45 people – including five children – died off the coast of Libya, and a further 10 south of Canary Islands
The grim reality of the migration crisis unfolding off the coasts of north Africa has been underlined by two separate tragedies this week in which at least 55 people died.
45 people – including five children – perished when the engine on their boat exploded off Libya, in the country’s deadliest shipwreck this year, the UN said late on Wednesday.
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Islamophobe claims RNC chairwoman called her ‘rock star,’ ‘change agent’ for the party
This is Lois Beckett, taking over our politics live blog from our West Coast office.
Anti-Muslim extremist Laura Loomer claims RNC chairwoman called her to congratulate her on her Republican primary win in Florida and to tell her she was a "political rock star" and a "change agent for the Republican Party." The RNC did not offer comment.https://t.co/ONpC9mfOKz
That’s it from me for now. I will be back tonight to cover the third night of the Democratic convention.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Assurances on Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh dependent on UK handing over evidence
The US has promised not to pursue the death penalty against two British Isis members accused of taking part in the beheadings of western hostages, in return for UK cooperation with the prosecution.
The pledge was given in a letter from the US attorney general, William Barr, in the case of Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, members of the “Beatles” group of British Isis members, who were captured by Syrian Kurds and then handed over to US custody last October.
Continue reading...Residents of Kukawa in Borno state had just returned home after almost two years displaced in refugee camps
Jihadists in the restive north-east of Nigeria have taken hundreds of people hostage who had only recently returned home from refugee camps, after local government officials claimed their town was safe.
More than 20 trucks of militants stormed into Kukawa town, in Borno state on Tuesday night. The jihadists captured hundreds of fleeing residents and attacked a nearby military base protecting the town.
Continue reading...Inventor now worth $90bn, trailing Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos
Elon Musk has soared through the global wealth league this year and become the world’s fourth richest person, after a boom in the share price of the Tesla car company he co-founded and part-owns increased his wealth by more than $13.3bn (£10bn) in two days of trading.
The Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur is now worth more than $90bn and has overtaken France’s richest person, the luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton, cementing the place of American tech plutocrats at the top of the world’s rich list.
Continue reading...Warrants issued for five others who took part in students’ demonstration
Thai authorities have arrested one activist and issued warrants for five others who took part in a demonstration at which students called for reform of the country’s powerful monarchy.
At a rally attended by thousands last week, students risked lengthy jail sentences by reading a 10-point manifesto for reforming the monarchy, including a proposal to scrap strict laws that ban criticism of the king. Such comments were, until recently, highly unusual, and shocked many in the country.
Continue reading...Sudanese teenager, found near Calais, attempted crossing with another boy in inflatable dinghy
A Sudanese teenager who disappeared at sea has been found dead on a beach near Calais on Wednesday morning, after trying to cross the Channel with another boy in an inflatable dinghy using shovels for oars.
The French citizenship minister, Marlène Schiappa, said the body was found on the beach of Sangatte, near to the former site of the notorious “jungle” refugee camp, and was believed to be that of a 16-year-old boy, although some uncertainty remains over his age while authorities are continuing to investigate the matter.
Continue reading...US calls on military to reject violence and work towards return of constitutional government
Mali’s new military rulers have come under intense pressure to ensure a rapid restoration of democracy following the coup that brought them to power overnight.
There were reports on Wednesday that the officers who led the coup met Mahmoud Dicko, a conservative cleric with a large popular following and de facto leader of the recent protest movement in Mali, during the afternoon, suggesting they may be seeking to work with political actors in the unstable west African country.
Continue reading...Covid-19 caused about 4,500 deaths in six months to end of June as Sweden opted against strict lockdown
Sweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, has recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said.
Covid-19 claimed about 4,500 lives in the period to the end of June – a number that has now risen to 5,800 – a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others, including Britain and Spain.
Continue reading...Mali's new military rulers have vowed to restore confidence 'between governed and governors' after a coup on Tuesday that led to the president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, announcing his resignation, as well as the dissolution of the government and the national assembly. Keïta came to power in 2013 and won a second term in 2018. But there had been rising anger at government incompetence, endemic corruption and a deteriorating economy
Bloc declares solidarity with protests against Lukashenko’s grip on power as it vows to press ahead with sanctions
The EU has said it does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as Belarus’s president and vowed to press ahead with sanctions on his regime, following an emergency summit in response to 10 days of protests that have shaken the autocrat’s 26-year grip on power.
“The European Union stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus,” said Charles Michel, the European council president, who convened the last-minute meeting of the EU’s 27 leaders. Belarus’s presidential elections had been “neither free nor fair and did not meet international standards”, he said. “We don’t recognise the results presented by the Belarus authorities.”
Continue reading...Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden for president during an emotional second night of their party’s virtual convention, warning that Donald Trump was an 'existential threat' to America who had failed to get a grip on the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the key moments from the evening
Ability to carry out humanitarian work in most dangerous conflict-hit regions threatened by local NGO staff being caught in crossfire
There has been a sharp rise in the number of aid staff killed in the first six months of this year with Syria at the top of the list of the deadliest places to be a humanitarian worker.
A total of 74 fatalities have been recorded globally since January, a 30% rise on the same period last year. Syria accounted for more than a quarter of the deaths.
Continue reading...The Pantanal wetland – home to the hyacinth macaw – is suffering its worst blazes in decades, most probably started by humans
The world’s biggest refuge for endangered hyacinth macaws has been devastated by a historic fire in the Brazilian Pantanal.
The Pantanal, a vast tropical wetland straddling Brazil’s border with Bolivia and Paraguay, is currently suffering its worst fires in more than two decades, with nearly 12% of its vegetation reportedly already lost.
Continue reading...Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is appealing to EU leaders to disregard the results of the election on 9 August, calling them fraudulent. In the statement issued from Lithuania, where she is exiled, she said: 'I call on you to support the awakening of Belarus'. Tikhanovskaya claimed the election results were falsified and protesters had been beaten and tortured
Continue reading...Red tape intended to disrupt fraudsters excludes people from accessing vital financial services. An overhaul is long overdue
It took winning an international writing prize for me to realise how excluded I was from banking in my country.
Before this, I had a savings account that I had opened at school, during a financial literacy session, with nothing but my school identity card, a blue pen, and a 500 naira (£1) required balance.
Continue reading...References to ‘separation of power’ removed in some books, as well as illustrations of protesters holding placards
Hong Kong publishers have been told to remove references to the separation of powers and protest slogans from school textbooks, in a move decried as censorship by the authorities.
Six publishers voluntarily submitted eight textbooks to the education regulator for vetting and were asked to make revisions, reports in Hong Kong and mainland media said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Two years on from her first school strike, activist attacks ‘ignorance and unawareness’
Two years on from Greta Thunberg’s first solo school strike for the climate, she says the world has wasted the time by failing to take the necessary action on the crisis.
Thunberg’s strike inspired a global movement, and on Thursday she and other leading school strikers will meet Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European council. They will demand a halt to all fossil fuel investments and subsidies and the establishment of annual, binding carbon budgets based on the best science.
Continue reading...President David Maplass says inequality has worsened as depression looms over poorer nations
The head of the World Bank has called for a more ambitious debt relief plan for poor countries after warning that the Covid-19 recession is turning into a depression in the most challenged parts of the globe.
In an interview with the Guardian, David Malpass raised the prospect of the first systematic write-off of debts since the 2005 Gleneagles agreement as he said fresh Bank figures due out next month would show an extra 100 million people had been pushed into poverty by the crisis.
Continue reading...Police in southern Japan reported more than 7,000 cases of ‘rojo-ne’ last year
Japan is largely tolerant of salarymen snoozing on trains after an evening out, but authorities on the southern island of Okinawa are taking a dim view of a worrying new trend in alcohol-fuelled somnolence.
Local police reported more than 7,000 cases of rojo-ne – literally sleeping on the road – last year, a phenomenon some attribute to Okinawa’s balmy weather and enthusiastic consumption of a fiery spirit that has been made on the island for hundreds of years.
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