours of non-stop flight has finally touched down in the country.

Every year, the Eastern bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka in Māori, make one of the longest avian migration flights in the world, travelling from their breeding ground in the Arctic, across the Pacific, to New Zealand.

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Hacking of activists is latest in long line of cyber-attacks on Palestinians

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Analysis: while identity of hackers is not known in this case, Palestinians have long been spied on by Israeli military

The disclosure that Palestinian human rights defenders were reportedly hacked using NSO’s Pegasus spyware will come as little surprise to two groups of people: Palestinians themselves and the Israeli military and intelligence cyber operatives who have long spied on Palestinians.

While it is not known who was responsible for the hacking in this instance, what is very well documented is the role of the Israeli military’s 8200 cyberwarfare unit – known in Hebrew as the Yehida Shmoneh-Matayim – in the widespread spying on Palestinian society.

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Cop26: Obama criticises China and Russia for ‘dangerous absence of urgency’ – day eight live

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Day eight at the Glasgow summit focuses on loss, adaptation and damage

The fossil fuel industry has hundreds of people accredited to the key climate talks in Glasgow - giving the sector a bigger delegation than any country, campaigners have claimed.

Analysis of the UN’s provisional list of named attendees suggests 503 delegates at Cop26 who are either directly affiliated with fossil fuel companies or are part of country delegations but are affiliated to oil, gas or coal firms, PA reports.

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Jill Biden to kick off campaign to encourage US child vaccination – live

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The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly and David Smith report:

In his Saturday remarks, Joe Biden praised the infrastructure bill as a “once-in-a-generation investment that’s going to create millions of jobs, modernise our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our broadband, a range of things turning the climate crisis into an opportunity, and a put us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st century that we face with China and other large countries in the rest of the world”.

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Coronavirus live: Germany sees highest ever seven-day Covid incidence rate; Auckland lockdown set to end

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Germany’s Robert Koch Institute records incidence rate of 201.1; Lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city likely to end this month

Dozens of crossings at the Mexico-US border reopened to non-essential travel on Monday after a 20-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lizbeth Diaz reports for Reuters from Tijuana that ahead of the reopening, hundreds of cars formed lines stretching back kilometres from the border, while queues at pedestrian crossings grew steadily.

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US man who survived Covid says sorry to doctors for not getting vaccinated

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Richard Soliz from Seattle, who spent month ill in hospital, thanks staff and says he ‘deeply regrets’ not getting vaccine

After being hospitalized for 28 days with Covid-19, a man returned to the Seattle hospital that saved his life – to apologize for not getting vaccinated.

Richard Soliz, a 54-year old graphic artist, developed blood clots on his lungs after contracting the coronavirus. Admitted to Harborview medical center in late August, he spent close to a month on a ventilator and heart monitor, as doctors worried one of his blood clots might transfer to his brain or his heart.

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Knocking review – noises in the night fuel urban paranoia and apartment angst

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Claustrophic tale of a woman falling apart in her flat is familiar territory, but told here with fresh panache

Documentary-maker Frida Kempff makes her feature debut with a Swedish-set thriller drenched in urban paranoia. Molly (Cecilia Milocco), who has recently finished a stay at a psychiatric hospital following a personal tragedy, has moved into a new flat hoping for a fresh start. The plan proves futile: she is soon plagued by mysterious, relentless sounds of knocking coming from her ceiling. Convinced that someone is being hurt, Molly is determined to trace the origin of this mysterious cry for help, only to be faced with others’ disbelief and her own deteriorating sanity.

Such a premise is by no means novel – apartment angst has been done to death since at least the mid-60s, after Polanski’s Repulsion – yet the eerie visuals and Milocco’s heart-wrenching performance elevate Knocking above its otherwise thin plot. Set during a scorching heatwave, the film beautifully pairs the restlessness of the summer with Molly’s own wandering mind, which scissors back and forth between her claustrophobic present and sun-drenched memories of a former lover on the beach. Natural light only exists in these aching echoes of the past. Mostly shot inside Molly’s flat, the imagery is smothered in jaundiced fluorescent tones, only accentuating her isolation and worsening state of mind.

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Hit $100bn target or poor countries face climate disaster, the Gambia tells Cop26

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West African nation’s environment minister says richer countries must finally honour funding commitment made at Cop15 in 2009

Rich countries must hit their $100bn climate finance target in the last week of Cop26 or it will be catastrophic for the poorest nations suffering the most from the climate crisis, the Gambian environment minister has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepared to leave for Glasgow, Lamin B Dibba urged developed countries to finally honour the annual funding commitment that was made 12 years ago at the Copenhagen climate summit (Cop15) – but which has never been achieved.

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Environmental photographer of the year 2021 – in pictures

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The winners have been announced in the environmental photographer of the year competition, organised by environmental and water management charity CIWEM and WaterBear, a free streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet. The awards celebrate humanity’s ability to survive and innovate, and showcase thought-provoking images that highlight our impact and inspire us to live sustainably

  • Vote for the people’s choice award here
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Palestinian activists’ mobile phones hacked using NSO spyware, says report

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Investigation finds rights activists working for groups accused by Israel of being terrorist were previously targeted by NSO spyware

The mobile phones of six Palestinian human rights defenders who work for organisations that were recently – and controversially – accused by Israel of being terrorist groups were previously hacked by sophisticated spyware made by NSO Group, according to a report.

An investigation by Front Line Defenders (FLD), a Dublin-based human rights group, found that the mobile phones of Salah Hammouri, a Palestinian rights defender and lawyer whose Jerusalem residency status has been revoked, and five others were hacked using Pegasus, NSO’s signature spyware. In one case, the hacking was found to have occurred as far back as July 2020.

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