- China’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomacy Returns With Threat Against Japan’s Leader The New York Times
- China Threatens US Ally With ‘Severe Blow’ Newsweek
- Sanae Takaichi: How Japan’s new prime minister has brought China’s ‘wolf warriors’ back out CNN
- China urges Japan PM to retract 'egregious' remarks on Taiwan Reuters
- Japan and China spar over Taiwan as Donald Trump tilts global ‘chessboard’ Financial Times
Housing secretary tells Labour MPs to vote down planning bill amendment
Amendment restricts protection for animals to allow faster house building
Housing secretary Steve Reed has told Labour MPs to vote down an amendment to the new planning bill intended to protect British wildlife and its habitats from destruction.
The amendment, which was passed with a large majority in the House of Lords, restricts the most controversial part of the draft bill by removing protected animals such as dormice, badgers, hedgehogs, otters and nightingales, and rare habitats such as wetlands and ancient woodlands, from new rules which allow developers to sidestep environmental laws to speed up house building.
Continue reading...Von der Leyen lays out alternatives to reparations loan for Ukraine as time runs out – Euronews.com
- Von der Leyen lays out alternatives to reparations loan for Ukraine as time runs out Euronews.com
- EU finance ministers agree using frozen Russian assets most effective way to fund Ukraine Reuters
- Zelenskiy Says Ukraine’s Survival Rests on Funds From Allies Bloomberg.com
- Von der Leyen pitches EU joint debt as backup plan to finance Ukraine politico.eu
- Reparation loan ‘most effective’ way to support Ukraine, says von der Leyen Euractiv
China issues wanted notice for two Taiwanese influencers for ‘separatism’ – Reuters
- China issues wanted notice for two Taiwanese influencers for 'separatism' Reuters
- Chinese police offer cash reward for arrest of Taiwanese influencers Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Beijing Puts $35,000 Bounty On Taiwanese Influencers Over 'Anti-China' Posts NDTV
- Mainland police offer cash rewards for tips on Taiwan’s ‘terrible’ influencers South China Morning Post
- Update: Police seek clues on illegal activities of Taiwan secessionist social media influencers Xinhua
A truck hits pedestrians at a market in South Korea, killing 2 and injuring 18 – AP News
- A truck hits pedestrians at a market in South Korea, killing 2 and injuring 18 AP News
- Two dead, 18 hurt in South Korea after truck crashes into market, media reports say Reuters
- South Korea: Truck plows into pedestrians, killing 2 DW
- Truck plows into Bucheon market, killing at least 2 The Korea Herald
- Police request pretrial detention warrant for man who drove truck into traditional market Korea JoongAng Daily
Explosions in Russia’s Oryol Oblast following reported Ukrainian missile and drone attacks – The Kyiv Independent
- Explosions in Russia's Oryol Oblast following reported Ukrainian missile and drone attacks The Kyiv Independent
- Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv fires long-range Flamingo missiles at Russian oil facilities in fresh wave of strikes The Independent
- Ukrainian forces launch Flamingo missile strikes overnight, hitting Russian military and oil facilities – vid Українська правда
- Ukraine Confirms Strike on Crimea With New Flamingo and Bars Missiles UNITED24 Media
- Ukraine Claims New Strike on Russia’s Saratov Refinery Bloomberg.com
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell abused by protesters after getting bail over alleged Camp Sovereignty attack
Sewell, 32, must not be in Melbourne’s CBD or talk to alleged camp attack co-accused as part of bail conditions
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A neo-Nazi who allegedly led a violent group attack on a First Nations protest camp in Melbourne has been greeted by protesters shouting “Nazi scum, off our streets” after being released on bail.
Thomas Sewell, 32, hired a top barrister to successfully argue in the supreme court that he should be released, after failing in a previous application for bail two months ago.
Continue reading...Drugs disguised as tea keep washing up on this S Korean holiday island
Some 28kg of ketamine have been found washed up on the island's beaches in the past two months.
Russia’s attacks have ramped up – Ukraine is fighting to hold on through another winter
Years of conflict have taken their toll and the war of attrition is continuing on the homefront - but Ukrainians are fighting back hard by trying to keep morale high
Israel’s president says ‘shocking’ settler violence against Palestinians must end – Politico
- Israel’s president says ‘shocking’ settler violence against Palestinians must end Politico
- Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian warehouse and land as West Bank attacks surge BBC
- Israel Arrests 4 After Jewish Extremist Attack in Occupied West Bank The New York Times
- Israeli president condemns ‘serious’ attack by settlers on West Bank villages The Guardian
- Israeli president condemns ‘shocking’ settler attacks in occupied West Bank Al Jazeera
Amid Japan’s surge in bear attacks, a torrent of AI-generated videos is adding to anxiety
Videos show schoolgirls fighting off animals, while others show people feeding bears, with some so realistic that users struggled to distinguish between fact and fiction
If a record number of fatal bear attacks wasn’t terrifying enough, experts say a torrent of AI-generated videos in Japan purporting to show people in close encounters with the animals is only adding to public anxiety – and could put people at greater risk.
While headlines about real attacks and disruption appear on a regular basis, monitors of online content are warning social media users not to be taken in by realistic videos on platforms such as TikTok of the animals attacking or interacting with humans.
Continue reading...Putin opponents criticise EU ban on multi-entry visas for Russians
Restrictions for entry to Schengen zone announced last Friday because of sabotage attacks linked to Russia
Russian opposition figures have reacted with anger and dismay to a decision by the European Union to introduce a ban on multi-entry visas to the Schengen zone for Russian citizens, announced in recent days.
“Starting a war and expecting to move freely in Europe is hard to justify,” said the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, when announcing the decision last Friday. She added that the tightened rules were a response to Russian drone incursions into European airspace and sabotage attacks linked to Russia.
Continue reading...Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA finds genetic disorder but no Jewish ancestry – The Times of Israel
- Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA finds genetic disorder but no Jewish ancestry The Times of Israel
- Hitler's DNA reveals Nazi leader likely had syndrome that can affect genitals, researchers say CBS News
- Did Hitler really have a ‘micropenis’? The dubious documentary analysing the dictator’s DNA The Guardian
- Adolf Hitler likely had a micropenis — and just one ball: study New York Post
- Analysing Hitler's DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing useful New Scientist
Fatal clash on Thai-Cambodia border after Trump-brokered peace deal breaks down
The truce broke down this week after a Thai soldier lost a leg to a landmine blast, prompting Thailand’s PM to say the peace deal was ‘now over’
One person has been killed by gunfire along the Thai-Cambodia border as conflict heats up between the two nations days after a Trump-backed ceasefire agreement has broken down.
Fighting erupted between Thai and Cambodian troops over five days in July, with 43 people killed and 300,000 displaced in the worst fighting along the border in a decade. Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the two nations in Malaysia this October, after the US president previously threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two countries unless they stopped fighting.
Continue reading...‘Utter hypocrisy’: tobacco firm lobbied against rules in Africa that are law in UK
British American Tobacco pushed Zambian ministers to drop or delay ad bans, health warnings and restrictions on flavoured products, letter shows
British American Tobacco has been accused of “utter hypocrisy” for lobbying against tobacco control measures in Africa that are already in place in the UK.
A letter seen by the Guardian, sent from the company’s subsidiary in Zambia to the country’s government ministers, asks for plans to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship to be abandoned or delayed.
Continue reading...Democrats sift through shutdown’s ashes after resistance finally breached
After 42-day standoff, government is back open – and minority party won no concessions from party in power
More than 42 days ago, beleaguered congressional Democrats employed a tactic they were not known for using – refusing to fund the government unless their demands, in this case, an extension of tax credits that lowered costs for Affordable Care Act health plans, were met.
Fast forward to Wednesday evening, and the federal government is back open, the Democrats’ resistance breached by the combined forces of Congress’s Republican majorities and a splinter group of Democratic senators who provided just enough votes to get a funding bill past the chamber’s filibuster.
Continue reading...House passes funding bill to end US shutdown – see how lawmakers voted
Bill passes House with with 222 in favor and 209 against. Here’s how Republicans and Democrats voted
The US House of Representatives voted to pass the funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history. Trump signed the bill into law on Wednesday night.
The legislation comes in the wake of a Senate-brokered compromise in which a handful of Democrats voted toforego the extension of expiring healthcare subsidies, which have been at the heart of the long impasse. The bill extends government funding at current levels through January. Three year-long provisions, which fund programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the USDA and FDA, and legislative branch operations, are also included.
Continue reading...Fossil fuel emissions rise again – but renewables boom offers hope for climate
Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels are forecast to reach a new high in 2025 but could soon peak.
Despite surging renewables, fossil fuel emissions will hit record this year – The Washington Post
- Despite surging renewables, fossil fuel emissions will hit record this year The Washington Post
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Head for a Record in 2025, Global Carbon Project Reports The New York Times
- Fossil fuel emissions rise again - but renewables boom offers hope for climate BBC
- Analysis: Fossil-fuel CO2 emissions to set new record in 2025, as land sink ‘recovers’ Carbon Brief
- Fossil fuel emissions to hit new record in 2025: study DW
Ukraine’s most perilous winter so far – politico.eu
- Ukraine’s most perilous winter so far politico.eu
- Why Ukraine is bracing for its 'worst winter' of the war BBC
- Russian Bombardment Causes Large Outages in Ukraine’s Big Cities The New York Times
- Lights out in Ukraine, prices up in Europe GZERO Media
- Russia's drone attack on Ukraine's Odesa damages energy, transport infrastructure Reuters