Activists celebrate move, but note that ‘a bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering’
Mexico City’s congress has voted to ban traditional bullfights and replace them with a new form of bloodless spectacle, marking the latest episode in a years-long legal battle to outlaw the practice in the capital.
Animal rights activists celebrated the move on Tuesday – even if it wasn’t the total ban on bullfighting they had been pushing for.
Continue reading...Grammy-nominated band says Trump administration ‘missed the point’ and song is about ‘joy, possibilities, hope’
The band Semisonic has said the Donald Trump White House “missed the point” of its hit Closing Time “entirely” when the administration used the Emmy-nominated song in a social media post showing a shackled person being deported.
A statement from Semisonic also said the White House did not have permission to use the song in that manner.
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Growing inequality erodes social cohesion – Leigh
In his speech, Andrew Leigh will say growing inequality is an issue because it erodes social cohesion.
When wealth is concentrated among a few, society becomes fragmented. Our sense of collective responsibility diminishes, and the fabric that binds us as Australians weakens.
This approach contrasts with our predecessors, whose tax policies disproportionately benefited the highest earners, widening the gap between rich and poor. By maintaining a fair and responsible tax structure, we can fund essential public services while ensuring that the most fortunate Australians contribute their fair share.
Yet since the 1980s, Australia has seen what economists describe as a ‘Great Divergence’, reversing the gains of earlier decades.
Today, the top 1% of income earners receive nearly 10% of national income, nearly doubling their share from 40 years ago. Wealth inequality is even more extreme, with the richest 10% owning more than 60 times the wealth of the bottom 10%.
Continue reading...Michael Jones convicted of planning Blenheim Palace burglary and Frederick Doe of conspiracy to transfer criminal property
Two men have been found guilty of the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from the Oxfordshire country house where Winston Churchill was born.
Blenheim Palace’s 18-carat lavatory was stolen in September 2019 while it was featuring in an art exhibition and is believed to have been split up and disposed of.
Continue reading...Lord Agnew says fast-track PPE procurement was not ‘some kind of plan by rightwing people to enrich themselves’
A former minister behind the controversial VIP lane for supplying personal protective equipment during the pandemic said “some crooks” were probably awarded contracts, but defended the scheme as necessary to plug shortages.
Lord Agnew, who was a Cabinet Office minister responsible for procurement during the pandemic, accused the Covid inquiry of having a “misconceived obsession with the high-priority lane”.
Continue reading...One detained man’s lawyer says he is gay artist who had fled persecution in his home country, not a gang member
A lawyer for one of the Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador has accused the Trump administration of waging a “sickening” campaign of psychological warfare against asylum seekers and migrants.
“In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, a California-based lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) group.
Continue reading...Booklet to give guidance on preparing for ‘imminent threats’ including armed conflict and natural disaster
The French government is reportedly planning to send a “survival manual” to every household in the country with instructions on how to prepare for an “imminent threat” including armed conflict, a health crisis or a natural disaster.
If approved by François Bayrou, the prime minister, the 20-page booklet will be sent to households before the summer, French media reported.
Continue reading...Accuser, who was 20 at the time, says she was frightened of the actor when he propositioned her in 2014
A “wide-eyed” 20-year-old woman found Noel Clarke “sexually threatening” and was frightened of him when he propositioned her over dinner, the high court has heard.
Clarke, 49, is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) for libel over seven articles and a podcast published between April 2021 and March 2022 accusing him of sexual misconduct.
Continue reading...Amnesty International describes legislation as ‘full-frontal attack’ on country’s LGBTQ+ community
MPs in Hungary have voted to ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them, in what Amnesty International has described as a “full-frontal attack” on the LGBTQ+ community.
The legislation – the latest by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party to target the community – was pushed through parliament on Tuesday. Believed to be the first of its kind in the EU’s recent history, the nationwide ban passed by 136 votes to 27 after it was submitted to parliament one day earlier.
Continue reading...Congressman Don Beyer refused entry to US Institute of Peace after independent body taken over by Musk group
A senior Democratic congressman vowed to “stop Doge’s illegal power grab” after operatives from Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” gained entry to the US Institute of Peace in Washington – an independent organization established by Congress – and forced out its leaders.
“I was at USIP tonight to conduct congressional oversight over Doge’s break-in,” Don Beyer of Virginia said on Monday. “I spoke with [removed] acting president & CEO [George] Moose. USIP is an independent, non-profit entity and I will work to stop Doge’s illegal power grab.”
Continue reading...Nicholas Prosper, 19, planned to kill 30 pupils and two teachers after shooting his mother, brother and sister dead
A 19-year-old man who shot dead his mother and two younger siblings had planned to kill 30 children at a primary school, a court has heard.
Nicholas Prosper, from Luton, Bedfordshire, had wanted to carry out the killing at his former primary school to gain notoriety as a mass murderer, and had been planning it for months.
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