The Guardian view on capital punishment: an upsurge in executions should concern us all | Editorial
The vast majority of countries have outlawed the death penalty. Yet the annual toll is growing – and Donald Trump wants to increase its use
The good news: Zimbabwe has just banned the death penalty. While it should remove an exemption clause, which might allow for capital punishment’s return were a state of emergency to be declared, the decision is another welcome step in the global journey towards abolition: 113 states have now banned executions.
The bad news is that fewer countries have been killing more people in the last few years. Last May, Amnesty International recorded 1,153 executions in 2023, a 31% increase from the previous year and the highest level for almost a decade. (The figure is an underestimate since countries including China, believed to be the world’s largest executioner, do not publish data on the death penalty.) There was no letup in 2024. Iran reportedly executed more than 900 people. Saudi Arabia is believed to have killed another 330, compared with 172 in 2023.
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The Guardian view on the LA fires: Donald Trump’s denial and division fuel climate inaction | Editorial
Events in California reveal how political obstruction is deepening a climate crisis that needs urgent action to prevent it becoming an irreversible disaster. The wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have ...The Guardian - 2d -
The Guardian view on Magnus Carlsen’s power play: checking chess’s ruling body in style | Editorial
The latest controversy reveals deeper tensions about who will shape the sport’s future: its greatest players or the governing authorities. A persuasive case can be made that Magnus Carlsen is the ...The Guardian - 2d -
The Guardian view on Jimmy Carter’s funeral: requiem for a good man and a better era | Editorial
Five living presidents gathered at the service in Washington. They were a reminder of how much has changed in US politics. Heavy with honours, attended by all living US presidents, and swathed in ...The Guardian - 3d -
The Guardian view on content moderation: Meta did far too little. Now it wants to do even less | Editorial
Loosening already limited safeguards on social media platforms is not just damaging. It could ultimately prove deadly. Mark Zuckerberg famously boasted that Facebook had a saying: “Move fast and ...The Guardian - 4d -
The Guardian view on Gaza’s suffering: a deepening disaster should not be treated as inevitable | Editorial
With infants dying of exposure and desperation growing, a ceasefire and hostage release deal have never been more necessary. The new year has commenced as bleakly as the last one concluded in Gaza. ...The Guardian - 5d -
The Guardian view on Elon Musk’s disinformation: escalating hate and threatening democracy | Editorial
The UK prime minister calls out the reckless amplification of conspiracy theories by the world’s richest man on child sexual abuse. Good. On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer rightly defended robust ...The Guardian - 6d -
The Guardian view on film and feminism in China: women feel Her Story is their story | Editorial
The hit comedy has struck a chord by celebrating female friendship and pushing back against misogyny. Just over a year ago, Xi Jinping told China’s national women’s congress that the Communist ...The Guardian - Jan. 5 -
The Guardian view on the New Orleans attack: a familiar horror marks an anxious new year | Editorial
The deadly assault on crowds in the US city echoes those elsewhere. A bigoted and kneejerk reaction will not dispel the threat from terrorism. The deadly attack on new year revellers in New ...The Guardian - Jan. 2 -
The Guardian view on Russia and China: an old friendship poses new threats | Editorial
Over the holidays, this column is looking ahead at the urgent issues of 2025. Today, the expansion of the partnership between Beijing and Moscow. It is almost three years since Xi Jinping and ...The Guardian - Jan. 1
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LA wildfires: death toll rises to 24 as winds threaten further destruction
More than 1,800 structures destroyed as Eaton and Palisades fires still less than 30% contained. Wildfires live updates Key takeaways The death toll from the Eaton and Palisades fires ...The Guardian - 5h -
Most violent or sexual offences went unsolved in UK crime hotspots last year
Exclusive: About 89% of such crimes closed without a suspect being caught or charged in the year to June 2024. Tory police cuts are only part of the crisis affecting victims of crime Victims ...The Guardian - 1h -
Ukraine’s capture of North Koreans offers rare insight into Russian alliance, says Zelenskyy
Kyiv keen to emphasise that Ukraine is fighting an unprecedented coalition of malign autocratic states . Ukraine’s capture of two North Korean soldiers on the battlefield has provided a rare ...The Guardian - 7h -
Baby gorilla rescued from hold of Turkish Airlines plane
Five-month-old, now named Zeytin, was found in a box on a flight that was travelling from Nigeria to Thailand. A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo, ...The Guardian - 3h -
Sweden neither at war nor at peace, says PM, as warships sent to Baltic Sea
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Speeches by politicians banned at 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation
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A Quiet Evening by Norman Lewis review – they don’t make travel writers like this any more
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As Trump enters the fray, the danger is that a nationalist Europe will fragment, not stick together | Nathalie Tocci
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