Police were called to Poplar, east London, after reports a child had fallen from a heightA toddler has been taken to hospital after falling from a block of flats in east London.The Metropolitan police said they were called to East India Dock Road in Poplar shortly after 6.50pm on Monday after reports that a child had fallen from a height. Continue reading...
UN warns coronavirus restrictions prevent access to most vulnerable and rising prices are leaving many going hungryAlmost a quarter of the population of Sudan are going hungry as conflict, rising food prices and the coronavirus take their toll.About 9.6 million people now face severe food shortages, the highest number recorded in the country’s recent history. Continue reading...
The KTK Group is a major supplier of interior fittings to state transport departments including NSW, Queensland and VictoriaA Chinese train company with major government clients in Australia that has been accused of using Uighur labour has engaged lawyers to fight a US blacklisting.Last week, the KTK Group, which has extensive operations in Australia, was one of 11 companies added to a US blacklist over the alleged use of forced Uighur labour in China. Continue reading...
She stole the show in Orange Is the New Black. Now the actor is playing the first black woman to seek the US presidency – and rejecting suggestions she gets a ‘Hollywood smile’Shirley Chisholm was a woman of many firsts. She was the first black woman elected to Congress, the first black candidate to seek the presidency, and the first woman, full-stop, to participate in a US presidential debate. She introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation, most championing racial, economic and gender equality, and is often credited as paving the way for Barack Obama. In doing so, she occupied a space that many black women recognise: the solitary seat as the only such face at the table.Uzo Aduba, who plays Chisholm in the acclaimed new FX series Mrs America, says that this was a key factor in bringing this formidable politician to life. “That feeling of being the ‘only’,” she says, speaking via Zoom with a warm smile on her face. “It was important to get that right.” Continue reading...
Cases have doubled in six weeks, says Tedros; Belgian city of Antwerp brings in night-time curfew; Hong Kong sees triple-digit rise for sixth straight day
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#567NX)
Chinese embassy criticises move as ‘gross interference’ and ‘serious violation of international law’New Zealand has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following China’s imposition of a controversial national security law that gives it sweeping powers over the semi-autonomous region.“New Zealand can no longer trust that Hong Kong’s criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from China,” Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said in a statement on Tuesday. “If China in future shows adherence to the ‘one country, two systems’ framework then we could reconsider this decision.” Continue reading...
Middle East scholar, who was arrested in 2018, taken to Qarchak women’s jail, one of the most hostile institutions in the country and reportedly stricken with Covid-19A British-Australian academic serving a 10-year-prison sentence in Iran for espionage has been moved to a remote desert prison, notorious for violence and reportedly stricken with coronavirus.Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Middle East scholar, had been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for nearly two years, before her sudden move three days ago to Qarchak women’s prison, south-east of Tehran. Continue reading...
Study finds men doing more housework since mid-1970s, as women take on more paid workThe gender divide between the amount of paid and unpaid work being carried out has decreased since the mid-1970s, according to a thinktank, but it remains significant.In a study to examine changes in the last 46 years in how people use their time, the Resolution Foundation said men are now doing less paid work, while women are doing more. Continue reading...
The US consulate general in Chengdu was closed on Monday as Chinese authorities entered through the front entrance to take over the premises. China ordered the closure in response to Washington's order for the Chinese consulate in Houston to be shut.
Tuesday: Australians fear shutdowns will spread to other states, poll reveals. Plus, growing up in a white family as a person of colourGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 28 July. Continue reading...
Activists say police ignored gunman’s record of violence and domestic abuse as government plans a closed-door reviewWomen’s rights activists in Canada are demanding a full public inquiry into the Nova Scotia shooting that left 22 dead, after the federal and provincial governments chose a closed-door examination of the crimes.Supporters of an open inquiry gathered on Monday in a Halifax park and on a Facebook livestream, and called on the provincial legislature to mandate the public investigation, four days after the governments announced their intention to hold a review panel instead of an inquiry. Continue reading...
Decision to end case against Vorayuth Yoovidhya to be investigated after public pressureThai police have opened an internal investigation after charges were dropped against the billionaire Red Bull heir in a fatal hit-and-run case amid outrage over a perceived culture of impunity for the rich.Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the grandson of the energy drink’s co-founder, had been accused of killing a police officer when he crashed his Ferrari in Bangkok in 2012. Continue reading...
Biography reveals extent of Buckingham palace’s hostility towards Duchess of SussexA new book by the royal reporters Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie chronicles what the authors’ claim has been a deepening rift between Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Buckingham Palace – which ultimately led to the couple’s decision to take a step back from public life. The biography has been providing headlines in UK newspapers in recent days after being serialised in the Times and the Sunday Times. So, what have we learned from Finding Freedom? Continue reading...
Bernard Gore was found dead in shopping centre’s fire stairs which stretched for 14kmA police officer has broken down while recalling the fruitless search for a retiree whose body was later discovered in the stairwell of a Sydney shopping centre, while a colleague has suggested they should have searched the stairs themselves.Bernard Gore, 71, was found dead in the fire stairwell at Westfield Bondi Junction in late January 2017 some three weeks after he went missing. Continue reading...
Analysis of fixed-penalty notices found group as a whole were 1.6 times more likely to be fined than white peoplePolice were twice as likely to fine young black and Asian men under the lockdown rules than their white counterparts, according to new figures that underline concerns about racial bias in policing.Analysis of fixed penalty notices issued under the coronavirus regulations by National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) found that black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME) were 1.6 times more likely to be fined that white people. Continue reading...
The prime minister has formally launched the UK government’s initiative to reduce obesity levels. In a video released by No 10 with an accompanying soundtrack, Boris Johnson said he had lost more than a stone since recovering from coronavirus, and had started going for a run every day.'When I went into ICU, when I was really ill ... I was way overweight,' he said.New measures will include bans on junk food advertising
Every day I find myself fighting against my own instincts. This is a message to my husband – and everyone who has loved someone with mental illnessWhen you look at me, you may not see anything out of the ordinary. Too much hair. Broad shoulders. Normal height. Normal weight. Normal eyes, normal mouth, normal nose, normal face. Five fingers, five toes, two arms, and two legs that are a bit too short.But please don’t be fooled. Despite what you may see, I am an evolutionary anomaly. My feet aren’t webbed, and I have no gills. I have no supernatural powers; in fact, my terrible eyesight and hearing would say the opposite. But an evolutionary anomaly I still am because every day I find myself fighting against the basest of animal instincts that has allowed our species to survive thousands of years: the instinct to live. To stay alive. To not self-destruct. Continue reading...
Personal care workers provided a vital service to their elderly and vulnerable clients but face precarious terms and low wagesFor the elderly people in her care, Victoria Walker is perhaps one of the most important figures in their lives. The 37-year-old single mother eases them out of bed, bathes them and cooks their meals. If there is enough time, she pops out to the store for extra groceries.And when Canada’s largest city imposed a strict lockdown at the height of its coronavirus outbreak, Walker and thousands of other personal care workers continued to do their jobs: rising early each morning, taking public transit across the city and returning home late at night. Continue reading...
Troops posted outside building as Chinese authorities take over diplomatic missionChinese authorities have taken over the US consulate general in Chengdu, marking the diplomatic mission’s official closure and a new low point in ties between the world’s largest economies.At dawn on Monday, the American flag outside the consulate was lowered while police held back crowds that had gathered over the weekend to watch. At 10am, the mission was closed, according to China’s foreign ministry. Continue reading...
The health department now recommends masks where community transmission of coronavirus is occurring and physical distancing is difficult, and Victoria has made face masks mandatory in Melbourne. From washable cloth face masks to reusable ones and how to wear them, here’s what you need to know
Meriam Bebawy took the law into her own hands after another shopper grabbed a packet of toilet paper from her trolley at Woolworths, a magistrate has foundA Sydney magistrate has likened a coronavirus-fuelled stoush over toilet paper to a rugby league bust-up as he found a mother and daughter guilty of affray.Health worker Meriam Bebawy, 23, and her daycare operator mother, Treiza Bebawy, 61, have been sentenced over an altercation with another woman at a Woolworths store in Chullora on 7 March. Continue reading...
Evelyn Namulondo and Eric Mutasiga were killed by officers enforcing Covid-19 movement restrictions – and their families want justiceThe last words Evelyn Namulondo said to her elder sister, Jennifer, were: “It’s over, I am going to die.” It was 15 May and the 30-year-old was in a hospital bed in Jinja, Uganda, two days after being shot by unidentified men apparently trying to enforce Uganda’s 7pm to 6am coronavirus curfew.Namulondo was on a motorcycle taxi at 5am, heading to the restaurant she co-founded, when men she thought were police officers asked the driver to stop. When the taxi sped off instead, they fired, hitting Namulondo. Continue reading...
Harry Harris visits barbershop to ease ties strained by differences over North Korea – and whether his moustache evoked the days of Japanese ruleThe most controversial moustache in South Korea has fallen victim to the razor’s blade, with US ambassador Harry Harris visiting a barbershop months after his facial hair became the subject of unusual criticism.Seoul and Washington are security allies and the US stations 28,500 troops in the country but their relationship has been strained in recent years by differences in their approaches to North Korea and cost-sharing responsibilities. Continue reading...
Australian PM says commission to morph into advisory board as concern mounts over potential conflicts of interest • Follow the Australia coronavirus live blog
Exclusive: number of people stopped with no grounds for suspicion doubled compared with previous yearThe UK’s largest police force increased the use of what critics say is the most discriminatory form of stop and search during lockdown, despite a fall in crime during this period.In May 2020, the Metropolitan police stopped and searched 1,418 people under section 60, more than double the number stopped in May 2019, data shows. Continue reading...
Annual Gallup survey casts doubt on Mike Pompeo’s claim that the US is ‘perfectly positioned’ to lead the free world in rivalry with ChinaGermany is the most admired country in the world for the third year running, leaving the US in a tight battle for distant second place with China and Russia, according to a new global leadership poll.The annual poll, conducted by Gallup, casts more doubt on US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s claim on Friday that the US was “perfectly positioned” to lead the free world in a new ideological rivalry with the Chinese Communist Party. Continue reading...
Consumer watchdog alleges tech giant increased targeted advertising by tracking users, affecting ‘millions of Australians’Australia’s consumer rights watchdog has launched legal action against Google for collecting the “potentially sensitive and private” browsing history of its users, allegedly without people’s informed consent.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges that Google misled consumers by not properly informing them about technology that tracked a user’s internet browsing on non-Google sites, and combined it with the personal information of their Google accounts. Continue reading...
Police say members of the public intervened and penguin was removed from car boot before officers arrivedTwo Tasmanian men have been charged after they allegedly tried to steal a penguin and two eggs from a breeding colony.Police were called to the Low Head lighthouse just before 2pm on Sunday following reports the duo were taking a live little penguin from the rookery. Continue reading...
New Zealand-based Joseph Auga Matamata used 13 of his countrymen as slaves over a quarter of centuryA New Zealand-based Samoan chief has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for human trafficking and using 13 of his countrymen as slaves over a 25-year period.Joseph Auga Matamata, 65, also known as Villiamu Samu, was found guilty on 10 counts of trafficking and 13 counts of slavery following a five-week trial at the high court in Napier in March. Continue reading...
17-year-old boy was pronounced dead in Rusholme after a fight between two groupsA teenager has died after being stabbed during an altercation between two groups in Manchester.At about 7.30pm on Sunday,police officers were called to a report of a disturbance in the central area of Rusholme, to the south of the city centre. Continue reading...
Survey puts support at 61% – handing New Zealand PM an extra 40th birthday presentJacinda Ardern has been handed a 40th birthday present in a new poll showing Labour is on track to cruise to victory in this year’s New Zealand election.Her party charted 61% in a Newshub-Reid Research poll announced on Sunday, the same day the prime minister turned 40. The result is the strongest result on record for Labour. Continue reading...
Monday: How Australia’s frontline healthcare workers are getting coronavirus. Plus, the former Manus detainee free today but ‘overwhelmed with guilt’Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 27 July. Continue reading...