Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
What happens to your plastic after you drop it in a recycling bin?
According to promotional materials from America’s plastics industry, it is whisked off to a factory where it is seamlessly transformed into something new.
Plan comes after efforts to persuade US that White House had wrong message on Libya
Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli has sought to break the deadlock in the country’s civil war by launching a peace initiative which will include a national peace forum followed by simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections to be held by the end of the year.
The plan comes after sustained diplomatic efforts by the Tripoli-based government to persuade the US that the White House had got the wrong message on Libya and was in danger of backing anti-democratic forces of Gen Khalifa Haftar, on the false premise that he was leading a fight against terrorists.
Readers respond to Larry Elliott’s stance on the republican cause in Britain and debate the possibility of radical change
I was a little surprised by Larry Elliott’s suggestion that the republican movement has rarely been weaker (How the House of Windsor saw off British republicanism, 13 June). In his analysis he ignores opinion polling, which shows no growth in support for the monarchy, and he ignores the perilous and imminent succession of King Charles.
A YouGov poll commissioned by Republic at the time of Prince Harry’s wedding last year showed widespread indifference to the royals. As expected, a clear majority (60%) said they liked the Queen, but only a third said they liked her “a great deal”. Meanwhile, only 37% wanted Charles to succeed the Queen; 46% said they would prefer “someone else”.
Democrat hopeful says they could have children in White House
Buttigieg is first openly gay major party presidential candidate
The Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg wants to start a family with his husband, Chasten, and says that could happen if he makes it to the White House.
“I don’t see why not,” the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in a Father’s Day television interview that also marked his first wedding anniversary.
‘President Trump has done everything he can to avoid war’
US secretary of state claims ‘lots of evidence’ of Iran culpability
The United States does not want to go to war with Iran, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Sunday, following an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week.
Pompeo reiterated that the US believes it was “unmistakable” that Iran was responsible for the attacks, in an interview with Fox News Sunday. He stressed a need for diplomacy and said American officials are reaching out to their foreign counterparts.
Iran’s leaders have shown their intent to defend their interests by damaging those of their foes
For much of this year, two beliefs have held firm in the halls of power in Iran: US attempts to strangle its economy cannot be tolerated and Donald Trump has no intention of going to war.
Far from wilting under the barrel of a global superpower’s guns, Iran’s leaders have signalled an intent to defend their interests, by damaging those of their foes. Iran’s anger at the US, and its alleged role in the attacks on six tankers in Gulf waters over the past five weeks did not emerge from a vacuum. US-imposed sanctions have taken a huge toll on its economy, and diminished its ability to service long-lasting commitments across the region – in Syria and Lebanon, in particular.
Tensions remain high as Arab League calls for restraint – and Labour warns of UK being drawn into conflict
Divisions over responsibility for last week’s attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman deepened this weekend amid warnings over the danger of a major confrontation in the region, despite hints by Donald Trump about possible negotiations with Iran.
Politicians in Britain traded angry blows over the incident, after the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said there was “no credible evidence” that Iran had attacked the two ships as they passed by its coastline on Thursday morning, rebuffing a Foreign Office assessment that it was “almost certain” that a “branch of the Iranian military” had carried out the strikes.
Acquitted woman says media created story about her role in death of Meredith Kercher
An emotional Amanda Knox has castigated the media for depicting her as a “dirty man-eater” when she was on trial for the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox, now 31, was twice convicted and twice acquitted of killing Kercher, 21, in the home they shared in the Italian university town of Perugia in November 2007.
Labour leader urges UK to ease tensions in Gulf after Foreign Office links blasts to Tehran
Jeremy Corbyn has called for the government to abstain from escalating tensions with Iran without “credible evidence” that Tehran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers.
The Labour leader said Britain risked increasing the threat of war after the Foreign Office (FCO) said it was “almost certain” in its assessment that “a branch of the Iranian military … attacked the two tankers on 13 June”.
In anticipation, Cal Fire has identified 35 top-priority projects to thin vegetation in vulnerable communities
Last November, the deadliest wildfire in California history killed 85 and burned the town of Paradise to the ground. Now California’s fire season is starting to heat up again – and officials are bracing for the worst.
As California grappled with a record-breaking heatwave last week, the state saw 236 wildfires – one of which grew to more than 2,500 acres before it was largely contained. So far this year, California has faced 1,746 wildfires, burning through more than 15,500 acres of land.
But for policies to be effective we must keep in mind how US actions affect the debate within China, where there is vigorous struggle over the country’s future
As the United States engages in an increasingly heated debate over policy towards China – the fight against Huawei, the trade war, talk of a new cold war – the protests in Hong Kong serve as a reminder that there are people in China who are concerned about the same things we are – basic rights, jobs, families.
In Hong Kong this week hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to protest a proposed law that would enable the government to extradite Hong Kong citizens to the mainland – legislation perceived as legal cover for the Chinese Communist party (CCP) to jail those in Hong Kong advocating for their democratic rights.
NBC announces pairings for debates later this month, the first of the 2020 presidential campaign season
The first 2020 presidential debate will be divided into two nights later this month, with senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker going up against the former congressman Beto O’Rourke in the first session. The former vice-president, Joe Biden, will face off with South Bend’s mayor, Pete Buttigieg, and senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders on the second evening.
NBC announced the lineup on Friday for its two-night debate, which will begin 26 June in Miami, and is set to be the first direct showdown between the Democrats vying to take on Donald Trump.
The campaign aims to build a political infrastructure that can operate regardless of what Mr. Trump says on stage or on social media. Mr. Trump’s Twitter feed is spoken of as his own brand, separate from the campaign.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has only a few weeks left of her tenure as White House press secretary and the rumor mill is churning with possible replacements.
Four possible replacements, according to Reuters, are: Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s communications director; Heather Nauert, the former State Department spokeswoman; Tony Sayegh, the outgoing Treasury department spokesman and Hogan Gidley, deputy White House secretary.
Once, after watching Gidley on his screen in the residence, the President walked over to the communications office to tell the staff he thought they were handling the shutdown well.
In the days afterward, Trump confused several officials when he directed them to, “Get me Tidley.”
Prior to the victory over the Golden State Warriors, many had fallen victim to the music star’s reputation for bringing bad luck
His repeated interactions with athletes before critical games – and their subsequent losses – have earned Drake the unfortunate reputation of bringing bad fortune to teams. But one historic basketball game may have broken the curse.
High-profile victims of the so-called “Drake curse” include Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose team lost to Everton three days after meeting the Canadian rapper in London, and Paris Saint-Germain, who had their biggest loss in almost two decades after defender Layvin Kurzawa posed for a picture with him.
Trump says incident involving two vessels in Gulf of Oman has ‘Iran written all over it’
The US has accused Iran of detaining the crew of one of two oil tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman this week, as the UK also joined in formally blaming the country, saying no other nation or group “could plausibly be responsible”.
Washington claims Iran is behind a succession of recent shipping attacks in the Gulf. It said grainy video published on the US Central Command’s website provided evidence of Iran’s involvement in Thursday’s attacks. The footage purportedly shows an Iranian boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.
Justin Amash is the lone GOP congressman to call for Trump’s impeachment, and his career – at least in his party – is in question
The hundreds of Republicans who gathered for the “squash Amash” rally outside the Michigan congressman Justin Amash’s downtown Grand Rapids office on Friday left nothing in doubt as they spoke about the man they feel betrayed their party by calling for Donald Trump to be impeached.
“Pathetic”, “lightweight loser”, “a joke” and the phrase uttered with perhaps the most derision: Rino, or “Republican In Name Only”.
Japan’s prime minister isn’t the first leader to regret trying to do Trump a favor – but he must have known he was taking a risk
Shinzo Abe’s trip to Tehran this week turned out to be one of the more ill-fated mediation efforts of recent times.
What was billed as a grand gesture – the first Japanese leader to visit Iran in four decades – ended in humiliation, with split-screen television pictures showing Abe being told off by a stern supreme leader, while a thick plume of smoke rose from a burning Japanese tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
On 16 June 2015, the then mogul announced his White House run. Four years on, reporters who covered that Trump Tower speech recall the lies and bombast that now define his presidency
Given everything that has happened in the past four years, it’s not a huge surprise to learn that the first words of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign were a lie.
Four years ago, on 16 June 2015, after Trump had slowly descended a golden escalator to the basement of his eponymous New York tower, he clambered on to a makeshift stage and began his announcement speech.
Tracey Lindner says the scramble for Africa islargelyabout securing resources that are crucial for military and civilian digital technology. Terry McGinn shines a spotlight on the US
Foreign involvement in Africa is far from unique to Russia (Leaked documents reveal Russia’s efforts to exert influence in Africa, 12 June). The new scramble for Africa involves more powers than the first round over a century ago. This time it’s in part about securing resources such as oil, gas and rare earth metals crucial for military and civilian digital technology, and denying these resources to rival powers.
The United States Africa Command (Africom) now has 7,500 American troops active in all but one African country, up from 6,000 in 2017. Apart from its huge base in Djibouti, controlling the narrow strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a vital chokepoint through which all shipping using the Suez Canal has to pass – most importantly (for the Americans) Chinese shipping – the US has constructed small “lily pad” bases, whose presence gives the US a strong military capability.