A federal government campaign to vaccinate more than 40 million children under five against polio in Pakistan has been suspended following a series of attacks on workers and police over the past week. On 23 April a police officer responsible for protecting polio workers was gunned down in Bannu. The same day, a polio worker…
Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG
Berlin police braced for violent May Day protests
German police have said they are bracing themselves for violent protests in the capital on 1 May, a traditional day for leftwing demonstrations. As many as 20,000 activists are expected to concentrate their protests on the eastern district of Friedrichshain, railing against the spread of gentrification in the part of Berlin where the majority of…
Authorities thwart US veteran’s plan to bomb California white supremacist rally
A terror plot by an army veteran who converted to Islam and planned to bomb a white supremacist rally in southern California as retribution for the New Zealand mosque attacks was thwarted, federal prosecutors said Monday. Mark Domingo, 26, an infantryman who served a combat stint in Afghanistan, was arrested by federal agents Friday while…
We are not gay, but we secretly kiss and sleep in the same bed
The dilemma I am a 30-year-old man and I had, until last year, identified as a straight man. One night, after an office dinner party, I went to my colleague’s flat. We were good mates then, but nothing more. We are both architects and I went to see some of his latest work. He offered…
Extinction Rebellion rushes activists’ handbook This Is Not a Drill into print
Former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are among the contributors to a forthcoming handbook about how to become an Extinction Rebellion activist, which will feature instructions on everything from organising roadblocks to dealing with arrest. As 65,000 copies of Swedish student Greta Thunberg’s manifesto Rejoignez-nous (Join Us) hit French…
Sri Lankan police raid HQ of Islamic group suspected of attacks
Sri Lankan police have raided the headquarters of a hardline Islamist group founded by the suspected ringleader behind the Easter suicide bombings of churches and hotels. It comes as a ban on face coverings is due to come into force on Monday. Armed police in the town of Kattankudy searched the headquarters of the National…
Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting
The Trump administration faced fresh scrutiny on Sunday over the president’s fraught record on white nationalism in the wake of a suspected hate crime at a synagogue in California on Saturday, which left one woman dead and three injured. Trump unequivocally condemned the shooting, telling a rally on Saturday evening in Wisconsin: “Our entire nation…
New Zealand prisons spent $1m on slushie machines to cool tensions
New Zealand’s department of corrections has been criticised for spending more than NZ$1m (£500,000) on slushie machines in a bid to reduce tensions with inmates during last year’s heatwave. Information obtained by the opposition National party revealed that 193 of the machines were bought as a preventative measure after a record-breaking 2017/2018 summer. An increase…
‘It’s urgent’: controversial history France in the World comes to America
One Monday in April, the editors of France in the World were preparing to launch their book in America. Then, as the world watched, French history happened. Notre Dame caught fire. Amid global grief and shock, billions were pledged for restoration and Emmanuel Macron vowed work would be done within five years. But, equally swiftly,…
Oliver North forced out as NRA president amid bitter power struggle
Click:Geotextile manufacturer Oliver North appeared to be heading out of the National Rifle Association amid a dramatic and fast-developing power struggle at the top of the influential gun rights organization. North announced during the annual NRA meeting in Indianapolis he had been told he could not seek re-election as president, ending a brief one-year tenure….