Democrats announce support for revised North America trade pact
The Democrats have announced their support for a modified North America trade pact, handing Donald Trump a victory on a past campaign pledge after months of negotiations. Nancy Pelosi, the most senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, said that her party would back the new agreement after changes which they lobbied for were made. …
How the demand for summary justice for rapists will backfire on India’s poorest citizens
The gruesome rape and murder of a 26-year-old woman, within the city limits of Hyderabad on November 27, has set off a furious debate in India on crimes against women. There are growing demands for summary justice, including public lynching of rapists. Have people lost faith in the law and in the criminal justice system?…
Walmart apologises over festive jumper showing Father Christmas with cocaine
Click:fugitive emission gate valve Walmart has apologised for selling a seasonal jumper featuring images of Father Christmas and cocaine. The jumper depicted a deranged-looking Father Christmas, three lines of a white substance, and the words "Let it snow". A description accompanying the gift said: "We all know how snow works. It’s white, powdery and the…
White farmers quietly returning to seized land in Zimbabwe as Mugabe’s shadow wanes
Nearly two decades after Robert Mugabe began his ruinous purge of white Zimbabwean farmers, hundreds are returning to the land as tenants of the black beneficiaries of his land seizures. It may not be the triumphant return some had yearned for, but across central Zimbabwe’s three main crop-growing provinces as many as 800 younger…
Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at UN court to defend Myanmar against charge of Rohingya genocide
Myanmar’s de facto leader and one-time symbol of human rights, Aung San Suu Kyi, listened impassively on Tuesday to accounts of military atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya minority as a high-profile case charging her country with genocide opened at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Among the accusations of sickening barbarity were the…
Grandmother killer whales ‘babysit’ children to help them survive
Grandmother killer whales help their grandchildren survive by ‘babysitting’, a study has found, in the first proof of such behaviour outside the human race. Elder female orcas look after the offspring in particular at times when food is scarce and the mothers must go hunting, according to the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy…
The history of Hanukkah: How the ‘miracle of the oil’ sparked the Jewish Festival of Lights
Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival also known as the Festival of Lights, see Jews around the world light one candle on a nine-branched menorah – or ‘hanukiah candelabrum’ – each day. The holiday begins on the 25th day of Kislev, which is the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. In the western calendar,…
New Zealand volcano: Fears of another major eruption block recovery efforts
Worsening conditions on a volcanic island in New Zealand have prevented authorities from recovering victims of a huge eruption that killed six people, left eight presumed dead and seriously injured 30. Scientists have warned the chances of another eruption at Whakaari/White Island within the next 24 hours is growing. At a media conference on Wednesday, Graham Leonard, senior volcanologist from…
Chilean air force plane disappears with 38 people onboard
A military plane with 38 people onboard has disappeared on its way to Antarctica, Chile’s air force has confirmed. Radio contact was lost with the plane on Monday evening as it flew to a military base. Chile’s air force has declared an alert and sent out search and rescue teams. The C-130 Hercules was carrying…
Activists storm office of Malta’s prime minister demanding resignation over murder investigation
The sister of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was involved in a tense stand-off with Maltese police on Tuesday after a group of protesters stormed into the prime minister’s office in Valletta, the capital, to demand his immediate resignation. The 30 protesters were trapped inside the prime minister’s office, an imposing stone palace built by the…