Six In The Morning Saturday 2 January 2021

 

2020 stretched the social fabric of the United Kingdom. 2021 could rip it to pieces

Analysis by Luke McGee, CNN

Updated 0500 GMT (1300 HKT) January 2, 2021

On January 2, 2020, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that the following 12 months would amount to a "fantastic year for Britain." Instead, a global pandemic and the political turmoil of Brexit have stretched the social fabric of the United Kingdom to ripping point.

The politics and constitutional arrangements between the four nations that make up the United Kingdom are a constant source of pain to any leader trying to reconcile their substantively different political and societal priorities.

But the two biggest peacetime crises faced by Britain -- one anticipated, and one that came out of thin air -- have combined to create a perfect storm of dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Tate & Lyle accused of betraying Cambodia families whose land was allegedly taken

UK company says it will keep trying to use leverage to get compensation from local supplier

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Sat 2 Jan 2021 05.00 GMT

Tate & Lyle has been accused of betraying 200 families in Cambodia who have fought for years to secure compensation for land they say was taken from them to make way for a sugar plantation.

Residents in Koh Kong, Cambodia, say their livelihoods, and their children’s futures, were devastated when their land was taken from them in a process that began in 2006. The land was later used to supply sugar to Tate & Lyle.

Seven years ago, the Guardian interviewed affected communities who described how, without space to farm, they had little choice but to work on the plantation, which was run by Thai KSL Group

Military ‘exile’ is the punishment for Russia’s opposition

In recent months, authorities have ramped up harassment and prosecutions of activists, dissidents and journalists, freezing bank accounts and conducting repeated searches of homes

Robyn Dixon

On a desolate archipelago in the Russian Arctic - so far from civilisation that it was a Soviet nuclear bomb test site in the 1960s - sits a leaky metal hut shaped like a barrel with an icon and a photograph of President Vladamir Putin on the wall inside.

There are no trees, no Internet, no landline or mobile phone connection and no water on site except for melted snow and ice. Hungry polar bears are all around. So the outpost at Cherakino seems a perfect place to revive the practice of political exile in Mr Putin's Russia, opposition leaders contend.

It's here that Russia's military sent one of the country's most promising opposition politicians, Ruslan Shaveddinov, after security agents in black masks broke down his door and seized him from his home in December 2019.

Julian Assange: Saint or sinner?

The court of public opinion remains undecided on Julian Assange. But the fate of the WikiLeaks founder is currently in the hands of a London judge who will decide whether to extradite him to the US.

Julian Assange is regarded by many as a hero who uncovered war crimes and corruption and is the father of modern investigative journalism, having dealt with huge amounts of leaked data. But others see him as a traitor, an enemy of the state, an accomplice to Russian President Vladimir Putin, perhaps the man responsible for Donald Trump's 2016 election as president of the United States — or all of the above.

Fifth Afghan journalist killed in two months in series of 'targeted' attacks

An Afghan journalist and human rights activist was shot and killed on Friday by unidentified gunmen in western Afghanistan, the fifth journalist to be killed in the war-ravaged country in the past two months, a provincial spokesman said.

Bismillah Adil Aimaq was on the road near Feroz Koh, the provincial capital of Ghor, returning home to the city after visiting his family in a village nearby, when gunmen opened fire at the vehicle.

According to the provincial governor's spokesman, Arif Abir, others in the car, including Aimaq's brother, were unharmed. Aimaq worked as the head of the local Radio Sada-e-Ghor station and was also a human rights activist in the province.

Adults seek solace in the wisdom of children online amid pandemic

Has 2020 left you feeling blue? Are you having problems at work or home? If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, it may be time to write to @sayodetectiveagency on Instagram.

Reportedly run by a 9-year old girl named “Sayo,” the detective agency offers creative solutions to tricky problems faced by adults and kids alike. Readers who submit inquiries via email receive a reply written in pencil on a sheet of paper that is photographed and subsequently uploaded onto the site. Sayo made her debut on Instagram in 2019 and, later that same year, published a book titled “Konnichiwa! Sayo Fushigi Tanteisha Desu!” (“Hello! This is Sayo’s Magical Detective Agency!”). It’s a slim, 56-page book priced at ¥770, and comes with Sayo’s personal slogan sticker, “Ditch that boring life!”