Month: May 2017

White House signals that the U.S. is likely to exit Paris climate deal
“President Trump is still undecided but leaning toward withdrawing the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, White House officials said Wednesday, a move that would honor a campaign vow but risk rupturing global alliances and disappointing both environmentalists and corporate titans…” (The Washington Post)

Trump administration moves to return Russian compounds in Maryland and New York
“The Trump administration is moving toward handing back to Russia two diplomatic compounds, near New York City and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, that its officials were ejected from in late December as punishment for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election…” (The Washington Post)

Corbyn confronts Rudd over spending cuts in fractious TV debate
“Jeremy Corbyn challenged Amber Rudd over the impact of the government’s spending cuts on Wednesday night, as he sought to exploit the cracks in the Conservatives’ general election campaign with his last-minute decision to take part in a live leaders’ debate on BBC1…” (The Guardian)

UK government sued for third time over illegal air pollution from diesels
“Environmental lawyers are taking the government to the high court for a third time in a bid to remove “major flaws” from minister’s plans to tackle the UK’s illegal levels of air pollution…” (The Guardian)

Yemen facing total collapse as war continues, UN warns
“The United Nations humanitarian chief has said Yemen is facing “total social, economic and institutional collapse”” (BBC – Middle East)

Russia fires cruise missiles at IS targets in Syria
“A Russian warship and submarine in the Mediterranean have fired four cruise missiles at so-called Islamic State (IS) positions in central Syria…” (BBC – Middle East)

Police target teen gang in Castle Hill, Bad Machine Brotherhood
“HILLS police are putting the squeeze on a youth gang operating in Castle Hill called the Bad Machine Brotherhood…” (news.com.au)

Malaysia Airlines: A man threatening to ‘blow up’ a plane is the latest in a long line of incidents
“A MAN threatening to “blow up” a Malaysia Airlines flight en-route to Kuala Lumpur from Melbourne is just the latest in a string of episodes to strike the beleaguered airline in recent years…” (news.com.au)

Filmmaker wins for third time at Cannes
“Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco has won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for the third time…” (Mexico News Daily)

Mexican surfer wins world championship
“18-year-old’s win gave Mexico its first individual medal at the World Surfing Games…” (Mexico News Daily)

Scientists Have Used CRISPR to Slow The Spread of Cancer Cells
“CRISPR-Cas9 is the gene editing tool that promised to change the world.

In the short time since its discovery, it has snipped HIV out of human immune cells, sparked a biomedical race between the US and China to work toward bioengineered humans, and now scientists have used CRISPR-Cas9 to slow the spread of cancer…” (Science Alert)

Strange, Violent Dreams Could Be Trying to Warn Us About Future Brain Disease
“Researchers have found an unexpected link between strange, physically violent dreaming and the risk of neurological disease, such as Parkinson’s and dementia, later in life, and say they could act as an early warning sign decades before diagnosis…” (Science Alert)

 

Photo: joelbeeb [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

These Are The Lives Cut Tragically Short At The Ariana Grande Concert In Manchester
“The victims of the bombing at Monday’s Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, include an 8-year-old girl “loved by everyone” and an 18-year-old who revered Grande and whose friends called her a “true ray of sunshine [who] loved everyone for who they were…” (The Huffington Post)

Trump Praised Philippines President Duterte For Drug War That Has Killed 9,000 People
“President Donald Trump opened a brief April phone call with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte by commending the strongman’s bloody war on drugs, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post and the The Intercept…” (The Huffington Post)

Salman Ramadan Abedi named by police as Manchester Arena attacker
“The man who murdered 22 people and injured 59 others has been named as Salman Ramadan Abedi, a Mancunian of Libyan descent…” (The Guardian)

Roger Moore – Saint, Persuader and the suavest James Bond – dies aged 89“The much-loved English actor, who made his name on the small screen before taking on the mantle of 007, has passed away in Switzerland…” (The Guardian)

Saudi Arabia: radical Islam or reform?
“Relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have been tense since 11 September 2001, and were not improved by last month’s suicide bombings in the heart of Riyadh, which killed some 40 people, mostly residents in foreign compounds. Saudi rulers are facing a radicalised Islamist current in society and also demands for reform within the country…” (Le Monde diplomatique)

Tunisia makes a pact with remembering its past
“The Truth and Dignity Commission is supposed to shed light on Tunisia’s human rights violations over nearly sixty years. But there’s already a desire to compromise…” (Le Monde diplomatique)

Retired senior Indian police officer denied entry to Canada at YVR
“Despite having visited Canada many times in the last 30 years, sometimes on official business, a former high-ranking Indian police officer was barred from entering Canada last week at Vancouver International Airport…” (Vancouver Sun)

Young girl dragged into water by sea lion wasn’t feeding animal, family says
“http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/sea-lion-girl-treated-for-mild-wound-wasnt-feeding-animal-that-attacked-her-family-say…” (Vancouver Sun)

Brazil’s President Temer Vows to Not Resign Over Scandal
“SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – In the midst of a crisis that could oust him out of office, Brazil’s President Michel Temer told journalists he would not step down and that he had done nothing wrong, despite incriminating audio recordings being released to the public and thousands taking to the streets in protest…” (The Rio Times)

Market Plunges in Brazil, Dollar Surges Amidst Political Turmoil
“SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The U.S. dollar surged by 7.9 percent against the Brazilian real, as the country’s main stock market plummeted 8.8 percent on Thursday with the aftermath of the secret recordings showing that President Michel Temer approved of pay-off to a convicted politician for his silence…” (The Rio Times)

 

Photo: By Kalnroze – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

(Video) Trump in Riyadh: Controversy follows US president
“President Trump is one of the world’s most famous Twitter users – and that fact isn’t being forgotten during his trip.

In addition to his main address he’ll also make a short speech at a social media conference in Riyadh…” (Al Jazeera)

Riyadh summit discusses ways of rooting out terrorism
“US President Donald Trump, leaders and representatives of 55 Arab and Muslim-dominated countries kicked off their Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh on Sunday, focusing on unity in the fight against terrorism.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia was the first to address the summit, telling the gathering that Islam provided the best example for coexistence and “will always be the religion of mercy and coexistence…” (Al Jazeera)

Hassan Rohani Declared Winner Of Iran’s Presidential Vote
“President Hassan Rohani has been declared the outright winner with nearly all the ballots counted from Iran’s May 19 presidential election, a seemingly emphatic endorsement of the incumbent’s efforts to reengage internationally and seek modest reforms within Iran’s clerically dominated society…” (Payvand Iran News)

Scapegoating Iran Will Not Resolve Middle East Challenge
“During his Middle East trip, President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to pursue an ambitious list of objectives. Paramount among these is to strengthen regional cooperation in defeating the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) and Islamist terrorism in general. He will also try jump-starting the effort to build peace between Israel and the Palestinians that, if successful, could eliminate a major source of tensions in the region…”
(Payvand Iran News)

May school lunch cut ‘would hit 900,000 children of struggling families’
“About 900,000 children from struggling families will lose their right to free school lunches under a cut unveiled in the Conservative manifesto.

The total includes more than 600,000 young children recently defined as coming from “ordinary working families”, according to analysis for the Observer by the Education Policy Institute…” (The Guardian)

Theresa May under pressure over ‘dementia tax’ social care shakeup
“Theresa May is coming under pressure to drop or water down her controversial shakeup of social care that has been branded a “dementia tax”, amid warnings that it is unfair and could deter older people from seeking care…” (The Guardian)

The Kurds’ changing alliances
“The defence of Kobane has become a symbol of the struggle against IS. But Kurdistan remains deeply fragmented, and its divisions have grown wider even though there is now a common enemy…” (Le Monde diplomatique)

France’s Chinese citizens stand up for their rights
“There are over half a million people of Chinese origin in France, and they run 35,000 small businesses. The younger generation are so French that they’ve taken to protest…” (Le Monde diplomatique)

Right-wing protesters try to storm justice ministry over ‘hate speech law’
“Members of the right-wing Identitarian movement attempted to storm the German justice ministry in Berlin on Friday over a proposed law to fight hate speech on social media.
About 50 people from the right-wing, anti-immigrant movement gathered before the justice ministry in the afternoon and then tried to force their way into the building, according to police…” (The Local)

Merkel awards first integration prize to small town that took in extra refugees
“Altena, a town in western Germany, was on Wednesday honoured by Chancellor Angela Merkel for its achievements in integrating refugees. It was the first place to win the National Integration Prize, and received €10,000 for its efforts…” (The Local)

California Grid Smashes Record – Getting 67% of Energy From Renewables
“On 13 May 2017, California smashed through another renewable energy milestone as its largest grid, controlled by the California Independent System Operator (CISO), got 67.2 percent of its energy from renewables – not including hydropower or rooftop solar arrays…” (Science Alert)

Now Artificial Intelligence Is Inventing Sounds That Have Never Been Heard Before
“As well as beating us at board games, driving cars, and spotting cancer, artificial intelligence is now generating brand new sounds that have never been heard before, thanks to some advanced maths combined with samples from real instruments…” (Science Alert)