World news in brief
One of the world’s oldest trees dies
One of the oldest trees in the US which has watched over a New Jersey community and a church for hundreds of years will soon be no more, as crews work to remove the white oak after it was officially declared dead.
Workers began taking down the 600-year-old tree at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church on Monday. It had been showing rot and weakness during the last couple of years, but for centuries it served as a landmark and more recently, the go-to spot for formal photos and tourist photo opportunities.
Crews are expected to return to work today to complete the removal process.
Death toll reaches 26 as protests in Venezuela continue
Two men have become the latest to die in political violence in Venezuela, bring the number of fatalities in recent weeks up to 26. The state prosecutor’s office in the western state of Lara said Orlando Medina, 23, was gunned down in a protest against the rule of President Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, 52-year-old Luis Marquez died in the Andean state of Merida in the early hours of Tuesday morning after being shot at a pro-Maduro rally, state ombudsman Tarek Saab said.
Three weeks ago the Venezuelan opposition launched street protests against the financial mismanagement and anti-democratic policies of the government.
Fifteen people have died in violence around demonstrations and 11 others in night-time lootings, the state prosecutor's office said yesterday. Four of those killed were teenagers. Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested, with 801 still detained as of yesterday, rights group Penal Forum said. Political activists and Venezuelan media have reported more deaths, but those have not been confirmed.
Canadian province to launch universal healthcare scheme
Finland, the Netherlands, and San Francisco, California, have already shown interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance – a system known as basic income. Now Ontario, Canada, is planning a basicincome trial as well. On Monday, Premier Kathleen Wynne outlined new details of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot, which is expected to begin later this spring and last for three years.
A total of 4,000 people in three regions in the province will begin receiving additional income based on their current salary. A person in the trial can receive up to $16,989 (£9,752) a year, though the equivalent of 50 per cent of any additional earned income will be subtracted from that figure. So a person who makes $10,000 (£7,366) a year at their job, for example, would receive $11,989 (£8,831) in basic income, for a total income of $21,989 (£16,197). Eligible recipients, who must be between 18 and 64 and considered low-income, will be chosen through a randomised selection process.
The premise of basic income is straightforward: People get monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilities – no questions asked. Ms Wynne says a key goal of the pilot is to reassure people that their government supports them.