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Hong Kong legal system should reflect China’s will, says official

Statement seen as warning to judiciary to uphold Chinese interests or risk losing its independence

Hong Kong’s judicial system should reflect the will and interests of the Chinese nation, a senior official overseeing the national security law has said.

The comments have been interpreted as a clear instruction from Beijing that Hong Kong’s once-vaunted court system is now expected to operate in the interests of the central government in Beijing, rather than the rule of law.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3hiyVWs

Climate crimes: a new series investigating big oil’s role in the climate crisis

A new Guardian series examines attempts to hold the fossil-fuel industry accountable for the havoc they have created

As the impacts of the climate crisis multiply across the US, from intensified drought and wildfires in the west to stronger hurricanes in the east, a question is echoing ever louder: who should be held responsible?

According to an unprecedented number of lawsuits filed by US cities and states that are currently making their way through the court system, the answer is fossil fuel companies.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2URaN5Q

The climate crisis is a crime that should be prosecuted | Mark Hertsgaard

Fossil fuel companies lied for decades about climate change, and humanity is paying the price. Shouldn’t those lies be central to the public narrative?

Every person on Earth today is living in a crime scene.

This crime has been going on for decades. We see its effects in the horrific heat and wildfires unfolding this summer in the American west; in the mega-storms that were so numerous in 2020 that scientists ran out of names for them; in the global projections that sea levels are set to rise by at least 20ft. Our only hope is to slow this inexorable ascent so our children may figure out some way to cope.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2TodZoZ

‘Shaking and bleeding’: plea for protection after violence on Batley and Spen campaign trail

Candidates and canvassers have been heckled and manhandled in byelection described as the ‘worst ever’

“This is the worst election I have ever seen in my life,” says Dr Abdulrehman Rajpura. The 77-year-old retired GP and former chairman of the local mosque had just hung up the phone to an officer from West Yorkshire police, pleading for protection for himself and his home.

On Sunday afternoon Rajpura was with a group of Labour activists in Batley when they were physically attacked and pelted with eggs, he told the Guardian.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Tff3vs

I bought Grimsby Town FC to help renew the place I love | Jason Stockwood

Too many football teams have become unmoored from their local community, and I want to change that in my home town

When the sociologist Michael Young coined the idea of a meritocracy in 1958, he imagined a dystopian future where those who had succeeded on the basis of their inherited advantages would instead congratulate themselves on having done so as a result of their skills and capabilities. In Young’s satirical essay, the elite believed their success was down to individual merit, while a disenfranchised underclass were considered deserving of their social position. Young’s term is now frequently used with a straight face by those who understand neither its original negative connotations, nor what a travesty it is to suggest that merit is the primary factor determining a person’s life chances today.

For a long time, I told myself that my achievements were the product of the meritocracy I was born into, where hard work was both a necessity and a sufficient condition of success. I grew up in Grimsby, and like many entrepreneurial origin stories, mine began at school. To supplement my nonexistent allowance, I sold Opium (knock-off perfume, before you fall off your chair). My teachers called the police, and having spent the morning in the classroom, I sat out the afternoon in a police cell. Thirty years later, I had gone from working on the docks in Grimsby to dealing with private equity investors in New York as a tech CEO; from waking up in a house with ice inside the windows to a home with neighbours from “on the telly” and in the Premier League; from being the son of a single mum who worked three jobs to keep four sons fed and clothed, to becoming a parent who can afford to provide almost anything for my own children.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3y1gQD2

UK house prices rise at fastest rate since 2004 amid stamp duty rush

Nationwide says all areas of the country recorded growth, with London prices increasing by 7.3%

House prices in the UK are growing at the fastest annual rate since late 2004, with all regions picking up, according to Britain’s biggest building society.

The average price of a UK home rose 0.7% in June from May to £245,432, taking the annual rate to 13.4% from 10.9% – marking the highest annual growth rate since November 2004, said Nationwide building society in its monthly report.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3jna7PR

Cambridge hospital’s mask upgrade appears to eliminate Covid-19 risk to staff

Use of FFP3 respirators on coronavirus units at Addenbrooke’s ‘may have cut ward-based infection to zero’

An NHS hospital that upgraded the type of face masks used by staff on Covid-19 wards recorded a dramatic fall of up to 100% in hospital-acquired coronavirus infections among those workers, research has indicated.

Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge upgraded the masks from fluid resistant surgical masks (FRSMs) to filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators, with the change made in late December in response to its own staff testing data.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3wdpKw9

England expects? Facing Germany again sets nerves jangling

Gareth Southgate’s team have looked strong but any game with Tuesday’s Euro 2020 opponents brings up past heartaches

It is a fixture rich in history, controversy, tears and trauma and at 5pm on Tuesday will cause a nation to stop and brace themselves to go through it all over again. England v Germany is upon us and, make no mistake, it matters.

Hence the nerves that have been shredded since last Wednesday, when Germany’s 2-2 draw with Hungary in Munich confirmed them as England’s opponents in the last-16 of the European Championship. Joachim Löw’s side are far from the force that won the World Cup seven years ago but they are still Germany and for a generation of England fans that automatically leads to a sense of dread.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2U8Wj0T

As we lose respect for our politicians, democracy itself is taking a hit | Polly Toynbee

Matt Hancock had to go. But the vitriolic byelection in Batley and Spen shows the dangers of vilifying MPs

A senior politician plunges Icarus-like out of the sky – a reminder that few careers carry such high risk. Why would anyone do it?

On the first rung of that political ladder, Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater faces the electors of Batley and Spen on Thursday. No one knows the hazards better than she does, standing for the West Yorkshire seat where her sister Jo Cox was brutally murdered. This campaign has turned unexpectedly vicious and abusive. And on top of that we’ve seen the explosive entry of George Galloway, now leading his renamed Workers Party of Britain, divisively targeting the “Muslim” vote.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3xY1HSW

The children’s graves at residential schools in Canada evoke the massacres of Indigenous Australians | William Pengarte Tilmouth

Until there is truth-telling in Australia about the colonisation process, reconciliation remains superficial

First Nations people across Australia are mourning with Canadian First Nations families as evidence mounts of hundreds of deaths of children at residential schools.

We are standing with our Canadian First Nations brothers and sisters on these recent horrific discoveries.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3hgmydt

UK Covid live news: minister brushes aside claims PM does not care about standards by stressing he’s popular

Latest updates: Robert Buckland dismisses questions about Boris Johnson’s commitment to ethical standards in government after Matt Hancock resignation as ‘just talk’

In his interview with Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, the Today programme’s Nick Robinson raised the suggestion that Boris Johnson does not care about standards in government. Regular readers probably don’t need reminding of the evidence to support this but, just in case they do, here is a summary of how, since he has been prime minister, Johnson has systematically ignored five of watchdog institutions in place to ensure government is conducted ethically.

Independent adviser on minister’s interests

Here is some reaction to Robert Buckland’s Today interview (see 9.25am) from journalists and commentators on Twitter.

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

In-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is drowning as he tries to defend Johnson’s failure to sack Hancock, Jenrick, Patel, etc. His voice betrays a sinking feeling @BBCr4today

1st class interview on govt's handling of Hancock affair by @bbcnickrobinson on #bbcr4today... and frankly ridiculous of normally top-guy @RobertBuckland to say the questions weren't quite legit. Ministers should eagerly answer questions that are definitely on public's lips too

"The truth is a lot of people just don't like the PM, they can't get over the fact that he is popular in the country."

Robert Buckland defends @BorisJohnson. Those remarks seemed aimed at critics within the Tory party as much as those outside it.

On @bbcr4today Robert Buckland had just blamed Matt Hancock’s appointment of his lover to an oversight position on civil servants.

Robert Buckland, a man of the law, does not appear to understand the point about the prime minister being willing to defend standards in public life. It’s nothing to do with how popular or unpopular Johnson is. He should edit his handlers’ brief

Ridiculous line from Robert Buckland to say he’s “amazed” Radio 4 is asking “not legitimate” questions about the Health Secretary who resigned in disgrace only 36 hours ago with loads of still unanswered questions about probity in public life. Don't take the public for fools.

Justice secretary, Robert Buckland, decent enough so far as I know, struggles on @BBCr4today to defend Johnson’s refusal to enforce rules and ethics against cabinet misconduct - not least himself. Boris suffers further loss of authority this weekend . How many nine lives left?

Extraordinary to hear the Justice Secretary - of all people - dismiss questions about rule-breaking on @BBCr4today on the grounds that the Conservatives won "a resounding victory" at the local elections.

So why have rules for ministers at all? Does anything go if you're winning?

Extraordinary #r4today interview with Robert Buckland by @bbcnickrobinson questioned about standards in public life. Govt argument is they don’t matter to the majority, people vote for us anyway.

-Appalling

One minute @robertBuckland says Johnson popular. The next that people don’t like him and hence tough questions. To hear a Justice Secretary debase himself in defending various breaches of law/ministerial standards further undermines credibility of the government and the country.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3hauEEp

UN calls for end of ‘impunity’ for police violence against black people

Report launched in aftermath of George Floyd murder cites example of 2018 death of Kevin Clarke in UK

A UN report that analysed racial justice in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd has called on member states including the UK to end the “impunity” enjoyed by police officers who violate the human rights of black people.

The UN human rights office analysis of 190 deaths across the world led to the report’s damning conclusion that law enforcement officers are rarely held accountable for killing black people due in part to deficient investigations and an unwillingness to acknowledge the impact of structural racism.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3A4loKO

How developed countries are vaccinating their way out of the pandemic

Developed countries are seeing the benefits of quickly vaccinating their populations, but concerns remain about the unequal share of global vaccine supplies

New analysis by the Guardian has confirmed that a speedy vaccination campaign pays off when it comes to escaping the worst of the pandemic.

As the chart below shows, countries such as Israel, the UK and the US have all seen deaths decline as vaccination coverage extended to the most vulnerable in their societies.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3heeCcB

Why do writers need agents? To keep track of the rejections

That 10% fee buys a novelist like me more than the chance of a big book deal – from a hand with the DIY to a shoulder to cry on after yet another knockback

A few weeks after the sudden death of my agent, Deborah Rogers, in 2014 the colleague deputed to take me on phoned. “I’ve found something in Deborah’s desk.”

“Yes?”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3A0QuTH

We’ve got the first Alzheimer’s drug in decades. But is it a breakthrough?

Aducanumab’s approval masks the fact that we’re still very far from sure what causes the most common form of dementia

In June 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first Alzheimer’s drug in 18 years: aducanumab (also known by its brand name Aduhelm). At the time of writing, the drug is also under review in the EU, Japan and several other countries.

For the roughly 30 million people worldwide who live with Alzheimer’s, this is unprecedented news, and must seem like cause for optimism. Unlike existing drugs, which only feebly suppress cognitive symptoms, aducanumab attempts to get at the underlying cause of the disease, to stop and cure Alzheimer’s.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3dkJDuw