Giuliani: ‘I never, ever represented a foreign national’

Rudy Giuliani on Thursday denied any allegations that he represented a Ukrainian national, a day after the FBI seized materials from Giuliani as part of an investigation that seems to focus on his work with Ukrainian officials and operatives. “I never, ever represented a foreign national,” Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, told Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “In fact, I have in my contracts, a refusal to do it because from the time I got out of being mayor, I did not want to lobby.”

India Covid: Delhi running out of space for cremations

Officials in Delhi have been urged to find more sites for cremations as the city's morgues and crematoriums are overwhelmed by masses of Covid deaths. A second wave of the virus is ravaging parts of India, with 386,452 new cases reported on Friday - the biggest one-day increase on record for any country. There were another 3,500 deaths nationwide and nearly 400 in Delhi - a record for the capital. The total number of infections in the country has now passed 18 million.

Antarctic ‘doomsday glacier’ may be melting faster than was thought

An Antarctic glacier larger than the UK is at risk of breaking up after scientists discovered more warm water flowing underneath it than previously thought. The fate of Thwaites – nicknamed the doomsday glacier – and the massive west Antarctic ice sheet it supports are the biggest unknown factors in future global sea level rise. Over the past few years, teams of scientists have been crisscrossing the remote and inaccessible region on Antarctica’s western edge to try to understand how fast the ice is melting and what the consequences for the rest of the world might be.

Russian state watchdog adds Navalny network to terrorism database

Russia’s state financial watchdog has added Alexei Navalny’s network of regional headquarters to a terrorism watchlist as the Kremlin appears poised to outlaw the opposition leader’s nationwide political movement. “Navalny headquarters” appeared on Friday on a searchable database of terrorist and extremist groups published by the state watchdog Rosfinmonitoring, which allows the government to close its bank accounts. Separately, a Russian court may soon pronounce that the political offices and his Anti-Corruption Foundation are extremist organisations, threatening his staff, supporters, and even crowdfunding donors with jail terms.

Florida lawmakers pass new voting restrictions mirroring Georgia and Michigan

The Florida legislature has passed tight new voting restrictions, placing the crucial swing state at the forefront of a nationwide wave of Republican efforts to suppress turnout on the back of Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. The bill, which closely mirrors similar Republican ploys in Georgia and Michigan, is likely to make it more difficult for millions of voters to have their democratic say. The new barriers to voting are expected to particularly impact minority communities.

 

India Covid-19: Deadly second wave spreads from cities to small towns

India's deadly Covid-19 second wave has devastated big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Pune. Hospitals and crematoriums have run out of space, and funerals are taking place in car parks. But the pandemic has now firmly gripped many smaller cities, towns and villages where the devastation is largely under-reported.

Both Ivy League colleges apologize for ‘serious error’ in using bones of Black child for teaching

The two Ivy League universities at the center of a billowing storm over the use in anthropology teaching of the bones of an African American child killed by Philadelphia police in 1985 have apologized for the “serious error”, promising to return the human remains to relatives who never consented to the practice. The pelvis and femur bones of an unidentified Black girl thought to be in her teens were revealed last week to have been used as props in an online anthropology course staged by Princeton and given by a professor from the University of Pennsylvania. Neither institution had requested or received consent from the family of the child, yet held on to the bones for research and teaching for 36 years.

 

IMF calls for progressive taxes on wealth and excess profits

The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened inequalities, and countries should enact progressive taxes to reduce gaps in income and in access to services, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s April 2021 Fiscal Monitor Report.

Robots are coming and the fallout will largely harm marginalized communities

COVID-19 has brought about numerous, devastating changes to people’s lives globally. With the number of cases rising across Canada and globally, we are also witnessing the development and use of robots to perform jobs in some workplaces that are deemed unsafe for humans.

Canada’s Addiction to Corporate Bailouts

Politicians love a free market. Until recession hits. Or a pandemic. Or a climate crisis.