How to sell a massacre: NRA's playbook revealed
Three-year undercover sting reveals how US' National Rifle Association handles public opinion after deadly gun attacks.by Peter Charley
How do you respond to a deadly mass shooting if you are a gun rights advocate?
First, "Say nothing." If media queries persist, go on the "offence, offence, offence". Smear gun-control groups. "Shame them" with statements such as - "How dare you stand on the graves of those children to put forward your political agenda?"
This was the advice the US's most powerful gun lobby gave Australia's One Nation party, according to an Al Jazeera investigation, when representatives of the Australian far-right group sought guidance from the National Rifle Association (NRA) on loosening the Pacific country's strict gun laws.
One Nation's James Ashby says he was 'on the sauce' when seeking $20m from NRA
Ashby and Steve Dickson say they had been drinking scotch for three or four hours when recorded by undercover al-Jazeera reporter
Senior One Nation figures James Ashby and Steve Dickson had been “on the sauce” drinking scotch for “three or four hours” when discussing seeking a $20m donation from the National Rifle Association.
Ashby and Dickson faced the media on Tuesday after an al-Jazeera investigation revealed the two men had sought millions in donations from the NRA during a trip to the US last year, in a bid to seize the balance of power and weaken Australia’s gun laws.
Dickson said the party’s leader, Pauline Hanson, was “quite ill” and unable to appear publicly.
Opinion: Cacau shows German football still isn't taking racism seriously enough
Former Germany international Cacau believes instances of racism in German football are rare. That's a worrying view for German football's top integration officer to hold and shows the DFB is out of touch, says Matt Ford.
Three men are being investigated by German police after allegedly aiming racist abuse at Ilkay Gündogan and Leroy Sané during Germany's 1-1 draw with Serbia in Wolfsburg last week. But former Germany international Cacau, the German football association's (DFB) official integration officer, believes that such incidents are rare and shouldn't be blown out of proportion.
"I would say these are isolated incidents," said the 37-year-old in an interview with German news magazine Focus on Sunday. "We need to confront them but, at the same time, we shouldn't afford them too much attention. It's not the norm, and that's a good thing."
Reporter's notebook: the Nigerian migrants flown back from Libya
In July 2018, a video from a group of 32 Nigerians desperate to escape a detention centre in Libya made its way to The Observers newsroom in Paris. The United Nations' International Organisation for Migration (IOM) sent a team to the centre and helped put the group on a voluntary return flight to Lagos. The Observers’ Derek Thomson went to Nigeria in March to meet the men who made the video, and other Nigerians who were ready to risk everything for a better life in Europe.
Thomson explains how the team first connected with the story:
The video was unforgettable. “Hello, people of the world…. We are locked up here in the prison of Oussama, Zawiyah, Libya… We are dying here. People should help us.” The video was narrated by the man filming, his voice occasionally breaking from fear. It showed another man holding a piece of bread, his face concealed by a red shirt.
Woman who housed Snowden in Hong Kong granted refugee status in Canada
Updated 0101 GMT (0901 HKT) March 26, 2019
Canadian authorities have granted asylum to a woman and her daughter who housed Edward Snowden in Hong Kong after the former NSA contractor leaked classified documents on US surveillance programs around the world in 2013.
The decision allows Philippines national Vanessa Rodel and her 7-year-old daughter Keana to leave Hong Kong after living in the city without proper legal status for years.
"I'm truly happy," Rodel said. "I'm so excited. I can't sleep."
US-Mexico border wall: Pentagon authorises $1bn transfer
The Pentagon has authorised the transfer of $1bn (£758m) to army engineers for new wall construction along the US-Mexico border.
The funds are the first under the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump to bypass Congress and build the barrier he pledged during his election campaign.
Democrats have protested against the move.
The funds will be used to build about 57 miles (91km) of fencing.
President Trump has called the situation at the southern border a "crisis" and insists a physical barrier is needed to stop criminals crossing into the US. His critics say he has manufactured the border emergency.
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