Tag Archives: WorldNews

Russian Orthodox Church ‘cuts ties’ with Constantinople

Don’t let door hit you as you leave!

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Russia’s Orthodox Church has severed ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate, the leader of the worldwide Orthodox community. The move comes after it granted independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Moscow.

Lorde concert boycott: New Zealanders fined by Israel raise thousands for Gaza

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Crowdfunding campaign easily covers $18,000 fine, but money will instead be sent to mental health charity

Two New Zealand women who were ordered to pay damages by an Israeli court for their role in Lorde cancelling a Tel Aviv concert have raised the sum through donations – but plan to give the money to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation instead.

Last week an Israeli court ruled Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab of New Zealand must pay damages to Israeli teenagers Shoshana Steinbach, Ayelet Wertzel and Ahuva Frogel totalling more than NZ$18,000 ($11,700) for writing a letter urging Lorde to cancel her gig, which she did.

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A hard Brexit means a hard border – whatever Owen Paterson says | Katy Hayward

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The former Northern Ireland secretary is being simplistic on cross-border trade and reckless with the peace agreement

Owen Paterson, a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, argued this week in the Guardian that the UK could leave the customs union, break free from EU rules, and still avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The problem with this claim is that the logic of a hard Brexit means hard borders. The EU is the world’s most advanced legal, technical and institutional environment for seamless border management. As Brexiteers well know, this has entailed common rules and coordinated systems. Paterson’s claims rest on the assumption that the UK can rip up the terms and conditions but stay in the club.

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Trump wants people to come to US on merit

On this basis, his grandmother and grandfather would have been barred from entering US – what a scummy and dumb elitist! “What I want is merit. I want a lot of people to come in. We have great car companies entering our country again. We have companies like Foxconn going to Wisconsin with a massive plant,” Trump said. He further insisted that the administration and the Congress have to do the right thing whether there’s an election or not.

Archbishop’s defiance threatens Putin’s vision of Russian greatness

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The archbishop of Constantinople has granted Ukraine’s wish for a church independent of Moscow

Donald Trump seems strangely in awe of Vladimir Putin. Theresa May’s attempts to face down the Kremlin after Salisbury have had limited impact. But has Putin finally met his match in Bartholomew I, the 270th archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome, ecumenical patriarch, and “first among equals” of the Eastern Orthodox church?

In the 2,000-year struggle between church and state, Barth-olomew chalked up a notable victory last week. Defying protests from the Kremlin and Russia’s clergy, the archbishop granted Ukraine’s wish to establish an independent church that will no longer answer, as it has since 1686, to the Moscow patriarchate. The decision was taken at a synod at Orthodox “headquarters” in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople.

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How profit-driven inbreeding could bring the world dairy herd to its knees

bovine pandemic here we come.

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The drive for genetic selection means cattle are increasingly vulnerable to deadly new epidemics that could emerge as the climate warms

Known for their distinctive long horns, the Ankole cattle of western Uganda have evolved over millennia to withstand their harsh environment, with its lengthy dry spells and abundance of local maladies such as trypanosomiasis, a disease spread by the tsetse fly. But after flourishing for almost 10,000 years, the Ankole have begun to rapidly disappear.

Farmland is dwindling in Uganda due to the expanding human population, and Ankole require vast areas to graze. Local herders have responded to the pressure by replacing them, cross-breeding Ankole cattle with industrial species such as the European Holstein. But while these hybrids gain favourable genetic traits from the Holstein, producing more milk and meat, and requiring less land to keep, there is a hidden cost.

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Matteo Salvini orders removal of refugees from Riace

IL Duce 2.0 wannabe scum fascist!

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Mayor of Italian town hailed as a model of migrant integration is under house arrest

Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has ordered hundreds of refugees to be moved out of Riace, a small town in Calabria celebrated around the world as a model of integration.

The decision, which follows the house arrest earlier this month of the town’s mayor, Domenico Lucano, effectively shuts down a project that also provided work for Italians.

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Saudi Arabia says it will hit back against Jamal Khashoggi ‘threats’

Saudi Prince as thin skinned as Trump

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Pressure grows on Riyadh as Turkey presses UK to force it to cooperate with investigation

Saudi Arabia has warned it will respond to any “threats” against it as its stock market plunged following President Donald Trump’s warning of “severe punishment” over the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump made a point of visiting Saudi Arabia on his first overseas trip as president and has touted arms sales to the kingdom. But both the White House and Saudi Arabia are under mounting pressure over the disappearance and probable murder of Khashoggi, who has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

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