Category Archives: World News

Migrants speak of ‘inhumane’ conditions at Ice detention centers during Covid – video

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Migrants have shared their experiences at privately-run US Immigation and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention centers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alonzo and Javier were held at La Palma Correctional Center; they alleged the treatment many received was ‘inhumane’. At Eloy Detention Center, Carmen claimed medical staff would only tell them to ‘drink water’ regardless of symptoms. José, who was held at Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex and La Palma, said for months he was barely able to go outside. Alejandro, who was also held at Central Arizona Florence, said at times there were up to 64 people living in his tank.

These audio recordings were captured as part of a project covering the world’s largest for-profit immigration detention system. ‘We’ve commodified human displacement,’ said artist David Taylor, who in recent months used drones to take aerial photography and video of centers near the US southern border, in California, Arizona and Texas.

All detainees featured in this video were held at facilities operated by CoreCivic, which disputes allegations about conditions and said it was committed to health and safety.

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It’s time for Africa to rein in Tanzania’s anti-vaccine president | Vava Tampa

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John Magufuli’s cavalier disregard of Covid’s impact in the great lakes region is fuelling conspiracies and endangering lives

What is wrong with President John Magufuli? Many people in and outside Tanzania are asking this question.

Magufuli claimed last year that God had eliminated Covid in the east African country of 60 million people, and has since made dismissing Covid vaccines his central priority – leaving many people asking: why?

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Coronavirus live news: US passes 27m cases; WHO panel to discuss Oxford vaccine

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South Africa suspends Oxford vaccine after trial data showed it offered only limited protection against variant; US herd immunity by end of summer ‘very difficult’, says Biden

Hello everyone. I am taking over the live blog from London, where it’s 7.20 am GMT. Please get in touch with me to share news tips or comments while I work.

Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com

I’ll be handing over to my colleagues in London shortly, but first, here’s a summary of the day so far.

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‘Fighting for life’: Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone

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Natural disaster compounded by the collapse of a lucrative export during the pandemic has thrust people into poverty

This time last year the west coast of Bangladesh was a thriving place for shrimp farmers. It was a decent enough living and there was a healthy export market.

Majnu Sardar, who lives in Koyra upazila (administrative region) in Khulna district, used to earn enough to feed, clothe and educate his family of six. Now they are living in a small mud hut, with a canopy of leaves as a roof, on the banks of the Kapotaksha River after Cyclone Amphan buried his house and land in May.

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Balloon test flight plan under fire over solar geoengineering fears

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Swedish environmental groups warn test flight could be first step towards the adoption of a potentially “dangerous, unpredictable, and unmanageable” technology

A proposed scientific balloon flight in northern Sweden has attracted opposition from environmental groups over fears it could lead to the use of solar geoengineering to cool the Earth and combat the climate crisis by mimicking the effect of a large volcanic eruption.

In June, a team of Harvard scientists is planning to launch a high-altitude balloon from Kiruna in Lapland to test whether it can carry equipment for a future small-scale experiment on radiation-reflecting particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.

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Covering the Russia protest: ‘Police usually let western reporters go’

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Our Moscow correspondent reflects on a new wave of anger against Putin over the treament of dissident Alexei Navalny

Over the last decade, I’ve covered so many protests against Vladimir Putin in Russia that they all start to blur together.

But the past month’s demonstrations against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have seemed to me darker and more serious than ever. There are few fun signs and little chanting; the mood is joyless but determined. I’ve never seen the streets of Moscow locked down like they have been in 2021, patrolled by riot police called “cosmonauts” for their space-like helmets.

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‘Bingeing free expression’: popularity of Clubhouse app soars in China

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US social media platform allows users to discuss sensitive subjects like Xinjiang and Taiwan, but many fear it could fall foul of China’s censors

Chinese internet users have flocked to the audio-only social media app, Clubhouse, for uncensored discussions on political and human rights subjects, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the persecution of Uighurs. But there are fears the popularity of the app could lead to censorship or recrimination.

The invitation-only US app, which is currently restricted to iPhones, allows users to listen in to discussions and interviews in quasi conference-call style online rooms. Running for almost a year, it became suddenly popular last week – particularly in China.

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Rescuers search for 171 missing people after Indian glacier causes devastating flood

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Twenty six confirmed dead as military look for survivors in Himalayan state of Uttarakhand

Twenty six bodies have been recovered in the Indian Himalayas and scores more people are still missing after a second day of rescue efforts after a glacier break that caused an avalanche of water and debris to engulf a river valley and demolish two dams.

A surge of water, thought to be triggered when a glacier broke off from Nanda Devi mountain in the state of Uttarakhand, left a trail of devastation when it hit on Sunday morning.

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Protests swell in Myanmar one week after military coup

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Water cannon used on demonstrators in the capital as marches take place in cities and towns across the country

Massive crowds of anti-coup protesters have marched in towns and cities across Myanmar on the third day of street demonstrations against a coup a week ago in which the army detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

From the Himalayan town of Putao to cities on the shore of the Andaman Sea, demonstrators came out in the biggest numbers so far since the coup.

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Ebola virus kills woman in Democratic Republic of Congo, health ministry says

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Case near city of Butembo comes nearly three months after the end of an outbreak in the western province of Équateur, which killed 55

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to contain a possible Ebola outbreak, after a woman died from the virus near the eastern city of Butembo.

The woman showed symptoms on 1 February in the town of Biena, North Kivu. She died in hospital in Butembo two days later. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.

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Nancy Sinatra: I was too shy for showbusiness

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Singer says she did not have the confidence for a ‘big career’ such as her father, Frank, enjoyed

The singer Nancy Sinatra has said she lacked the confidence to pursue a “big career” in showbusiness as her father, Frank, did.

The singer established herself as a musical force in her own right during the 60s with her signature hit These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ and the title song of the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

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George Shultz obituary

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Secretary of state to Ronald Reagan who worked with Mikhail Gorbachev to help end the cold war

Many politicians and diplomats from the 1980s lay claim to a pivotal role in ending the cold war, but the former US secretary of state George Shultz, who has died aged 100, had a better claim than most. And he was not shy in letting people know, as he did at length in his 1,184-page account of his years at the state department, Turmoil and Triumph (1993).

When he became secretary of state in 1982 – a job he was to hold for seven years – relations between the US and the Soviet Union were at a dangerous low. The administration of US president Ronald Reagan was packed with anti-Soviet hardliners. Reagan himself in 1983 dubbed the Soviet Union “the evil empire”.

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Vaccine strategy needs rethink after resistant variants emerge, say scientists

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Oxford vaccine shown to have only limited effect against South African variant of coronavirus

Leading vaccine scientists are calling for a rethink of the goals of vaccination programmes, saying that herd immunity through vaccination is unlikely to be possible because of the emergence of variants like that in South Africa.

The comments came as the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca acknowledged that their vaccine will not protect people against mild to moderate Covid illness caused by the South African variant. The Oxford vaccine is the mainstay of the UK’s immunisation programme and vitally important around the world because of its low cost and ease of use.

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Elton John: Brexit negotiators ‘screwed up’ deal for British musicians

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Singer calls for return to negotiation as touring artists face red tape and new costs, with Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood adding fresh criticism of UK government

Elton John: I learned by touring Europe in the 60s. Young artists need the same chance

Elton John has said that the UK’s Brexit negotiators “screwed up” a deal for British musicians and the broader music industry, and is calling for the government to re-enter negotiations.

Writing in the Guardian, John said: “Either the Brexit negotiators didn’t care about musicians, or didn’t think about them, or weren’t sufficiently prepared. They screwed up. It’s ultimately down to the British government to sort it out: they need to go back and renegotiate.

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‘We want our riches back’ – the African activist taking treasures from Europe’s museums

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Mwazulu Diyabanza has been fined and jailed for entering museums and forcibly removing ‘pillaged’ African artefacts. He tells our writer why the British Museum is now in his sights

Mwazulu Diyabanza makes no secret of why he is in France. If coronavirus had not closed most of Europe’s museums, the Congolese activist would probably be inside one right now, wresting African objects from their displays to highlight what he sees as the mass pillaging of the continent by European colonialists.

And it’s not just the mighty museums. Diyabanza and his supporters also plan to include smaller galleries, private collections and auction houses in their campaign. “Wherever the riches of our heritage and culture have been stolen,” says the 42-year-old, “we will intervene.” As the leader of a pan-African movement called Yanka Nku (Unity, Dignity and Courage), Diyabanza is on a mission is to recover all works of art and culture taken from Africa to Europe. He calls his method “active diplomacy”.

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Scores feared dead after glacier causes dam burst in India – video

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As many as 150 people are feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and crashed into a dam, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. Videos from the scene show water surging through the dam site, washing away equipment

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Black and blue: the secret lives of BAME police officers

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In 1990, BAME police officers gathered to discuss racism at work, sharing what each had thought were uniquely harrowing experiences. They explain how things have improved – and got worse

Thirty years ago, in a nondescript hall in Bristol, an extraordinary event took place. Those who were there remember it with a mixture of pride and pain.

In what is now the University of the West of England, black and Asian officers from all over the Metropolitan police area were talking about the racism they had encountered as they tried to build their careers and serve the public. One told of having abuse daubed on his locker in a secure area of the station, another of finding faeces in his helmet. Some described their shame and embarrassment at sitting silently as white colleagues used racial epithets about suspects or while shooting the breeze in the canteen.

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