Former speaker who led charge against Bill Clinton raises eyebrows with column heralding Democrat’s first-term success
Republicans must “quit underestimating” Joe Biden, the former US House speaker Newt Gingrich said, because the president is winning the fight.
Writing on his own website, Gingrich said: “Conservatives’ hostility to the Biden administration on our terms tends to blind us to just how effective Biden has been on his terms.
Continue reading...Testing booths removed in Beijing as cities across China ease commuter rules following unprecedented protests
Covid-19 testing booths were removed in Beijing on Friday, while Shenzhen followed other cities in announcing it would no longer require commuters to present their test results to travel, as an easing of Covid restrictions in China gathered pace.
As daily cases hovered near all-time highs, some cities took steps to loosen coronavirus testing requirements and quarantine rules as China looks to make its zero-Covid policy more targeted amid an economic slowdown and public frustration that has boiled over into unrest.
Continue reading...The Kremlin says US refusal to recognise Moscow’s annexed territories in Ukraine is hindering any potential settlement and EU members agree on Russia oil price cap
Continue reading...Scientists who have replaced plastic packaging with seaweed among those to be given prize by Prince of Wales
Scientists who have replaced plastic packaging with seaweed are among those who have been given a £1m prize by the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot fund.
The prize is aimed at rewarding innovative solutions to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies, and is named after former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot challenge in the 1960s, which united millions of people around the goal of putting a person on the moon within a decade.
Continue reading...Police make arrests and secure image of gas-masked woman in dressing gown sprayed on Hostomel wall
A group of people have tried to take a mural in Ukraine by the graffiti artist Banksy, by cutting away a section of war-damaged wall where it was sprayed.
The group managed to slice off a section of board and plaster bearing the image of a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher on the side of a scorched building.
Continue reading...Dozens of women turn out on streets of provincial capital, where men have been protesting for months
Black-clad women in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province have joined nationwide protests on Friday sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, in what a rights group called a rare move in the staunchly conservative region.
Videos online showed dozens of women on the streets of the provincial capital, Zahedan, holding banners that declared “Woman, life, freedom” – one of the main slogans of the protest movement that erupted in mid-September.
Continue reading...Poland, which was pushing for low cap, says deal will keep it at least 5% below market rate
European Union member states have agreed to put a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian oil after Poland, which was holding out, gave the green light to the deal.
In an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s income from fossil fuels, the EU has agreed to limit the amount that can be paid for seaborne oil to curtail Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Jonathan, Seychelles giant tortoise given to Saint Helena in 1882, is also oldest known living land animal
If there is a party animal at large this weekend, Jonathan is it: the Seychelles giant tortoise is about to celebrate his 190th birthday with a three-day bash.
Living on Saint Helena since 1882, when he arrived as a gift to the governor of the small south Atlantic island, he is no stranger to fame, having scooped awards from the Guinness World Records for being the oldest known living land animal and the oldest chelonian – an order comprising tortoises, turtles and terrapins – ever recorded.
Continue reading...Elon Musk intervenes after rapper posted image hours after airing antisemitic views in Alex Jones interview
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been suspended from Twitter after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David, less than two weeks after he returned to the platform.
The suspension took place hours after Ye praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in an interview on Infowars, a show hosted by the rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Continue reading...Street and square in north-east of city renamed in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa
Campaigners who have fought for decades for Germany to confront its colonial past celebrated the renaming of a square and a street in the north-east of Berlin on Friday in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa.
Manga Bell Platz in the so-called African Quarter of Berlin’s Wedding district was renamed in memory of Rudolf and Emily Duala Manga Bell, a king and queen of Duala in Cameroon who fought against German colonialism. Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, who had been educated in Germany, was executed along with about 100 other people by German authorities in August 1914 after a sham trial.
Continue reading...Moscow had hoped to easily capture Ukraine – having totally failed, it has resorted to simply destroying it
The Kremlin thought it would sweep across Ukraine and take Kyiv in a matter of days.
Now, more than nine months into its disastrous war with Ukraine, the new Russian strategy of targeting the infrastructure that brings light, heat and water into millions of Ukrainian homes has revealed Russia’s own weakness and its desperation in the face of a defiant Ukrainian resistance.
Continue reading...South African president cancels all official engagements and was reported to be close to resigning over ‘Farmgate’
Farmgate scandal: what is it and why does it matter?
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is fighting for his political life as rivals and supporters face off in a divisive battle for control of the ruling party, the African National Congress.
The power struggle came after an independent panel appointed by parliament said there was evidence suggesting the South African president committed “serious misconduct” after millions of dollars in cash was reportedly stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago.
Continue reading...Spanish authorities hunt for person seen landing near border fence in Melilla and running off
Spanish authorities are looking for a person who used a paraglider to cross over a border fence from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in what appears to be the first use of the method to migrate into European territory.
Footage obtained by El Faro newspaper shows a person landing near the fence and then running off, leading officials to suspect the individual was trying to reach Europe.
Continue reading...Backing down from existing policies remains a political problem of the first order
China’s government looks to be starting to roll back its zero-Covid policy. But after three years of saying the resource-intensive, economically damaging elimination strategy is the only way to go, experts say it will be a medical and political challenge to end it.
Much of China’s exit strategy is riding on vaccinations, but this is where Beijing has great challenges. China’s elderly population is disproportionately unvaccinated, leaving tens of millions of vulnerable people at far greater risk from the ravages of Covid-19. About 90% of China’s population is vaccinated, but among those over 60 only about 69% have had at least three doses. Above 80 years of age, the figure drops to about 40%.
Continue reading...There is a buzz in the air of the capital and a real belief the Lions of Teranga can beat the Three Lions
Just under 4,500 miles (7,200km) away from the shiny stadiums in Qatar, a man named Serigne Fallou confidently proclaims that he already knows what the result will be on Sunday when England take on Senegal in the World Cup’s round of 16.
“Absolutely, Senegal will win, 1-0,” says Fallou, an apartment doorman in Dakar, Senegal’s bustling capital on the Atlantic Ocean. “I don’t have a doubt.”
Continue reading...Since August, 199 people have died of acute kidney injury, prompting an inquiry and ban on some medicines
A dozen families, whose relatives died or fell ill after consuming cough syrup medicines, have sued the Indonesian government and companies accused of supplying the products.
At least 199 people, many of them young children, have died as a result of acute kidney injury since August, prompting the government to ban some syrup medicines and launch an investigation.
Continue reading...Exclusive: More than 200 people have approached Indonesian embassy since July to report difficulties faced
More than 200 Indonesian fruit pickers have sought diplomatic help since July after facing difficulties working in Britain this season, the nation’s embassy has revealed.
The Guardian has spoken to a pair of workers sent to a farm in Scotland that supplies berries to M&S, Waitrose, Tesco and Lidl. They claim pickers were sent back to the caravan if they could not work fast enough and left with large debts to repay.
Continue reading...Xiomara Castro unable to make good on promises in country with highly restrictive abortion and contraception laws
At her inauguration earlier this year, Xiomara Castro, the first female president of Honduras, ended her speech with a message to women.
“Honduran women, I will not fail you, I will defend your rights, all your rights, count on me,” said Castro, whose resounding election victory ended a dozen years of conservative rule and generated high hopes for change in a country with one of the highest rates of femicide and most restrictive laws against reproductive rights in Latin America.
Continue reading...Disney merchandise shows frowning bear looking at blank sheet of paper – a symbol of opposition to censorship
Years after he became character non grata in China, Winnie the Pooh is exacting quiet revenge against the country’s government in the form of Disney souvenirs.
In what appears to be a case of incidental resistance, Disney stores in Japan are selling a line of merchandise featuring a frowning Pooh looking at a blank sheet of white paper – a symbol of ongoing protests in China against censorship and Covid-19 restrictions.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can find more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
Russia tested a new missile defence system rocket, its defence ministry said today.
The missile was launched from the Sary Shagan testing range in Kazakhstan.
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