With high levels of people seeking asylum, and after failed attempts to pass reforms, Biden has presented his most aggressive restrictions yet
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an aggressive new immigration order suspending asylum rights, signalling that “securing the border” was a central tenet of his re-election bid.
At the southern US border, the policy is set to cause chaos and hardship for those seeking the protection of the United States.
Continue reading...Radiohead musician issues statement on his ongoing work with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa after being accused of ‘artwashing genocide’ by pro-Palestine movement
Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood has defended his ongoing collaboration with the Israeli artist Dudu Tassa amid criticism from pro-Palestine activists, calling the backlash “unprogressive” and “silencing”.
Greenwood, a composer and musician who also plays in the Radiohead spin-off group The Smile, has been playing with Tassa since 2008. Last year, Greenwood and Tassa released a collaborative album titled Jarak Qaribak, a compilation of Arabic love songs featuring artists from across the Middle East.
Continue reading...Thousands of police deployed for parade that has been historical flashpoint for violence between marchers and Palestinians
Residents of Jerusalem are bracing for a rightwing flag march through Muslim areas of the Old City, an annual event often accompanied by violence.
The provocative Jerusalem Day parade by thousands of Jewish nationalists celebrates Israel’s capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites in the 1967 war, a move that is not internationally recognised. It is often marred by violent clashes between marchers and Palestinian residents of the Old City, as well as anti-Arab hate speech and vandalism of Palestinian property.
Continue reading...Latest results reveal unexpected blow to PM, forcing negotiation with coalition partners to regain power
Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...Congressman bids to replace Menendez, who plans to run as independent despite being charged with accepting bribes
Democratic congressman Andy Kim has won New Jersey’s Senate primary, putting him in strong position for the general election in the blue-leaning state, though the win comes a day after Democratic senator Bob Menendez filed to run as an independent amid his federal corruption trial.
Menendez, who has denied allegations that he accepted bribes to promote the interests of the Egyptian government, has chosen not to seek the Democratic Senate nomination. Kim’s win comes after a bruising battle that led New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy to withdraw from the race in March.
Continue reading...Small and medium-sized firms badly hit as huge drop in apparel sales helps fuel 18% slide in all-non food exports
UK exports of clothing and footwear to the EU have dived since Brexit, according to a new study that shows the extent to which complex regulations and red tape at the border have deterred firms from sending goods across the Channel.
Exports of clothing and footwear sold to EU countries have fallen from £7.4bn in 2019 to £2.7bn in 2023, helping fuel an 18% slump in sales of all non-food goods exports to countries covered by the EU single market, according to the consultancy Retail Economics and online marketplace Tradebyte.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov makes statement after permission given by Kyiv for trainers to come from France to support its troops
Any French military instructors in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Russian armed forces, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Tuesday during a tour of Africa, where frustration with the west has swayed several countries toward Moscow.
Lavrov made the remarks at joint news conference with the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister, Jean Claude Gakosso.
Continue reading...Former lance corporal Matt Croucher was arrested seven months ago, accused of ‘illegally accessing telecommunications’
A former Royal Marines reservist awarded the highest medal for gallantry has reportedly been held in Dubai since November after being accused of spying.
The former lance corporal Matt Croucher, 40, was awarded the George Cross, which ranks alongside the Victoria Cross as the highest decoration for acts of bravery, in 2008 after risking his life and saving others by throwing himself on a grenade in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Attorney general defends stewardship of justice department and accuses Republican lawmakers of peddling conspiracy theories
US attorney general Merrick Garland has defended his stewardship of the justice department in a combative display on Capitol Hill that saw him accusing Republicans of attacking the rule of law while telling them he “will not be intimidated.”
Testifying before the House judiciary committee, Garland accused GOP congressmen of engaging in conspiracy theories and peddling false narratives.
Continue reading...President’s move comes amid voter dissatisfaction over immigration as leftwing and Latino lawmakers express alarm
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that will temporarily shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to cross between lawful ports of entry, when a daily threshold of crossings has been exceeded.
The order will take effect immediately, senior administration officials said on a press call. Those seeking asylum will be held to a much more rigorous standard for establishing credible fear of returning to their home country, although certain groups – including human trafficking victims and unaccompanied children – would be excluded from the ban.
Continue reading...William Cameron was an anti-aircraft gunner on a ship protecting American barges during the largest amphibious invasion in history
A 100-year old Canadian second world war veteran has died one day before he was to return to France for the 80th anniversary of D-day and the Battle of Normandy.
William Cameron’s death on Sunday was announced on Twitter by Canada’s veterans affairs ministry. He had been scheduled to fly to France as part of a Canadian delegation attending ceremonies this week.
Continue reading...US president’s remarks to Time magazine about PM’s role in conflict draw heavily critical response from Israeli government
Joe Biden has said that there is “every reason” to draw the conclusion that Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political self-preservation.
Biden made the remarks about the Israeli prime minister in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday morning, drawing a sharp response from the Israeli government, which accused the US president of straying from diplomatic norms.
Continue reading...Biden-backed proposal is causing rifts in unstable coalition led by Israeli PM that could lead to his government falling apart
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing growing pressure at home and internationally to support a new ceasefire plan for Gaza, a move he is resisting over fears it will collapse his government.
Far-right members of the prime minister’s coalition have threatened to quit the coalition if Israel “surrenders” before “total victory” over Hamas, while his leading rival, the centrist Benny Gantz, has said he will resign from the emergency unity government if Netanyahu does not commit to a deal and “day after” plan for Gaza by 8 June.
Continue reading...Allwyn parent company says deal to buy 3% stake in Czech gas facility will cut final link with Kremlin-controlled energy firm
The billionaire owner of Allwyn, the company that runs the national lottery, will sever his last remaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom by the end of June, more than two years after winning the UK’s largest public sector contract.
The Czech tycoon Karel Komárek, who owns Allwyn via his Switzerland-based holding company KKCG, has faced scrutiny over his links to Russia since wresting control of the 10-year licence to operate the lottery from Camelot in 2022.
Continue reading...EU commissioner Vera Jourová says tech firms must hire staff versed in legal and historical context of free speech in Europe
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, lacks understanding of European concerns over the hatred and division that can result from the spread of disinformation, a senior EU commissioner has said.
Speaking just days before the European parliamentary elections, in which disinformation, particularly Russian-backed propaganda, has been a key issue, Věra Jourová criticised what she said was a clear deterioration in content moderation on X since Musk bought the platform in 2022.
Continue reading...About 80 candidates put names forward for vetting against backdrop of confrontation with west
About 80 candidates have registered to stand in Iran’s presidential election on 28 June, taking place against the backdrop of a growing confrontation with the west over Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme and UN access to its nuclear sites.
The winner will replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
Continue reading...Omar Barghouti, who attended Columbia University in 80s, says student solidarity with Palestine has educated the world
The student-led protests demanding universities cut financial and academic ties to Israel have led to unprecedented support for the Palestinian liberation struggle, and have propelled the divestment debate into the mainstream, according to the co-founder of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights defender who helped launch the BDS movement almost 20 years ago, said the students’ solidarity had helped educate the world about the Israeli occupation and “apartheid” while exposing the hypocrisy – and repressive tendencies – of some of the world’s most prestigious universities with investments in corporations which put “profit before people and the planet”.
Continue reading...Women in Spain have the right to time off work with period pain, but limits in the legislation and lack of awareness mean few have taken it
It was hailed as a historic advance – one capable of tackling longstanding workplace taboos around period pain. A year after Spain became the first country in Europe to introduce paid menstrual leave, however, figures suggest that relatively few employees have made use of the policy.
In the 11 months since the law was introduced, menstrual leave was taken 1,559 times, according to data from Spain’s ministry of inclusion, social security and migration.
Continue reading...Uncrewed Chang’e-6 lander is carrying rock and soil samples in ‘very important achievement’ after lunar liftoff
China’s uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe is on its way back to Earth carrying the first samples from the far side of the moon, in a major achievement for Beijing’s space programme.
The probe landed on the lunar surface on Sunday, within one of the oldest craters on the moon – the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin – then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.
Continue reading...South Africa-born painter Gavin Jantjes says institutions tried to buy work they ignored decades earlier
British arts institutions deployed “kneejerk” and “stopgap” responses in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement as they attempted to avoid criticism for the lack of diversity in their collections, according to the artist Gavin Jantjes.
The South Africa-born artist, who was a key figure during the British black art movement of the 1980s, told the Guardian that under-pressure organisations approached him to buy work that they had ignored since it was made decades earlier.
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