Irina Slavina dies following self-immolation she blamed on Russian Federation
A Russian journalist has died after setting herself on fire in front of the local branch of the interior ministry in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, a day after her apartment was searched by police.
Prior to her self-immolation, Irina Slavina wrote on her Facebook page: “I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death.”
Continue reading...Late-night talks end standoff with Cyprus, which had wanted bloc to get tough with Turkey
European Union sanctions against 40 Belarusian officials accused of vote rigging and political repression have come into force, after the bloc’s leaders resolved a dispute with Cyprus that caused an embarrassing delay to action.
In a standoff that tarnished the EU’s credibility, Cyprus had insisted that its EU partners take a tough stance against Turkey for its energy exploration in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters off its coast, before it would agree to the Belarus sanctions.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19 – but what happens if he can’t carry out his presidential duties?
Under the 25th amendment to the US constitution the president himself – or the vice-president with the agreement of eight cabinet officers, supported by Congress – can ask the vice-president, in this instance Republican Mike Pence, to take over as acting president.
Continue reading...National Assembly party aims at creation of representative government in Saudi Arabia
A group of intellectual Saudi Arabian expatriates have launched an opposition party on the second anniversary of the murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
The aim of the National Assembly party is to gather the support of people inside and outside of Saudi Arabia for the formation of a representative government, which would be the first elected democratic institution inside the country since its birth 90 years ago.
Continue reading...Maybe the real victims of the president’s diagnosis are his MAGA disciples who don’t believe the virus even exists
Well, it’s definitely a plot twist. Like a lot of people who sat through Tuesday’s presidential debate, I’m amazed the week has ended with Donald Trump ingesting bleach, and not me.
As you may vaguely have heard, the US president and his wife, Melania, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus – which feels untimely given that, mere hours earlier, Trump had been declaring: “The end of the pandemic is in sight.” Perhaps this is a one-last-job movie. Alternatively, picture a Wuhan bat staring pensively into the fireplace as its butler suggests not thinking too hard about Trump’s motivations. Some poorly facepainted men just want to watch the world burn.
Continue reading...Former Italian interior minister accused of abusing power in incident involving 116 people
Italy’s far-right former interior minister Matteo Salvini goes on trial on Saturday on kidnapping charges over an incident in 2019 when 116 migrants were prevented from disembarking a coastguard ship in the Mediterranean.
Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania accuse the League party leader of abusing his powers to block people from disembarking from the Gregoretti coastguard boat under his “closed ports” policy.
Continue reading...Almost all planned work against the disease has gone ahead this year, delivering nets, drugs and the world’s first malaria vaccine
More than 90% of anti-malaria campaigns planned this year across four continents are on track, despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research.
The delivery of insecticide-treated nets and provision of antimalarial medicines in the majority of malaria-affected countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas were still going ahead, a high-level meeting organised by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria heard on Thursday.
Continue reading...President had busy schedule in week preceding Friday’s announcement that he has tested positive
Women lead protests against conflict violence in Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid calls for action on hundreds of civil war crimes
Women led thousands of people in demonstrations in four cities across the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday, demanding justice for historic murders and rapes committed in the east of the country.
Organisers said police beat protesters in Kisangani, one of the cities, as they marked a decade since the UN documented hundreds of crimes in DRC between 1993 and 2003 that have not been prosecuted.
Continue reading...Case due before court seeks to strike down landmark Affordable Care Act – which could leave millions of Americans adrift
This month, Congress is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s nominee for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, she could be the decisive vote in a case being heard days after the election, which seeks to strike down the landmark Affordable Care Act – a move that could leave millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a pandemic.
Related: Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women's rights?
Continue reading...Shehroze Chaudhry charged with inventing identity as a ruthless killer as saga prompts debate over repatriation and de-radicalization
For months, unbeknown to his classmates and neighbours, a self-professed executioner was living freely in Canada’s largest city.
But in 2018, his exploits were made public on a blockbuster podcast produced by the New York Times, in which the man who called himself Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi confessed to a string of grisly crimes as a member of the Islamic State’s religious police.
Continue reading...The president has been cavalier throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Now, a month before the election, this changes everything
It is likely to go down as the biggest “October surprise” in the history of US presidential elections. Yet anyone who was paying attention could have seen it coming.
Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus after claiming “it will disappear”, telling the journalist Bob Woodward he was downplaying it deliberately, failing to develop a national testing strategy, refusing to wear a face mask for months, floating the idea of injecting patients with bleach, insisting to one of his many crowded campaign rallies that “it affects virtually nobody” and, at Tuesday’s debate, mocking his rival, Joe Biden: “He could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Continue reading...The recently freed documentary maker says jails are inhumane, overcrowded and present a massive coronavirus risk
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, jailed for 45 days and charged with inciting violence, has spoken of the appalling abuse and prison conditions he witnessed.
Chin’ono, a prominent documentary maker who was released on bail last month, said he saw inmates at Chikurubi high security prison assaulted by guards for minor offences.
Continue reading...In an age of social distancing, machines are being used for everything from cleaning to taking temperatures
Continue reading...Beijing formally confirmed death to UN but man’s daughter disputes suggestion he died of ‘pneumonia and tuberculosis’ in 2018
The Chinese government has taken the rare step of formally confirming to the UN the death of a Uighur man whose family believe had been held in a Xinjiang internment camp since 2017.
More than one million people from the Uighur and Turkic Muslim communities in the far western region of Xinjiang are believed to have been detained in camps since 2017, under a crackdown on ethnic minorities which experts say amounts to cultural genocide. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has repeatedly refused requests by international bodies to independently visit and investigate the region, despite growing international backlash.
Continue reading...An invasion may not be imminent but experts say armed forces could have capacity to mount one by the end of the decade
Soon after China imposed the new national security law that effectively ended Hong Kong’s limited autonomy, a hawkish legal academic in Beijing spelt out a warning to Taiwan.
The law was not just about ending a year of protests in Hong Kong, Tian Feilong said in an interview with DW News, it was also sending a message to Taipei – and to Washington, which has recently approved new arms sales and high-level visits by US officials to self-rule Taiwan.
Continue reading...The Mana Motuhake policy is a 25-year plan to improve the outcomes of whānau Māori that the mainstream major parties have failed to deliver on
In an election campaign that has so far been largely a bidding contest over who can fund the most “shovel-ready projects”, create the most jobs and support the most apprentices post-Covid, many commentators have bemoaned the absence of any visionary debate about the type of New Zealand we want to become.
It was therefore refreshing to see the Māori party announce its Mana Motuhake policy this week. As far as timing goes, the policy hasn’t gained a lot of media attention. The news has been dominated by the Serious Fraud Office’s charging of two individuals in connection with the New Zealand First Foundation, a new poll and the second leaders’ debate. Many also think the Māori party is inconsequential in 2020, sitting only on 1–1.5% party vote support in public opinion polls, and not looking like they are going to win back any electorate seats.
Continue reading...Bars and restaurants in Paris face closure from Monday; Turkey condemned for underreporting cases; Scottish National Party lawmaker suspended after travelling by train despite positive test. Follow the latest updates
In the UK, strictly Come Dancing contestant HRVY has tested positive for coronavirus, just over two weeks before the launch of the new series.
The singer and YouTube star, whose real name is Harvey Leigh Cantwell, announced the news on social media, telling fans he does not have any symptoms and is now isolating for 10 days.
Related: Strictly Come Dancing contestant HRVY tests positive for Covid-19
The death toll in India, which has the second-highest number of cases worldwide, is nearing the grim milestone of 100,000. There are currently 98,678 deaths confirmed on the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
India’s deaths are the third-highest worldwide, after Brazil with 143,952 and the US with 207,651.
Continue reading...Health body gives green light to second test that gives results in up to 30 minutes; Spanish capital is Europe’s worst hotspot
France reported 12,148 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the French health ministry said.
Friday’s figure is lower than Thursday’s 13,970 and well below highs of over 16,000 seen last week.
The Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, and his wife, Jill, have tested negative for coronavirus, their doctor said in a statement on Friday.
“Vice-president Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 today and Covid-19 was not detected,” Dr Kevin O’Connor said in a statement.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has rejected calls to change the rules of the next two presidential debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden after the first chaotic event in Cleveland was marred by constant interruptions and outbursts.
Related: Trump signals he won't agree to rules changes for debates – live
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