Bound by blood: new film highlights Jamaica’s outlawed obeah belief system
Stew Peas focuses on obeah, an enduring African magic practice in Jamaica banned by colonisers in the 1700sA new movie from award-winning Jamaican film-maker Sosiessia Nixon shines a spotlight on Jamaica’s enduring west African-based magic and spiritual healing tradition known as obeah.Nixon’s tense, feature-length suspense, Stew Peas, tells of the story of Jamaican detective Tessa, who is obsessed with an old murder case. Continue reading...
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US garbage incinerators are failing to eliminate ‘forever chemical’ air pollution, experts warn
The virtually indestructible Pfas waste puts largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates sayThe nation’s garbage incinerators are largely failing to eliminate Pfas “forever chemicals” air pollution, and are putting people in largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates and independent experts warn.The powerful waste management industry is increasingly pushing incinerators as a solution to virtually indestructible Pfas waste, and a new industry trade group report alleges Minnesota’s incinerators are reducing their forever chemical emissions by 99.6%. Other incinerator operators have made similar reduction claims. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comShackled, transferred, mocked: woman, 23, says she gave in to deportation after ‘humiliating’ ICE detention
Exclusive: Ana María was happy working in the US with an open asylum case. But after ICE detained her for months, she said she requested to go back to her native countryAna María had been happy living in the US. She had an asylum case going through the US immigration system and was working, becoming part of the community, living with her boyfriend and was grateful for safe harbor.But after she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), she had such a horrendous experience that, in desperation, she agreed to be deported back to her native country in South America, back to danger and thousands of miles away from the life she had been building. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comTrial of multi-cancer blood test among 142,000 NHS patients fails to meet main aim
Results presented at oncology conference in Chicago show Galleri test failed to reduce late-stage cancer diagnosesA blood test for more than 50 types of cancer that was billed as the holy grail of oncology has failed to achieve its main objective in a major clinical trial, according to data presented at the world’s largest cancer conference.The goal of the study involving 142,000 NHS patients in the UK was to assess whether adding the multi-cancer early detection test Galleri to standard screening could shift diagnoses to earlier, more treatable stages. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comWhy $1bn in Balkans energy contracts are going to an obscure company connected to Donald Trump
Guardian investigation shows how US presidency blurs line between policy and enrichment of American ruling family and those around itOn a graffitied Sarajevo backstreet, a path leads past an overgrown patch of garden to a white door. Beyond is the registered office of a company that is on the brink of winning contracts worth more than $1bn.AAFS Infrastructure and Energy is close to securing a concession to build and operate a pipeline across the Balkans to allow fossil gas shipped from the US to replace supplies that come from Russia. “This could be the most important infrastructure project ever in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” says one of the country’s top officials, who, like others, asks to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive negotiations. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comPalace was given emails about Andrew’s trade envoy activities six years ago, report says
Emails appearing to show Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential information were handed to Buckingham Palace in 2020, says BBCEmails handed to Buckingham Palace six years ago appear to show that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential information while he was a government trade envoy, it has been reported.The BBC said on Saturday that an archive of more than 30,000 emails was handed to the lord chamberlain, the most senior officer in the royal household, in 2020. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comFour more men freed from flooded Laos cave in hazardous rescue mission
Two still missing as divers make their way deeper into cave through muddy water and sharp rocks to find themFour more miners who were trapped in a flooded cave in Laos for 10 days have been freed by divers, but two people are still missing as rescuers continue to crawl through narrow, deluged tunnels and sharp rocks to find them.The first of the party of seven men was rescued on Friday in a perilous rescue mission which has required teams to drain water from the cave and navigate collapse hazards. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.com‘Maybe it’s because we love the sesh’: how Wales is bucking Britain’s pub-closing trend
At least six new pubs and taphouses have opened in recent months, including the Pig & Swill in Cardiff On a hot Thursday evening in Canton, a buzzy Cardiff neighbourhood, a steady stream of people in sunglasses, shorts and dresses went back and forth between bar and garden at the city’s newest pub, the Pig & Swill.Next door, in Victoria Park, the splash pad was still heaving with families making the most of the tail-end of the May heatwave. Many parents and carers stopped by for takeaway pints and small plates. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comRise in youth unemployment driving more to homelessness, UK charities say
Centrepoint warns young people facing ‘huge scarcity of work opportunities’ after Alan Milburn’s report on crisisThe growing number of young people not in work or education is driving more into unstable housing or homelessness, charities have warned.A government-commissioned review into the crisis facing young people in the UK said there could be a 25% rise in young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) to 1.25 million by the early 2030s without intervention. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comInflation won Trump the presidency, but could cost him the midterms
Trump’s pursuit of policies that drive up prices, including tariffs and war, might be punished in November’s electionsFor such an uncannily successful politician, Donald Trump exhibits a perplexing political myopia. His most recent own-goal was endorsing Ken Paxton, a state attorney general, against four-term senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary for Senate in Texas. Trump’s endorsement helped push the ethically compromised Maga firebrand over the top, to run against popular Democrat James Talarico in November, complicating the Republicans’ chances to keep the seat.But what truly screams “I want us to lose the midterms” is what Trump is doing about inflation, which is becoming his most vulnerable issue. According to a New York Times/Siena poll of registered voters earlier in May, Trump’s approval on handling the cost of living is underwater by 42 percentage points, poorer than his rating on handling the economy (minus 31 points) and the unpopular war in Iran (minus 34 points). Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comLooming Iran peace deal shows how Trump’s maximalist goals have shrunk
Sobering reality for president after three-month odyssey that threatens to take him back to where he startedAfter the hubristic beginnings came the reality.The road travelled since the most momentous foreign policy decision of his presidency seems to have delivered Donald Trump to a sobering destination: that Iran has been the nemesis of several US presidents before him for a reason and is an adversary not to be taken lightly. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comDemocrats have fresh hope to win back Senate – could they really pull it off?
North Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Alaska are key targets for a party bullish after a bruising Republican primary in TexasAfter Texas Republicans chose the beleaguered attorney general, Ken Paxton, as their party’s nominee for US Senate on Tuesday, Democrats are feeling bullish that they could pull off a victory in the red-leaning state – and maybe win back the Senate in this year’s midterm elections.Paxton – whose history includes an impeachment, fraud charges and an alleged affair – beat incumbent John Cornyn after receiving Trump’s blessing in the most expensive primary this year. In November he will face James Talarico, a young state lawmaker and pastor, who won the Democratic primary amid a rising national profile. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.com