All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

STIs on the rise in Germany, but testing still hard to come by

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Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are making a comeback across the country after years of low rates. But unlike in many other countries, most people face obstacles if they want to be tested without showing symptoms.

In Strike That Killed 5 Children, Israel Said It Took Out Gaza Militant. Now It Isn’t Sure. – The New York Times

As the sky brightened into morning, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman posted on Twitter the photo of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander it said had been killed in the strike, which occurred just hours before a cease-fire ended two intense days of fighting between Israel and the militant group. But Islamic Jihad says the man in the photo was actually a different commander from Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, who is still alive — and that the victims of the attack in Deir El-Balah, near the center of the coastal enclave, were all civilians. On Friday, Israel’s military backtracked on its earlier claim and said it had begun an investigation into the harm to civilians in the Gaza strike.

CIA risks sliding back into illegal torture methods, warns real-life star of The Report

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Daniel Jones, the Senate investigator who inspired Amazon film, says Barack Obama’s failure to confront CIA could spell return to dark days

The author of the Senate report on CIA torture, dramatised in a new film released on Friday, has said the failure to punish those responsible makes it more likely the US could again resort to illegal and ineffective interrogation techniques.

As chief investigator for the Senate intelligence committee, Daniel Jones spent five years poring over internal CIA accounts of the agency’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” programme adopted in the “war on terror”, which Congress demanded to see after it emerged that agency officials had destroyed videotapes of the brutal questioning of terrorist suspects.

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Greta Thunberg sparks surge in sailboat hitchhiking

Since climate campaigner’s transatlantic adventures, more people are looking to travel by sail

Hitching a ride on a sailing boat across the Atlantic might sound like a far-fetched endeavour reserved for the famous and well-connected. But Greta Thunberg has now managed it twice in three months – and her antics appear to be inspiring a growing, if nascent, movement in sail-hitching.

Maritime hitchhiking has hitherto been reserved for sailors looking for experience on different routes and vessels.

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Britons who legally smoke cannabis in the US ‘risk being deported’

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Warning comes amid rise in expulsions under federal law – even in states where drug is legal

A legal expert at an international immigration firm has warned British tourists and employees that if they smoke marijuana in the US, even in states where it has been legalised, they risk being barred from the country for life.

UK visitors can still be arrested and deported from the US even if they consume cannabis in states such as California and Colorado, where the drug is legal, said Charlotte Slocombe, a senior partner at Fragomen in London.

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‘There will be no hope’: Muslims fear Rajapaksa win in Sri Lanka election

Since the Easter bombings, the community has faced violence and vilification. Many think there may be worse to come

The phone calls began two months ago from an unknown number. Hilmy Ahmed, the vice-president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, did not recognise the voice but there was no mistaking the threats: throw your support behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa for president or we will set fire to your house, rape your wife and then kill your family.

“This election campaign has the whole Muslim community of Sri Lanka very scared,” said Ahmed, who fled abroad after the calls and direct harassment of his staff. “Almost all the nationalist extremists have banded together behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa and should he win, we fear they will come out in full force with their racist, anti-Muslim agenda and attacks.”

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