‘There is a huge amount of damage you can’t see – the mental trauma’, says Syria Relief report author
More than three-quarters of Syrian refugees may be suffering serious mental health symptoms, 10 years after the start of the civil war.
A UK charity is calling for more investment in mental health services for refugees in several countries after it found symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were widespread in a survey of displaced Syrians.
Continue reading...Analysis by transport group says battery electric vehicles are superior to their petrol and diesel counterparts
Fossil fuel cars waste hundreds of times more raw material than their battery electric equivalents, according to a study that adds to evidence that the move away from petrol and diesel cars will bring large net environmental benefits.
Only about 30kg of raw material will be lost over the lifecycle of a lithium ion battery used in electric cars once recycling is taken into account, compared with 17,000 litres of oil, according to analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E) seen by the Guardian. A calculation of the resources used to make cars relative to their weight shows it is at least 300 times greater for oil-fuelled cars.
Continue reading...Politicians and campaigners - facing up to life in prison - sent messages of hope, justice and unity before reporting to police
On Sunday, 47 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion over accusations they organised unofficial primary elections aiming to “paralyse” the government by winning a majority and blocking legislation. The election was ultimately postponed for a year, purportedly because of the pandemic. All face terms of up to life in prison if convicted. Before they reported to police stations across the city to be detained, some sent messages to their supporters about justice, hope and endurance.
Here are some of their messages, translated and compiled by independent researcher Eliot Chen:
Continue reading...Department of Justice said to have asked WhatsApp for details of alleged targeting of clients in 2019
NSO Group appears to be facing renewed scrutiny by the US Department of Justice months after leading technology companies said the spyware maker was “powerful and dangerous” and should be held liable to the country’s anti-hacking laws.
DoJ lawyers recently approached the messaging app WhatsApp with technical questions about the alleged targeting of 1,400 of its users by NSO Group’s government clients in 2019, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Continue reading...Mark Rutte enters final leg of race in dominant position despite ‘difficult phase’ of pandemic
Coronavirus has “completely taken the wind out of Dutch politics”, analysts say, predicting little change in the makeup of the coalition government after March elections as the prime minister, Mark Rutte, begins cautiously easing restrictions.
Despite three nights of rioting and 400 arrests after a night-time curfew, the first since the second world war, was imposed in January, and one of Europe’s slowest vaccine rollouts, Rutte enters the last two weeks of the election race in a dominant position.
Continue reading...New Zealand PM says she understands frustration at people who have not followed Covid rules but argues against punishment
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has reprimanded rule-breakers over the recent cluster of coronavirus cases, leading to further restrictions for Auckland.
The city re-entered lockdown with level-three restrictions in place for at least a week from Sunday following the discovery of a community case of unknown origin.
Continue reading...Twice-impeached ex-president used speech at rightwing event to propagate the lie of a ‘rigged’ 2020 election and hinted at 2024 run
An embittered Donald Trump has used his first post-presidential speech to propagate the lie of a “rigged” election in 2020 and hint that he might try to beat Democrats “for a third time” in 2024.
Grasping for continued relevance, Trump returned to his political comfort zone by fearmongering about immigrants and unleashing angry tirades against Joe Biden, his Republican critics and the media.
Continue reading...Exclusive: letters to Dominic Raab and Lady Scotland say Princess Basmah requires urgent medical treatment
Supporters of a prominent Saudi Arabian princess detained with her daughter in Riyadh have appealed to the British government to help secure their release.
In two letters to both foreign secretary Dominic Raab and Commonwealth general secretary Patricia Scotland, the princess’s supporters urged them to intervene on behalf of Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and her daughter Souhoud Al Sharif, arrested in Jeddah two years ago.
Continue reading...At least 18 people have been killed, according to the UN, after security forces in Myanmar used lethal violence against anti-coup protesters in the most deadly crackdown since the military seized power at the start of February
Violent scenes play out across country as police crack down against peaceful protesters
Ye Swan Htet, 23, had joined a sit-down protest on a bridge in west Yangon when he saw police approaching. Officers were carrying guns, he remembered, but he didn’t expect them to actually shoot. The protest was peaceful; crowds were singing and clapping.
Then, gun fire rang out all around him. Bricks burst open and a branch snapped from a tree. “There was a guy who got hit in his thigh by a rubber bullet, so I carried him to an ambulance,” he said.
Continue reading...As hotels and gyms reopen in Israel, governments elsewhere are considering a similar certificate scheme – raising ethical concerns
As the UK and other governments consider whether to give Covid-vaccinated people certificates that allow entry to bars, hotels, and swimming pools, one country, Israel, has already deployed its “green pass”.
The state of 9 million, which has administered jabs to half its population, released an app a week ago that shows whether people have been fully inoculated against the coronavirus or if they have presumed immunity after contracting the disease.
Continue reading...Pro-democracy group accused of organising unofficial election last July in largest crackdown on campaigners
Nearly every main voice of dissent in Hong Kong is now in jail or exile, after Hong Kong police charged 47 pro-democracy campaigners and politicians with conspiracy to commit subversion. All face life in prison if convicted.
The group comprises most of the 55 people arrested last month, over primary polls held last year, in a dawn raid that marked the single biggest operation conducted under the controversial and draconian national security law.
Continue reading...Report says country set to cut carbon emissions by 54% compared with 1990 levels, not 70% as planned
The Danish government’s efforts towards meeting the country’s ambitious target of reducing emissions by 70% by 2030 have been judged “insufficient” by the body tasked with monitoring its progress, with measures so far announced only likely to take it a third of the way.
In its first annual status report, the Danish Council on Climate Change said new laws, inter-party agreements and initiatives announced since the country’s climate law came into effect last June would reduce emissions by the equivalent of 7.2m tonnes of CO2 by 2030, which is only enough to reduce Denmark’s emissions by 54% compared with 1990 levels.
Continue reading...Portrait of Lenin and spy tools among items snapped up at auction by group planning UK exhibition
It depicts the Russian revolutionary leader in characteristically serious mood, staring across Red Square, perhaps, and rendered with more than a touch of kitsch.
But while a Soviet-era oil painting of Vladimir Lenin, which sold for nearly $2,000 at auction in the US, might capture the man as many know him, its buyers are not exactly Bolsheviks.
Continue reading...Campaigners call for historic sports venue in Madrid to become a world heritage site after its €38m restoration
Beneath a pale-blue late-winter sky, and behind an elegant but unassuming facade, one of Madrid’s great unsung survivors sits waiting, once more, for news of the latest in a long and improbable series of metamorphoses.
Since its inauguration 127 years ago, the Frontón Beti-Jai, built at the height of the Spanish capital’s love affair with the Basque game of pelota, has echoed with the crack of leather-stitched balls, with cheers, screams, the thrill of invention, the gunning of thirsty American engines and, most recently, the chirping of the birds who nested in its almost terminal decay.
Continue reading...Employees at Uline, owned by billionaires Dick and Liz Uihlein, have filed numerous safety complaints, investigation finds
Employees at a private Wisconsin company owned by two top Republican donors in the US have faced significantly higher rates of Covid-19 infection and have filed numerous complaints about workplace safety to federal authorities, according to a Guardian investigation into Uline.
Related: Billionaires backed Republicans who sought to reverse US election results
Continue reading...Three cases of Brazil variant detected in England and three in Scotland; Jordanian ministers sacked breaking Covid laws; First dose of vaccine in UK passes 20m
Residents in some postcodes of South Gloucestershire are being asked to take a coronavirus test after a variant first detected in Brazil was found in the area.
People over 16 who live or travel in five postcode areas and do not have symptoms of Covid-19 are invited to come forward for testing.
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Explosion heard for miles around and leaves crater the size of double-decker bus
Thousands of people have been forced to spend a second night out of their homes after a suspected second world war bomb discovered in Exeter was detonated.
The noise of the explosion heard for miles around and left a crater the size of a double-decker bus, police said on Saturday night, as well as sending debris up to 250 metres away from the site of the blast.
Continue reading...California medical board to investigate after plastic surgeon appeared at a virtual trial from an operating theatre
Medical authorities in California have said they will investigate a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconference for a traffic violation trial while operating.
The Sacramento Bee reported that Scott Green appeared for his trial at Sacramento superior court on Thursday, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, from an operating room.
Continue reading...The Food and Drug Administration has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine for emergency use, making it the third vaccine available to the US public and securing another vital step in the US fight to control Covid-19.
The decision was a formality after an independent expert advisory panel late on Friday afternoon recommended drug regulators approve the one-shot vaccine.
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