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7 Tips To Increase The Success Of Your Online Business
1. Outsource what takes you too long to do When you don't have time to do something, you either don't do it, or do it faster and make mistakes. This can hurt your business. One mistake people often do when they start an online business on a shoestring is that they don't give themselves a value! I hear someone saying : "I will optimize my site to get traffic from the search engines because it is free traffic". Think about this for a moment : if you spend 200 hours writing content for your optimized website, it is NOT free : you have to count the hours of work you have put in the realisation of your site! Personally, I don't have time to write anymore, so I hire people to do it. Another thing people should outsource more often is the things they don't have time to learn. For example, you need to use a new software for a one-time deal. If you know it will take you 20 hours to learn how to use the software, it might be wiser to hire someone to do it! 2. Use the proper tools to save time Are you still building your sites one page at a time? And when you need to change something you need to do it manually on each pages? I know, I was still doing that not long ago! This is hurting your business. By not using the proper tools, or the proper software to do some things, you are often loosing countless hours each months and this lost time could have been used to grow your business! Think about it : is there something you could improve today with the use of the proper tool? 3. Try something different We often get comfortable with our site, and we stop testing new things. I hear you say "yes but I have a good conversion rate!" Great for you, but don't you think it could still get better? Yes it could. But the only way to find out is by testing new things. Make it a weekly task to try one new thing. At the end of the year, you will have done 52 tests on your site and? I'm sure you will have improved something! 4. Use and read your stats I do SEO for a living, and one thing that never stops to amaze me is when people tell me they will hire me to optimize and promote their site but they can't ell me how many visitors they currently have! Statistics are one of your best friend online, and you must use them and read them at least once a month! I check them regularly and it helps me find new ways to work on my site. Try it, and you could find hidden gems that will increase your business profit. 5. Offer a special promotion to your mailing list Try to give a rebate, or even better, and added bonus, for a limited time. This can increase your sales. You might make a little less profit per-sale, but if you make 50 more sales per month, you will end up making more! 6. Seek Joint Ventures Joint Ventures can help you grow your mailing list faster, or sell more products. They are fairly easy to set up when you take the time to do it. Find a website online that could have an audience interested in your product and contact the owner. Offer her to talk about your product in exchange of a commission. 7. Outsource what you don't like to do Sometimes, when we start online, we can't afford to outsource the things we don't really like doing. I used to do everything myself, but I found out that I can grow my business so much faster when I pay someone else to do the things that I really hate! Why? Because the things I don't like to do make me procrastinate. By having someone else to them, I don't have to think about it and I can concentrate on growing my business and increase my profit! Stephanie Hetu
MORE RESOURCES: President says explosives failed to detonate in incident following months of increasing violence against his rule A police helicopter launched grenades at Venezuela’s supreme court building on Tuesday evening following months of protests against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro said “terrorists” had lobbed two grenades that failed to detonate. Some reports put the number of grenades higher. Local media suggested a former police intelligence officer had carried out the attack. Representatives from island’s divided communities – and from UK, Turkey and Greece – are meeting as UN signals it will withdraw its troops if talks fail The leaders of Cyprus’ estranged Greek and Turkish communities have embarked on a defining attempt to reunify the Mediterranean island more than four decades afterit was divided by war. The conference, which opened in the cool of the Swiss Alps on Wednesday morning, brings all the main players to the table – including representatives from Cyprus’ guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and Britain – in what is being billed as an arena “for big and lasting decisions”. For all, it will amount to an historic effort to bridge chasms that have remained unbridgeable since 1974, the year that Turkey seized the island’s northern third in response to a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece. Continue reading...Alex Vavilov, born and raised in Canada, ‘vindicated and happy’ years after he was stripped of citizenship when his parents were arrested by the FBI in 2010 The son of two deep-cover Russian spies has had his Canadian citizenship restored after a long legal battle. The Canadian government had stripped Alex Vavilov of his citizenship after his parents were exposed by the FBI as KGB spies who had spent several decades pretending to be Canadian. Vavilov was born Alexander Foley in Toronto and grew up in France and the US, believing his parents were Canadian-born naturalised Americans. However, in 2010, his parents were arrested by the FBI in a roundup of 11 Russian spies. At the time, Alex was 16. Continue reading...Framed Time cover featuring president and the headline ‘The Apprentice is a television smash!’ has reportedly been seen hanging at five of Trump’s clubs Time magazine has asked the Trump organisation to remove fake covers bearing his image from his golf clubs. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a framed Time cover featuring Trump and the headline “Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is a television smash!” [sic], seen hanging at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, was faked. Continue reading...Researchers in Canada say ‘zonal waves’ in upper atmosphere may explain why people have reported oddly well-lit evenings since Roman times The Romans referred to it as the “nocturnal sun”. Later accounts describe it as an unexplained glow – bright enough to read a book by – that would sometimes light up the night sky. Now researchers from York University in Canada have come up with a possible explanation for the rare phenomenon known as “bright nights”. Using satellite data, two atmospheric scientists from the Toronto institution suggest that the bright nights are not due to the sun or meteors, but instead the result of converging “zonal waves” in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Continue reading...Ukraine government, banks and electricity grid hit hardest, but companies in France, Denmark and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania also attacked Victims of a major ransomware cyberattack that has spread through the US and Europe can no longer unlock their computers even if they pay the ransom. The “Petya” ransomware has caused serious disruption at large firms including the advertising giant WPP, French construction materials company Saint-Gobain and Russian steel and oil firms Evraz and Rosneft. Continue reading...Pentagon prepared to take action after unusual public warning appeared to be intended to deter the Assad regime from repeating its use of chemical weapons The US said on Tuesday that it had observed preparations for a possible chemical weapons attack at a Syrian air base allegedly involved in a sarin attack in April following a warning from the White House that the Syrian regime would “pay a heavy price” for further use of the weapons. Reporters traveling in Germany with the US defence secretary, James Mattis, were told that the Pentagon was prepared to take action after activity was seen at the Shayrat base similar to the pattern that preceded the April gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun, which killed at least 80 people. That incident prompted a US missile strike on the base, although the strike did not seriously impair its operations. Continue reading...Ambassador to Russia says Gulf states imposing demands are willing to be subjected to same monitoring regime The Gulf states demanding that Qatar ends its independent-minded foreign policy and alleged support for extremism have said they are considering further economic pressure on the tiny country, such as reducing commercial links with states that continue to trade with Doha. The warning, the latest escalation in the three-week dispute, was made by Omar Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Moscow and one of the most articulate figures in the row that has racked the region. Continue reading...The actor, who appeared as Mikael Blomkvist in the Swedish adaptations of the Stieg Larsson novels, has died of lung cancer Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist has died at the age of 56. He had been battling lung cancer. The Stockholm-born actor was best known for his role as Mikael Blomkvist in the original Swedish Dragon Tattoo trilogy, which included The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Continue reading...UN peacekeepers should have known men were in danger, appeals court in The Hague rules over 1995 mass killing in Bosnia Dutch soldiers acting as UN peacekeepers were partly liable for the deaths of about 300 Muslim men massacred near Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslavian civil war, an appeals court in The Hague has ruled. The ruling upholds a decision three years ago that the Dutch forces should have known that the men seeking refuge at their base would be murdered by Bosnian Serb troops if they were turned away. Continue reading...Mitch McConnell postpones vote to after Fourth of July recess, as a growing list of defections had imperiled the prospect of a vote on replacement for Obamacare The Republican party’s seven-year crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is on the verge of collapse, after Senate leaders were forced to delay a vote on a healthcare bill that according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would leave an estimated 22 million more people without health insurance by 2026. Related: Senate healthcare bill would cut insurance for 22 million Americans, CBO says Continue reading...As protests continue, Nicolás Maduro says his side ‘would never give up’ amid chaos: ‘What we failed to achieve with votes, we would do with weapons’ As the death toll continues to rise from three months of political unrest in Venezuela, the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has warned that his supporters will take up arms if his government is overthrown. Speaking at a rally to promote a 30 July vote for a constituent assembly, Maduro said he would fight to defend the “Bolivarian revolution” of his predecessor Hugo Chávez.
Colombia’s Farc rebels, who once terrorized the country with kidnaps, killings and attacks on towns, have ended half a century of armed insurgency at low-key ceremony in which the United Nations certified that more than 7,000 guerrillas had turned over their weapons. “Farewell to arms, farewell to war, welcome to peace,” said the Farc’s top leader Rodrigo Londoño, to a cheering crowd of former combatants at the ceremony in Mesetas, a mountainous area in south-eastern Colombia. Continue reading...Tourists are paying higher price than locals for frieten in some of Belgian city’s cafes but authorities say practice is ‘perfectly legal’ It’s known by some as the Venice of the north. And the city’s medieval splendour, enchanting canals and cobbled streets make it a firm favourite for tourists and film-makers alike. But visitors may wish to avoid one of the delights of the Flemish city of Bruges – its pricey chips, or frieten, as they say in this part of Belgium. It has emerged that some of the city’s chip-sellers have been charging tourists an extra 10% on the price offered to locals, pushing up the usual price to more than €7 (£6.20) a serving. Continue reading...Four people have been attacked in less than a week, resulting in two fatalities, in what wildlife experts are calling ‘a lightning strike’ Alaska is experiencing a spate of bear attacks, with four people attacked in less than a week, resulting in two fatalities. Two men, Alex Ippoliti and James Fredrick, were cycling in a woodland near Anchorage on Saturday when Fredrick was attacked, causing him to suffer lacerations to his neck and lose part of his biceps muscle. Ippoliti managed to stave off the assailant, which may have been guarding a nearby cub, with bear spray. Continue reading...Trump derides network’s ‘phony’ stories after three quit over piece on supposed investigation into meeting between associate and Russian investor CNN on Monday accepted the resignations of three journalists involved in a story about a supposed investigation into a pre-inaugural meeting between an associate of Donald Trump and the head of a Russian investment fund. Related: Covering Trump: when journalism, politics and fake news collide – watch live! Continue reading...Brussels claims tech giant abused market dominance by manipulating its search engine results to favour its own comparison shopping service The European Union has handed Google a record-breaking €2.42bn (£2.14bn) fine for abusing its dominance of the search engine market in building its online shopping service, in a dramatic decision that has far-reaching implications for the company. By artificially and illegally promoting its own price comparison service in searches, Google denied both its consumers real choice and rival firms the ability to compete on a level playing field, European regulators said. Continue reading...Report by human rights groups says Bank-funded projects in the country’s cotton industry are using child and forced labour. The Bank refutes the allegations The World Bank is accused of funding agricultural projects in Uzbekistan that are linked to state-sponsored child labour and forced labour in the cotton industry. In a report out on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights said they documented systematic forced labour and cases of child labour in an area where the Uzbek government is implementing a World Bank-funded irrigation project. Continue reading...The restoration of the ozone hole, which blocks harmful radiation, will be delayed by decades if fast-rising emissions of dichloromethane are not curbed The restoration of the globe’s protective shield of ozone will be delayed by decades if fast-rising emissions of a chemical used in paint stripper are not curbed, new research has revealed. Atmospheric levels of the chemical have doubled in the last decade and its use is not restricted by the Montreal protocol that successfully outlawed the CFCs mainly responsible for the ozone hole. The ozone-destroying chemical is called dichloromethane and is also used as an industrial solvent, an aerosol spray propellant and a blowing agent for polyurethane foams. Little is known about where it is leaking from or why emissions have risen so rapidly. Continue reading...Koi pla, raw fish ground with spices and lime, is thought to kill up to 20,000 people in Thailand every year A doctor in Thailand whose parents died from liver cancer after eating a much-loved raw fish dish is travelling the country’s rural north-east to warn people off the recipe. Koi pla, a cheap plate of raw fish ground with spices and lime, is eaten by millions of Thais, especially in one of the nation’s poorest provinces, Isaan. Continue reading...About 220 officers released from duty for Hamburg summit after raucous party nside fenced-off grounds of temporary container Berlin’s police department said their officers were “only human” after they were expelled from the security force for next week’s G20 summit for partying. Related: The party city grows up: how Berlin's clubbers built their own urban village Continue reading...The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of highlights from around the world, including a body found on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli, and a bust of Ho Chi Minh Continue reading...Digital security researchers say malware attack that spread from Ukraine appeared to be focused on damaging IT systems A ransomware attack that affected at least 2,000 global users on Tuesday appears to have been deliberately engineered to damage IT systems rather than extort funds, according to security researchers. The attack began in Ukraine, and spread through a hacked Ukrainian accountancy software developer to companies in Russia, western Europe and the US. The software demanded payment of $300 (£230) to restore the user’s files and settings. Continue reading...Despite Justin Trudeau’s efforts to stress Canada’s female-friendly credentials, a new report has identified a ‘substantial gender gap’ in the country’s workplaces. So is this feminist image too good to be true? Canada’s prime minister is a self-proclaimed feminist. Two years ago, Justin Trudeau’s appointment of the country’s first gender-equal cabinet made headlines worldwide. Recently, his government has released what has been called the “first feminist foreign aid policy”. But now Canada’s own record on gender equality has been called into question by a perhaps unlikely source. The McKinsey Global Institute, a research arm of the corporate consultancy giant, has declared that the country’s workplaces have a “substantial gender gap”. Continue reading...‘Global covenant of mayors’ to work together on climate change whether current White House resident agrees or not Mayors of more than 7,400 cities across the world have vowed that Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris accord will spur greater local efforts to combat climate change. At the first meeting of a “global covenant of mayors”, city leaders from across the US, Europe and elsewhere pledged to work together to keep to the commitments made by Barack Obama two years ago. Continue reading...In what is likely his last great urban intervention, the billionaire is constructing a massive new airport. The $13.4bn project is highly complex and controversial – can he pull it off? It is sometimes hard to tell where Carlos Slim stops and Mexico City starts. He controls most of the mobile phone, landline and internet markets. His telecoms company, Telmex, installed the city’s surveillance cameras. Grupo Carso, his flagship infrastructure conglomerate, runs the city’s principle water treatment plant. His bank, Inbursa, is Mexico’s sixth largest. He even owns the city’s only aquarium. In 2015 Slim’s companies accounted for 6% of the entire country’s GDP, according to the Mexican media outlet El Universal. These holdings run parallel to a vast network of strategically located retail properties. But more than anywhere or anyone else, the 77-year-old tycoon and sometime world’s richest man has grown with the capital. Like a ghost in a shell, Carlos Slim has become part of Mexico City’s urban fabric. Continue reading...With hundreds of thousands of visitors descending on the capital for the 150th Canada Day, this humble and unassuming city is flashing a bit of skin Ottawa is not a grand capital city. It lacks the stunning boulevards of Paris, or economic oomph of London. But it is a fitting capital for Canada all the same – or, at least, for the vision of the country many Canadians like to project: humble, unassuming, getting the job done in the shadow of more grandiose neighbours (in Ottawa’s case, Montreal and Toronto). The city’s Parliament Hill overlooks the Ottawa river valley which divides Ontario and Quebec, and where the lines between the nation’s two solitudes most obviously and frequently blur as a reminder of Canada’s unity. Continue reading...When the 13-storey tower block toppled it exposed problems at the heart of the construction industry in a country where 400 residential buildings collapse each year Pensioner Madiha Abdel Alim was heading home to her flat in Alexandria when she looked up and noticed something strange: the 13-storey block in which she lived was suddenly tilting precariously over the narrow road. Concerned, she immediately contacted the local authorities. “They did nothing,” says Alim. “They said, ‘oh, that’s normal. It’s a very tall building’.” Three days later, the tower toppled and crashed into the building across the road. Continue reading...From ‘manspreading’ to a public grooming ban, tell us about the dos and don’t of your daily commute Commuting through a city is stressful enough without other people breaking the unwritten codes of public travel and getting in your way. But the rules aren’t the same everywhere, and trying to figure out where to stand or when to give up your seat can take some guessing if you’re new to a city. In Toronto, the city authorities are clamping down on rule-breakers in a new social media campaign encouraging travellers to document transgressions by their fellow travellers, like riding the train without shoes... Continue reading...Toronto is just the latest city to run ads on its transit system telling people to behave – but is the real problem our transport networks themselves? What are the unspoken rules of using public transport in your city? “OMG!,” tweeted Lamont Dex in April 2017. “Why is there always that one person who thinks it’s okay to block the door on the train?! #Move #TTC” At the time, his complaint got little attention. Roughly a month later, it was plastered on advertisements across Toronto’s transit system – part of a new etiquette campaign called “You Said It”, showing what your fellow riders have tweeted and complained about. Once known as the City of Lakes, urban sprawl has destroyed 85% of Bangalore’s fresh water and pollution has ruined much of the rest. Can Lakshmi and her mother find clean water today?
Evangelina Chamorro became a symbol of hope after she survived being swept two miles in a mudslide – but her story reveals the city’s shaky foundations The extraordinary video of a Peruvian woman coated in mud emerging from a brown sea of pallets and wooden poles was viewed around the world. Evangelina Chamorro, who had been feeding her pigs when she was swept for two miles downhill in a huge mudslide, became the poster girl for resilience during the country’s worst floods in living memory. Remarkably, the 32-year-old was treated for minor injuries and left hospital just a week after the incident in March. The psychological scars, however, are taking longer to heal. Continue reading...Ahead of World Refugee Day, life is deteriorating in the Libyan desert city that used to be a ‘melting pot’ but has since become a hub for human trafficking Deep in the Libyan desert at the confluence of several migration routes from sub-Saharan Africa, this oasis city of 130,000 hit the headlines earlier this year. The United Nations migration agency reported that some new arrivals at this staging post to Tripoli and the Mediterranean coast, 400 miles north, were being “sold” at modern day slave auctions. It’s a worrying development for Sabha – always liable to become involved in the modern refugee crisis by its position – and World Refugee Day 20 June serves as a reminder of how vulnerable migrants are in places like this semi-lawless enclave, caught between tribal and political factions in post-revolution Libya. Continue reading...It’s no secret Donald Trump benefited from rural voters. But Democrat or Republican, they usually tell Katherine Cramer – who has spent a decade visiting residents of small-town Wisconsin – the same thing: it’s the cities that get all the breaks, and then have the gall to look down on them, too Joe’s voice takes on a mocking tone. “You gotta quit driving!” he says. “Don’t drive as much.” He rolls his eyes and looks around at his pals, a handful of them perched on moulded plastic lawn chairs in a tiny town in central Wisconsin. He’s talking about the way city people look down on rural folks like himself. In his normal voice he adds: “You gotta drive 20 miles to work? You can’t cut that in half.” Continue reading...Muslims mark the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting Continue reading...Officer in charge of match charged with manslaughter and ex-chief constable Sir Norman Bettison charged with misconduct Six people including two former senior police officers have been charged with criminal offences relating to the deaths of 96 people at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football ground and the alleged police cover-up that followed. Related: The long road to justice: Hillsborough inquest timeline Continue reading...Every day millions of internet users ask Google life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the commonest queries Now here’s a question that demands an answer. Why is it that arguably the world’s richest continent – in terms of natural resources – has some of the world’s poorest people? To answer it, we’d need to take a trip down memory lane. Already I can sense you rolling your eyes deep into the back of your head. “If I hear one more time about slavery in Africa …” We often seem to be a people with little patience for history or interest in the impact of past events on present realities. But time isn’t linear and we aren’t always moving forward. There is no other way to understand Africa today without considering the history of the continent. Continue reading...Regressive gender politics are resurgent in 2017, as demonstrated by a Republican bill that would be devastating to women’s health A decade or two ago, the notion that 13 men would be plotting the fate of American women’s healthcare behind closed doors, that they would delight in defunding the women’s health organization Planned Parenthood and impeding healthcare access for millions of American women, would have felt like the politics of a bygone era. Midway through 2017, it feels more like deja vu. Continue reading...The decision by the federal party room is an interim measure and follows claims the NSW Senator derailed negotiations over a school funding deal The Australian Greens party room has voted to temporarily suspend New South Wales senator Lee Rhiannon. The suspension follows complaints from all nine of Rhiannon’s federal colleagues, including the leader, Richard Di Natale, that she derailed the party’s negotiations over school funding and breached the faith of the party room. Continue reading...BBC Watchdog investigation of iced water samples from Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee found faecal coliform bacteria Ice from three major coffee chains in the UK has been found to contain faecal bacteria. An undercover investigation revealed that iced water obtained from high street outlets Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee all contained faecal coliform bacteria, with a positive test found for seven out of 10 samples from Costa and three out of 10 samples from the other two chains. Continue reading...Reports of an assault on the interior ministry and supreme court mark a dramatic escalation following months of protests The country has been convulsed by months of protests against its president, Nicolás Maduro, but Tuesday’s events mark a dramatic escalation. Reports suggest that a helicopter piloted by a former police intelligence officer attacked two government buildings in the capital, Caracas, using guns and grenades. Continue reading...World Food Programme chief hopes US president’s daughter will help stave off cash crisis putting over a million lives at risk The head of the UN World Food Programme has said he is hopeful Ivanka Trump will lobby her father into a U-turn on cuts to humanitarian aid in the face of an urgent cash crisis that is imperilling hundreds of thousands of lives. David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina who supported Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency, said Congress and the Senate had already defied the new president to ringfence $980m (£764m) for famine relief this year. Continue reading...Paul Manafort registers with US justice department over $17m of consulting work he did with Ukrainian party in 2012-14 Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has registered with the US justice department as a foreign agent for political consulting work he did for a Ukrainian political party, acknowledging that he coached party members on how to interact with US government officials. In a filing on Tuesday, Manafort said his firm, DMP International, received more than $17m (£13.2m) from the Party of Regions, the former pro-Russian ruling party in Ukraine, for consulting work from 2012 to 2014. Manafort is the second member of the Trump campaign to register as a foreign agent. Continue reading...A helicopter reportedly stolen and flown by a police officer was seen dropping grenades on to the supreme court and the interior ministry. Gunfire could also be heard during the attack, which was condemned by President Nicolás Maduro in a televised address. The police officer involved later released a video statement in which he was flanked by four heavily armed men. Continue reading...Government accused of weakness over assault on Hong Kong democracy … Grenfell relatives create own death list … Boaty McBoatface goes into action Good morning, Graham Russell here with your morning’s news. Continue reading...20 years after the handover, the last governor praises ‘brave’ young activists battling to have their voices heard as China breaches its promises on freedoms “There were flashing lights and hooting and cheering,” the last governor of Britain’s last colony recalls of the night he sailed out of Hong Kong for the very last time. It was 1 July 1997 and as the royal yacht Britannia slipped out of Victoria Harbour and embarked upon its final, historic voyage across the South China Sea, Chris Patten kicked back with a glass of red wine. Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s last governor, handed the former colony back to China on 1 July 1997 to be ruled with a degree of autonomy under a system called “one country, two systems”. Anger at China’s refusal to grant genuine democracy to the former British colony sparked an unprecedented 79-day street protest in 2014. Here he reflects on leaving Hong Kong and what the game plan should be going forward Continue reading...Hong Kong’s last governor is ‘astonished’ at Britain’s behaviour and says it must be firmer as it searches for a post-EU trade relationship The British government’s “kowtowing” to China on issues including human rights and Hong Kong’s quest for democracy will become increasingly craven following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the former colony’s last governor has warned. In an interview with the Guardian marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control, on 1 July 1997, Lord Patten attacked what he called London’s repeated failure to challenge Beijing over its erosion of the territory’s freedoms and autonomy. As the 20th anniversary of the handover from the UK to China is marked, the Guardian talks to residents and officials about the shifts since 1997 Hong Kong is preparing to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of the territory from the UK to China. The moment will bring thousands on to the streets – some to celebrate and others to protest. Here the Guardian asks six Hong Kong residents about their memories of 1997 and their thoughts on the city’s future. Continue reading...Inaction over Pyongyang and trade war thought to have prompted the US president to look at options including tariffs on steel imports US president Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, three senior administration officials told Reuters. The officials said Trump was impatient with China and was looking at options including tariffs on steel imports, which commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has already said he is considering as part of a national security study of the domestic steel industry. Continue reading...Amid rumors that disgraced comedian wanted to hold series of town halls, attorney said she ‘can’t imagine’ his legal team would let him perform or speak Bill Cosby’s “town hall” tour is unlikely to happen before his retrial on sex assault charges in Pennsylvania, one of his lawyers said Tuesday. Related: Bill Cosby plans to teach young people how to not get accused of sexual assault Continue reading...Arrests have alarmed country’s media community, fuelling fears that freedom of speech has become increasingly restricted under Aung San Suu Kyi Three Myanmar reporters detained at an undisclosed location by the army will be charged under a colonial-era statute against “unlawful association” and face up to three years in jail, government and army officials have said. The military arrested the journalists in Myanmar’s northeastern Shan state on Monday after they covered a drug-burning event organised by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group designated as an “unlawful association” by the Yangon authorities. Continue reading...Angela Merkel speaks at an event in Berlin on Tuesday. Asked about her use of Twitter the German chancellor says she doesn’t tweet but searches for what interests her. The interviewer then asks how Merkel keeps on top of US politics, to which she responds she just types Donald Trump Continue reading...Freedom fighter who led the struggle to liberate Namibia before spending 16 years in a South African jail with Nelson Mandela Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, who has died aged 92, led the struggle to liberate Namibia from apartheid South Africa as a freedom fighter in the mould of Nelson Mandela, with whom he was imprisoned on Robben Island. Toivo’s uncompromising nature was exemplified when, in August 1967, he stood trial in a Pretoria court, charged with the capital offence of terrorism. “Is it surprising that in such times my countrymen have taken up arms?” he asked. “Violence is truly fearsome, but who would not defend his property and himself against a robber?” That robber was South Africa, which had been granted trusteeship of the German territory of Deutsch-Südwestafrika after the first world war, only to refuse to allow it independence after the second world war. Continue reading...Béatrice Huret charged with illegally assisting migrant for helping Iranian man she met and fell in love with at Calais camp A former supporter of France’s anti-immigration National Front has gone on trial accused of helping her Iranian refugee lover cross the English Channel to Britain. Béatrice Huret faces up 10 years in jail if convicted of helping Mokhtar – whom she met while volunteering at the since-demolished migrant camp in Calais – slip out of France under cover of night on a rickety boat. Continue reading...Assad regime has deployed chemical weapons including chlorine and sarin on number of occasions since outbreak of war in 2011 The Syrian military is making preparations for a chemical weapons attack that “would result in the mass murder of civilians, including children”. US military sources reportedly surprised by White House’s public warning that regime would pay heavily for repeat of April attack The White House warned the Syrian regime it would “pay a heavy price” for using chemical weapons after preparations for a possible attack were observed at a regime air base allegedly involved in a sarin attack in April. Related: What do we know about regime's use of chemical weapons in Syria? Continue reading...Fourteen-year-old Sota Fujii has broken a historical record by winning 29 consecutive shogi matches. The game is similar to chess and is played on a 9x9 board. Fujii won the game during the first round of the prestigious Ryuo championship in Tokyo. If he wins the tournament, he will take home 43m yen (£302,000) in prize money Continue reading...Chancellor’s party has resisted calls for same-sex marriage to be legalised but she says MPs should have free vote on matter Angela Merkel has signalled a change in her party’s opposition to gay marriage after stating MPs should be allowed a free vote in the German parliament. Speaking at an event organised by the magazine Brigitte, the German chancellor said she felt aggrieved that debate was mainly carried out along party lines and that she hoped it would be “headed towards a conscience vote”. Continue reading...Anniversary marks British North America Act of 1867, but many people are rejecting the official celebrations and instead highlighting indigenous resilience Two hundred paddlers will weave through the waters, their canoes carving a thin line in English Bay against the backdrop of Vancouver’s dramatic skyline. When they pull in to Vanier Park – one of the many destinations on their 10-day journey – local chiefs from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations will greet them and offer permission to step ashore on to their traditional territories. Continue reading...Millions follow live on TV as Sota Fujii scores 29th consecutive win in Japanese board game that last sparked the country’s interest in the mid-1990s A schoolboy has set a record for consecutive victories in professional shogi – a Japanese version of chess – winning plaudits from the prime minister and sparking a surge of interest in the board game. Sota Fujii, 14, recorded his 29th straight win late on Monday, taking more than 11 hours to beat his opponent in the first round of the prestigious Ryuo championship in Tokyo. Continue reading...Col Maksim Shapoval, who was head of a special forces unit, killed and passersby injured in terrorist act, government says A high-ranking Ukrainian military intelligence official has been killed by a car bomb in Kiev in what authorities are calling an act of terrorism. An explosive device destroyed the Mercedes being driven by Col Maksim Shapoval at 8.15am local time, police said. Continue reading...Planned improvements to Rio’s favelas have meant increases in rent, forcing the poorest families into squatting in unoccupied buildings. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visits the Mangueira community favela, less than 1km from the showpiece Maracanã stadium, to see what life is like for the women living there All photographs by Tariq Zaidi Continue reading...State Department’s annual report rewards Myanmar for efforts against recruitment of child soldiers, but says China not doing enough to end trafficking The US asserted on Tuesday that Myanmar is no longer one of the world’s worst offenders on human trafficking, removing it and Iraq from a list of countries that use child soldiers. But in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department also demoted China to the lowest ranking over its trafficking record, putting it in the same category as North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria. Continue reading...Peru’s president condemns conditions of ‘slave workers’ as four young people die in blaze in Lima, at least two of whom were reportedly imprisoned inside Peru’s public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into human trafficking and labour exploitation following a fire in the capital that killed four young people. It is claimed that at least two of the men, Jorge Luis Huamán, 19, and Jovi Herrera, 21, had been locked inside a container on the roof of the Nicolini building in Lima by a boss they only knew as “gringo”, when fire ripped through it on 22 June. Continue reading...Unemployment crisis will ravage the continent if it doesn’t opt for market-based development, according to report by Tony Blair’s Institute Parts of Africa could face a massive unemployment crisis by 2040, with “catastrophic” consequences for the global economy, new research has found. The report predicted a shortfall of 50 million jobs, which should serve as a “wake up call” for governments across much of the continent, as well as international donors and agencies. According to the analysis by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, based on world bank data, the labour force in sub-saharan Africa will be 823 million by 2040, up from 395 million in 2015. However, total number of jobs is only expected to hit 773 million, it said, leaving 50 million people in Africa unemployed. Continue reading...China is setting up agricultural centres across Africa, but in Zambia – where the majority of farmers are female smallholders – few women get the chance to learn On the highway heading towards Chongwe, 15km south-east of Lusaka, the red Chinese lettering, high flagpoles and gleaming modern architecture of the Zambia Chinese Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre (ZATDC) stand out amid the vast fields of maize. It is one of 25 such centres built across the continent as part of a grand plan to bring agricultural training to local people, helping them produce better crops with higher yields, so that food security is improved for everyone. Continue reading...Once the family breadwinner, Hossein Panahi was among 150 people who died when a bomb ripped through the Afghan capital in May. Now his kin are destitute, adding to the toll of lives wrecked by the country’s violence As an only son, Hossein Panahi was his family’s sole provider. He supplied his sisters with clothes, his ailing parents with food and medicine, and built them all a house to live in. His salary meant his two older sisters did not have to marry young for dowry, but could wait for men they loved. He also put his third sister through law school. Continue reading...Sportswear brands review spate of incidents in factories where employees on short-term contracts work 10-hour days in soaring temperatures Women working in Cambodian factories supplying some of the world’s best-known sportswear brands are suffering from repeated mass faintings linked to conditions. Over the past year more than 500 workers in four factories supplying to Nike, Puma, Asics and VF Corporation were hospitalised. The most serious episode, recorded over three days in November, saw 360 workers collapse. The brands confirmed the incidents, part of a pattern of faintings that has dogged the 600,000-strong mostly female garment workforce for years. Continue reading...Tesco is to join Sainsbury’s in changing the branding of some ‘fairly traded’ products When four Sainsbury’s executives met farmers from some of Africa’s biggest tea-growing co-operatives in a hotel in Nairobi last month it should have been a mutual celebration of Fairtrade, the gold standard of ethical trading and the world’s most trusted and best-known food certification scheme. But instead of backslapping at the Pride hotel, the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products precipitated the greatest crisis in the scheme’s 25-year history by telling the 13 major tea groups and their 228,000 co-operative members that it intended to drop the globally known Fairtrade mark for their produce, and replace it with the phrase “fairly traded”. Continue reading...Facts are the science world’s stock-in-trade, but in an era of fake news it is ever more important to build public trust by avoiding exaggerated claims and jargon One of my most cherished possessions is a handmade cherrywood salad bowl that’s never held a leaf of lettuce. It is 25 years old and gets more beautiful every year. The bowl was a gift, carved by a widower who was left to raise his daughter alone when his wife died under my care as an oncologist. My patient, who I’ll call Erica, had the most challenging form of breast cancer and I didn’t have the tools to save her life. I’ve always felt undeserving of the gift, despite doing everything I could. Five years later, I participated in the development of a medicine for Erica’s type of cancer, Herceptin. While regretting that it had not come fast enough for Erica, I am deeply grateful for the scientific advances that mean better care for patients like her today. Continue reading...The US president’s preference for public bellicosity and instant military action has potential to cause a lot of damage Donald Trump’s warning of renewed US military action against Syria, backed by Britain and condemned by Russia, fits a now established pattern of aggressive White House behaviour favouring violence, or public threats of violence, over quiet diplomacy and private coercion. So far, the damage has been limited. But it’s early days. Related: Three-quarters of world has little or no confidence in Trump, Pew study finds Continue reading...As US mulls strategy over country’s support for terrorist groups in Afghanistan, experts say tougher stance could drive Pakistan toward China and Russia The Trump administration is considering taking a harder stance against Pakistan for supporting terrorist groups in Afghanistan, but experts warn that pressure alone will not bring peace. Similar tactics have failed in the past, and analysts warn that the US can only influence the south Asian country by coupling force with diplomacy, which Donald Trump seems to shun. Continue reading...Analysis: The president celebrated the decision to allow parts of the ban to take effect, but ultimately, ‘the president might well lose on this’, says a legal expert Donald Trump was quick to proclaim victory when the supreme court decided to allow elements of one of his most controversial policies to take effect before justices hear the case in the fall. “Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security,” the US president said in a statement. “It allows the travel suspension for the six terror-prone countries and the refugee suspension to become largely effective.” Continue reading...The US supreme court has reversed lower court rulings, allowing the immigration order to take partial effect. Here’s what that means A watered-down version of the Trump administration’s “travel ban” is to take effect over the summer following a supreme court decision on Monday reversing a series of federal court rulings on the ban. The decision by the US’s highest court raises a number of questions about what the new ban will mean for people in the six Muslim-majority nations affected, as well as for a president who has been repeatedly stymied by the judiciary in the first five months of his administration. Continue reading...Treatment of dying Nobel peace prize winner is emblematic of China’s iron rule. Tania Branigan on the remarkable man she nearly met – the day he was arrested There was no sign of Liu Xiaobo in the Beijing coffee shop – a confusion over the place or time we had arranged to meet, I assumed. But he wasn’t answering his mobile phone and a call to his home brought worrying news: 10 police had arrived late the night before and taken him away. Even then, the writer’s disappearance did not seem overly concerning. Chinese dissidents and activists were used to pressure from the authorities and brief detentions for questioning, or worse. But Liu enjoyed a relative degree of tolerance because of his high profile, though he’d been jailed over 1989’s Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests when he helped broker a peaceful exit from the square for the remaining demonstrators amid the bloody crackdown – and again in the 90s. Continue reading...The national media failed to cover large swathes of the US pre-election, while rural voices have been quieted by the decimation of local news. Our On The Ground project aims to remedy these issues Sarah Smarsh is a journalist, but she’s not typical, at least not by national media standards. For starters, she’s a fifth-generation Kansan who grew up below the poverty line, feeding livestock and helping grow wheat on a small farm. She got her first taste for investigation and justice by following her grandmother, a probation officer, at the county courthouse in Wichita. Growing up, she rarely read about people she knew – farmers, carpenters, factory and restaurant workers – in the mainstream media. After more than 15 years covering Kansas politics and culture on the ground, she’s more committed than ever to her home, and to people often stereotyped or misunderstood in national coverage. Continue reading...The Guardian interviewed people from across the country who have relied on the coverage for life-saving assistance and what could happen if they lose it On Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled legislation that would satisfy a long-held campaign promise: the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The plan would also achieve another GOP priority: deep cuts to Medicaid, a program that covers the healthcare needs of nearly one in five Americans. Related: Will losing health insurance mean more US deaths? Experts say yes Continue reading...While Donald Trump backs the Saudi-led ultimatum, the state and defense departments are openly critical – a mixed message that could worsen the crisis The crisis created by the ultimatum delivered to Qatar by the Saudi-led Gulf coalition has been deepened by mixed messages from Washington. Related: 'Close al-Jazeera': Saudi Arabia gives Qatar 13 demands to end blockade Continue reading...Using government data, doctors and academics have tested whether a lack of healthcare coverage increases the probability of death. Most conclude it does The Republican healthcare bill announced on Thursday would cause thousands of Americans to die each year, according to physicians who study government data. Using national health surveys, doctors and academics have tested whether a lack of health insurance increases the probability of death. Most have concluded that it does. Continue reading...Around 30,000 honey bees swarm on a ledge at One Times Square, where the New Year’s Eve ball drop happens, in New York. Andrew Coté, a fourth generation beekeeper of AndrewsHoney.com, was called to the rescue and used a vacuum to suck up the bees, who he said were looking for a new home Continue reading...US President Donald Trump has spoken to Ireland’s newly-elected Taoiseach Leo Varadkar from the Oval Office. During the call, reporters from the Irish media were present. At one point Trump tells Varadkar he has “a lot of these beautiful Irish press” in the room and singles out Caitriona Perry, asking her to come forward and tell him her name. As she explains who she works for, Trump says “she has a nice smile on her face so I’m sure she treats you well.” Perry, Washington correspondent for RTE, posted the exchange on Twitter, calling it “bizarre”. Continue reading...A reporter challenges deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday after she accused the media of perpetuating fake news against the Trump administration. Karim tells Huckabee Sanders that she is being inflammatory and adds that journalists are subject to professional standards Continue reading...Xiahe is famous for its Labrang monastery, the largest edifice of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism and home to the largest number of monks outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. The monastery was founded in 1709 Continue reading...Hawaii attorney general Doug Chin says he believes in the president’s power to protect national security but not when it discriminates against people because of their national origin or religion. The nation’s highest court ruled on Monday that a travel ban may be enforced if visitors lack a connection with a person or entity in the United States. Hawaii sued to stop President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban in March. Chin says the decision is a partial victory for Hawaii because it allows people such as university students and relatives of US citizens to enter the country. “We expect our president to follow the law,” he says. Continue reading...Several potential jurors at the federal securities fraud trial of Martin ‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli were excused on Monday after telling the judge they couldn’t be impartial toward the flamboyant former pharmaceutical CEO because of his notoriety for raising the cost of a life-saving drug 5,000 percent. Though Shkreli’s notoriety came from Daraprim, a drug used to treat toxoplasmosis and HIV, the federal securities fraud case is unrelated. Continue reading... |
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