Category Archives: World News

UK accused of ‘dangerous whitewash’ over Bahrain human rights abuses

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Humanitarian groups urge foreign secretary to issue correction to a recent report, amid fears it could provide cover for repression in the Gulf state

The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been urged by humanitarian organisations to issue a correction over a “misleading” Foreign Office (FCDO) report on Bahrain, as they say it represents a “dangerous whitewash” on human rights that risks emboldening abusers in the Gulf state.

A letter to the foreign secretary, signed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the report is “fraught with inaccuracies” and amounts to disinformation that could be used as propaganda by the government of Bahrain.

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Pressure mounts on UN to provide urgent support to north-western Syria

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Rescue teams say death tolls will continue to rise if UN does not speed up ‘overly cautious’ delivery of aid into rebel-held region

Pressure is mounting on the UN to provide urgent support to north-western Syria, which is yet to receive meaningful aid five days after the earthquake that devastated the region, and with the chance of finding any survivors beneath the rubble almost gone.

A convoy of 14 UN lorries entered the opposition-held part of the country from Turkey on Friday at the Bab al-Hawa crossing, containing humanitarian-kit, solar lamps, blankets and other items, one day after a six-lorry convoy crossed the border with blankets and basic supplies. Thursday’s convoy had been arranged before the disaster that has killed at least 3,500 people inside Syria and left thousands more buried under rubble.

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Belgian MEP arrested in ‘cash for influence’ inquiry

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Police search Marc Tarabella’s safe deposit box and offices as part of anti-corruption investigation

A second MEP has been arrested as part of a criminal investigation into alleged bribery, corruption and money laundering at the European parliament.

Marc Tarabella of Belgium was taken in for questioning after police arrived at his home at about 6am on Friday, according to Belgian press reports. Tarabella has previously declared his innocence.

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UK must quit climate-harming energy charter treaty, experts say

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Secret international court system enables fossil fuel firms to sue governments for lost future profits

Experts have urged the UK to leave the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), a secret court system that enables fossil fuel companies to sue governments for huge sums over policies that could affect future profits.

The European Commission said this week that remaining part of the treaty would “clearly undermine” climate targets and that an exit by EU countries appeared “inevitable”. Seven EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, have already said they will quit the ECT.

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Geological impact of Turkey-Syria earthquake slowly comes into focus

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Subsidence has caused flooding, while hillsides are at risk of landslip, which mean roads may need to be rerouted and people rehomed

More than 17,000 people are now known to have died after the huge earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the focus right now is on supporting survivors.

But there are wider geological implications to the quake that may have consequences in the longer term slowly coming into focus. In the coastal city of İskenderun, there appears to have been significant subsidence, which has resulted in flooding, while the quake has left many hillsides around the country at a serious risk of landslip. This may result in roads and pipelines having to be rerouted and communities rehomed.

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No room for the dead as cemeteries in earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria fill up

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Bodies are piled up in stadiums or car parks for identification; coffins are being brought in and mass graves dug

At the Nurdağı cemetery in the Turkish province of Gaziantep, on the Syrian border, there will soon be no more room for the dead. The freshly dug graves are marked with blank headstones, with only pieces of ripped cloth gathered from the victims’ clothing to identify them. The frayed ends of the cloth blow slightly in the frigid air.

On the street outside, dozens of bodies lie piled on top of each other on a row of pickup trucks, waiting to be buried. At least five imams have rushed to Nurdağı to officiate a ceaseless rush of mass funerals, sometimes for as many as 10 victims at once. Officials brought in deliveries of coffins from neighbouring villages and as far as Istanbul to provide a final resting place for the overwhelming numbers of corpses arriving in the town.

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Cacti replacing snow on Swiss mountainsides due to global heating

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Invasive species proliferating in Valais is encroaching on natural reserves and posing a biodiversity threat

The residents of the Swiss canton of Valais are used to seeing their mountainsides covered with snow in winter and edelweiss flowers in summer. But as global heating intensifies, they are increasingly finding an invasive species colonising the slopes: cacti.

Authorities say cactus species belonging to the genus Opuntia, or prickly pears, are proliferating in parts of Valais, encroaching on natural reserves and posing a biodiversity threat.

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Do look up: 1,000 street lights at risk of falling, Wellington tells residents

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New Zealand city council says ‘you would be seriously injured or killed’ by lamps weighing up to 15kg, like a microwave or bulk sack of rice

New Zealand’s capital is being plagued by hundreds of potentially deadly street lights that have begun dropping without warning and smashing on the footpath below.

Wellington city council spokesperson Richard MacLean said the council was aware of the problem. The lamp heads weighed up to 15kg (33lb), he said – about equivalent to a bulk sack of rice, full-grown border collie or a microwave oven. They were falling from heights of 4-6m.

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Thousands of Afghans who helped British forces ‘remain stranded by UK’

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Damning report by MPs urges government to ensure safe passage for interpreters and contractors at risk from Taliban

Several thousand Afghans who helped British forces before the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 remain stranded and at risk from the Taliban because of failures of the government’s settlement schemes, according to a damning report by MPs.

The defence select committee’s report urged the government to set out what action it is taking to ensure safe passage to the UK for at least 4,600 Afghans, including interpreters and contractors, who worked for UK forces.

A lack of preparedness for the number of potential applicants resulting in under-resourcing, backlogs in applications, and errors in decision making.

Poor communications with applicants causing stress to them and increasing correspondence to MPs and others.

Unclear and frequently changing eligibility criteria.

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First aid convoy enters north-west Syria as quake toll passes 21,000

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Turkey says it is working to open two more border crossings; girl and father pulled alive from rubble in Antakya

The first convoy of humanitarian assistance for victims of Monday’s earthquake has crossed into north-west Syria, as the death toll in Turkey and Syria climbed to more than 21,000 amid fading hopes of finding survivors under rubble in freezing weather.

Six trucks passed through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey carrying tents and hygiene products, as Turkey said it was working to open two more border crossings with Syria to allow in more humanitarian aid.

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China using spy balloon drama to drum up nationalistic fervour

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The communist party’s propaganda machine pulled out all the stops to ensure the public opinion was in accordance with party narrative

Amid the diplomatic spat over the high-altitude balloon that flew across North America before being shot down by the US air force, China is taking the opportunity to drum up nationalistic fervour among its citizens – and the tactic appears to be working well.

The balloon incident has burst the facade of a three-month, uneasy peace between China and the US since the summit between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in November.

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Russian cruise missiles crossed into Moldova and Romania, says Ukraine

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Apparent violation of countries’ airspace comes as Kremlin launches major missile and drone attack

Two Russian cruise missiles have entered the airspace of Moldova and Romania, Ukraine has said, in the latest attack by Moscow on targets across the country.

Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said the Kalibr rockets crossed into Moldova at 10.18am local time on Friday. They then flew into Romania at 10.33am at the intersection of the state border, before recrossing into western Ukraine, he said.

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Biden says he’s Republicans’ ‘nightmare’ over social spending cuts – as it happened

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Francine Prose, the novelist and Guardian US columnist, takes a look today at Republican attacks on reading in schools, particularly in Florida under Ron DeSantis, a leading (notional) contender for the presidential nomination in 2024.

For some time now, conservative groups pressured libraries and classrooms to remove certain “controversial” books from their shelves and their syllabi. These are texts that tell uncomfortable or unpopular truths about our nation’s origins, including inequality, race, history, gender, sexuality, power and class – a range of subjects that a small but vocal group of Americans would prefer to ignore or deny.

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‘This is huge’: Nicaragua frees 222 political prisoners and flies them to US

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Daughter of former foreign minister Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa says he is among detainees released, adding: ‘Everybody is on the plane’

More than 200 prisoners jailed by Nicaragua’s authoritarian regime during a ferocious two-year political crackdown have been freed and flown to the United States.

“This is huge,” Georgiana Aguirre-Sacasa, the daughter of one of the prisoners – the elderly former foreign minister Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa – said on Thursday morning as she digested the news of her father’s release.

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Chinese balloon was ‘clearly’ for spying, says US

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State department source says balloon was carrying equipment capable of intercepting communications

The Chinese balloon that flew over North America for more than a week before being shot down over the Atlantic was carrying equipment capable of intercepting and geolocating communications, the US government has claimed.

A senior state department official said on Thursday that equipment was identified by a U-2 spy plane sent up to scrutinise the balloon.

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Sardinian winemaker denies his two oxen logo is Red Bull copy

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Mattia Muggittu says he feels like David v Goliath as energy drink firm disputes branding on his first bottles

A small wine producer in Sardinia accused by the maker of the energy drink Red Bull of copying its logo has said he feels as if he is in a David and Goliath battle against the Austrian company.

Mattia Muggittu, the owner of Muggittu di Mamoiada, had just produced his first bottle of wine, which features two traditional Sardinian oxen tied together on its label, when he received a legal notice from Red Bull claiming the image bore similarities to the one on its energy drink depicting two bulls charging at each other inside a golden sun.

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Russia begins major offensive in eastern Ukraine, Luhansk governor claims

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Serhiy Haidai says Moscow’s forces are trying unsuccessfully to advance westwards in ‘maximum’ escalation

Russia has launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine and is trying to break through defences near the town of Kreminna, the governor for the Luhansk region said on Thursday.

Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian TV that Russian troops had gone on the attack and were trying to advance westwards across a winter landscape of snow and forests. There had been “maximum escalation” and a big increase in shooting and shelling, he said.

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Driver of bus that crashed into Montreal daycare center charged with murder

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Pierre Ny St-Amand charged with first degree murder after two children died and six were injured in incident

Police have charged a bus driver with first-degree murder after he drove his vehicle at a high speed into a daycare center north of Montreal, killing two children, injuring six and leaving authorities searching for a motive.

Witnesses say that after Wednesday’s crash, the 51-year-old driver, identified as Pierre Ny St-Amand, stepped out of the bus, stripped off his clothes and started screaming.

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Elderly Chinese people protest in Wuhan against medical benefits cuts

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Rally is latest showing of public discontent since demonstrations against Covid curbs

Thousands of older people have staged a rally in the rain in central China to protest against significant cuts to their medical benefits, in the latest outburst of public discontent since nationwide protests against Covid curbs gripped the country late last year.

Video clips on social media show a large crowd of elderly protesters in raincoats and holding umbrellas gathering outside the Wuhan city government by the Yangtze River on Wednesday, while police officers form a line to stop them from approaching the gates. The location of the rally has been verified.

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India urges citizens to ‘hug a cow’ on Valentine’s Day

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Campaign seeks to boost traditional Indian values and offset ‘dazzle of western civilisation’

The Indian government has urged people to set aside the “western” traditions of Valentine’s Day and instead celebrate the occasion by cuddling up with the country’s sacred cows.

In a new appeal, 14 February has been declared Cow Hug Day, when people are encouraged to take the animals into an embrace. Cows are holy within Hinduism, the majority religion in India, and are considered sacred animals across the country.

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