In May of 2014, Speaker of the House John Boehner responded to a climate change question with, “listen, I’m not qualified to debate the science over climate change. I am astute to understand that every proposal that has come out of this administration to deal with climate change involves hurting our economy and killing American jobs. That can’t be the prescription for dealing with changes to our climate.” Speaker Boehner is not the only one reluctant to enter into the debate on climate change. In a March interview Mitch McConnell responded to a climate change remark with, “For everybody who thinks it's warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn't…”

HONG KONG: Rival Hong Kong lawmakers clashed on Friday inside the city’s legislature which has been paralysed for seven months as pro-democracy politicians attempt to scupper a controversial law that bans insulting China’s national anthem.The chaotic scenes come weeks after Beijing...

Tech firms are making record profits but paying little tax. Now global leaders are discussing ways to make them pay their fair share

Writer also said he has no plans for further episodes of 'Black Mirror'

MELBOURNE — Australia's politicians have sure made some memorable public appearances of late.

We've had Senator Jacqui Lambie make a case for a ban on the burqa by stumbling through an explanation of sharia law on live television, federal MP and resident dinosaur enthusiast Clive Palmer's diatribe on Chinese business relations and of course, Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowing to get all up in the face of President Putin

And what better way to archive the missteps of the nation's leaders than superimposing their faces into some of film and television's most iconic scenes?

Taylor Swift is currently sending Australia into Tay Tay fever as she tours the country, and it seems the nation's politicians aren't immune.

Take Treasurer Scott Morrison. The minister was responding to media questions Monday regarding whether he had been offered the treasury job by current Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in February, months before the dumping of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott

We won't bore you with the details, but please note the part where the Liberal Party member told reporters to "shake it off" in regards to these events.

If you can't beat 'em, erect a coral reef on their doorstep. That's what Greenpeace activists in Australia did overnight in a bid to confront politicians with the realities of climate change. 

The protest held at Parliament House (Australia's Whitehouse) depicted a faux-coral reef in neon white, representing the coral bleaching occurring on the Great Barrier Reef; the only coral reef in the world to be granted World Heritage status.

"Almost a quarter of the reef's coral died this year," Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Nikola Casule told Fairfax Media. "Australia can't have both a healthy Great Barrier Reef and a coal industry." Read more...

Because they started setting aggressive goals early, it still leaves Germany ahead of schedule on Paris Climate Agreement commitments

Going green is going too far in the Province of Ontario

Maryland's ban on arsenic in chicken feed would have been groundbreaking, but the bill has been gutted by lobbyists.

This simple idea could change how governments deal with the environment.

If the goal is to reduce meat consumption, then why not make it more expensive?

Britain observed a two-minute silence on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of the second world war. Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall led the ceremony from Balmoral in Scotland. Political leaders also paid silent tribute at 11am along with the rest of the nation. Nazi commanders surrendered to allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago to the day.

• VE Day 2020: Britain pauses for two-minute silence as Red Arrows flypast marks 75th anniversary – live
  
• VE Day 75 timetable
  

The legislative council descended into chaos for more than an hour on Friday as opposing lawmakers threw placards and scrambling over each other to take control of a house committee. Politicians rushed to take the seat left empty after the house was unable to elect a new chairperson. The incumbent, Starry Lee, reached the seat first as pro-Beijing and pro-democracy members crowded in

• Hong Kong parliament in chaos as politicians fight for chair

The world needs The Maniac. That's the name of the central character in a play called The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, written by the Nobel Prize-winning Italian Dario Fo in 1970. The plot is highly political. It involves the protagonist infiltrating a brutally corrupt system, and exposing the powers that be as being the emperor with no clothes. And in the process, he has the bad guys scrambling for cover since their misdeeds are out in the open. These villains — specifically, the police force in this case — are forced to resort to 10 lies to hide just one.

The same play has been adapted in an Indian context by Amitabh Srivastava, and is called Operation Three Star. A staging of it will take place in the city this weekend, directed by Arvind Gaur of Asmita Theatre. Gaur tells us about how the story line is timeless, and can fit any part of the world where there is an unjust hierarchical structure at work. But before we examine why that is, let's draw an outline of the plot.

The Maniac being interrogated

The curtains open to reveal an inspector interrogating The Maniac for being a fraudster. But the dim-witted policeman's IQ is no match for the highly intelligent Maniac's. So, the latter constantly outsmarts him. He intercepts a phone call that the cop gets when he is away for a little while. The caller is a superior who wanted to let the inspector know that he is needed back in the police station for a case where an anarchist has been accidentally killed. A judge is about to arrive to find out about the more minute details of the case. And hearing this, The Maniac gives the inspector the slip and decides to go to the station himself, posing as the judge.
Once there, The Maniac inadvertently learns that the death of the so-called anarchist was not in fact an accident, but a murder at the hands of the police forces. The latter are thus now trying to concoct an elaborate web of deceit to wipe their hands clean. This leads The Maniac to assume the role of a crusader, and trick the police into admitting their own guilt. And the curtains fall with an open ending, where The Maniac asks a journalist covering the case to choose between two possible scenarios.

Arvind Gaur

So, how does the same plot reflect our own times, in India? "It's through the metaphor of encounter killings, for one," Gaur tells us. He says, "There was a time when encounter cases were rampant. But then people started talking about the issue. A hue and cry was made whenever there was such a killing. And the start of that conversation eventually led to the numbers reducing, because if you think about it, there are a lot less encounter cases now than before."

Gaur adds that since there is no one superhero called The Maniac who can single-handedly rid society of corruption — there are, for instance, ethical hackers, rights activists and investigative journalists collectively doing the same job — the onus lies on individuals to address any corruption they come across. "Each of us needs to identify an issue and then talk about it to reach a solution, because if we stay mum, the unjust will get away and things will carry on as they are," he explains. The power to make a difference then lies in our own hands, he says, meaning every member of society is The Maniac to some extent. And it's just that the world needs us to recognise ourselves as being one.

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A video of Hertha Berlin forward Salomon Kalou shaking hands with his team-mates "shocked" key German politicians, who are set to decide Wednesday whether the Bundesliga can resume next month. "The video has done the German league (DFL) and professional football a disservice," Anja Stahmann, chairwoman of Germany's regional sports ministers, told radio station RBB on Wednesday. "I have heard from colleagues that they are shocked and shaken.

"We were struck by great doubts when we watched the video," admitted the sports senator for the state of Bremen. "I got the impression that good rules were being written down on paper, but that they were not actually being lived out." The Bundesliga is set to be given the green light by the government on Wednesday to resume later this month behind closed doors and with strict hygiene measures in place.

Germany's regional sports ministers have already approved the Bundesliga's plans to resume, but Stahmann said Ivory Coast international Kalou's video left a bad impression. "Some people think the Bundesliga has lost its grip in times of a pandemic," Stahmann added. On Monday, the former Chelsea forward was suspended by Hertha after posting a video to Facebook showing him greeting team-mates and club employees with handshakes, flaunting hygiene guidelines laid out by the league. Kalou apologised for disregarding the social distancing rules, saying: "it was a big mistake".

The 34-year-old also said he could understand how his video, shot in the dressng room, caused shockwaves as the league was seeking permission to return to action. Kalou has scored 48 goals in 151 Bundesliga games for Hertha, but is out of contract at the end of the season and could have played his last game for the club. "It was respectless and I want to apologise for that sincerely," he added.

"But I am about more than those five bad minutes that people see of me in the dressing room." However, Kalou's video drew criticism from the top of the German government. Health minister Jens Spahn said it was "right" that Hertha suspended Kalou and there were "consequences after the video".

Bavaria's premier minister Markus Soeder said the league has developed an "excellent" hygiene concept but "there are individual players, as we have read, who are behaving very, very poorly".

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Matthew Engel tours Middle England in search of the root of voter disillusionment

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DOMINIC LAWSON: As so often in her 68-year reign, the Queen gets it right. In her statement to the country on meeting the challenge of the coronavirus, she did not once use the word 'war'.

Caroline Lucas has written to ten female MPs calling for an all-women Cabinet. The Green MP proposes a cross-party female leadership team to deliver a new referendum after winning a confidence vote.

Bill Browder, a human rights campaigner and former fund manager in Russia, made the explosive allegations in his testimony to the intelligence and security committee.

Nigel Farage has warned UK politicians not to demonise Donald Trump as he claimed it would be a 'great mistake' to alienate the US President who is set to visit Britain for a Nato summit.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, ministers in her government and public service chief executives will take a 20 per cent pay cut for the next six months.

The Australian Prime Minister who earns an annual salary of $549,250, is not planning to follow in the footsteps of New Zealand.

Ministers in New Zealand agreed to a 20 per cent cut on Wednesday but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said paycuts were 'not being considered' in Australia.

Politicians in the UK and Australia have doubled down on their refusal to reduce their pay packets since Ms Ardern said she and her top staff would slash their salaries by 20 per cent.

Laura Smith and Karen Lee both spoke of their need to find a new source of income after they lost their Crew & Nantwich and Lincoln seats to the Tories on December 12.

A former Colombia treasury officials says his country's ex president Álvaro Uribe set up an airport hangar that allowed El Chapo to traffic 10,000 kilos of cocaine to Mexico from 2006 to 2007.

Boris Johnson already appears to be fighting a losing battle after EU leaders reacted with dismay at his solution to the Irish backstop.

The leak, which saw data from hundreds of politicians, including Mrs Merkel, posted on Twitter last month, affects all parties in parliament except the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Prince Charles is asking politicians to protect Britain's historic bond with Germany. Some see the move as a push for a softer Brexit as he says he wants the friendship with Germany to continue.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: We are all in this ­together. How many times have we heard that over the past few weeks?

Ivan Campo has hit out at the Spanish government over their handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The former Real Madrid star hit out at politicians with the pandemic spreading through Spain.

While the programme sellers and stewards are taking 20 per cent wage cuts and being bailed out by the government, top stars are still earning hundreds of thousands a week.

Ajay Dey, who was previously elected from Santipur in Nadia district on Congress ticket, left the party to join Trinamool. But he was rejected by the voters this time

Ahead of counting of votes to decide political fate of five states, candidates were seen resorting to different means to calm their nerves Thursday morning

Action will be taken against any political leader, whether from the ruling party or the opposition if found violating the lockdown, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said

In view of the nationwide to prevent the spread of coronavirus, face-to-face interactions and political gatherings have been replaced by virtual meetings

Elections 2004 are around the corner and Jayaprakash Narayan points out that the 'hate-politicians' attitude is perilous to democracy itself.

Politics isn’t a career choice in itself, as far as parliament’s website is concerned.

Salomon Kalou was seen shaking hands with his teammates in a video that has since gone viral.

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2020.

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.

Bandopadhyay also questioned the pressure being put on Ganguly to step down as the WBHRC chairman.

Arif Jamal is a Pakistani journalist and South Asia expert based in America.

Politicians make a lot of wild claims about undocumented immigrants in the United States. Our advice? Take a deep breath and have a look at what the numbers tell you.