World News

Bill Gates ignited a firestorm this week with the publication of a new climate strategy memo. In the memo’s first page, the Microsoft founder dismissed, in his words, the “doomsday view” that climate change would “decimate civilization” and called for a recalibration of priorities—including more funding for global health and a narrower focus on key technologies that can make a difference on climate. Paired with a move to cut funding for efforts to craft climate policy earlier this year, the memo was perceived as an indication of a dramatic pivot.In the days that followed the memo’s release, scientists cried foul and President Donald Trump cheered. It has come up in virtually every climate conversation I’ve had since then. Gates is unlikely to be upset. When I saw him last week ahead of the...

New Yorkers will find out the identity of their next mayor on Tuesday, in a race that will decide who will run, and defend, the US’s largest city at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops there.Against that backdrop, New York has seen a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against one another. The race has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year’s midterm elections.In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old ...

Family photoJaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021The mother of a teenage soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a superior has said young women should not join the Army. Leighann McCready said the armed forces had still not done enough to protect recruits after her daughter Jaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks in Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire, in 2021.Warrant Officer Michael Webber, 43, pinned down Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck and tried to kiss her in July 2021. He was jailed for sexual assault on Friday. Her mother told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Evidence has shown through our own daughter that the protection is not there.""Until policies are properly changed, I wouldn't recommend anybody joining the...

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