Skip to main content

Posts

The quiet Japanese island paradise on the frontline of growing Taiwan-China tensions

Yonaguni is a tourist hotspot – but its location just 100km from Taiwan means residents must wrestle with the creeping militarisation of their home In the minds of many Japanese people, Yonaguni is a sleepy paradise of crystal-clear sea and pristine beaches, where miniature horses graze on clifftops and empty roads dissect fields of sugar cane; where tourists dive with hammerhead sharks and marvel at the Ayamihabiru – the world’s largest Atlas moth. But this tiny island, located far closer to Taipei than Tokyo, now finds itself at the centre of regional tensions triggered by a new round of Chinese aggression towards Taiwan . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/MPorITH

Video shows Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs assaulting singer Cassie in 2016

Hotel surveillance cameras at InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles captured incident Combs had vehemently denied A newly released video shows Sean “Diddy” Combs manhandling and kicking singer Cassie Ventura – his former girlfriend – in plain view of hotel surveillance cameras in 2016, before the rapper, music producer and businessman rapidly settled a lawsuit that she brought against him this past November, according to footage exclusively obtained by CNN . The video in question illustrates in the most graphic nature possible one of the beatings alleged and described in Ventura’s lawsuit , which Combs had vehemently denied. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ba92CTt

David DePape, who bludgeoned Nancy Pelosi’s husband, sentenced to 30 years

DePape, a rightwing conspiracy theorist, broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home in 2022 and hit Paul Pelosi with a hammer David DePape, a rightwing conspiracy theorist who broke into Nancy Pelosi’s northern California home in 2022 and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. A federal jury convicted him of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in November 2023 , just over a year after the attack in the former House speaker’s San Francisco home. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YrEtPeh

Baby Reindeer: MP asks Netflix to prove ‘convicted stalker’ allegation

Firm asked to back up claims about Fiona Harvey after executive’s appearance before select committee An MP has asked Netflix to provide evidence that the woman who inspired the character Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer is a “convicted stalker”, claiming that a record of her conviction has not yet been found. Netflix’s director of public policy, Benjamin King, told the culture media and sport committee on 8 May that the show was “the true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist, Richard Gadd, suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/sSUg2yt

The chancellor should ditch the NatWest retail share offer. It’s not needed

The Treasury has been quietly selling off the government’s stake at ever-higher prices on a rising market. Why mess with that? The government’s plan to sell shares in NatWest to the general public is so advanced that the odds on the chancellor pulling the plug on a pet project are slim. Investment bankers from Barclays and Goldman Sachs are doing their well-remunerated stuff, and M&C Saatchi is knocking up some adverts. The go-ahead for a rah-rah pre-election retail share offer is expected any week now. In a rational world, though, Jeremy Hunt would call the whole thing off. He already has a tried-and-tested method for disposing of the state’s NatWest shares and – this is the point – it is working splendidly. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DqOr9Rm

Ministers knew about carer’s allowance problems three years ago, report reveals

Suppressed DWP study told of hardship endured by carers forced to repay thousands after minor allowance breaches Ministers were warned three years ago that unpaid carers were being treated unfairly and forced to repay huge sums for minor benefit breaches, a long suppressed government report has revealed. A Department for Work and Pensions document presented to politicians in 2021 detailed how carers – the majority of whom were on low incomes and spending 65 hours a week caring for loved ones – endured financial hardship, stress and anger after being heavily penalised for falling foul of strict carer’s allowance eligibility rules. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/75vBsSI

‘Number of failures’ made by Kent NHS trust in care of girl, six, inquest hears

But coroner finds no evidence to suggest trust directly caused death of Maya Siek in December 2022 An inquest into the death of a six-year-old girl has concluded an NHS hospital trust made a number of failures in her care before she died. However, a coroner found there was no evidence that suggested the trust had directly caused or contributed to the death of Maya Siek in December 2022. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Oe83SZf