The summit, the continent's largest meeting on the climate crisis, finished last week amid arguments over false solutions', unfulfilled promises and western corporate meddlingMore than a dozen African leaders stood outside Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi last Wednesday to review what had been billed as the continent's largest meeting on the climate crisis.Earlier that morning, the Nairobi Declaration had been adopted as a blueprint to guide the continent in future negotiations with the west in global forums such as the G20 meeting; the UN general assembly; the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund; and Cop28. Continue reading...
Gurpreet Singh Johal calls for increased pressure to free brother Jagtar after Rishi Sunak raised case with Narendra ModiThe brother of a British man held in an Indian jail for six years fears the UK government is more talk" and no action", after Rishi Sunak raised the case with Narendra Modi at the recent G20 summit in Delhi.Jagtar Singh Johal, 36, claims to have been tortured and forced to make a confession since he was detained in India in 2017. He faces terrorism charges and the first stages of his trial have only just got under way after repeated delays caused by disputes over evidence. He denies the charges, and he could face a death sentence if convicted. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: They're responsible for a spate of recent attacks, leading the home secretary to commission advice on outlawing them - yet opponents target owners instead Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.Dog attacks have been back in the news after a video of an 11-year-old girl being attacked by an American bully XL surfaced on social media, prompting the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to announce she has commissioned urgent advice on outlawing the dogs - a move criticised as too slow by family members of victims. In the disturbing footage, the girl can be heard screaming as people try to get her to safety. Two men who intervened were taken to hospital to be treated for their wounds.Environment | The World Bank poured billions of dollars into fossil fuels around the world last year despite repeated promises to refocus on shifting to a low-carbon economy, research for Urgewald, a campaign group that tracks global fossil fuel finance, has found. The money, about $3.7bn (2.95bn), went through a special form of funding known as trade finance, which is used to facilitate global transactions.China espionage | MPs have vented their fury over a six-month silence that followed an aide operating at the heart of parliament being arrested on suspicion of allegedly spying for China. On Monday, some voiced concern that the gap meant they had been unable to take their own security precautions.Health | Vulnerable eating disorder patients from England are being sent hundreds of miles from their homes to Scotland for treatment, as the number of available beds south of the border has dropped in two years. 84 patients were sent from England to Scotland between 2020 to May 23, costing a total of almost 9m.Teaching | Only half of the required number of trainee secondary school teachers in England have been recruited as the academic year gets under way, analysis shows. The figures, obtained by the National Education Union (NEU) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), show ministers are on course to miss their recruitment targets by 48%.North Korea | Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia for a rare summit with president Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine. Kim's armoured train arrived at Khasan station, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported today, citing an unnamed Russian official source. The meeting is expected to be held this afternoon in Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived. Continue reading...
Studio City home used for exterior shots in the famed sitcom was recently renovated to also look like the Brady house insideThe Los Angeles house that stood in for the home in The Brady Bunch has sold for US$3.2m (2.55m, A$4.97m), 42% below the $5.5m asking price.The 1959 Studio City property was used as the exterior of the Brady family home from 1969 when the sitcom began until it finished in 1974, with all the interiors filmed on a sound stage. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6ENWQ)
Figures show government is well short of 26,360 target amid crisis in teacher recruitment and retentionOnly half of the required number of trainee secondary school teachers in England have been recruited as the academic year gets under way, analysis shows.The figures, obtained by the National Education Union (NEU) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), show ministers are on course to miss their recruitment targets by 48%. Continue reading...
Aid tied to drug prevention programmes given to 92 lower-income countries, including Afghanistan after the Taliban takeoverAlmost $1bn (800m) of aid has been spent on a global war on drugs" over the past decade that has fuelled human rights abuses, according to a new report.Analysing data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the NGO Harm Reduction International (HRI) found that, between 2012 and 2021, the US and the EU spent $550m and $282m of their aid budgets respectively on programmes that supported drug control policies. The UK has spent $22m since 2012 - more than $10m of that in 2012 - which has been used to support surveillance capabilities in Colombia, Mozambique and the Dominican Republic, and undercover policing in Peru. Continue reading...
The legal tactic to halt claims against churches and other organisations has been blasted by support groups, saying institutions benefit from delays to justice
The dropping of charges against Ressa and Rappler, the news website she founded, is the latest legal victory for the Nobel laureatePhilippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa has been acquitted of her final tax evasion charge in the latest legal victory for the veteran journalist as she battles to stay out of prison over cases that she has previously described as part of a pattern of harassment.The 59-year-old, who won a Nobel peace prize in 2021, has spent a number of years fighting multiple charges that were filed during then president Rodrigo Duterte's administration. Continue reading...
Sanctions waiver will allow transfer of $6bn in frozen Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar, in effort to win release of quintetThe Biden administration has issued a waiver to allow the transfer of $6bn in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar as part of a deal to free five Americans detained in Iran.The deal also involves the freeing of five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the US, mostly for sanctions-busting offenses. Continue reading...
Music industry figures want ministers to follow Ireland and France's lead and stop touts from making huge mark-upsResale of event tickets for profit should be outlawed, the managers of artists have said, as they called on ministers to reconsider a crackdown on touts and rip-offs" on websites such as Viagogo and StubHub.Music industry figures, including those who work with Radiohead and Ed Sheeran, threw their weight behind proposals to curb secondary ticketing" websites, which allow fans to resell seats they are unable to use but that are increasingly dominated by professional touts charging high prices at a huge mark-up. Continue reading...
Research will prompt further alarm among medical leaders trying to tackle the spiralling workforce crisisOne in three medical students plan to quit the NHS within two years of graduating, either to practise abroad or abandon medicine altogether, according to the largest survey of its kind.Poor pay, work-life balance and working conditions of doctors in the UK were the main factors cited by those intending to emigrate to continue their medical career. Continue reading...
Closely-watched trial of Nathaniel Veltman, charged with murder, could reshape how Canada prosecutes far-right extremismThe man accused of murdering four members of a Muslim family was motivated by white nationalist beliefs and was out to commit an act of terrorism", prosecutors have argued, during opening statements of a closely-watched murder trial that could reshape how Canada prosecutes far-right extremism.Nathaniel Veltman, 22, is facing four charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder after driving his truck into five members of the Afzaal family while they were out for a walk in London, Ontario, on the evening of 6 June 2021. Continue reading...
Child was in Kingsley pond near Bordon and woman in her 40s is being held on suspicion of murderA woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a two-year-old girl who was found unresponsive in a village pond.Police were called to the home of the child in Forge Road, Kingsley, near Bordon, Hampshire, at 5.02pm on Sunday, after reports that the girl had disappeared. She was found a short time later in Kingsley pond and taken to hospital, where she died on Monday. Continue reading...
Moderna and Pfizer shots approved with vaccinations potentially beginning as soon as this weekThe US has approved a series of Covid-19 booster vaccines amid rising cases of coronavirus around the country, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday.The FDA said it had approved Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, which can be administered even to people who never previously received a Covid-19 vaccination. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh, Ben Quinn and Pippa Crerar on (#6ENJ8)
House speaker tells Commons that MPs who needed to be told were told' at time of aide's arrest in MarchMPs have vented their fury over a six-month silence that followed an aide operating at the heart of parliament being arrested on suspicion of allegedly spying for China and accused of passing information to Beijing in breach of the Official Secrets Act.They voiced concern on Monday that the gap meant they had been unable to take their own security precautions, amid wider concern that individual pro-democracy activists could be put at risk by any security lapse. Continue reading...
Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will never be tolerated'Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government's decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat - that's the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China's actions.Here I think the Government's record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression. Continue reading...
The brand's creative director shot to international fame for creating the Princess of Wales's wedding dressSarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen who designed the Princess of Wales's wedding dress is leaving the fashion house after more than two decades.In a statement released on Monday, Kering, the brand's parent company, announced that its show on the 30 September during Paris Fashion Week will be Burton's last. Continue reading...
Investigation into parliamentary aide comes as two main groups on China have descended into rivalryMany of the debates inside the Conservative party about how western democracies should handle China are entirely common across Europe and the US, but somehow they have been conducted in a more heated and personalised way.One reason may be the confused and slow leadership on China shown by the government, symbolised by the refusal to follow Germany in publishing a China strategy. Others blame the entrenched factionalist political culture created by Brexit, and the narcissism of small differences. But the revelations that someone under investigation for allegedly being a Chinese spy was operating at the centre of Tory debates will only make the atmosphere worse. The person in question has insisted he is completely innocent. Continue reading...
Presence of Raac in Palace of Westminster poses no immediate risk', parliamentary spokesperson saysThe collapse-risk concrete at the centre of a crisis in school buildings has been found in parliament.The presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) poses no immediate risk", a parliamentary spokesperson said. Continue reading...
Scientists say nurture is much more important than type of dog in influencing aggression levelsDog bans are back on the discussion table, with Suella Braverman declaring American bully XL dogs are a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children".The home secretary's intervention follows an attack on an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham, in which two men were also injured. Police have confirmed that the animal was a bully XL crossed with a Staffordshire bull terrier, and Braverman has said she is seeking urgent advice on outlawing the animals. But experts claim that doing so is ethically dubious, and unlikely to significantly reduce dog bites. Continue reading...
by Ruth Michaelson, Peter Beaumont in Tafegheghte and on (#6EMWF)
Authorities accept help from some countries but other offers not yet taken up as search for survivors runs out of timeThe death toll in the Moroccan earthquake has passed 2,600 people as a limited number of foreign aid and rescue teams have joined an intensifying race against time to find any remaining survivors high in Morocco's Atlas mountains where many villages remain inaccessible.Moroccan authorities said they had responded favourably" to offers of help from visiting search and rescue teams from Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, but were yet to accept further offers of aid from other countries despite the urgent nature of the disaster - including from France and from Turkey, which experienced a deadly earthquake in February. Its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, said it would help with all means" if Rabat accepted the offerits offer was accepted.
by Aubrey Allegretti Senior political correspondent on (#6ENBD)
Government told all-encompassing law' is needed to tackle so-called Slapps against critics and journalistsPlans to outlaw wealthy individuals launching spurious legal battles to evade scrutiny and intimidate critics must not be kicked into the long grass", ministers have been urged.The call came after a taskforce was launched to develop non-legislative" measures to stop journalists being targeted by so-called Slapps ( strategic lawsuits against public participation). Continue reading...
Palestinian Authority leader caused outrage after talking about Hitler and European Jews in a speech to his Fatah partyDozens of leading Palestinian intellectuals, artists and other public figures have published an open letter condemning antisemitic comments made by the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.In a letter published on Sunday, 96 people, including Rashid Khalidi, the historian, Dana el-Kurd, the political scientist, and Sam Bahour, the prominent businessman, said they unequivocally condemn the morally and politically reprehensible comments" made by Abbas, which were publicly circulated last week. Continue reading...
We feel like foreigners in our own home,' says activist as city's population dwarfed by visitorsThe number of beds available to tourists on Venice's main island has surpassed the number of year-round residents for the first time, as a Unesco decision on the city's fate on the world heritage site list looms.There are now 49,693 tourist beds, across hotels and rented holiday homes, compared with 49,304 inhabitants. Continue reading...
Five children of Sara's father Urfan Sharif found in Jhelum as search continues for the father, his wife and brotherFive children of Urfan Sharif, who fled to Pakistan with his wife and brother after his 10-year-old daughter Sara was found dead in Surrey, were found by police in Pakistan during a search on Monday, police officials have said.Police recovered the children from Sharif's father's home in the northern city of Jhelum. Continue reading...
Three days of mourning declared in stricken cities as footage shows people stranded on car roofsA powerful storm and heavy floods have killed 150 people in the eastern Libyan city of Derna over the past two days and the death toll is expected to rise to 250, the head of the Red Crescent in Benghazi has said.Footage on social media showed people stranded on the roofs of their vehicles as Storm Daniel hit Benghazi, Sousse, Al Bayda, Al-Marj and Derna, a city on the Mediterranean 150 miles east of Benghazi. Continue reading...
Actor and director says he was trying to play superhero' in front of his daughter before accidentThe French actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz has said he was trying to be a superhero" and impress his daughter when he had a motorbike accident that left him in hospital with serious leg injuries.Kassovitz, best known for his 1995 film La Haine and his role in the 2001 film Amelie, came off his bike after misjudging a corner on a training course. His daughter was on a motorbike behind him with an instructor, and his wife and son also witnessed the accident. Continue reading...
Speaking at the Toronto film festival where he was accepting an award, the auteur recalled the press response to his 1989 filmSpike Lee has criticised press reaction to Do the Right Thing on its release in 1989, saying those motherfuckers" claimed the film would incite black people to riot".Lee was speaking at an awards ceremony at the Toronto film festival, at which he was given the Ebert director award, designed to recognise film-makers who have exemplified greatness in their careers". The award is named after prominent film critic Roger Ebert, who died in 2013, and Lee acknowledged Ebert's support when the film received its world premiere at the Cannes film festival. Continue reading...
Former soldier allegedly absconded from London jail by attaching himself to underside of food delivery vehicleDaniel Khalife, the terror suspect who became the subject of an intensive four-day manhunt, has appeared in court charged with escaping from Wandsworth prison.The former British soldier is accused of fashioning a strap to attach himself to the underside of a van leaving the prison - possibly from bedsheets - and going on the run. Continue reading...
Man's arrest led Rishi Sunak to confront Chinese premier over interference in UK democracyA parliamentary researcher arrested on suspicion of spying for China has insisted he is completely innocent".The man said he had spent his career highlighting the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist party". The arrest under the Official Secrets Act led to Rishi Sunak confronting the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, at the G20 summit on Sunday over what he described as an unacceptable" interference in democracy. Continue reading...
Suggestion comes after the competence of several legislators - both Democrat and Republican - has come into questionCongress should have a rule requiring certain top federal officials to disclose medical records, the Republican US senator Bill Cassidy said on Sunday.Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Cassidy - a gastroenterologist who was elected as a US senator for Louisiana in 2008 - said that it should certainly be a House rule" for elected officials to disclose their medical records. Continue reading...
Smarting after Janet Protasiewicz's election to the state's high court, Republicans are now changing tack to challenge DemocratsRepublicans in Wisconsin are threatening to remove from office the newly elected state supreme court justice Janet Protasiewicz if she refuses to recuse herself from cases involving gerrymandering. The effort comes on the heels of Republicans in the state senate advancing a move to oust the state's top elections official.The efforts to remove Protasiewicz and the Wisconsin elections commission administrator, Meagan Wolfe, from office have been decried by Democrats and government watchdog groups as undemocratic and could affect the administration of elections in 2024. Continue reading...
Storm to continue north-westwards across Atlantic, while European temperatures to fall closer to averageHurricane Lee, the 12th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, will continue on its north-westwards trajectory across the Atlantic Ocean this week. Lee rapidly developed into a category 5 hurricane last week, packing maximum sustained winds of almost 155mph (250km/h) on Friday. By Sunday, this had fallen closer to 105mph, which is classed as a category 2 hurricane.Lee will continue to move to the north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, causing dangerous surf and rip currents across Bermuda and the US east coast this week. The hurricane's intensity is fluctuating at the time of writing, but it is forecast to strengthen again early this week. The National Hurricane Center is predicting maximum sustained winds of 115 knots (around 130mph) and gusts of 140 knots. Towards the middle of this week, atmospheric conditions will cause Lee to gradually turn northwards. There is significant uncertainty on the speed of Lee's movement beyond this, with its effects potentially being felt across the north-eastern US and Atlantic Canada towards the weekend. Continue reading...
Simon McDonald says department was in mourning' after 2016 referendum, leading him to reveal his personal viewsThe former top Foreign Office civil servant has acknowledged revealing to colleagues - including government ministers - that he voted to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum.Simon McDonald said he was speaking to colleagues shocked at the result in an effort to maintain credibility by stressing they must deliver the government's policies, regardless of their personal views. Continue reading...
Response comes after Westminster researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information was arrestedBeijing has labelled as malicious slander" and a political farce" the scandal surrounding the arrest of a man in London on suspicion of spying for the Chinese government.On Sunday it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China. Continue reading...
Large-scale field trials that provided healthy food packages to sufferers and their families showed radical reductions in fatalitiesInfectious, deadly and long associated with poverty, tuberculosis causes weight loss, while poor diets increase the likelihood of developing the disease. Now, a study in India has found that improved nutrition can cut the risk of death by 60% and reduce the chances of infection within families by about 40%.India has the highest burden of TB and TB deaths globally and has launched an ambitious plan to reduce incidence and death rates by 80% and 90% respectively by 2025. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian