Category Archives: World News

Outraged fishers show oil spill ‘like porridge’ in Trinidad sea – video

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A group of fishers were outraged when they came across a large oil spill with 'clumps as thick as porridge' covering the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad. 

 Gary Aboud and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) documented the spill and criticised the clean-up attempt by oil company Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd, calling for the company to contain the oil and collect it instead of dispersing it with boats. 

 In a statement released on Monday, Paria said: 'The spill is contained, and a residual clean-up is ongoing.' The company said that absorbent booms had been strategically placed to prevent further migration of oil into the sea, but FFOS said they had not seen evidence of this. 

Almost 500 oil spills have been reported in the region’s land and at sea since the beginning of 2018

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‘I’m angry about a lot of things’: Japanese actor Minami on her new eco-drama with Johnny Depp

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The actor and painter explains why the world needs to see Minimata, the new film about the mercury poisoning scandal that W Eugene Smith helped expose

Like Cher or Madonna, Minami is a one-name wonder. “I have my French and Japanese family names,” the 34-year-old actor says over video call from a pink hotel room in Tokyo. “But ‘Minami’ is simpler.” She gives a single, decisive nod. “Just write ‘Minami.’” She chose the mononym at 13 when she featured in her first film, Battle Royale, a gory cult thriller about schoolchildren fighting to the death on an uninhabited island. “When I went back to school, everyone said: ‘Your arms are all bruised, you have scratches, what’s going on?’ They thought my parents were beating me.”

Even when telling a story like this with dark undertones, her manner is insistently perky, as though she doesn’t want the listener to misread her as dour. When I ask about her Battle Royale audition, for instance, she blithely recalls “walking into the room and there were 10 men, and they asked me if I could do a handstand, and two of the men held my legs against the wall to help me …” I must be grimacing because she breaks off from the anecdote to reprimand me lightheartedly: “Don’t make that face! It was all fine.”

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‘Nowhere to go’: divorced Afghan women in peril as the Taliban close in

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As horror stories emerge from areas that have fallen to the Islamist militants, women living alone fear they have no route of escape

There’s an old saying in Afghanistan that encapsulates the country’s views on divorce: “A woman only leaves her father’s house in the white bridal clothes, and she can only return in the white shrouds.”

In this deeply conservative and patriarchal society, women who defy convention and seek divorce are often disowned by their families and shunned by Afghan society. Left alone, they have to fight for basic rights, such as renting an apartment, which require the involvement or guarantees of male relatives.

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‘I knew supply was coming’: how Canada’s push for Covid vaccines paid off

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Anita Anand’s determination to get doses for Canadians means the country now has world’s highest global vaccination rate

For many Canadians, spring was a dark period marked by surging coronavirus infections, lockdowns – and the envy of watching their American neighbours get vaccinated en masse.

But for Anita Anand, the country’s public services and procurement minister, the mounting frustration that Canada was being left behind in the global vaccine race didn’t make her lose focus.

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North Korea military threats ‘intended to deflect from economic crisis’

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Regime looking to shift focus from domestic problems with rhetoric around US-South Korea military drills, say analysts

North Korea’s threat to boost its military capacity to counter hostility from Washington before joint US-South Korea military drills is intended to divert attention from its economic crisis but could lead to a resumption of missile tests, according to analysts.

While there is nothing unusual about North Korean opposition to the summer exercises involving American and South Korean forces, its warning this week that Seoul and Washington faced “greater security threats” comes from a position of weakness not seen since Kim Jong-un came to power a decade ago.

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Sticking to a Covid-19 elimination strategy keeps New Zealand’s options open | Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson

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The approach buys the country time to get a better understanding of the virus’ impact on people’s long-term health and on children

Aotearoa New Zealand’s new national strategy for loosening border restrictions closely follows scientific advice from an expert panel that was specifically asked to advise on the future of New Zealand’s elimination strategy and phased loosening of border controls.

Covid-19 elimination has been the dominant strategy for a number of jurisdictions across the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia. This approach contrasts with the suppression and mitigation strategies of Europe and North America.

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New Zealand’s biggest contribution to the climate struggle is its positive example | Philip McKibbin

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Suggesting that cutting New Zealand’s emissions won’t make any difference on a global scale is an argument that misses the point

Should New Zealand hold itself to its greenhouse gas emissions targets?

“Of course!” you may be thinking – and you wouldn’t be the only one. There is widespread support for climate action in Aotearoa. It led to record demonstrations in 2019, which saw 170,000 people striking, and the government is currently working on a plan in response to a recent report from the Climate Change Commission. Still, some New Zealanders seem to think otherwise, arguing that we are already doing enough.

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UK and US send troops to aid evacuation from Afghanistan as Taliban advance

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Pentagon aims to send in 3,000 soldiers to ‘aid reduction’ of nationals and Afghans with visas

The US and UK have scrambled reinforcements to Kabul to help evacuate their diplomats, soldiers and citizens as well as thousands of Afghans who have worked with them, as the Taliban advance towards the capital.

The Pentagon announced it would send three battalions, about 3,000 soldiers, to Kabul’s international airport within 24 to 48 hours of the announcement on Thursday. The defence department spokesman, John Kirby, said the reinforcements would help the “safe and orderly reduction” of US nationals and Afghans who worked with the Americans and consequently had been granted special immigrant visas.

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US deserves big share of blame for Afghanistan military disaster

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Analysis: White House accused of unfairly pointing finger at Afghan military after decades of mismanaging war effort

As one provincial capital after another has fallen to the Taliban, the message from Washington to the Afghans facing the onslaught has been that their survival is in their own hands.

“They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Joe Biden said. Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, added: “They have what they need. What they need to determine is whether they have the political will to fight back.”

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Woolly mammoth walked far enough to circle Earth twice, study finds

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Research into life of Kik adds weight to theory that climate change could have contributed to species’ demise

He was huge, hairy and boasted two enormous tusks: researchers say they have discovered a woolly mammoth called Kik who traipsed almost far enough in his life to circle the Earth twice.

Experts say the work not only sheds light on the movements of the giant proboscideans, but adds weight to ideas that climate change or human activity may have contributed to the demise of most of the creatures about 12,000 years ago.

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Russia detains head of hypersonic research facility in treason case

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Alexander Kuranov is suspected of passing secret information to a foreign citizen

Russia has reportedly detained the head of a hypersonic technology research facility on suspicion of treason in the latest high-profile arrest targeting a senior scientist for allegedly selling state secrets.

Alexander Kuranov, 73, the general director of the St Petersburg-based Hypersonic System Research Institute (HSRI), was arrested in Moscow on Thursday. A Moscow court ruled he be held for two months in pre-trial detention.

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Tax on billionaires’ Covid windfall could vaccinate every adult on Earth

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Analysis finds 99% levy on pandemic wealth rise could also pay all unemployed $20,000 – and still leave super-rich $55bn richer

Every adult in the world could get a Covid-19 vaccine if the wealth billionaires collected during the pandemic was taxed 99% once, according to an analysis published on Thursday by several groups that advocate for economic equity.

This one-time tax on the world’s 2,690 billionaires could also cover $20,000 in cash paid to all unemployed workers, according to the analysis by Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires.

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Israel preparing to resume settlement building in West Bank

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Minister says there are plans for 2,000 new housing units for Jewish settlers in Palestinian territories

Israel is preparing to resume settlement building in the occupied West Bank after a hiatus of almost a year, the country’s defence minister has said.

A planning council committee is expected to meet next week to approve 2,000 new housing units for Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories, Benny Gantz said on Wednesday, as well as about 1,000 units for Palestinians living in the West Bank’s Area C, which is under Israeli military control.

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‘For as long as we can’: reporting as an Afghan woman as the Taliban advance

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A collective of female journalists are battling to make women’s voices heard as the Islamist militants tighten their grip on the country

Despite years of development, investment and progress in the Afghan media industry, 28-year-old Zahra Joya often found she was the only woman in a newsroom. “It was a lonely space, dominated by men who made the decisions about which stories were important, and which were not,” she says.

Joya, who is from the persecuted Hazara community, felt she faced discrimination because of her ethnicity and sex. “There were so few women journalists in Kabul,” she says. “There would hardly be women reporters covering political events or press conferences even though these stories affect us greatly.”

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Pakistan police drop blasphemy charges against eight-year-old

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Hindu boy, accused of urinating in madrassa library, was youngest Pakistani to be charged for the crime

Police in Pakistan have dropped blasphemy charges against an eight-year-old Hindu boy after media and government pressure over his arrest.

The boy, the youngest Pakistani ever to be charged with the crime, was accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, where religious books were kept, in July.

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Zambia’s democracy at ‘tipping point’ as army deployed on polling day

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Fears grow that military presence and alleged restrictions on opposition campaign could tarnish reputation for fair elections

As Zambia goes to the polls today, fears are growing that political meddling in the process could push its long-treasured democracy towards a “tipping point”.

Zambia has long been considered a model of democracy for its neighbours. But today’s vote has been accompanied by a military deployment, while the run-up to the election has been marred by political violence and restrictions on opposition campaigning, analysts and human rights monitors have said.

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Drone footage shows devastation following floods in Turkey – video

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Heavy rains have triggered severe floods and mudslides in northern Turkey, killing at least one person and leaving others missing or injured. Turkey has been grappling with drought and a rapid succession of natural disasters that scientists believe are becoming more frequent and violent because of the climate crisis. The floods hit the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun

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‘We are in this nightmare’: Nicaragua continues its brazen crackdown

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Ex-foreign minister among those arrested as Ortega detains political rivals as well as a columnist and ‘election geek’

It has been a fortnight since Georgiana Aguirre-Sacasa last heard from her elderly father: a terse WhatsApp message in which Nicaragua’s former foreign minister said border guards had stopped him leaving the country and seized his passport, and that he was on his way home.

“What????” she replied from her home in Denver, Colorado. “Why????” No answer came.

By then Aguirre-Sacasa believes Nicaraguan police officials on motorcycles had intercepted her father’s vehicle on the highway as he headed back to the capital, Managua. After searching it, they placed the 76-year-old retired diplomat in a pickup truck and spirited him away to an unknown destination.

“We are in this nightmare,” his daughter said this week as she desperately sought news of her father. “Right now, I just need proof of life.”

Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa is the oldest target of a brazen political crackdown being waged by the government of Daniel Ortega ahead of the Central American country’s next presidential election on 7 November. Police have arrested at least 32 people since late May, including important opposition figures who were challenging the revolutionary hero-turned-autocrat as he seeks a a fourth consecutive term.

Related: Nicaragua rounds up president’s critics in sweeping pre-election crackdown

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Coronavirus live news: ‘mix and match’ jabs a good idea, says UK expert; New Zealand details plans to reopen border

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UK adviser says he is in favour of mixing and matching for booster jabs; New Zealand to let in vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries next year

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak says latest figures show that the economy is undergoing a “very strong recovery” but admitted that the shock from the pandemic was “significant”.

It comes after it was this morning announced that the UK economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of 2021 and rose by 1% in June as lockdown restrictions were eased (see 7:31).

"It's right that we do these things in a measured way."

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the Govt was right to be cautious when it came to lifting travel restrictions.

Meanwhile latest figures show that the economy grew by 4.8% in Q2 of 2021. Read more: https://t.co/H8J2sNlFiC pic.twitter.com/j93LcUZD4j

A Vietnamese businessman has been arrested for making and selling hundreds of fraudulent negative Covid-19 test certificates.

Tran Tuan Duong, who runs a printing business in Bac Ninh province, was arrested on Wednesday while selling certificates, reports Reuters.

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