As Michelle Obama enters the final month of the global book tour for her memoir, Becoming, it would be remiss to comment on book sales – 10m since its November publication and growing – without discussing the optics of the tour itself. Most notably what she wore. This week, in Paris, that culminated in a…
Month: April 2019
Uber and Lyft drivers say apps are short-changing wages while raising fares
Ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft have taken more than 11 billion people for a ride in their relatively short life. And yet the two companies have yet to make a cent in profits. Now, as the companies go public, some drivers think they may have spotted one way the companies plan to close that gap:…
Pubs, disco and fighting Nazis: how Leeds nurtured British post-punk
In the late 1970s, a small group of art students at Leeds University created a pivotal hotbed of radical post-punk. Gang of Four’s jerky-punky-funky music would influence bands as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Massive Attack. Together with the jaggedly romantic Mekons and the slightly lesser-known Delta 5 (and, initially, the early…
Extinction Rebellion stages youth protest at Heathrow airport
Youth activists have taken the Extinction Rebellion protests to Heathrow on the fifth day of action, demonstrating beside the main roundabout on the road to the airport. The activists, all born after 1990, unfurled a banner asking: “Are we the the last generation?” as dozens of police prevented them from blocking the road. The protesters…
New York City unveils ambitious plan for local steps to tackle climate change
New York City has approved an ambitious plan to combat climate change by forcing thousands of large buildings to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation passed on Thursday by the city council puts caps on carbon emissions for buildings over 25,000 sq ft – requiring a 40% overall cut in their emissions by 2030….
Blackstone CEO blames gap between rich and poor on income ‘insufficiency’
Income “insufficiency”, not inequality, is to blame for the widening gap between rich and poor, private equity titan Steve Schwarzman said on Thursday, becoming the latest billionaire to publicly worry about the issue. The CEO of Blackstone and former Trump adviser outlined what he called a Marshall plan for the middle class on cable channel…
Toddler dragged by dingo from Fraser Island campsite has fractured skull
A toddler is in hospital with a fractured skull and cuts to his head and neck after a dingo dragged him from his bed on Queensland’s Fraser Island. The boy’s family were camping in a remote area of the island – known as K’gari to the local Butchalla people – on Thursday night when two…
Tunisia holds UN Libya arms trafficking expert in jail
A UN-appointed expert on breaches of the Libyan arms embargo has been arrested and kept in a Tunisian jail for nearly a month. Moncef Kartas, a Tunisian-German dual national, was arrested on 26 March. He is one of six UN experts appointed to investigate breaches of the UN-imposed embargo on arms to Libya first introduced…
Extinction Rebellion: trio face a month in custody as judge denies bail
Three people have been put on remand for a month over an Extinction Rebellion protest in which activists climbed on top of a train at Canary Wharf station in east London. Cathy Eastburn, 51, from south London, Mark Ovland, 35, from Somerton in Somerset, and Luke Watson, 29, from Manuden in Essex, were charged with…
Trump claims ‘game over’ on Mueller report as Democrats say game on
Donald Trump’s claims of vindication after the release of Robert Mueller’s report on Thursday were quickly drowned out by furious Democrats, who pointed to a wealth of evidence the president attempted to obstruct justice and demanded fresh hearings into potentially criminal conduct. Republican hopes of drawing a line under the affair were dashed as the…