‘Serious job’: How a collective in election-bound India fights hate speech
Hate Speech Beda trains volunteers from across the southern state of Karnataka on using the law to combat hate crimes.
‘Unacceptable’: Australian PM criticises China over fighter jet incident
Protests lodged after Chinese aircraft fired flares in path of an Australian navy helicopter in international waters.
Reserve Bank leaves interest rate on hold at 4.35% despite higher than expected inflation
Mortgage holders have avoided another rate rise with the RBA opting to keep rates steady for the fourth consecutive meeting
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Borrowers have been spared a 14th interest rate rise and further increases are not certain as the Reserve Bank of Australia avoids a “tightening bias” even as inflation retreated slower than previously expected.
The RBA left its cash rate on hold at 4.35% for a fourth consecutive meeting on Tuesday in a result that was widely expected. Only one economist, Capital Economics, predicted the central bank would lift the cash rate.
Continue reading...Scottish salmon industry challenged over move to drop ‘farmed’ from labels
Fish welfare campaigners say Defra decision facilitates greenwashing and will mislead consumers
Animal welfare campaigners are challenging the decision to allow producers of Scottish salmon to drop the word “farmed” from labelling.
An application by the industry body claimed changing the protected name wording on the front of packaging from “Scottish farmed salmon” to “Scottish salmon” made sense because wild salmon was no longer sold in supermarkets, which consumers were aware of.
Continue reading...Germans grill Olaf Scholz over soaring cost of doner kebabs
Die Linke party is among those calling for a Dönerpreisbremse or price cap on the hugely popular street food
The soaring cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy programme to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable as politicians report it is frequently cited as a concern in doorstep conversations with voters.
The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has become so used to being asked about the price of kebabs during public appearances that his government has even posted on social media to explain that price rises are in part due to rising wage and energy costs. “It’s quite striking that everywhere I go, mainly from young people, I’m asked whether there shouldn’t be a price brake for the doner,” Scholz has said.
Continue reading...‘A colonial mindset’: why global aid agencies need to get out of the way
With the world’s humanitarian system in crisis, many NGOs now recognise that local charities can deliver much more at far less cost
Before civil war engulfed her Ethiopian home region of Tigray in 2020, Tsega Girma was a prosperous trader who sold stationery and other goods. But when hungry children displaced by the conflict started appearing in the streets, she sold everything and used the proceeds to buy them food.
After that money dried up, Tsega appealed to Tigray’s diaspora for donations. At the height of the war, her Emahoy Tsega Girma Charity Foundation provided meals to 24,000 children a day.
Continue reading...Train strikes to halt most trains in south-east England on Tuesday
Commuter routes in and out of London hit as train drivers begin three days of rolling strikes amid six-day overtime ban
Most trains will not run in south-east England on Tuesday – including on key commuter routes in and out of London – after train drivers embarked on three days of rolling strikes at national rail operators.
Drivers in the Aslef union are striking for 24 hours at each English operator between Tuesday and Thursday, while continuing a week-long nationwide overtime ban that started on Monday, as part of a long-running pay dispute.
Continue reading...US, UK, most EU nations to boycott Putin inauguration
Russia's Vladimir Putin will be sworn in for a fifth term as president in a ceremony at the Kremlin later on Tuesday.
Bonza administrators worry that 20,000 out-of-pocket airline customers could attend creditors meeting
‘That would require a stadium,’ federal court hears as airline administrators try to organise online meeting for Friday that would allow everyone to vote
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Administrators determining the future of the troubled airline Bonza are bracing for as many as 20,000 out-of-pocket customers to join a creditors meeting this week with the federal court hearing that online voting options are being considered.
On Tuesday lawyers representing Hall Chadwick, the administrators controlling Bonza after its planes were abruptly repossessed a week ago, appeared before the federal court justice Elizabeth Cheeseman seeking orders to streamline the process for the first creditors meeting on Friday. It will be held amid ongoing efforts to find a new owner for the budget carrier.
Continue reading...Hundreds protest across Israel calling for Netanyahu to accept ceasefire deal
Police cleared a large protest in Tel Aviv, where hundreds were urging Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the terms of a Hamas truce deal in Gaza
Hundreds of Israelis rallied have around the country, calling for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the terms of a ceasefire deal that Hamas accepted earlier on Monday.
About 1,000 protesters gathered near the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem, at least 100 protesters marched toward Netanyahu’s residence with a banner reading, “The blood is on your hands.”
Continue reading...Boeing postpones launch of Starliner space capsule after technical fault
Cancellation of inaugural crewed space mission comes as Boeing is under fire over safety record at its aviation arm.
Celebrities turn out for Met Gala in high fashion – as it happened
This blog has now closed. You can see a gallery of the highlights here and read our coverage of a nearby protest calling for a Gaza ceasefire here
Co-chair and absolute queen of meta-dressing – see the shoes with tennis ball heels she wore to promote sexy tennis flick, Challengers – Zendaya has arrived. Her stylist Law Roach has had the internet speculating, with a red herring post yesterday on Instagram that read “How did I forget that I have this dress in my archive!… we had the dress the entire time,” followed by a face palm enoji. But the floral Emanuel Ungaro couture gown he posted a picture of was clearly not meant to be. Of course Zendaya went for the drama of this gown by Maison Margiela’s John Galliano, complete with wonky silhouette and plumage.
The Met Gala is all about drama and the British actor Gwendoline Christie is certainly bringing it by slowly ascending the steps and giving a different pose at each level. The GOT star is wearing a red velvet gown and sheer tulle cape by John Galliano for Maison Margiela. She closed his spring ’24 couture show in January so it’s a natural fit. Although we do kind of wish she’d opted for that corseted rubber look. This feels a little less adventurous and tonight of all nights is when you can really push the red carpet boundaries. The bouffant is fabulous, wonder how many cans of hairspray it took?
Continue reading...Boeing’s first astronaut launch called off due to faulty valve
Countdown halted hours before liftoff in latest delay for long-planned flight, with no word on next attempt
Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on its rocket on Monday night.
Two Nasa test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket.
Continue reading...Dozens of anti-Israel protesters near Met Gala aim to disrupt event
Dramatic conjunction of forces with aim to crash gala separated only by New York police and metal barricades
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters came within a block of disrupting celebrity fashion’s biggest night out – the Met Gala – on Monday evening in a dramatic conjunction of forces that was separated only by New York police and metal barricades.
Some protesters, chanting “Rafah!, Gaza!”, said it was their intention to crash the gala. Others said they didn’t know about it. At times, a roughly equal number of police were guiding the winding protest through New York’s Upper East Side as they were preventing fashion fans from getting a glimpse of their favorite celebrities.
Continue reading...Pro-Palestinian student protesters break through police fencing at MIT
Students link arms around tents on campus and block local thoroughfare as they call for end to killings in Gaza
Pro-Palestinian protesters who had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group had been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza.
Continue reading...US officials probe allegations Boeing workers falsified inspection records
Federal Aviation Administration says Boeing voluntarily informed officials that inspections may not have been completed.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 803
As the war enters its 803rd day, these are the main developments.
UCLA creates campus safety role amid condemnation of response to mob attack
University and police denounced as masked group marched on campus and attacked pro-Palestinian demonstrators last week
The University of California, Los Angeles, said that it would create a new office dedicated to campus safety following mounting criticism of authorities’ slow response to a brutal attack on pro-Palestinian protesters by a mob of “instigators”.
The school’s chancellor, Gene Block, said on Sunday that urgent changes were needed to “better protect our community moving forward” and announced that a new office of campus safety would oversee the university police department and the UCLA office of emergency management, “effective immediately”.
Continue reading...Slum to stardom: Indonesian film director Joko Anwar is riding high
Indonesia's most prolific film director is juggling multiple projects as his latest film proves box office gold.
Israel bans Al Jazeera: What does it mean and what happens next? – Al Jazeera English
- Israel bans Al Jazeera: What does it mean and what happens next? Al Jazeera English
- Israel’s alarming shutdown of Al Jazeera Vox.com
- Shocking: Israel bans Al-Jazeera, raids offices; Biden does nothing to prevent Rafah invasion The Hill
- Israeli Cabinet Votes to Shut Down Al Jazeera's Operations in the Country The New York Times
- Al Jazeera vows to continue coverage of Gaza war despite Israeli ban Al Jazeera English