German immigration motion passes, breaking taboo on cooperation with AfD

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Narrow passage of controversial CDU-CSU motion ends longstanding boycott on cooperating with far-right party

The German parliament has narrowly passed a motion urging tough restrictions on immigration that was highly controversial because it was backed by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party.

The motion was brought by the conservative opposition CDU-CSU and backed by, among others, the AfD, breaking a longstanding taboo on cooperation with the anti-immigration party.

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Federal workers decry Trump attempt to force mass resignations as ‘cruel joke’

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Advocates say email sent to 3 million employees offering resignations is dangerous and ‘of questionable legality’

Federal workers and their advocates on Wednesday condemned the Trump administration’s attempt to encourage them to resign en masse, describing an unprecedented email from the government’s human resources department office as a ham-handed attempt to create hostility in their workplaces and offer a false promise of an easy transition out of government service.

On Tuesday, the US office of personnel management (OPM) sent nearly all of its 3 million employees an email offering them deferred resignations and warning that, if they choose to stay, they may be laid off or reassigned.

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South Sudan plane crash kills at least 20, leaves only one survivor – BBC.com

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  1. South Sudan plane crash kills at least 20, leaves only one survivor  BBC.com
  2. Fatal South Sudan Beech 1900D crash leaves sole survivor  Flightglobal
  3. Crash: Eagle B190 at Bentiu on Jan 29th 2025, lost height  The Aviation Herald
  4. 2 Chinese nationals, 1 Indian and 17 others killed in South Sudan plane crash  South China Morning Post
  5. Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20 oil workers  Reuters
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Congo’s defeated foreign mercenaries head home with ‘big relief’ – Reuters

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  1. Congo's defeated foreign mercenaries head home with 'big relief'  Reuters
  2. Rwanda does a Putin in Congo  The Economist
  3. Congolese President Skips Crisis Meeting With Rwanda  Foreign Policy
  4. Congo's M23 rebels move south towards Bukavu in new push after Goma seizure  Reuters
  5. Congolese civilians caught in a growing rebellion face a terrible choice  The Associated Press
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Unrwa closure imminent as last-bid attempts to stop Israeli ban fail

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Palestinians in war-devastated Gaza and occupied West Bank expected to be hardest hit by ban on refugee agency

The main UN agency serving Palestinians in the occupied territories, including Gaza, looks likely to be shut down on Thursday as Israel defied widespread international support for the agency in a move Unrwa predicted would “sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition”.

Unrwa’s banning looks certain, as Israel’s high court of justice refused a last-minute request to intervene to suspend the law forbidding the agency from operating in Israel.

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Mexico to question Google over Gulf name change after Trump order

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Claudia Sheinbaum says US government does not have right to change name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America

Mexico will send a letter to Google to question its decision to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico for users of Google Maps in the US.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said the US government did not have the right to rename the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico, much of which is in international waters.

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Mass Evacuation as Passenger Plane Bursts Into Flames – The Daily Beast

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  1. Mass Evacuation as Passenger Plane Bursts Into Flames  The Daily Beast
  2. ‘Open the Door, Open the Door!’: How Dozens Fled an Inferno on a Plane  The New York Times
  3. Plane fire ‘caused by passenger’s portable battery’ leaves seven injured  Yahoo! Voices
  4. Air Busan A321 Catches Fire At Gimhae International Airport  Aviation Week
  5. Plane catches fire at airport in Busan in South Korea with no casualties, Yonhap reports  The Jerusalem Post
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Reeves’s growth plans ‘exactly what economy needs’ say UK business groups – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Reeves says the supply side of the economy has been held back.

Politicians have lacked the courage to confront the factors holding back growth.

They have accepted the status quo. They have been the barrier, not the enablers, of change.

Without economic growth, we cannot improve the living standards of ordinary working people, because growth isn’t simply about lines on a graph. It’s about the pounds in people’s pockets, the vibrancy of our high streets and the thriving businesses that create wealth, jobs and new opportunities for us, for our children and grandchildren.

We will have succeeded in our mission when working people are better off.

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Man convicted of drunk-driving a drone in Sweden’s first case of its kind

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Man fined for flying device under influence as court applies same punishment it would for drunk-driving a vehicle

A man has been convicted for drunk-driving a drone in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in Sweden.

The 55-year-old man was found guilty in July of flying the device at a classic car event in Rättvik, a town in Dalarna, central Sweden, in a temporary no-fly zone.

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