Russian airstrikes devastate residential buildings in Ukraine’s Kherson
Russian airstrikes hit the centre of Kherson in southern Ukraine and injured over a dozen people, officials said.
US sanctions two RSF commanders as fighting escalates in Sudan’s Darfur
UN officials and rights groups warn hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk amid heavy fighting in el-Fasher.
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill: Why it is controversial – BBC.com
- South Africa's National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill: Why it is controversial BBC.com
- South African Leader to Sign Health Law Opposed by Business Bloomberg
- South Africa’s Ramaphosa signs health bill weeks before election Al Jazeera English
- A new South Africa health law aims at deep inequality, but critics say they'll challenge it The Associated Press
- South Africa's president signs major health bill just before election Reuters
UK government was ‘scared’, says man behind failed UAE-backed Telegraph bid
RedBird IMI deal effectively killed by new legislation blocking foreign states from owning UK newspapers
The former CNN executive who fronted a failed bid for the Telegraph newspaper by a UAE-backed consortium has suggested the government was not willing to listen to assurances about editorial neutrality.
Jeff Zucker said there were figures in the UK who were “scared” of the £600m deal, which would have seen the Abu Dhabi-backed consortium, RedBird IMI, take control of the Telegraph and Spectator.
Continue reading...Ex-headteacher convicted of sexual offences against four girls in Wales
Judge expresses concern that previous warnings about former NEU official Neil Foden, 66, were ignored
A former headteacher has been found guilty of sexual offences against four girls, with a judge expressing concern that warnings about him were ignored.
Neil Foden, 66, who worked in schools in north Wales, was convicted of 19 offences and told he faces a lengthy jail term when he is sentenced in July.
Continue reading...Labour begins candidate selection for Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat
Ex-leader who still does not have party whip will not be on shortlist and is likely to run as an independent
Labour has kicked off candidate selection to run in Jeremy Corbyn’s seat of Islington North, with the contender for the seat expected to be confirmed by 1 June.
Corbyn, who is still suspended for comments he made in the aftermath of the equalities watchdog report into antisemitism in Labour, has been barred from standing again for the party. He won the seat with a majority of more than 26,000 in 2019.
Continue reading...UK trade summit in Saudi Arabia accused of promoting firms linked to senior Tories
Lib Dems says Conservatives have ‘serious questions to answer’ about what appears to be clear conflict of interest
A UK government trade summit in Saudi Arabia has been criticised for helping to promote businesses linked to a string of senior Conservatives, including peers and the former chair of the party, Ben Elliot.
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has been in Riyadh this week launching the government-backed Great Futures campaign to promote British trade with Saudi Arabia, despite the Gulf country’s controversial record on the repression of women and LGBT people.
Continue reading...Israeli military calls for investigation after releasing video showing armed men at UN facility in Gaza – CNN
More than 100,000 people in the US died of drug overdoses in 2023
Sobering figure obscures the fact that the number of overdose deaths in the US declined for the first time since 2018
An estimated 107,543 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2023, a shocking figure that obscures a glimmer of hope – this is the first annual decline in drug overdose deaths since 2018.
The grim toll represents Americans’ struggle with powerful synthetic drugs, in particular the synthetic opioid fentanyl, known to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine. More than 1 million people have died of a drug overdose since 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s troops withdraw from parts of north-east as pressure mounts
Volodymyr Zelenskyiy has cancelled all foreign trips after Russia launched a major surprise offensive last week
Ukraine’s troops have withdrawn from several areas of the country’s north-east amid mounting pressure from a new Russian offensive, as the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, postponed all foreign trips underscoring the seriousness of the threat.
The moves came as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Moscow’s latest operation was “going to plan” and Russian forces were improving their positions daily even as the US rushed to resupply arms and ammunition to Kyiv.
Continue reading...South Africa’s Ramaphosa signs health bill weeks before election
The National Health Insurance Act takes aim at South Africa's two-tier health system.
Activists blame Argentina’s government after three gay women killed in arson attack
Four women were set on fire in Buenos Aires in alleged hate crime as demonstrators accuse Milei of promoting intolerance
Activists in Argentina have accused the country’s far-right government of stoking homophobia after an alleged hate crime in which four gay women were set on fire, killing three and seriously injuring the fourth.
A man in his 60s is alleged to have thrown burning rags into the women’s shared bedroom of a boarding house in Buenos Aires early on 6 May.
The headline to this article was amended on 15 May 2024. A previous version incorrectly stated four women were killed.
Continue reading...Palestinians observe Nakba anniversary in shadow of Israel’s war in Gaza
This year's commemoration has been dominated by the plight of more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree to two US presidential debates
Both candidates agreed upon two dates for debates: 27 June and 10 September, and Trump also posted about a third date in October
Shortly after the Biden-Harris re-election campaign proposed two TV debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump ahead of November’s presidential vote, both men have agreed upon two debate dates: 27 June and 10 September.
CNN confirmed that it would host the first debate of 2024 on that date at 9pm ET from the crucial battleground state of Georgia.
Continue reading...Alumni: Divest from CUNY’s complicity, invest in Palestinian liberation
A university that violently cracks down on its students should not enjoy the benefit of alumni donations and influence.
Don’t panic about presidential polls – yet
Trump’s criminal hush-money trial continues in New York, while both Trump and Biden fight for voters in swing states
Hello! Welcome back to our new US elections newsletter.
Non-Trump supporters have been all jittery this week, after a poll appeared to show Joe Biden getting royally stuffed by Trump in the election.
Continue reading...Pod of killer whales attacks and sinks 50-foot yacht in Strait of Gibraltar – KABC-TV
- Pod of killer whales attacks and sinks 50-foot yacht in Strait of Gibraltar KABC-TV
- Orcas Sink Another Boat Near Iberia, Worrying Sailors Before Summer The New York Times
- Video Pod of killer whales attacks and sinks 50-foot yacht in Strait of Gibraltar ABC News
- Crew rescued after Orcas sink a yacht off the coast of Spain TODAY
- Orcas Just Sank Another Yacht Scientific American
Far-right Geert Wilders agrees deal for Dutch coalition government
Wilders will not become next Dutch PM in experimental ‘business government’ arrangement
The Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has agreed the basis of his first rightwing coalition government in the Netherlands.
Six months after his shock win of a quarter of parliamentary seats, his anti-Islam, anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) will take the lead in an uneasy four-party coalition.
Continue reading...UK politics: I never called for rainbow lanyard ban, claims Esther McVey – as it happened
‘Common sense minister’ denies plan to Channel 4 News despite saying earlier this week that lanyards should be a ‘standard design’
Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.
In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:
The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.
The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.
The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.
On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.
Continue reading...David Copperfield accused of sexual misconduct
Lawyers for the illusionist say the allegations are "false and scurrilous".