Category Archives: World News

Brazil’s new education minister resigns amid scrutiny over qualifications

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Carlos Decotelli stepped down after five days following reports he lied about his credentials in blow to Bolsonaro

Brazil’s latest pick for education minister has been forced to resign after just five days following reports that he repeatedly lied about his qualifications, the most recent in a series of embarrassing blows for the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Carlos Decotelli, an economist and former navy man, stepped down yesterday after Brazil’s Getúlio Vargas Foundation business school publicly refuted his claims he had worked there as a teacher.

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Hong Kong: Dominic Raab announces citizenship pathway as China imposes security law – video

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Up to 3 million people in Hong Kong could be eligible to live, work or study in the UK under a bespoke immigration system announced by Dominic Raab in response to the imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by China. The foreign secretary accused China of a 'clear and serious violation' of the joint declaration signed with the UK, and pledged the government would 'honour' its commitment to citizens of the former British colony 

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Ça alors! French drivers top European road-rage table, survey reveals

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One French driver in five admits to a Jekyll and Hyde personality when they take the wheel

The French are the road-rage champions of Europe, according to a survey, with the highest number of drivers who feel they become more aggressive when they get on the road.

The 10th annual poll of “responsible driving” published by the Vinci Motorway Foundation and carried out by the Ipsos polling agency in 11 European countries, revealed that one French driver in five – and more in the Paris area – has a Jekyll and Hyde personality behind the wheel.

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Hundreds of elephants dead in mysterious mass die-off

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Botswana’s government is yet to test the remains of the dead animals in what has been described as a ‘conservation disaster’

More than 350 elephants have died in northern Botswana in a mysterious mass die-off described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”.

A cluster of elephant deaths was first reported in the Okavango Delta in early May, with 169 individuals dead by the end of the month. By mid June, the number had more than doubled, with 70% of the deaths clustered around waterholes, according to local sources who wish to remain anonymous.

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Hong Kong: hundreds arrested as security law comes into effect

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Teenager waving independence flag among those held as thousands take to the streets

More than 370 protesters have been arrested as police fired teargas, pepper spray and water cannon at thousands of people protesting against a national security law imposed by Beijing.

The extent of Beijing’s mandate was made clear as full details of the law were released late on Tuesday, giving authorities sweeping powers to crack down on dissent and allowing China new levels of control over the semi-autonomous territory.

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Police use water cannon during protests over Hong Kong’s new security laws – video report

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Hong Kong police have arrested more than 300 protesters on the first day of life under the controversial national security laws imposed by Beijing, as China confirmed that some suspects could be extradited to the mainland under the new rules. Police were said to have used water cannon and pepper spray on activists and journalists during the demonstrations.

Earlier, the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, had told a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China that the security laws were 'the most important development in relations between central – HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] since Britain handed over the territory to Beijing

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Belgium mulls charges over 1961 killing of Congo’s first elected leader

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Prosecutors say there are two living suspects allegedly linked to assassination of Patrice Lumumba

Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether they can bring charges against people suspected of taking part in the killing of Congo’s first democratically elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, almost 60 years after his assassination.

Belgium’s federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw said on Wednesday: “We are in the process of taking stock of the prosecutions that could be launched. The facts have been qualified as a war crime, which has been confirmed by the Brussels court of appeal. This means there is no statute of limitations.”

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Hong Kong’s security laws usher in new era of Chinese control

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Beijing’s new rules appear tailored to cover the actions of protesters and their supporters

Beijing has imposed a raft of national security rules on Hong Kong, ushering in a new chapter of Chinese control over the semi-autonomous territory once known as a haven of political freedom and civil liberty.

Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said the law would target only a “narrow set” of behaviours, but the full text of the legislation – released only after it was enacted late on Tuesday – shows it covers a broad range of activities under vaguely defined crimes related to security. The harshest penalties are life in prison.

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France bans Dutch bike TV ad for creating ‘climate of fear’ about cars

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Ad for VanMoof bike unfairly discredits automobile industry, says watchdog

A TV commercial for a Dutch-made bicycle has been banned by France’s advertising watchdog for creating a “climate of fear” about cars.

Despite being aired on Dutch and German television, the Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité (ARPP) said the ad for the VanMoof bike unfairly discredited the automobile industry.

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‘Decolonise and rename’ streets of Uganda and Sudan, activists urge

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Campaigners target statues of slave owners and roads named after imperial armies as protests spread to Africa

Campaigners have asked Uganda’s parliament to order the removal of monuments to British colonialists and to rename streets commemorating imperial military forces.

Uganda gained independence in 1962 after almost 70 years as a British protectorate, and more than 5,000 people have signed a petition to “decolonise and rename” the dozens of statues and street names which remain.

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Petrol sold to Nigeria from Europe ‘dirtier’ than black market ‘bush’ fuel

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Samples from illegal refineries in Niger delta found to be of a higher quality than imported petrol in new analysis

Black market fuel made from stolen oil in rudimentary “bush” refineries hidden deep in the creeks and swamps of the Niger delta is less polluting than the highly toxic diesel and petrol that Europe exports to Nigeria, new laboratory analysis has found.

Shell, Exxon, Chevron and other major oil companies extract and export up to 2m barrels a day of high quality, low sulphur “Bonny Light” crude from the Niger delta. But very little of this oil is refined in the country because its four state-owned refineries are dysfunctional or have closed.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil death toll exceeds 60,000; West Bank goes into lockdown

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Global tourism stands to lose up to $3.3tn, says UN; Ryanair pilots take pay cut to avoid job losses; tourist flights to Greece resume; global cases pass 10.5m

The US has suffered 560 more deaths and registered another 43,644 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said, taking the respective totals to 127,299 and 2,624,873.

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Governor signs historic bill to remove Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag – live

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Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma are having primaries today.

Here’s what we’re watching:

Bernie Sanders wants lawmakers to cut the US military budget by 10%. In an opinion piece published in the Guardian, he writes:

At this unprecedented moment in American history – a terrible pandemic, an economic meltdown, people marching across the country to end systemic racism and police brutality, growing income and wealth inequality and an unstable president in the White House – now is the time to bring people together to fundamentally alter our national priorities and rethink the very structure of American society.

In that regard, I have been disturbed that for too long, Democrats and Republicans have joined together in passing outrageously high military budgets while ignoring the needs of the poorest people in our society. If we are serious about altering our national priorities, then there is no better place to begin with than taking a hard look at the bloated $740bn military budget that is coming up for a vote in the Senate this week.

Related: A 10% cut to the US military budget would help support struggling Americans | Bernie Sanders

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US urges allies to maintain UN embargo on arms sales to Iran

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Mike Pompeo opposes lifting embargo, which is due to end in October, citing risk to stability

A US attempt to destroy the Iran nuclear deal, reimpose sanctions and extend a UN embargo on arms sales to Iran risks a “generational setback for the cause of multilateralism and international law”, Iran’s foreign minister has told the UN security council.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN also said the latest US moves to isolate Tehran was like “putting its knee to the neck of the Iranian people”. Vassily Nebenzia described the policy as “a maximum suffocation policy” and said the US’s goal was to make Iran the scapegoat for an uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East.

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Trump views US troops as disposable – the Russian bounty scandal makes that clear | Simon Tisdall

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Time and again, the president has failed to protect military personnel. For Trump, he always comes first, no matter who dies

Donald Trump likes to suggest he has got the back of US soldiers battling America’s foes around the world. It was a big theme of his 2016 campaign and his West Point speech earlier this month. So great was his boundless care for America’s fighting men and women, he said, that he would halt the endless, costly foreign wars prosecuted by his predecessors – and bring them home.

Related: Trump's ties to Putin under fresh scrutiny in wake of Russia bounty reports

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Three asylum seekers at camp near US border test positive for coronavirus

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Advocates have long worried about potential for an outbreak at Matamoros camp, where an estimated 2,000 migrants live

Three asylum seekers have tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling border encampment, marking the first cases in a settlement that advocates have long viewed as vulnerable amid the pandemic.

Since confirmed cases of coronavirus in Mexico began rising in March, advocates and government officials have worried about the potential for an outbreak in the Matamoros camp, where an estimated 2,000 migrants live in tents on the banks of the Rio Grande river.

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Trump’s ties to Putin under fresh scrutiny in wake of Russia bounty reports

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Donald Trump is facing renewed questions over his relationship with Vladimir Putin after reports that he was briefed in writing in February that Russia paid bounties for the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Related: 'Russian bounties' intelligence was in Trump written daily briefing – reports

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Record Covid-19 cases in California as some countries prepare for ‘universal’ testing

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LA closes beaches and businesses as hospitals fill up while Bavaria announces ‘test offensive’

California has reported record new infections following its reopening as Los Angeles county ordered all beaches closed for 4 July and the re-shuttering of some businesses.

Amid warnings hospitals were filling up and others could run out of intensive care beds in the coming weeks, the state broke its record on Monday for the highest number of new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, with more than 8,000 – the third time in eight days the state has broken a record for new cases.

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Kanye West: Wash Us in the Blood review – an intensely potent study of race and faith

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This new track sees Kanye at his very best, corralling his anger with masterful focus into an apocalyptic vision of America

America, divided along racial and political lines and led by its own Herod, faces an invisible plague and a public reckoning against its history of violence. It’s against this Biblical backdrop that Kanye West imagines the next apocalyptic event, in one of his most focused and arresting tracks for years.

Wash Us in the Blood sees the rapper call for a blood rain to deliver black America from evil. We’re at the point, perhaps, where normal water won’t wash; an emergency where we need something stronger. That sense of alarm is amplified by the two-note siren motif, a flattened-out version of the feedback sound on The Life of Pablo’s Feedback or Yeezus’s Send It Up, another of his warnings that puts the listener on alert. It gets your blood up.

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Belgian king expresses ‘deepest regrets’ for brutal colonial rule

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Letter to Democratic Republic of the Congo president hailed as historic by Belgian media

King Philippe of Belgium has expressed his “deepest regrets” for acts of violence and brutality inflicted during his country’s rule over Congo, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo marks the 60th anniversary of its independence.

The letter to the DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, has been described as historic in the Belgian media, as it is the first time a Belgian king has expressed regret for the country’s colonial past, although it stops short of an apology.

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