'The EU gave nothing away': Europe's press on the Brexit deal pred 32 minutami Boris Johnson’s concessions to EU were humiliating but he may still succeed, say punditsAll the latest Brexit developments – liveEuropean media and commentators were unanimous in saying that the greatest and most humiliating concessions in the new Brexit accord concluded on Thursday had been made not by the EU, but by Boris Johnson.Yet, most argued, even if his deal did not pass the Commons on Saturday, the British prime minister had succeeded in getting exactly what he wanted, and – at least domestically – looked set to emerge a winner. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
'He earned his spurs from a doctor': James Mattis mocks Trump pred 37 minutami Ex-defence secretary responds to US president calling him ‘the world’s most overrated general’The former US defence secretary James Mattis has laughed off an insult hurled at him by Donald Trump.Speaking at a New York charity event on Thursday, the day after the US president demeaned him as “the world’s most overrated general”, Mattis joked that he took it as a compliment. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Aid agencies accused of failure to make good on Oxfam abuse scandal pledges pred 1 uro in 15 minutami MPs point to lack of progress on promised safeguarding improvements for whistleblowers and survivorsMPs have accused aid organisations of “dragging their feet” over combating sexual exploitation and abuse in the sector, despite safeguarding pledges made in 2018 after the Oxfam abuse scandal.Work to improve protection and support for whistleblowers has “stalled”, and more needs to be done to protect survivors, a report by the UK international development committee (IDC) has said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Wahala: trouble in the Niger delta – photo essay pred 1 uro in 15 minutami Photographer Robin Hinsch travelled to the Niger delta, visiting the gas flaring sites, artisanal refineries, and meeting the communities living in the hugely polluted environments caused by the oil industryCovering 70,000 sq km (27,000 sq miles) of wetlands, the Niger delta was formed primarily by sediment deposition. It is home to more than 30 million people and 40 different ethnic groups, making up 7.5% of Nigeria’s total land mass. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australian man accused of trying to sell North Korean missiles overseas refused bail pred 1 uro in 27 minutami Sydney man Choi Han Chan allegedly used blackmarket contacts to broker deals in coal and iron, but also in weapons technologyA Sydney man charged over allegations he was a sanctions-busting “economic agent” of the North Korean regime attempting to sell ballistic missiles overseas has been refused bail.Choi Han Chan, 60, is the first person ever charged under Australia’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (Prevention of Proliferation) Act. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
China's quarterly economic growth sinks to 26-year low amid US trade war pred 1 uro in 56 minutami The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6% in the three months ending in SeptemberChina’s economic growth sank to a 26-year low in the latest quarter amid pressure from a trade war with Washington, adding to a deepening slump that is weighing on global growth.The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6% in the three months ending in September, down from the previous quarter’s 6.2%, data showed on Friday. It was the weakest growth since China started reporting data by quarters in 1993. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
The future of burial: inside Jerusalem's hi-tech underground necropolis pred 2 urama in 15 minutami With a dire shortage of land for graves, the holy city is reviving an ancient custom of underground burial – with lift access, LED lighting and golf buggiesCool air from deep inside the mountain lightly wafts through cavernous arched tunnels. Along the walls of the subterranean passages, rows of human-sized chambers have been dug into the rock. It is unmistakably a catacomb.Yet this mass tomb is not a relic of the Roman empire. It was made with huge electric diggers, and the walls are lined with concrete. People will enter by lift, and those with limited mobility will be able to use a golf buggy to traverse the necropolis. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Up to 90% of 10-year-olds in world's poorest countries struggle to read pred 2 urama in 15 minutami World Bank targets ‘learning poverty’ as research shows major shortfall in basic reading skills among least privileged childrenNine out of 10 children in the world’s poorest countries are unable to read a basic book by the age of 10 – a situation mirrored in reverse in rich countries, where only 9% cannot do so by the same age.Data compiled by the World Bank and the UN also shows that when low- and middle-income countries are taken together – a total of 135 states – more than half of all children cannot read a simple text at 10 years old. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
'Betrayal? Ridiculous': Northern Ireland ready to move on from Brexit pred 2 urama in 16 minutami Many unionists are angry but widespread public disorder over deal seems unlikelyThe last time Downing Street foisted a deal on Northern Ireland’s unionists, the backlash was swift and bitter. Hundreds of thousands poured on to the streets to protest. A mob punched and kicked the secretary of state outside Belfast city hall. They hit him with a union jack-draped flagpole, grappled him into a headlock and chanted, “Traitor, traitor, traitor.”It was 1985 and Margaret Thatcher had signed the Anglo-Irish agreement giving Dublin a say in Northern Ireland’s affairs. It took burly bodyguards to save her secretary of state, Tom King, from the mob’s wrath. Demonstrations, strikes and civil disobedience raged for months. “We say, ‘Never, never, never, never!’” Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist party leader, bellowed to a crowd. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
