Category Archives: World News

Ethiopia’s PM threatens restive province as crisis escalates

Posted on by

Fears of civil conflict as air raids and artillery battles reported in standoff between TPLF and federal government

The prime minister of Ethiopia has issued a new threat to leaders of the restive province of Tigray, warning that there was “no place for criminal elements” in the east African country.

“The proud Ethiopian people of Tigray [and] other citizens cannot be taken hostage by fugitives from justice forever. We shall extract these criminal elements [from Tigray and] relaunch our country on a path to sustainable prosperity for all,” Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on social media.

Continue reading...

‘A backlash against a patriarchal culture’: How Polish protests go beyond abortion rights

Posted on by

Mass demonstrations have exposed underlying anger at political and religious interference in people’s everyday lives

For 14 nights they have marched, enraged by a near-total ban on abortion that has stirred a generation to stage the largest mass demonstrations that Poland has seen since Solidarność toppled the communist regime in the 1980s.

Until soaring coronavirus numbers and a looming national lockdown made it almost impossible, up to a million people nightly defied a government ban on protests, taking to the streets from Warsaw to Łódź, Poznań to Wrocław, Gdańsk to Kraków.

Continue reading...

Gimme shell-ter: Thai hermit crabs face housing crisis

Posted on by

Population of crustaceans at one national park has exploded amid drop in tourist numbers

Hermit crab numbers in southern Thailand have boomed as foreign tourists have stayed away – so much so that the national park authority are appealing for the public to donate extra shells for them to live in.

The population of the crustaceans, which protect themselves by wearing and living inside the discarded shells of other animals, has exploded on some islands in the Mu Koh Lanta national park, and marine biologists believe the lack of tourists could be a factor.

Continue reading...

Macron’s task is to show French Muslims they have a place in the republic | Catherine Fieschi

Posted on by

The president must demonstrate that the secular state – with a subtle dose of multiculturalism – works for them

As a dual citizen of France and Canada, I never cease to be amazed by the depth of misunderstanding there is about French attitudes to religion. France’s shortcomings in its management of diversity are obvious – as are everyone else’s – but it is important to recognise some basic facts before pronouncing on them.

The first is that the principle of laïcité in France – the country’s particular brand of secularism – is more than posturing: it is a lived, sociological fact.

Continue reading...

Steve Bannon banned by Twitter for calling for Fauci beheading

Posted on by

Former Trump adviser falls foul of Twitter rules with ‘heads on pikes’ comments

Twitter has banned the account of the former Donald Trump adviser and surrogate Steve Bannon after he called for the beheading of Dr Anthony Fauci and the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.

Speaking on his podcast, the War Room, which was distributed in video form on a number of social media outlets, the far-right provocateur appeared to endorse violence against Wray and the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert.

Continue reading...

UK and others look for lessons from Slovakia’s Covid mass-testing project

Posted on by

Downing Street sent advisers before UK’s large-scale testing programme in Liverpool

Authorities in Slovakia say they hope a nationwide programme in which two-thirds of the country’s population were tested for Covid-19 in just two days last weekend will halve the number of cases of the virus in the country.

The Slovak testing programme has drawn interest from across Europe, as debates continue about whether or not blanket testing is the best way to fight coronavirus. A Downing Street team travelled to Slovakia last weekend to witness the testing, keen to draw lessons before a mass testing programme due to be launched in Liverpool this weekend.

Continue reading...

Myanmar minorities, including Rohingya, excluded from voting in election

Posted on by

Rights groups say poll, which Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD is expected to win, is ‘fundamentally flawed’

Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the country’s second general election since the end of full military rule, a vote that is expected to return Aung San Suu Kyi to power, but will exclude about 2.6 million ethnic-minority voters.

While Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy rose to victory on a wave of optimism in 2015, this year’s elections are overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, an economic crisis and intense conflict in parts of the country – where the military has been accused of atrocities reminiscent of those inflicted on Rohingya in 2017.

Continue reading...

Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin assassinated at peace rally – archive, 6 November 1995

Posted on by

6 November 1995: prime minister shot at close range by 25-year-old Yigal Amir who told police ‘I acted alone on God’s orders and I have no regrets’

Israel, forced to confront its divisions by a Jewish assassin’s bullets, today buries the prime minister who promised peace, and looks ahead to a future suddenly filled with new fears of conflict.

Related: Yitzhak Rabin: ‘He never knew it was one of his people who shot him in the back’

Continue reading...

Japan to help cover IVF costs in attempt to avert demographic crisis

Posted on by

Birth rate remains stubbornly low despite series of government initiatives encouraging couples to have bigger families

Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has given hope to couples struggling to conceive with a pledge to cover expensive fertility treatments with health insurance, but experts warn the change will do little to avert a demographic crisis.

Suga, who took office in September, identified depopulation as a major challenge for Japan during his campaign to succeed Shinzo Abe as PM and repeated his determination to tackle the low birth rate during his first policy speech in parliament.

Continue reading...

Covid immune response faster and stronger post-infection, scientists say

Posted on by

Strongest evidence yet found of sustained defence in people who recover from coronavirus

Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that people who recover from Covid may mount a much faster and more effective defence against the infection if they encounter the virus again.

Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found that the immune system not only remembered the virus but improved the quality of protective antibodies after an infection had passed, equipping the body to unleash a swift and potent attack if the virus invaded a second time.

Continue reading...

Russian MPs consider lifetime immunity for former presidents

Posted on by

Second bill in a week sparks talk of whether Vladimir Putin could be preparing for retirement

Russian lawmakers have introduced a bill into parliament that would give Vladimir Putin lifetime immunity from prosecution if and when he decides to leave office.

The draft bill would give a former president immunity from criminal prosecution for any offences committed during his lifetime. A supermajority of lawmakers would be required to revoke the protections. Currently, ex-presidents are protected for actions taken only while they were in office.

Continue reading...

Denmark tightens lockdown in north over mink Covid outbreak

Posted on by

Twelve people infected so far with new strain against which vaccines may be ineffective

An outbreak among farmed mink of a mutant form of Covid-19 with the potential to be resistant to future vaccines has led to the Danish government bringing in tougher lockdown measures in parts of the country.

The measures were announced following the discovery of a new strain of the disease in animals bred for fur in the country’s northern regions.

Continue reading...

Deal struck to enable EU to block budget payments to rogue members

Posted on by

Qualified majority vote by states will be sufficient for removal of voting rights

Brussels will be able to block budget payments to rogue EU governments that undermine the rule of law or the independence of judges, under a hard-fought agreement between the European parliament and member states.

In what was described as the “end of a painful phase” for the EU, a provisional deal has been struck, which will allow a qualified majority of member states to impose sanctions where governments fail to maintain democratic standards.

Continue reading...

Two teenagers arrested in Belgium on suspicion of terrorist plot

Posted on by

Suspects appearing to pledge allegiance to Isis arrested in cities of Eupen and La Calamine

The office of Belgium’s federal prosecutor says two underage people suspected of plotting what has been labelled a terror attack have been arrested.

Aged 16 and 17, the suspects were arrested on 31 October after raids in the cities of Eupen and La Calamine, located in the province of Liège. The prosecutor’s office said they were suspected of “attempted terrorist assassination and participation in a terrorist organisation.”

Continue reading...

Arctic time capsule from 2018 washes up in Ireland as polar ice melts

Posted on by

Cylinder left in ice by 50 Years of Victory ship travelled 2,300 miles to county Donegal

When the crew and passengers of the nuclear-powered icebreaker ship 50 Years of Victory reached the north pole in 2018, they placed a time capsule in the ice floe.

The metal cylinder contained letters, poems, photographs, badges, beer mats, a menu, wine corks – ephemera from the early 21st century for whomever might discover it in the future.

Continue reading...

Spain announces plans for flying taxi service in Barcelona

Posted on by

First air taxis to fly in Catalan capital and Santiago de Compostela in 2022, says Enaire

When Spain’s much-missed tourists and pilgrims finally return, they may be offered a novel way to rise above the crowds and appreciate some of the country’s most dramatic urban architecture.

Enaire, Spain’s air navigation authority, has announced plans to begin demonstrating flying taxis in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela in 2022.

Continue reading...

Lucky Grandma review – gambling granny goes on fun knockabout caper

Posted on by

Former Bond girl Tsai Chin confounds expectations brilliantly as an older woman who gets mixed up with the Chinese mafia

Sentimentalising, patronising and generally disrespecting our elders is by now enough of a movie trope that any title including the words “grandma” or “grandpa” causes an involuntary shudder. That Lucky Grandma isn’t one of those films is mostly down to its star, Tsai Chin, whose many attributes include the ability to conduct full conversations with a lit cigarette suspended from her bottom lip. One look at Grandma’s stern face tells us she did not come to play.

Related: Tsai Chin: 'What was it like being in bed with Sean Connery? Fine'

Continue reading...

Activists hail bill to make violence against LGBT people a hate crime in Italy

Posted on by

Bill now needs approval from upper house before becoming law

Activists in Italy have hailed a vote in the lower house of parliament to pass a bill that would make violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime.

The bill, which passed successfully despite months of protests from far-right and Catholic groups, now needs approval from the upper house, where it is backed by the ruling coalition parties, before becoming law.

Continue reading...

Kosovo’s president resigns to face war crimes charges in The Hague

Posted on by

Hashim Thaçi was guerrilla leader during 1990s war for independence from Serbia

Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, a guerrilla leader during the country’s war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, has resigned to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.

Thaçi announced his resignation at a news conference in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. He said he was taking the step “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo”.

Continue reading...