A mural of the journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Derry last month, has been unveiled in her home city of Belfast. The image, created by Emma Blake and 21 other artists, covers much of the city’s Kent Street as part of the Hit the North street art festival. The picture is painted…
Category: News
‘There are so many biases’: inside the American foster care system
Sixteen-year-old Dasani sits in a room, his hands lightly twisting his hair. Breathing labored, he recounts the memories of the streets of Chicago to his lawyer, Patricia Soung, and case worker, Lammy. While he doesn’t say what he is seeing, it is later revealed he witnessed the murder of his mother as a five- or…
Rio governor branded a show-off after tweeting video during police operation
Rio de Janeiro’s new governor, Wilson Witzel, is facing criticism after tweeting a video from a helicopter while observing a police operation in which shots were reportedly fired by the forces. According to one local councillor, police snipers were onboard the helicopter during the mission over drug-gang controlled areas in the seaside town of Angra…
Scientology cruise ship still quarantined as passengers are tested for measles
A Church of Scientology cruise ship docked in the Caribbean island of Curaçao will remain under quarantine until government authorities determine how many of the ship’s 318 passengers are infected with measles. Health officials have taken 277 blood samples from those onboard the ship and sent them to the Netherlands. The results are expected to…
Table for one: how eating alone is radically changing our diets
Eating alone has become a defining feature of modern life: the breakfasting commuter; the household members with conflicting schedules; the widower who receives few visitors. Almost a third of British adults are eating alone “most or all of the time”, according to the latest Wellbeing Index, compiled with data from more than 8,000 people for…
Nxivm former members to break vow of silence by testifying against cult leader
It was called “collateral” – nude photos and other embarrassing material that female members of an upstate New York self-improvement group turned over to their “masters” to guarantee obedience, silence and sexual fealty to the organization’s spiritual leader, Keith Raniere. Now some former members of the group, called Nxivm (pronounced nexium) are poised to break…
Sudden US threat against Iran adds to Middle East volatility
John Bolton’s sudden, unexplained threat to use “unrelenting force” against Tehran has raised US-Iran tensions to a new high. But its impact is not confined to these two countries. Like a lethal poison, their mutual enmity is seeping through the veins of an already unstable region that has experienced dangerously high levels of volatility in…
Markets slide after Trump threatens to dramatically increase China tariffs
Financial markets around the world posted declines on Monday after Donald Trump risked jeopardising trade talks with China by unexpectedly saying he would raise tariffs further on Chinese goods this week. Stocks in Europe and the US fell following a sharp retreat in China, as investors were caught off guard by the president’s tweets accusing…
Brunei says it will not enforce gay sex death penalty after backlash
Brunei’s Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, has extended a moratorium on the death penalty to incoming legislation on punishments for gay sex, after a global backlash led by celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John. The country provoked an outcry when it rolled out its interpretation of Islamic laws, or sharia, on 3 April, punishing sodomy,…
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…