More stories

  • in

    Anti-vaxxers target Texas measles doctors to cast doubt on deaths amid outbreak

    Children’s Health Defense and RFK Jr publicly dispute recent measles deaths to ‘distract’ from damage caused and question vaccines, experts sayThe six-year-old girl at the children’s hospital in Lubbock, Texas, burned with fever and struggled to breathe. Doctors soon put her on a ventilator, snaking a thick tube down the child’s throat so a machine could breathe for her; they placed IVs to rehydrate her tiny body and they prescribed antibiotics for any bacterial infections that may have taken hold in the weeks she had spent at home battling measles.But it was too late. Within a day of being ventilated, the child went into shock, her blood pressure crashed and she went into cardiac arrest. She could not be resuscitated. Her family, and the nation, mourned: she was the first child to die of measles in the US in a decade. Continue reading… More

  • in

    This Georgia county is one of the US’s most diverse – and that could flip multiple elections

    Gwinnett county is home to many immigrants and other newcomers, and how it votes could be decisive for CongressJohanna Park might just be an ambassador for Gwinnett county, Georgia, one of the 10 most ethnically diverse counties in the United States.Park owns Cafe Amico at Suwanee Town Center, one of her three Italian coffee shops in the area just north of Atlanta. She was born in Korea and lived much of her life in Argentina and Peru. She’s been in Gwinnett for more than 20 years, part of an early wave of Korean immigration that’s built Korean American car dealerships, banks, insurance agencies, supermarkets and restaurants like her own. It’s also a population that’s increasing in influence and not just numbers. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Marco Rubio is promoting troubling ideas about ‘Western civilization’ | Ted Widmer

    In a recent visit to Greece, the secretary of state suggested that Europe must rediscover the values of conquest and expansionThey had obviously worked hard on the backdrop – and it was magnificent. On 7 October, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a major speech in Athens, outdoors, with the Acropolis behind him. The sun was setting, bathing the ancient scene, including the Parthenon, in the light of the golden hour.The golden hour, but yet not quite the golden age. This was not Pericles defending democracy. Instead, Rubio offered a haunting vision of the choices facing the west, arguing that the US and Europe must rediscover the values of exploration and conquest that once drove centuries of expansion, or face decline and irrelevance. Continue reading… More

  • in

    The Gulf has entered a new era of instability. If its leaders think they can rely on old alliances, they are wrong | Nesrine Malik

    The latest attack by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia may prove to be more calamitous for the region than the world imaginesOn Saturday, Houthi rebels launched a shocking and deadly attack on Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh. At the time of writing, the missile strike on King Khalid international airport has killed at least 13 people and left 300 injured, marking a significant turn in a regional conflagration that is only getting more intense. It was the single most deadly attack on any Gulf country since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in February. In Saudi Arabia, a country that is unaccustomed to such fatalities, the death toll is bewilderingly high and likely to prompt a bloody response.Over the past year, the Gulf has entered a new era of instability that is not temporary and cannot be reversed. This may feel like an overstatement – casualties have been relatively low, after all, compared with Gaza and Iran – but the gradual erosion of peace and security in places such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE has changed the region more dramatically than its leaders would like to acknowledge.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading… More

  • in

    The Guardian view on the US, Russia and the international criminal court: Trump’s assault on the rule of law intensifies | Editorial

    A fuel deal with Vladimir Putin, and sanctions against the legal institution, ram home the president’s belief that might is rightOn Friday, Donald Trump drove home his belief that might is right and the rule of law is an obstacle rather than an essential foundation stone of international order. First came the escalated assault on the international criminal court (ICC), sanctioning the body itself. Then he announced a deal with Russia to buy diesel.The US has long chafed at the notion of being bound by the rule of law that it espoused publicly. That hypocrisy now appears as a lesser vice. The president has declared that “my own morality” is all that constrains him. His brazen flouting of the law, embrace of dictators and rhetorical attacks all undermine global standards.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Trump’s deal with Putin will have little impact on US diesel prices, experts say

    Analysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineriesTrump announces partial ceasefire but Zelenskyy says deal is ‘news to me’Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin to temporarily lift sanctions on US imports of Russian diesel will have little “meaningful” effect on motorists and businesses in the US and overseas, energy and foreign policy analysts have predicted.The US president infuriated Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he announced the deal on Friday, writing on Truth Social that the agreement with his Russia counterpart to supply millions of tonnes of diesel was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared after his decision to go to war against Iran. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Trump says Ukraine needs a new leader after diesel deal with Russia

    US president suggests Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not done enough to end warDonald Trump has said Ukraine needs “a new leader”, a day after making a deal with Vladimir Putin to buy large quantities of Russian diesel.The US president suggested Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war with Russia and blamed him for high diesel prices in the US. Continue reading… More

  • in

    New Delhi 2026: The Summit of the Disunited BRICS

    On September 12 and 13, New Delhi hosted the 18th BRICS summit under the solemn theme “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” It was a fine formula, but what reality did it cover? For the first time in their history, the BRICS met with members waging war on one another, members who had just signed military… Continue reading New Delhi 2026: The Summit of the Disunited BRICS
    The post New Delhi 2026: The Summit of the Disunited BRICS appeared first on Fair Observer. More