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Israel Attack on Iran Is What World War III Looks Like
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:54:57 +0000
Like countless other hostilities, the stealthy Israeli missile and drone strike on Iran doesn’t risk war. It is war.
The post Israel Attack on Iran Is What World War III Looks Like appeared first on The Intercept.
Voters back President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional ally India
Maldives voters have backed President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional benefactor India, with his party winning control of parliament in an election landslide.
Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 of the first 86 seats declared, according to the Elections Commission of Maldives, already more than enough for a super-majority in the 93-member parliament.
Continue reading...For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank finds
Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.
Continue reading...In move seen by the opposition as an attempt to de-sinocise Taiwan, the ruling party is pushing ahead with plans to rid the island of monuments to the dictator
Taiwan’s government has pledged to remove almost 800 statues of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese military dictator who ruled the island for decades under martial law, but whose legacy remains a point of contentious debate.
In 2018 the government established a transitional justice committee to investigate the rule of the former generalissimo, who was president of the Republic of China (ROC) – in China and then in Taiwan – until his death in 1975. Among its recommendations was to remove the thousands of statues from public spaces.
Continue reading...Despite Biden’s pledge to support a two-state solution, cables argue that Palestine should not be granted U.N. member status.
The post Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood appeared first on The Intercept.
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
Continue reading...A bright and vibrant way with seasonal veg
A bowl of steaming broth, swirls of miso paste and young spring vegetables.
Put 750ml of vegetable or chicken stock on to boil. Trim 200g of small spring carrots and cut them in half lengthways. Let them cook in the boiling stock for 7 or 8 minutes until they are tender to the point of a knife. Tip 150g of shelled peas (fresh or frozen) into the stock, leave to boil for 3 minutes (fresh peas will take an extra couple of minutes or so).
Continue reading...Man worked as assistant to Maximilian Krah, top candidate in European parliament elections, say prosecutors
A close adviser to a leading member of Germany’s far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has been arrested on suspicion on spying for China in the latest high-profile espionage case to have come to light.
The man, identified by prosecutors as Jian G, was accused of “an especially severe instance” of espionage, prosecutors said, following his arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It comes after the arrests of three German citizens accused of industrial spying for China in return for payment.
Continue reading...Floods have swamped a number of cities in the densely populated Pearl River delta after record-breaking rains. Precipitation records for April have already been broken in many parts of Guangdong, leaving large areas of the province underwater. State media have released footage showing rescue and cleanup operations under way. Further footage shows a car getting swept away by rushing water and a bridge in Guangdong province collapsing
Continue reading...The 12th annual Kyotographie photography festival features 13 exhibitions staged in striking locations across the Japanese city of Kyoto. Photographers from around the world submitted pictures on the theme of ‘source’
Spring in Kyoto ushers in cherry blossom season, but it also marks the return of one of the biggest photo festivals in Asia. Kyotographie, now in its 12th year, fuses the past and present with its striking images and unique locations. The 13 exhibitions are staged in temples, galleries and traditional private homes across the Japanese city, showcasing the work of national and international photographers.
The festival is loosely centred on a theme – and this year the directors, Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, asked participants to focus on the word “source” by delving into the essence of beginnings and the nexus of creation and discovery.
The Yamomami struggle. Photograph by Claudia Andujar
Continue reading...Product made from used nappies will go on sale in shopping centres after sterilisation, bleaching, and deodorising
A company in Japan has started selling the world’s first “horizontally” recycled nappies, as the country’s ageing society undergoes a shift in demand for children’s diapers to those for older adults.
Unicharm, based in the south-western prefecture of Kagoshima, put the adult and baby nappies on sale this month in shopping centres in Kyushu – one of Japan’s four main islands – in collaboration with local governments, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Continue reading...Despite eventual visa backflip by authorities, ABC’s south-Asia correspondent Avani Dias left after being made to ‘feel so uncomfortable’
The south-Asia correspondent for Australia’s national broadcaster, Avani Dias, has been forced out of India after her reporting fell foul of the Indian government, in a sign of the increasing pressure on journalists in the country under Narendra Modi.
Dias, who has been based in Delhi for the ABC since January 2022, said she felt the government had made it “too difficult” for her to continue to do her job, claiming it blocked her from accessing events, issued takedown notices to YouTube for her news stories, and then refused her a standard visa renewal.
Continue reading...Opposition says prime minister targeting Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’ and violating election rules
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of hate speech during a campaign rally where he called Muslims “infiltrators” who had “many children” and claimed they would take people’s hard-earned money.
The opposition accused Modi of “blatantly targeting” India’s 200 million Muslim minority with comments made while addressing voters at a speech in Rajasthan on Sunday.
Continue reading...Experts say Indian PM is hoping to be ‘bigger than Gandhi’ as he aims to win a third term in office
As the distant rumble of a helicopter drew closer, cheers erupted from the gathered crowds in anticipation. By the time India’s prime minister finally stepped on to the stage, bowing deeply while immaculately dressed in a white kurta and peach waistcoat and with a neatly trimmed beard, the chants had reached a deafening pitch: “Modi, Modi, Modi.”
These scenes, at a campaign rally on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh city of Meerut, have been replicated across the country in recent weeks as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) seek to win a third term in India’s election, which begins on 19 April and goes on for six weeks.
Continue reading...First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week period
Voting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.
India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with more than 969 million voters, amounting to more than 10% of the world’s population. The voting began at 8am on Friday, when polling opened at 102 constituencies across the country, and will continue over the next six weeks, in seven phases, until 1 June. All the results will be counted and declared on 4 June.
Continue reading...Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15m long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its prey
Fossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length – longer than a T rex.
Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few still in the same position as they would have been when the reptile was alive. They said the snake, which they named Vasuki indicus, would have looked like a large python and would not have been venomous.
Continue reading...Videos on social media show helicopters flying in formation when one clipped another and both crashed
Two Malaysian navy helicopters have collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a parade, killing all 10 crew members on board, the navy has said.
The incident occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32am on Tuesday (0132 GMT), the navy said in a statement.
Continue reading...Drag star celebrated with massive support at home after taking top prize in the long-running US reality show
A drag queen has sparked national celebration as the “pride of Taiwan” and won praise and congratulations from the island’s president after winning RuPaul’s Drag Race at the weekend.
On Saturday, the long-running, Emmy award-winning US reality show, in which drag queens compete in challenges including lip-sync performances, revealed the winner of its 16th season as Nymphia Wind, the drag personality creation of Leo Tsao, a 28-year-old Taiwanese designer.
Continue reading...Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing
Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.
Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility.
Continue reading...The Jubilee 2000 saw $130bn of debt written off, and yet we now find ourselves in a renewed global debt crisis, says Maria Finnerty of Cafod
The Guardian is right to identify the global sovereign debt crisis as one of the most critical impediments to sustainable development today (Editorial,16 April). Debt relief is urgently needed, but we must also learn the lessons of history. The historic Jubilee 2000 debt relief campaign saw $130bn of debt written off, and yet we now find ourselves in a renewed global debt crisis. This time, action must address the cyclical nature of debt crises.
That countries such as Ghana and Sri Lanka are accepting their 17th IMF bailout packages since independence is a stark illustration of how ineffective existing strategies are at breaking the cycle. Bailout packages often come with harsh stipulations, such as budget cuts, that stifle development, worsen living conditions, and leave economies vulnerable to future debt crises. While the IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, noted the urgency of debt action ahead of the Spring Meetings, she continued to prescribe budget cuts as a tool to stabilise debt, despite evidence that spending decreases have little effect on debt reduction.
Continue reading...Netanyahu’s recklessness was fostered by blind U.S. support, but Israel is the one pushing its war with Iran out of the shadows.
The post Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran appeared first on The Intercept.
The blanket suspension of student protesters casts “serious doubt on the University’s respect for the rule-of-law values that we teach,” 54 law professors wrote.
The post Columbia Law School Faculty Condemn Administration for Mass Arrests and Suspensions appeared first on The Intercept.
The university suspended three students out of hundreds participating in an on-campus encampment to protest the Israeli government.
The post Columbia Suspends Ilhan Omar’s Daughter One Day After Omar Grilled School Administrators appeared first on The Intercept.
Columbia, Vanderbilt, and Pomona College all seriously disciplined students protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza this month.
The post Ahead of Congressional Testimony, Columbia President Cracks Down on Student Advocacy for Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
The state says EMTALA, a law barring discrimination in emergency medical care, interferes with its abortion ban.
The post Idaho Goes to the Supreme Court to Argue That Pregnant People Are Second-Class Citizens appeared first on The Intercept.
After last night’s Commons vote, they want a ‘proof of concept’ journey to get the tawdry policy back on track. But it’s too flawed for that
There will be a sigh of relief in No 10 with the passing of the Rwanda bill, as well as a degree of frustration. Having to steward another migration bill through parliament was not part of the government’s plan.
With the Rwanda bill passing on to the statute book, overriding the supreme court judgment that Rwanda is not a safe country to which to send people seeking sanctuary, the government now hopes it can finally get on with locking up and then removing those seeking safety on our shores. The prime minister told a hastily arranged press conference on Monday morning that the first flight would not take off for “10 or 12 weeks” (having previously said it would be in spring). Officials are privately describing it as a “proof of concept” flight – this means focusing on having an initial flight to test how legally watertight the new laws are.
Enver Solomon is chief executive of the Refugee Council
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Continue reading...Trump team fights court order preventing him from abusing wide range of people connected to trial; former CEO of National Enquirer to take stand again
Donald Trump has walked into judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom; he sported a navy suit, white shirt, and red tie, and carried himself with an air of fatigue.
Merchan will soon weigh whether to hold the ex-president in contempt over his apparent repeated violations of a gag order that bars him from publicly trashing witnesses in his hush-money trial.
When are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial. He got caught lying. Pure lying. And when are they going to look at that.
You will hear during this trial President Trump fought back – like he always does – like he’s entitled to do to protect his family, his reputation, and his brand – that is not a crime.
It doesn’t matter. What I mean by that is, I expect you will learn that Ms Daniels doesn’t have any idea. She doesn’t know anything about the charge, 34 counts in this case. She has no idea what Michael Cohen wrote on the invoice … her testimony, while salacious, does not matter.
Continue reading...Index’s rise has been driven by the dollar’s strength against the pound – and that effect can reverse
Every dog will have its day and here comes the FTSE 100 index, not so much soaring as limping to a record high of 8,076. If that sounds too grumpy, consider that the previous record, 8,047, was set in February last year. In the 14 months it has taken the UK’s premier index to regain its old record level, the S&P 500 index in the US has marched upwards by 22% – and done so in a straight line, more or less, until a slip in the past fortnight.
Also note that the Footsie’s latest push above 8,000 carries a heavy flavour of currency effects at work. The US dollar has been strengthening against most major currencies, including sterling, as markets look at the persistence of inflation in the US and judge that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year (and could even raise them).
Continue reading...AI models take every toxic gendered beauty norm and bundle them up into completely unrealistic package
Meet Madame Potato. She doesn’t actually exist, but, if things go my way, she’s going to be the world’s first “Miss AI”. I recently created her image on a website that generates AI faces and then entered her into a beauty pageant. Now I am sitting back in anticipation of netting the $20,000 grand prize.
What fresh hell is this, you ask? Well, I regret to inform you that AI beauty pageants are a thing now. A company called Fanvue, which is a subscription-based content creator platform along the same lines as OnlyFans, recently teamed up with the World AI Creator Awards (WAICA) to launch the world’s first “Miss AI” competition. A team of judges – comprising two humans and two virtual models – will sort through AI-generated pictures of women and choose one to crown as “Miss AI”. The winner gets a cash prize along with the chance to monetize their creation on Fanvue.
Continue reading...Commissioner expresses grave concern after Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy passes parliamentary stages
The Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”.
The body’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, said the bill, expected to be signed into law on Tuesday after passing its parliamentary stages on Monday night, was a grave concern and should not be used to remove asylum seekers or infringe on judges’ independence.
Continue reading...If the courts agree to vacate the conviction, Lucio will have spent 16 years on death row for a crime that never happened.
The post A Prosecutor Asked Texas to Kill Melissa Lucio. Now He Says She Should Be Freed. appeared first on The Intercept.
Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali, now 33, had indefinite leave to remain in UK, but Home Office failed to keep a record
A refugee who left the UK on holiday as a teenager in 2008 has been stranded in east Africa for the last 16 years in a case that senior judges have described as “extraordinary”.
Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali, now 33, arrived in the UK at the age of nine in April 2000 with his mother and two younger siblings from Somalia. They came to join Ali’s father, who had been granted refugee status by the UK government. The family were also recognised as refugees by the Home Office and Ali was given a travel document in 2004 under the refugee convention, which was valid for 10 years.
Continue reading...Owner of X has used social media platform to bash judge in charge of investigations into former president
Thousands of diehard supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro have hit the streets of Rio to champion their embattled leader and celebrate the new hero of their far-right movement: Elon Musk.
The tech billionaire has spent recent weeks using his social network X to bash Bolsonaro’s arch-enemy, the supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes is responsible for several investigations into Bolsonaro that could land the ex-president in jail, including one examining the alleged coup plot that preceded the rightwing insurrection in Brasília on 8 January 2023.
Continue reading...Senate plans vote on Ukraine and Israel aid bill that would also force TikTok sale in the US
In brief remarks on the Senate floor, the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, called for lawmakers to pass the foreign aid bill “as expeditiously as possible”.
“The time has come to finish the job to help our friends abroad once and for all,” the New Yorker said. He continued:
I ask my colleagues to join together to pass the supplemental today as expeditiously as possible, send our friends abroad the aid they have long been waiting for.
Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this. Let us not keep out friends around the world waiting for a moment longer.
Continue reading...The embattled ex-president offered surprising words of praise to Mike Johnson, who shepherded aid package opposed by Trump
Mike Johnson is a “good person” and is “trying very hard”, Donald Trump said, after the US House speaker oversaw passage of military aid to Ukraine, long opposed by Trump, in the face of fierce opposition from the right of the Republican party.
“Well, look, we have a majority of one, OK?” Trump said in a radio interview on Monday night, after a day in court in his New York hush-money trial.
Continue reading...While Donald Trump is in court, House Republicans rejected their presidential nominee’s bad land-for-peace deal in Ukraine
In chaos theory, the flapping of butterfly wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. This weekend, Ukraine experienced a butterfly moment. Donald Trump’s efforts to conceal the fact that he bought the silence of a porn star before the 2016 election landed him in court, facing charges that preoccupy him enough for congressional Republicans to reject his policy of prematurely ceding territory to Russia in return for peace in Ukraine. Kyiv will now get billions of dollars to buy the weapons crucial for it to defend against, and push back, the Russian advance. It is fitting that Mr Trump’s divisive appeasement has been defeated – for now – by a bipartisan defence of democracy.
The presumptive Republican nominee had, in an election year, counted on using his mendacious, inflammatory rhetoric to further convert his party into a truth-denying sect prepared to abandon the rule of law for the rule of revenge. Instead, he is required to attend every day that the Manhattan court is in session, for a trial expected to last at least six weeks. The proceedings will be closely followed around the world. But they will not be televised. It will be a circus, but without its ringmaster. Deprived of the camera’s attention, the former president won’t be able to bully Republican lawmakers or rally his followers so effectively.
Continue reading...The blanket suspension of student protesters casts “serious doubt on the University’s respect for the rule-of-law values that we teach,” 54 law professors wrote.
The post Columbia Law School Faculty Condemn Administration for Mass Arrests and Suspensions appeared first on The Intercept.
Voters back President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional ally India
Maldives voters have backed President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional benefactor India, with his party winning control of parliament in an election landslide.
Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 of the first 86 seats declared, according to the Elections Commission of Maldives, already more than enough for a super-majority in the 93-member parliament.
Continue reading...The smears spurred Austrian police to raid Islamophobia scholar Farid Hafez’s family home. Then the terrorism charges fell apart.
The post Lawsuit Links Wild UAE-Financed Smear Campaign to George Washington University appeared first on The Intercept.
“Yes I’m a Republican and I exclusively supported John through the Jewish community for his principled actions supporting Israel.”
The post Since October, Sen. John Fetterman Has Been Building a Roster of Republican Donors appeared first on The Intercept.
U.S. military service members interviewed for a congressional inquiry said intelligence reports about how bad the situation is were being suppressed.
The post U.S. Troops in Niger Say They’re “Stranded” and Can’t Get Mail, Medicine appeared first on The Intercept.
The university suspended three students out of hundreds participating in an on-campus encampment to protest the Israeli government.
The post Columbia Suspends Ilhan Omar’s Daughter One Day After Omar Grilled School Administrators appeared first on The Intercept.
Parties appearing before the Supreme Court can fund the groups that file briefs supporting their arguments — and almost never have to disclose it.
The post The Gaping Hole in Supreme Court Rules for Tracking Links Between Litigants and Influence Groups appeared first on The Intercept.
In congressional testimony, school administrators also said they are investigating pro-Israel and pro-Palestine professors.
The post Columbia Suspended Two Students for Assault on Gaza Rally, School Says in Antisemitism Hearing appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite Biden’s pledge to support a two-state solution, cables argue that Palestine should not be granted U.N. member status.
The post Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden campaign co-chair Rep. Veronica Escobar co-led a congressional letter questioning the administration's compliance with its own arms transfer memo.
The post Democrats Question U.S. Claims That Israel Isn’t Violating International Law Using American Weapons appeared first on The Intercept.
Columbia, Vanderbilt, and Pomona College all seriously disciplined students protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza this month.
The post Ahead of Congressional Testimony, Columbia President Cracks Down on Student Advocacy for Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
New York congressional hopeful John Avlon, a centrist with GOP ties, was endorsed by a party chair widely blamed for losing the House.
The post Remember the Centrists Who Lost the House in 2022? They’re Back! appeared first on The Intercept.
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