47 h. ago Manchin urges lawmakers to stop acting in ‘attack mode’ amid political violence

Former senator’s comments echo recent call from Erika Kirk that ‘everyone has responsibility’ to tone down hatredPoliticians should “calm down” and stop approaching one another in “attack mode” amid the US’s climate of political violence, former US senator Joe Manchin said on Sunday.The West Virginia independent who generally caucused with Senate Democrats echoed similar comments made at a town hall Saturday by Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot to death in September. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ‘Rebranded plantations’: how empire shaped luxury Caribbean tourism

Research shows that the British colonial wealth extraction system still influences the region’s tourist industryLuxury tourism in the Caribbean sells a kind of timelessness. A paradise of sun, sea and sand. But to step off the cruise ship or away from the all-inclusive resort is to see a more complex picture: a history of colonialism and a future of climate devastation. New research from the Common Wealth thinktank maps how, over the 400 years since the first English ships arrived in Barbados, empire engineered a system of wealth extraction that shapes the tourism economies of today.Sir Hilary Beckles, Barbadian historian and chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, describes Barbados as the birthplace of British slave society. Between 1640 and 1807, Britain transported about 387,000 enslaved west Africans to the island. Extraordinary violence, from whippings to amputations and executions, were a regular feature of their lives. On the Codrington Plantation in the mid-18th centur...

Economics

6 d. ago Chancellor’s Budget to help bring down inflation from spring, say Bank officials

Clare Lombardelli, deputy governor of the central bank, pointed towards the continued easing of inflation on Tuesday.

Economics

9 d. ago Trump slams ‘lack of loyalty’ after pardoned Democrat says he won’t change party

Henry Cuellar launched House re-election bid as Democrat days after Trump pardoned him over bribery chargesDays after issuing him a pardon, Donald Trump criticized US House member Henry Cuellar of Texas for deciding to run for re-election as a Democrat.Trump pardoned Cuellar and the congressman’s wife on Wednesday as they faced bribery charges. They were alleged to have accepted thousands of dollars from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank in exchange for advancing their interests. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The US will restrict visas for Nigerians and their families involved in violence against Christians

The State Department says the United States will restrict visas for Nigerians and their families involved in mass killings and violence against Christians in the West African country

Economics

2 w. ago Photos capture West Bank olive harvest as villagers fear more violence by Israeli settlers

The olive harvest that was marked by violence is complete in the West Bank, but fear still hangs over many Palestinian villages, where residents keep constant watch for armed Israeli settlers.

Politics

2 w. ago It's not just Gaza. From the West Bank to Syria and Lebanon, Israel's onslaught continues | Nesrine Malik

Broken ceasefires, bombing, ground incursions and mounting deaths: Israeli imperialism is now expanding across the regionIt is clear now that the ceasefire in Gaza is only a “reducefire”. The onslaught continues. There are near-daily attacks on the territory. On a single day at the end of October, almost 100 Palestinians were killed. On 19 November, 32 were killed. On 23 November, 21. And on it goes. Since the ceasefire, more than 300 have been killed and almost 1,000 injured. Those numbers will rise. The real shift is that the ceasefire has reduced global attention and scrutiny. Meanwhile, Israel’s emerging blueprint becomes clearer: bloody domination not only in Gaza, but across Palestine and the wider region.A “dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal”, is how Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described this post-ceasefire period. Israeli authorities have reduced attacks and allowed some aid into Gaza, she said, but “the world must not...

Politics

2 w. ago Tim Dowling: how did I end up on a helpline for the old and befuddled?

The online banker sounds concerned, as if he’s trying to keep me on the line until the ambulance arrivesCertain contractual terms oblige my oldest sons to periodically appear at their places of employment. On rare occasions they both go in on the same day. On this particular day, my wife and the dog are also out. I’m alone in the house.I’m lingering over lunch – because, why not? – when my phone pings in my pocket. It’s a text from my bank. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Hundreds of children separated from families while fleeing violence in Sudan's west Darfur

Hundreds of children have arrived in a Sudanese refugee camp without their families as thousands of people have fled violence in western Darfur

Society

2 w. ago The bird people of Lake Manchar: surviving in a vanishing oasis

The Mohana of Pakistan’s Sindh province once thrived on the lake but pollution and drought have caused the fragile ecosystem to collapse, along with their way of lifeAt the mouth of Lake Manchar, gentle lapping disturbs the silence. A small boat cuts through the water, propelled by a bamboo pole scraping the muddy bottom of the canal.Bashir Ahmed manoeuvres his frail craft with agility. His slender boat is more than just a means of transport. It is the legacy of a people who live to the rhythm of water: the Mohana. They have lived for generations on the waters of Lake Manchar in Sindh province, a vast freshwater mirror covering nearly 250 sq km. The lake, once the largest in Pakistan, was long an oasis of life. Now, it is dying.Bashir Ahmed in his boat on the lake, next to simple huts built on top of the right bank outfall drain Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Netanyahu convenes cabinet on settler violence in the West Bank that continues unabated

Israel’s prime minister has met with top security officials to assess a rising tide of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank

Events

3 w. ago Yvette Cooper: Israeli efforts to tackle West Bank violence ‘insufficient’

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons that ‘stability in the West Bank is essential to any sustainable peace’ in the Middle East.

Politics