International News

Explosives and weaponry found at US far-right protests, documents reveal

Federal government documents obtained by the Guardian show a wide range of explosives, flamethrowers and incendiary devices found by law enforcement agencies outside political conventions, public buildings and protests during 2020 and 2021. The extent of the weaponry – including timed devices deposited as part of a suspected pro-Trump bomb plot –reveals the perils and potential violence circulating through American politics in the grip of unrest linked to pandemic shutdowns, anti-racism protests and rightwing activism and insurrection that culminated in the attack on the Capitol in Washington.

 

Trump’s Facebook ban should not be lifted, network’s oversight board rules

Donald Trump’s Facebook account should not be reinstated, the social media giant’s oversight board said on Wednesday. Facebook suspended Trump’s account after the Capitol attack of 6 January, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to overturn the former president’s defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Trump was initially suspended from Facebook and Instagram for 24 hours, as a result of two posts shared to the platform in which he appeared to praise the actions of the rioters. The company then extended the president’s ban “at least until the end of his time in office”.

 

Black man enslaved by South Carolina restaurant manager is owed $546,000, court rules

A former restaurant manager serving 10 years in prison for effectively enslaving a man, forcing him to work more than 100 hours a week without pay, must double the restitution he pays to his former employee – to more than half a million dollars, a court ruled. Bobby Paul Edwards, a 56-year-old white man who ran a restaurant in Conway, South Carolina, has now been ordered to pay John Christopher Smith, a Black man with intellectual disabilities, $546,000.

 

US secretary of state hails UK alliance but stresses need for stability in Northern Ireland

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the U.K. as his country's closest ally ahead of President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe next month, though he issued a gentle nudge to his hosts to prioritize "stability" in Northern Ireland amid tensions there over the impact of Brexit. Blinken held a joint press conference Monday with Dominic Raab, the U.K. foreign secretary, as G7 foreign ministers gather for meetings in London. The two men presented a united front as they were challenged on potential differences in approach to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the implementation of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol — the section of the Brexit deal with the EU that is designed to prevent the need for a hard border with the Republic of Ireland to the south. 

Jenner hits California nerve by siding with GOP on transgender athletes

Jenner, a former Olympic gold medalist who is transgender, told TMZ that banning participation of transgender student athletes in girls' competitive sports is "a question of fairness," the same position Republican leaders in red states have taken. Her remarks angered LGBTQ activists in California and serve as another early signal to voters unfamiliar with her political positions. The heavily Democratic state has been in the vanguard on transgender rights, including passage of a 2014 law protecting the right of transgender students to play sports that correspond with their gender identity.

India passes 20 million cases amid oxygen shortage

India has recorded more than 20 million Covid infections, but the government says that cases are "slowing down". The country added more than 355,000 cases on Tuesday, down from more than 400,000 daily cases on 30 April. But testing numbers have dipped as well, sparking fears that India's true caseload is far higher. Case numbers, however, have been consistently falling in Maharashtra state, which had driven the second wave since early April. Meanwhile an oxygen shortage has shown no signs of abating and people in several hotspot cities, including the capital Delhi, are struggling for treatment.

Biden raises US refugee admissions cap to 62,500 after delay sparks anger

Joe Biden has formally raised the US cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by Donald Trump. The move was a stark turnaround from the Biden’s administration’s previous announcement last month that it would keep the number of refugees admitted to the US at the historical low of 15,000, sparking widespread outrage.

 

Amazon had sales income of €44bn in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax

Fresh questions have been raised over Amazon’s tax planning after its latest corporate filings in Luxembourg revealed that the company collected record sales income of €44bn (£38bn) in Europe last year but did not have to pay any corporation tax to the Grand Duchy. Accounts for Amazon EU Sarl, through which it sells products to hundreds of millions of households in the UK and across Europe, show that despite collecting record income, the Luxembourg unit made a €1.2bn loss and therefore paid no tax.

 

Cindy McCain calls Arizona GOP election audit 'ludicrous'

As vice president, Joe Biden was among those repeatedly pushing President Barack Obama to negotiate with Republicans on everything from health care to fiscal crises — even if it led to delays, watered-down policies or nothing at all. But these days, Biden and his team, many of whom worked in the Obama administration, are taking a different approach: Talking to Republicans, yes, but doing so with more skepticism and firmer deadlines, according to six current and former Biden advisers and lawmakers.

Biden is talking to Republicans, but for only so long

As vice president, Joe Biden was among those repeatedly pushing President Barack Obama to negotiate with Republicans on everything from health care to fiscal crises — even if it led to delays, watered-down policies or nothing at all. But these days, Biden and his team, many of whom worked in the Obama administration, are taking a different approach: Talking to Republicans, yes, but doing so with more skepticism and firmer deadlines, according to six current and former Biden advisers and lawmakers.