Category Archives: Viva!

Italy’s PM and three government ministers face kidnap inquiry

Sicilian prosecutors to investigate case of 47 migrants who were not allowed off rescue ship

Prosecutors in Sicily have placed Italy’s prime minister and three senior members of his government under investigation for false imprisonment over the detention of 47 migrants who were prevented from disembarking from an NGO rescue ship.

Giuseppe Conte, deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, and Italy’s minister of infrastructure, Danilo Toninelli, face charges for refusing to allow migrants to leave the Sea-Watch boat, which rescued them off the coast of Libya on 19 January.

Related: Italy’s Salvini refuses to back EU deal on rescue ship migrants

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To those who lost loved ones on 9/11, Ilhan Omar is simply not worth such outrage | Alissa Torres

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This political battle is pointless. If nothing else, the memory of the attacks should bring us together

I have an uncanny ability to always look at the clock when it’s 9.11. It’s never 9.10 or 9.12. Although 9.11 refers to the time and not the day, it brings me right back to that day, when my husband, Eddie Torres, was murdered at the World Trade Center. At the time, I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

Related: Ilhan Omar: White House escalates Trump attack over 9/11 comment

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Beware those who, like Ukip’s leader, excuse lies and rape threats as ‘satire’ | Matthew d’Ancona

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As the political temperature soars, those who seek to govern Britain have a responsibility to speak with care

In what moral universe is the statement “I wouldn’t even rape you” categorised as “satire”? For this is how – in an interview on Sunday with the BBC’s Andrew Marr – Gerard Batten, Ukip’s leader, described a tweet sent to the Labour MP Jess Phillips in 2016 by Carl Benjamin, now one of his party’s principal candidates in the European elections.

According to Batten, Benjamin is a “classical liberal”, “not a bad person”, “a proponent of free speech” and “wasn’t actually making a literal statement”. And there we were, thinking that he was just a vile misogynist, using social media to declare whether, in his opinion, a member of parliament should be raped or not.

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MPs tell Nancy Pelosi of antisemitism claims in Labour party

Unless you rubber stamp Israel’s foreign and Palestinian polities, you are open to question?

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Powerful US Democrat meets ex-Labour MPs to discuss why they left the party and Brexit

The senior US Democrat Nancy Pelosi met three former Labour MPs on Sunday and discussed their concerns about antisemitism in the party before a meeting with the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

The House Speaker said she had met Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie and Ian Austin “to hear their perspective on Brexit, why they left the Labour party, and the importance of standing unequivocally against antisemitism wherever it is found”.

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Trump fixed on sanctuary city idea amid opposition and doubts over legality

When he starts wearing little boy pants to go with his little boy tantrums!

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Consternation over move meant to exact revenge on Democrats sees House committee chairs dismiss Trump’s claim

Donald Trump appears determined to send migrants arrested at the southern border to “sanctuary cities” around the US, a scheme meant to exact revenge on his Democratic foes, despite fierce political opposition and doubts over the legality of such a move.

Related: Buttigieg v Pence: Indiana politicians put faith on the election front line

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