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Software Testing Day
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Alphabetical Cartogram
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From UCLA to Columbia, Professors Nationwide Defend Students as Politicians and Police Attack
Thu, 02 May 2024 21:15:55 +0000
University faculty have put their bodies and livelihoods on the line amid a brutal, violent response to student protests for Gaza.
The post From UCLA to Columbia, Professors Nationwide Defend Students as Politicians and Police Attack appeared first on The Intercept.
Chinese premier to meet Macron and Von der Leyen who will urge him to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia
As the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, begins his visit to France, Reports Without Borders has protested in Paris over the imprisonment of journalists in China.
Ahead of his visit to France, Xi Jinping wrote:
One thing that has made China’s development possible is our firm commitment to opening up. We welcome more quality French farm products and cosmetics to the Chinese market to meet the ever-growing needs of the Chinese people for a better life. We welcome investment by companies from France and other countries to China.
To this end, we have fully opened up China’s manufacturing sector, and will move faster to expand market access to telecom, medical and other services. We also have a 15-day visa-exemption policy for visitors from many countries including France, and we have taken further measures to facilitate travel and payment by foreigners in China.
Continue reading...Russia has said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons
Russia has said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, Reuters reports. It comes after what the defence ministry said were provocative threats from western officials.
The defence ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions.
A Russian overnight drone attack cut power to over 400,000 consumers in Ukraine’s northeast region of Sumy on Monday, Ukraine‘s energy ministry said in a statement via the Telegram messaging app.
A Ukrainian drone attack hit vehicles carrying workers in Russia’s frontier Belgorod region, killing six people and injuring 35, the governor said Monday. Belgorod has come under an increasing number of fatal Ukrainian attacks in recent months and Monday’s bombardment is the deadliest in weeks.
Ukraine will be one of the main items on the agenda as China’s premier, Xi Jinping, visits France. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, are expected to urge him to use his influence with Russia.
Italy’s defence minister said on Monday economic sanctions against Russia had failed and called on the West to try harder to negotiate a diplomatic solution with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Guido Crosetto told daily Il Messaggero that the West had wrongly believed its sanctions could stop Russia’s aggression, but it had overestimated its economic influence in the world. “Instead ... the only way to resolve this crisis is to involve everyone, first (to obtain) a truce and then peace,” Crosetto said.
‘I’m very alarmed by everybody’s lack of alarm, that’s the scariest thing for me,’ says Warming Up author Madeleine Orr
If Madeleine Orr had been searching for a launch pad for her book, Warming up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport, last week provided the perfect rocket boosters. Only two years after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, brandished a “green card for the planet” in a video message, football’s world governing body signed a four-year sponsorship deal with the Saudi oil and gas conglomerate Aramco, the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter, the third biggest carbon emitter since the industrial revolution (behind China’s state coal company and the former Soviet Union) and one with plans, alongside other fossil fuel companies, to expand production in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.
“A comedian couldn’t write that,” says Orr over the phone from North Carolina. “It is textbook greenwashing. I’m kind of sad that I didn’t put it in the book as case study No 1. But it is a practice that has been going on for 100 years.”
Continue reading...On his first visit to Europe since 2019, Xi is set to meet with Emmanuel Macron before heading to Serbia and Hungary
Xi Jinping has lauded China’s ties with France as a model for the international community as he arrived in Paris amid threats of a trade war over Chinese electric cars and French cognac.
On his first visit to the EU in five years, China’s president will meet his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who will urge him to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Rishi Sunak’s party were expecting a difficult contest – but the results were even more dire than predicted, as political correspondent Kiran Stacey explains
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning.
A fraught situation is intensifying in Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than a million displaced people have been sheltering. Israel’s armed forces have this morning called for those in the “eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah” to “temporarily” evacuate to an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi. It comes after months of warnings that there would be a ground invasion of the beleaguered city as Israeli forces pursue Hamas militants. To keep a close eye on further developments, follow the Guardian’s live blog.
China | Xi Jinping has arrived in Paris for a rare visit against a backdrop of mounting trade disputes with the EU. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is set to urge his Chinese counterpart to reduce trade imbalances and to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Israel-Gaza war | Israel used a US weapon in a March airstrike that killed seven volunteer paramedics in southern Lebanon, according to a Guardian analysis of shrapnel found at the site of the attack, which was described by Human Rights Watch as a violation of international law. In Jersualem, authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, using newly approved laws. Critics called the move – which came amid faltering indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas – a “dark day for the media”.
Immigration and asylum | Rwanda has admitted it cannot guarantee how many people it will take from the UK under Rishi Sunak’s deportation scheme. It did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 asylum seekers eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead saying it would be “thousands”.
Agriculture | The National Farmers’ Union warned that farmers’ confidence has hit its lowest level in at least 14 years, with extreme weather and the post-Brexit phasing-out of EU subsidies blamed for the drop. Most farms are expecting to reduce food production next year, with arable farming particularly badly hit.
Transport | Train drivers in the Aslef union are embarking on another round of industrial action, despite tentative attempts by the industry to restart talks. Drivers will strike for 24 hours at each of England’s national train operators from Tuesday until Thursday, while an overtime ban will apply nationwide from today until Saturday.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy urges prayers for soldiers on frontline amid attacks in Kharkiv and Sumy regions; Xi Jinping arrives in Paris under pressure to harden stance on Russia. What we know on day 803
Russian attacks on Orthodox Easter Sunday killed a woman, burying her under rubble, and injured 24 in Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv and surrounds, regional officials said. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported power cuts in parts of Kharkiv region and in the adjacent Sumy region after reports of drone attacks and explosions. Vadim Filashkin, head of the military administration in Donetsk region, said two people were killed by shelling in the town of Pokrovsk and two injured in Chasiv Yar, west of the Russian-held town of Bakhmut.
In his Easter address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to be “united in one common prayer”. Standing in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia cathedral, Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to pray for each other and the soldiers on the frontline. “And we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder,” said the president, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt and khaki trousers. “So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.” A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians, though the church is divided. Many belong to the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church was loyal to the patriarch in Moscow until it split from Russia after the 2022 invasion and is viewed with suspicion by many Ukrainians.
In his Easter message, Vladimir Putin did not explicitly mention the war as he attended a Moscow Easter service led by the head of the country’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Instead he thanked Kirill for “fruitful cooperation in the current difficult period, when it is so important for us to unite our efforts for the steady development and strengthening of the fatherland”.
Russian forces have taken control of the ruined village of Ocheretyne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry has said. It is north-west of Avdiivka, which Russia captured in February only after huge losses of personnel and equipment. There was no comment from Ukrainian officials or the military, but unofficial Ukrainian war bloggers indicated Russia was in control of Ocheretyne, said the Reuters news agency.
In Sumy, Russian drone attacks left critical infrastructure including water supply and hospitals running on backup power, officials said on Sunday. On Monday morning, Ukraine’s air force said 13 more drones were launched by Russia over the Sumy region and air defence systems destroyed 12 of them.
Officials in Kyiv urged residents to follow Orthodox Easter services online due to safety concerns. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, warned that “even on such bright days of celebration, we can expect evil deeds from the aggressor”.
Ukraine’s Eurovision 2016 winner, Jamala, has said her country cannot afford to boycott the song contest because it needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion. There have been calls for artists to refuse to participate over Israel’s inclusion while the war in Gaza continues. The opening round begins on Tuesday in Malmö, Sweden.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has arrived in Paris, where his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, will urge Xi to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine. Xi has done little apart from call Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, for the first time shortly after Macron visited Beijing in 2023. “If the Chinese seek to deepen the relationship with European partners, it is really important that they hear our point of view and start taking it seriously,” a French diplomatic source said. Xi is due on Monday to meet Macron and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen.
In an article for Le Figaro, Xi said he wanted to work with the international community to find ways to solve the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while claiming that China was “neither a party nor a participant” in the conflict. “We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good paths to resolve the crisis.”
Continue reading...Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh urged to engage with Petroineos to save Scotland’s sole remaining oil refinery
The UK and Scottish governments have been asked to arrange urgent talks to protect the future of Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery at Grangemouth.
Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson, has written to PetroChina, part of the joint venture that owns the site, seeking to discuss the future of the complex where oil refining is due to cease next year.
Continue reading...I used to be an avid user of TikTok, but the algorithm serves much less delight and serendipity than it used to
TikTok is facing its most credible existential threat yet. Last week, the US Congress passed a bill that bans the short-form video app if it does not sell to an American company by this time next year. But as a former avid user whose time on the app has dropped sharply in recent months, I am left wondering – will I even be using the app a year from now?
Like many Americans of my demographic (aging millennial), I first started using TikTok regularly when the Covid-19 pandemic began and lockdowns gave many of us more time than we knew how to fill.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/ardi62 [link] [comments] |
The bipartisan duo also praised schools that brought in police to violently quell protests and connected the demonstrations to the TikTok ban.
The post In No Labels Call, Josh Gottheimer, Mike Lawler, and University Trustees Agree: FBI Should Investigate Campus Protests appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite promises of reform, exploitation remains endemic in India’s sandstone industry, with children doing dangerous work for low pay – often to decorate driveways and gardens thousands of miles away. By Romita Saluja
Continue reading...Shyamol Banerji responds to an article by Mihir Bose on the country coming to terms with its colonial past
Mihir Bose’s experiences in the UK resonate somewhat with my own (I came to Britain from India, fulfilled a dream, and I say this: we’re a great country, but a work in progress, 30 April). In 1966, as a 14-year-old, I arrived at Tilbury Docks on a cold foggy morning aboard the SS Himalaya. My father, on temporary assignment in the UK, was able to get me admission to Westminster City grammar, a five-minute walk from Buckingham Palace. I was the only Indian; the racism I faced was not vicious but muted, often manifested through jokes and accent mimicry.
There is a certain advantage to being a minority of one versus a group. People are more accommodating. However, I still remember the first joke from school: “Did you hear about the Indian who lived with a cow?”
Continue reading...Congress party’s Arun Reddy held over fake video of interior minister Amit Shah
Indian police have said they have arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over a doctored video widely shared during the ongoing national election.
Arun Reddy of the Congress party was detained late on Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.
Continue reading...Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient custom
Traditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.
For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or “towers of silence”. These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil, and the sacred elements of earth, fire and water, from being contaminated by corpses.
Continue reading...Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the area
A flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.
The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement.
Continue reading...Former NSW premier’s threat to sue comes amid debate about whether New Zealand should join pillar two of Aukus pact
Australia’s former foreign minister and New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, says he intends to sue New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, for allegations made about Carr’s closeness to China as debate about Aukus ramps up.
Peters called Carr “nothing more than a Chinese puppet” on the national broadcaster RNZ on Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Move seen as continuation of Pacific country’s policy of growing closer to Beijing
Solomon Islands lawmakers have elected as their new prime minister Jeremiah Manele, a former foreign minister who has pledged to continue the Pacific country’s policy of embracing China.
Manele said outside parliament on Thursday “the people have spoken” and called for calm.
Continue reading...The famed scholar on why reducing Hamas to a terrorist label sanctions Israel’s war on Palestinians.
The post Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide appeared first on The Intercept.
Meta has threatened to pull WhatsApp out of India if the courts try to force it to break its end-to-end encryption.
After a long spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and foundations at Pantabangan
Ruins of a centuries-old town have emerged at a dam parched by drought in the northern Philippines.
After a prolonged spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels in the dam have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and the foundations of structures from the 300-year-old town in Nueva Ecija province.
Continue reading...Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño
Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.
Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.
Continue reading...When police attacked student protesters, a lone trash can was the only damaged property I saw around City College of New York.
The post I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on Protests for 15 Years. This Police Overreaction Was Unhinged. appeared first on The Intercept.
The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
Parties clash over communal issues in increasingly charged campaign amid concerns unseasonably hot weather affecting voter numbers
India has held the second phase of the world’s biggest election, with prime minister Narendra Modi and his rivals hurling accusations of religious discrimination and threats to democracy amid flagging voter turnout.
Almost 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election that began on 19 April and concludes on 1 June, with votes set to be counted on 4 June.
Continue reading...Evidence points to Absolute Standards as the source of a lethal drug the Trump administration used to restart federal executions after 17 years.
The post “Little Home Market”: The Connecticut Company Accused of Fueling an Execution Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
Supporters worry Khan’s life is in danger and with good reason: The military has a long history of killing deposed leaders.
The post Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan: Don’t Kill Imran Khan in Prison appeared first on The Intercept.
Russia has said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons
Russia has said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, Reuters reports. It comes after what the defence ministry said were provocative threats from western officials.
The defence ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions.
A Russian overnight drone attack cut power to over 400,000 consumers in Ukraine’s northeast region of Sumy on Monday, Ukraine‘s energy ministry said in a statement via the Telegram messaging app.
A Ukrainian drone attack hit vehicles carrying workers in Russia’s frontier Belgorod region, killing six people and injuring 35, the governor said Monday. Belgorod has come under an increasing number of fatal Ukrainian attacks in recent months and Monday’s bombardment is the deadliest in weeks.
Ukraine will be one of the main items on the agenda as China’s premier, Xi Jinping, visits France. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, are expected to urge him to use his influence with Russia.
Italy’s defence minister said on Monday economic sanctions against Russia had failed and called on the West to try harder to negotiate a diplomatic solution with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Guido Crosetto told daily Il Messaggero that the West had wrongly believed its sanctions could stop Russia’s aggression, but it had overestimated its economic influence in the world. “Instead ... the only way to resolve this crisis is to involve everyone, first (to obtain) a truce and then peace,” Crosetto said.
South Dakota governor says she met North Korean dictator in same book in which she describes killing her dog
The South Dakota governor, Republican vice-presidential hopeful and self-confessed dog-killer Kristi Noem’s bizarre claim in a new book to have met the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has been dismissed by experts as “dubious” and not “conceivable”.
The Dakota Scout first reported Noem’s claim, which is in her forthcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward.
Continue reading...The famed scholar on why reducing Hamas to a terrorist label sanctions Israel’s war on Palestinians.
The post Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide appeared first on The Intercept.
A tale of two Americas.
The post Cable News Viewers Have a Skewed Attitude Toward Gaza War, Survey Finds appeared first on The Intercept.
Republicans accuse president of weak response, but prominent Democrats claim he ‘has been very strong from the beginning’
Some Democrats rallied to the defense of Joe Biden on Sunday as the president came under increased criticism over his response to pro-Palestinian student protests and his handling of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Republicans have seized on Biden’s response to the protests, which have seen more than2,000 people arrested around the country, accusing him of a weak response. But prominent Democrats, including Biden re-election campaign co-chairperson Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, claimed the president “has been very strong about this from the beginning”.
Continue reading...Democrat says country is going off track after Trump compares Biden administration to Germany’s fascist secret police
The senior congressional Democrat James Clyburn has responded to remarks made by Donald Trump at a private event on Saturday in which he compared the Biden administration with the Gestapo secret police in fascist Germany, saying it was “incredible, but it’s not surprising”.
The 83-year-old South Carolina Democrat added that Trump “is given to hyperbole on every subject that he ever approaches … The country got off track after that 1876 election and we are approaching the same kinds of elements today.”
Continue reading...South Dakota governor and possible Trump running mate says she made ‘a choice between [my children] and a dangerous animal’
The South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful Kristi Noem asked the American public to consider having to “make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal”, as she again defended her killing of a 14-month-old dog.
“I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation,” Noem told CBS’s Face the Nation about her decision to shoot the dog, named Cricket, after the animal ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor’s chickens.
Continue reading...Depending on the expert, either Biden or Trump is likely to pull ahead, but this election race is playing out in an unstable landscape
“You know what I hate?” Donald Trump asked in Freeland, Michigan, on Wednesday night. “When these guys get on television, they say – pundits, you know, the great pundits that never did a thing in their whole lives – ‘You know, we have two very unpopular candidates. We have Biden or we have Trump. These are very unpopular.’”
Watched by a crowd of adoring fans in Make America Great Again (Maga) regalia, against the backdrop of a plane marked “Trump” in giant gold letters, the former US president protested a little too much: “I’m not unpopular!”
Continue reading...The Israel lobby is expected to start a $20 million ad blitz backing its handpicked candidate against the incumbent Squad member.
The post AIPAC’s Next Top Target? Rep. Jamaal Bowman appeared first on The Intercept.
University faculty have put their bodies and livelihoods on the line amid a brutal, violent response to student protests for Gaza.
The post From UCLA to Columbia, Professors Nationwide Defend Students as Politicians and Police Attack appeared first on The Intercept.
Chinese premier to meet Macron and Von der Leyen who will urge him to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia
As the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, begins his visit to France, Reports Without Borders has protested in Paris over the imprisonment of journalists in China.
Ahead of his visit to France, Xi Jinping wrote:
One thing that has made China’s development possible is our firm commitment to opening up. We welcome more quality French farm products and cosmetics to the Chinese market to meet the ever-growing needs of the Chinese people for a better life. We welcome investment by companies from France and other countries to China.
To this end, we have fully opened up China’s manufacturing sector, and will move faster to expand market access to telecom, medical and other services. We also have a 15-day visa-exemption policy for visitors from many countries including France, and we have taken further measures to facilitate travel and payment by foreigners in China.
Continue reading...Ordinary Ukrainians and their haunting stories are the heroes of the Scottish reporter’s wonderful hymn to an embattled nation
In the run-up to Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, Jen Stout was in Moscow. The mood there was venomous. Russian television broadcast non-stop propaganda about “Ukrainian Nazis”. In a bar a drinker called Andrei told Stout “fascists” were to blame for the looming crisis. Russians, she found, were touchy and quick to anger. “The wild fantasy, the twisting of history, the paranoia and insecurity; it was all there,” she observes.
When explosions rocked Kyiv, Stout abandoned her trip and went via Istanbul to the Ukrainian border. A freelance journalist and producer, she spoke Russian and knew Ukraine well. But her plan to report on the biggest conflict in Europe since 1945 ran into obstacles. One was a lack of cash and frontline equipment. Another was a condescending male boss who deemed her, then 33, too inexperienced to work as a foreign correspondent in a war zone.
Continue reading...La Chimera looks like a crime caper about looters in 1980s Italy. But it’s about way more than that. The great director, loved by everyone from Scorsese to Gerwig, talks about the dark secrets of the heart – and her debt to bees
Alice Rohrwacher could be the European arthouse made flesh, or its distilled essence, bottled and preserved for the ages. She’s quoting Italian poets one minute and German poets the next. She’s discussing nature, civilisation and the power of collective memory. She says she makes films to shake us from our lethargy and invite us to reflect on the state of the world. It doesn’t matter whether we even like her films. Like or dislike: that’s beside the point.
Certain criticisms she takes as compliments. “For example, people will tell me, ‘I always knew that I was watching a film.’ Well, good, that’s great. I am trying to break your hypnosis. Or people will say, ‘I struggled to get into this film.’ Which is fantastic, I’m pleased. We don’t need to get inside everything, break down every door, storm in like conquistadors. There are other ways to approach a film. We can gently knock. We can walk around it in circles.”
Continue reading...On his first visit to Europe since 2019, Xi is set to meet with Emmanuel Macron before heading to Serbia and Hungary
Xi Jinping has lauded China’s ties with France as a model for the international community as he arrived in Paris amid threats of a trade war over Chinese electric cars and French cognac.
On his first visit to the EU in five years, China’s president will meet his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who will urge him to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Each 1 May, the village of Cocullo in the Abruzzo region honours Saint Dominic of Sora with a procession of his statue draped with live snakes. The snakes’ catchers also take part in the monitoring of snake species in the region. After the procession, the snakes are released back into nature
Continue reading...Forget what you think about the Costa Brava: this whitewashed town on a horseshoe bay was ‘the best place in the world’ for Dalí – and is still pretty much perfect today
More beach holidays | France | Greece | Portugal | Italy
I have travelled all over Spain for both work and fun in the past two decades, but the Catalan seaside town of Cadaqués had somehow failed to register on my radar. Last year, my husband was working in Catalonia and when he had a few days off between jobs, I proposed an impromptu tryst. The brief: somewhere by the sea.
I’m a map optimist, which can result in disappointment. I’ll spend hours tracing tantalising coastal roads, imagining wild cliffs or pristine sands dotted with charming fishing villages and chiringuitos. But the reality often fails to match my fantasies, and my dream road trip ends up leading me through Spain’s more familiar coastal milieu of endless high-rise concrete and phoney Irish bars. Cadaqués, however, looked promising – a tiny dot on a Mediterranean cove at the end of a tortuous 10-mile mountain road, where the Pyrenees give way to the sea – and surrounded by pretty much nothing. So far, so good.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Rishi Sunak’s party were expecting a difficult contest – but the results were even more dire than predicted, as political correspondent Kiran Stacey explains
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning.
A fraught situation is intensifying in Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than a million displaced people have been sheltering. Israel’s armed forces have this morning called for those in the “eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah” to “temporarily” evacuate to an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi. It comes after months of warnings that there would be a ground invasion of the beleaguered city as Israeli forces pursue Hamas militants. To keep a close eye on further developments, follow the Guardian’s live blog.
China | Xi Jinping has arrived in Paris for a rare visit against a backdrop of mounting trade disputes with the EU. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is set to urge his Chinese counterpart to reduce trade imbalances and to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Israel-Gaza war | Israel used a US weapon in a March airstrike that killed seven volunteer paramedics in southern Lebanon, according to a Guardian analysis of shrapnel found at the site of the attack, which was described by Human Rights Watch as a violation of international law. In Jersualem, authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, using newly approved laws. Critics called the move – which came amid faltering indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas – a “dark day for the media”.
Immigration and asylum | Rwanda has admitted it cannot guarantee how many people it will take from the UK under Rishi Sunak’s deportation scheme. It did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 asylum seekers eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead saying it would be “thousands”.
Agriculture | The National Farmers’ Union warned that farmers’ confidence has hit its lowest level in at least 14 years, with extreme weather and the post-Brexit phasing-out of EU subsidies blamed for the drop. Most farms are expecting to reduce food production next year, with arable farming particularly badly hit.
Transport | Train drivers in the Aslef union are embarking on another round of industrial action, despite tentative attempts by the industry to restart talks. Drivers will strike for 24 hours at each of England’s national train operators from Tuesday until Thursday, while an overtime ban will apply nationwide from today until Saturday.
Continue reading...Affording a home has become a political issue as rents and prices soar and supply plummets
Decades in the making, Europe’s housing crisis is being felt from the Netherlands to Portugal, Greece to Germany, and in Britain. Prices and rents have soared, availability and affordability have plunged and housing has become a political issue.
Between 2010 and 2022, property prices across the 27-member bloc surged by 47%, according to a 2023 Eurostat report. In some countries they almost trebled: Estonia recorded a 192% rise. Only in two member states, Italy and Cyprus, did they decline.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/Maxie445 [link] [comments] |
Volodymyr Zelenskiy urges prayers for soldiers on frontline amid attacks in Kharkiv and Sumy regions; Xi Jinping arrives in Paris under pressure to harden stance on Russia. What we know on day 803
Russian attacks on Orthodox Easter Sunday killed a woman, burying her under rubble, and injured 24 in Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv and surrounds, regional officials said. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported power cuts in parts of Kharkiv region and in the adjacent Sumy region after reports of drone attacks and explosions. Vadim Filashkin, head of the military administration in Donetsk region, said two people were killed by shelling in the town of Pokrovsk and two injured in Chasiv Yar, west of the Russian-held town of Bakhmut.
In his Easter address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to be “united in one common prayer”. Standing in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia cathedral, Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to pray for each other and the soldiers on the frontline. “And we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder,” said the president, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt and khaki trousers. “So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.” A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians, though the church is divided. Many belong to the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church was loyal to the patriarch in Moscow until it split from Russia after the 2022 invasion and is viewed with suspicion by many Ukrainians.
In his Easter message, Vladimir Putin did not explicitly mention the war as he attended a Moscow Easter service led by the head of the country’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Instead he thanked Kirill for “fruitful cooperation in the current difficult period, when it is so important for us to unite our efforts for the steady development and strengthening of the fatherland”.
Russian forces have taken control of the ruined village of Ocheretyne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry has said. It is north-west of Avdiivka, which Russia captured in February only after huge losses of personnel and equipment. There was no comment from Ukrainian officials or the military, but unofficial Ukrainian war bloggers indicated Russia was in control of Ocheretyne, said the Reuters news agency.
In Sumy, Russian drone attacks left critical infrastructure including water supply and hospitals running on backup power, officials said on Sunday. On Monday morning, Ukraine’s air force said 13 more drones were launched by Russia over the Sumy region and air defence systems destroyed 12 of them.
Officials in Kyiv urged residents to follow Orthodox Easter services online due to safety concerns. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, warned that “even on such bright days of celebration, we can expect evil deeds from the aggressor”.
Ukraine’s Eurovision 2016 winner, Jamala, has said her country cannot afford to boycott the song contest because it needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion. There have been calls for artists to refuse to participate over Israel’s inclusion while the war in Gaza continues. The opening round begins on Tuesday in Malmö, Sweden.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has arrived in Paris, where his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, will urge Xi to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine. Xi has done little apart from call Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, for the first time shortly after Macron visited Beijing in 2023. “If the Chinese seek to deepen the relationship with European partners, it is really important that they hear our point of view and start taking it seriously,” a French diplomatic source said. Xi is due on Monday to meet Macron and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen.
In an article for Le Figaro, Xi said he wanted to work with the international community to find ways to solve the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while claiming that China was “neither a party nor a participant” in the conflict. “We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good paths to resolve the crisis.”
Continue reading...Singer says her country needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion
Ukraine’s former Eurovision winner Jamala has said her country “cannot afford” to boycott the song contest because it needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion.
There have been calls for artists to refuse to participate over Israel’s inclusion in the music competition while the war in Gaza continues.
Continue reading...Manchester United have met with Jadon Sancho during his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, with Erik ten Hag revealing his dispute with the forward will be resolved in the close season.
The 24-year-old joined Dortmund in January on a temporary basis having not played for United since August after he fell out with Ten Hag who left him out of the squad for the 3-1 loss at Arsenal in early September.
Continue reading...Authoritarian governments are extending their pursuit of critics far beyond their borders
Forty-five years ago, the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was killed in London with a poison-tipped umbrella as he made his way home from work. The horrifying case transfixed the British public.
So transnational repression is not new, including on British shores. But unless its target is unusually high-profile, or it uses startling tactics such as those employed by Markov’s killers – or in the attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal – much of it passes with minimal attention.
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Continue reading...Russians in separate compound and do not have access to US forces or equipment, says defence secretary
The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has confirmed Russian security forces have been deployed to the same airbase as American troops in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.
It remains unclear when the Russian troops, who have been in Niger for weeks, were deployed to Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani international airport in Niamey. It is also unclear how many troops are on the ground.
Continue reading...When police attacked student protesters, a lone trash can was the only damaged property I saw around City College of New York.
The post I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on Protests for 15 Years. This Police Overreaction Was Unhinged. appeared first on The Intercept.
Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh urged to engage with Petroineos to save Scotland’s sole remaining oil refinery
The UK and Scottish governments have been asked to arrange urgent talks to protect the future of Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery at Grangemouth.
Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson, has written to PetroChina, part of the joint venture that owns the site, seeking to discuss the future of the complex where oil refining is due to cease next year.
Continue reading...A roundup of scary dealings with those masters of suspense, obfuscation and in Scottish Power’s case – sheer invention
Periodically, I electrify readers with a drama about energy bills. Before you switch off, let me assure you that utilities companies are masters of suspense. Read on if you dare:
Continue reading...Environmental campaign groups took joint action against decision to approve carbon budget delivery plan
The UK government’s climate action plan is unlawful, the high court has ruled, as there is not enough evidence that there are sufficient policies in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, will now be expected to draw up a revised plan within 12 months. This must ensure that the UK achieves its legally binding carbon budgets and its pledge to cut emissions by more than two-thirds by 2030, both of which the government is off track to meet.
Continue reading...A measure passed by the House seeks to block Americans from traveling to Iran on U.S. passports.
The post House Responds to Israeli-Iranian Missile Exchange by Taking Rights Away From Americans appeared first on The Intercept.
Google downplays its military work with Israel, but “Project Nimbus” documents tie the American tech giants to Israel’s deadly military capabilities.
The post Israeli Weapons Firms Required to Buy Cloud Services From Google and Amazon appeared first on The Intercept.
A new report reveals details of the massacres by a longtime U.S. ally and counterterrorism partner.
The post U.S.-Trained Burkina Faso Military Executed 220 Civilians appeared first on The Intercept.
The Department of Education is probing claims that the school discriminated against Palestinian and Arab students amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The post “Kill All Arabs”: The Feds Are Investigating UMass Amherst for Anti-Palestinian Bias appeared first on The Intercept.
For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate.
The post QAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com appeared first on The Intercept.
Evidence points to Absolute Standards as the source of a lethal drug the Trump administration used to restart federal executions after 17 years.
The post “Little Home Market”: The Connecticut Company Accused of Fueling an Execution Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’
The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.
In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.
Continue reading...Supporters worry Khan’s life is in danger and with good reason: The military has a long history of killing deposed leaders.
The post Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan: Don’t Kill Imran Khan in Prison appeared first on The Intercept.
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