The renowned German classical violinist Christian Tetzlaff was blunt in explaining why he and his quartet have cancelled a summer tour of the US. “There seems to be a quietness or denial about what’s going on,” Tetzlaff said, describing his horror at the authoritarian polices of Donald Trump and the response of US elites to … Read more
Lawyers for the former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte have demanded that he be returned to Manila in a petition filed to the supreme court, as victims of the former leaders’ bloody “war on drugs” expressed jubilation. Duterte, who was flown to The Hague on Tuesday night to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation … Read more
New Zealand police are launching a fresh operation in the rugged North Island wilderness to track down a fugitive father and his three children who have been missing for more than three years. Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into a remote area of Waikato with his children Ember, thought to be now aged … Read more
More than half of the increase in disability benefits is due to more mental health claims, according to research. Since the pandemic, the number of working-age adults in England and Wales paid disability benefits has increased by nearly 1 million people to 2.9 million in 2024, with 7.5% of 16-64 year olds claiming. A report … Read more
Last week, Niti Aayog member Arvind Virmani said in an interview that while employment is increasing, real wages for regular salaried jobs have not kept up with inflation over the last seven years. Real wages refer to the income a worker earns that is adjusted for inflation. They reflect actual purchasing power. An analysis of … Read more
The US Department of Education intends to lay off nearly half of its workforce. The layoffs of 1,300 people were announced by the department on Tuesday and described by the education secretary, Linda McMahon, as a “significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system”. In a post on X, McMahon said: … Read more
Victory move: Friedrich Merz with supporters at the party headquarters in Berlin on Sunday, after the national election. | Photo Credit: MARTIN MEISSNER The February 23 parliamentary poll in Germany produced several outcomes, the prominent being a highly fractured verdict. No single political formation’s vote share crossed the 30% mark, though the Christian Democratic Union … Read more
Ukraine said it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, as the US announced it would immediately lift its restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing after high-stakes talks in Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump said he now hoped Vladimir Putin would reciprocate. If the Russian president did, it would … Read more
The public display of human remains in the UK, including the ancient Egyptian mummies in the British Museum, is offensive and should be stopped, according to a group of MPs. A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR) said it should become an offence to sell ancestral remains or publicly display them … Read more
The rollout of electric vehicle chargers across Britain is “patchy”, behind deadline and ignores the needs of disabled drivers, the parliamentary spending watchdog has found. A report published by the public accounts committee (PAC) warned that the charging points needed to give drivers confidence for the switch to EVs were still lacking, particularly on Britain’s … Read more