Pen-chan defies expectations to be reunited with keeper safe and sound after swimming 30 miles in open sea
A fugitive penguin in Japan has been found safe and sound two weeks after escaping into the sea and paddling for miles in what her keeper called a miracle.
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, who had never swum in the open sea before or fended for herself, absconded from an event in the central Aichi region on 25 August.
Continue reading...Cindy and Craig Corrie say they fear Eygi’s death at West Bank protest will go unpunished like their daughter’s
When Cindy and Craig Corrie heard about the death of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, the American-Turkish woman killed at a protest in the occupied West Bank last week, it reopened a 21-year-old wound. “You feel the ripping apart again of your own family when you know that’s happening to another family. There’s a hole there that’s never going to be filled for each of these families,” Craig Corrie said.
In 2003, their daughter Rachel was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer during a protest in Rafah against the demolitions of homes in Gaza. This week, the couple have joined a chorus of human rights advocates calling for an independent investigation into Eygi’s death, saying that they feared her case would go unpunished like their daughter’s.
Continue reading...Organisers of international summit hope to create pressure to reverse laws including a ban on women speaking in public
More than 130 Afghan women have gathered in Albania at an All Afghan Women summit, in an attempt to develop a united voice representing the women and girls of Afghanistan in the fight against the ongoing assault on human rights by the Taliban.
Some women who attempted to reach the summit from inside Afghanistan were prevented from travelling, pulled off flights in Pakistan or stopped at borders. Other women have travelled from countries including Iran, Canada, the UK and the US where they are living as refugees.
Continue reading...Diplomats most struck by Republican’s refusal to say whether he wanted Ukraine to defeat Vladimir Putin
The TV debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was as keenly watched by European diplomats and politicians as by US voters, eager to see who may be next in the White House and – crucially – the direction that a vital ally may next take.
One diplomat said they empathised when Harris adopted a series of poses that ranged from pity, bemusement and genuine curiosity about what craziness would emerge from Trump’s mouth next as she listened to his conspiracy-laden theories. However, the diplomat said they still did not underestimate Trump and the hold he had over one part of a divided America, adding: “Never write him off.”
Continue reading...Ruling party secures votes for overhaul, which has led to protests amid fears it could undermine rule of law
Mexico’s senate has given final approval to a sweeping overhaul of the judiciary, clearing the biggest hurdle for a controversial constitutional revision that will make all judges stand for election, a change that critics fear will politicise the judicial branch and threaten the democracy.
In a marathon session that ran for more than 12 hours, and had to be paused and relocated after protesters broke into the senate building, the ruling Morena party and allies clinched the final two-thirds vote needed to approve the changes, which have prompted protests, a strike by judicial workers and market volatility.
Continue reading...Opposition leaders are adamant their campaign to remove Maduro is very much alive – even as their candidate widely believed to have won the vote has gone into exile in Spain
Against all the odds, they pulled off a once-inconceivable democratic victory against one of the world’s most unyielding authoritarian regimes. Even more astonishingly, Venezuela’s opposition activists managed to prove it, gathering a vast cache of voting data that offered concrete proof of their success.
Yet six weeks after Venezuela’s presidential election, it was the candidate widely believed to have won the vote, Edmundo González, who has flown into exile in Spain, while the apparent loser, Nicolás Maduro, looks set to keep power.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can read the latest at the links below:
Russia has accused both presidential candidates of using Vladimir Putin’s name as part of a domestic political fights, saying: “we really, really don’t like it”.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the US was hostile and negative towards Russia, Reuters reports, and the Kremlin hoped that candidates would drop such references to Putin.
Continue reading...Plan to rename group the Campbell’s Company part of shift in focus to other food it sells
Bosses at Campbell Soup Company, whose cans feature in one of Andy Warhol’s best known 1960s pop artworks, have announced plans to drop ‘soup’ from its name after more than 100 years.
Its chief executive, Mark Clouse, said the decision to rename the group the Campbell’s Company was part of a shift in focus to the other snack foods and jarred sauces it sold.
Continue reading...Tankers believed to be at heart of illicit operation transporting gas and oil to fund Moscow’s war effort
The UK has taken new steps to clamp down on Russia’s shadow fleet exporting oil and funding Moscow’s war machine, with the Foreign Office announcing sanctions on 10 ships that it believes to be at heart of the operation.
Russia has a large fleet of often unseaworthy and ageing tankers that transport Russian gas and oil products around the globe. Oil exports are Vladimir Putin’s most critical revenue source for funding the war in Ukraine, accounting for about a quarter of the Russian budget in 2023.
Continue reading...Footage that seems to show fighters glorifying abuse of prisoners with ‘little fear of consequences’ could be used in war crimes prosecutions
Footage of rebel fighters in Sudan appearing to glorify the burning of homes and the torture of prisoners could be used by international courts to pursue war crime prosecutions, observers have told the Guardian.
Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan for the past year as they try to take control of the country.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: His advisors wanted him to tie Harris to the Biden administration – but instead he lost his temper. Here are the key moments
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning. If you had a sinking feeling on 28 June when you woke up to the news that Joe Biden had turned in an utterly incoherent debate performance, you will probably have a bit more appetite for your boiled egg this time. A few hours ago, the only scheduled debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris came to an end – and even Fox News said Harris won.
Democrats’ moods can only have been improved by the news, a few minutes after it ended, that Taylor Swift had endorsed Harris, and signed her post “childless cat lady”. And CNN’s snap poll suggested that voters thought Harris won by a margin of 63% to 37% – nearly as big a margin as Trump achieved over Biden last time around. Key to Harris’ success was baiting her opponent into rants on marginal topics, instead of talking about the issues that voters are interested in.
Winter fuel allowance | MPs have voted to remove the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest pensioners in England and Wales. Just one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voted for the opposition motion but 52 abstained – at the higher end of predictions.
Conservatives | Mel Stride has been knocked out of the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader after the second round of voting by MPs. On Tuesday, the former work and pensions secretary became the second casualty in the weeks-long leadership contest, which is due to culminate in early November.
Israel-Gaza war | Israeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 19 people and injured a further 60, according to witnesses and medical officials in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Port Talbot steelworks | The British steel industry is braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks, with thousands more jobs at risk in the UK, as the government prepares a taxpayer-backed deal for the south Wales plant. Owners Tata Steel are expected to get a rescue deal worth £500m.
UK news | An inquest into a man who killed himself a week after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show has found “insufficient evidence” to rule that participating in the programme caused his death.
Continue reading...Minister for public security made comments at forum that is part of efforts by ruling Communist party to position itself as a global security leader
China will train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers so as to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction”, its minister for public security has said.
“We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” minister Wang Xiaohong told an annual global security forum.
Continue reading...Conservationists and botanists express concern over plans for Qatari-funded upscale resort on Assomption Island
The habitat of the largest giant tortoise population in the world is threatened by a Qatari-funded hotel development that aims to bring luxury yachts, private jets and well-heeled tourists to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, conservationists have warned.
Plans for an upscale resort on Assomption, which is part of the Aldabra island group, are currently under discussion by the Seychelles authorities, and construction is already finished on an airport expansion that would allow bigger aircraft to land on the 11.6-sq-km (4.5-sq-mile) coral island.
Continue reading...Report reveals how US Christians, Catholic schools and Islamists fight sex education, LGBTQ+ and equal rights
Extreme religious groups and political parties are targeting schools around the world as part of a coordinated and well-funded attack on gender equality, according to a new report.
Well-known conservative organisations aim to restrict girls’ access to education, change what is on the curriculum, and influence educational laws and policies, according to Whose Hands on our Education, a report by the Overseas Development Institute.
Continue reading...Secretary of state and defence secretary decry fatal shooting of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in West Bank
The family of the American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi said on Tuesday that neither the White House nor Joe Biden had called to offer condolences.
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.
Continue reading...Figure is largely in addition to £7.8bn committed since Russia’s invasion, says National Audit Office report
Britain has donated arms and equipment to Ukraine that would cost £2.71bn to replace, largely in addition to the £7.8bn committed by prime ministers since Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to a National Audit Office report.
The cost of replacing missiles, artillery and other munitions also significantly exceeds their £171.5m value on the government’s books, because the Ministry of Defence wants to replace the old weapons supplied at current prices.
Continue reading...Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says Amazonia suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has flown into the Amazon amid growing alarm over the droughts and wildfires sweeping the rainforest region and others parts of Brazil.
Speaking during a visit to a riverside community near the city of Tefé, the Brazilian president said Amazonia was suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years. He said he had come to discover “what is going on with these mighty rivers” that in some places now resemble deserts.
Continue reading...Despite desire to improve relations with Europe, the president has put Iran back on the sanctions treadmill
Iran’s decision to sell Russia short-range missiles supplementing Moscow’s existing supplies appears, on the surface, to be a political reversal for Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s new reformist president.
He was elected on a promise to lift sanctions and develop more balanced relations with the east and west, especially Europe. The bulk of his diplomatic appointments, including the retention of the former foreign minister Javad Zarif as an adviser, underscored that intention, and already a lively debate had started in Tehran about the extent to which Iran and Russia’s interests truly aligned.
Continue reading...Former Great Ormond Street hospital surgeon Yaser Jabbar removed as speaker at orthopaedics event
A doctor who is being investigated for allegedly harming hundreds of children has been removed as a featured speaker from a health conference.
Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London has launched an urgent review of the care of 721 children who are thought to have received botched treatment from one of its former consultant orthopaedic surgeons, Yaser Jabbar.
Continue reading...World body says two workers detained for questioning, live shots fired and vehicles damaged at checkpoint
Israeli soldiers halted a UN convoy involved in the recent polio vaccination drive in Gaza and detained two staff members for questioning, in an incident during which live shots were fired and vehicles damaged by a bulldozer, the UN has said.
Details of the incident, which occurred at the Al Rashid checkpoint, were revealed in a statement by the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Palestine, Muhannad Hadi, who said the lives of UN staff in the vehicles had been endangered.
Continue reading...