Category Archives: World News

North Korea launches ballistic missile, threatens ‘fiercer’ military response

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The latest missile test comes on the back of expanded military exercises between the US and South Korea

North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile Thursday toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the US bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area at 10:48am local time, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance of North Korea while maintaining a military readiness and a close coordination with the United States.

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Devastating floods in Nigeria were 80 times more likely because of climate crisis

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Stark findings add pressure on Cop27 negotiators to deliver meaningful funding to vulnerable countries

The heavy rain behind recent devastating flooding in Nigeria, Niger and Chad was made about 80 times more likely by the climate crisis, a study has found.

The finding is the latest stark example of the severe impacts that global heating is already wreaking on communities, even with just a 1C rise in global temperature to date. It adds pressure on the world’s nations at the UN Cop27 climate summit in Egypt to deliver meaningful action on protecting and compensating affected countries.

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Lula vows to undo environmental degradation and halt deforestation

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President-elect says he will work to save Amazon rainforest and key ecosystems in rousing Cop27 speech

President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told the world that “Brazil is back” at Cop27, vowing to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and work towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Followed by a carnival atmosphere wherever he went on Wednesday, Lula told the climate summit that his administration would go further than ever before on the environment by cracking down on illegal gold mining, logging and agricultural expansion, and restoring climate-critical ecosystems.

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Film depicting transgender love affair to be screened in Pakistan

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Cannes Jury prize-winning Joyland had previously been banned following objections by Islamist hardliners

A Pakistani film portraying romance between a married man and a transgender woman was cleared for domestic screenings on Wednesday, officials said, reversing a government ban forced by Islamist pressure.

Lauded by critics, awarded the jury prize at Cannes and nominated as Pakistan’s entry for next year’s Academy Awards, Joyland was set to open in cinemas across the country this Friday.

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Iranian police open fire at Tehran metro station and beat women on train

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Video footage shows people running for exits and police with batons beating women in metro carriages

Iranian security forces have opened fire on people at a metro station in Tehran and beaten women who were not wearing mandatory hair coverings as protests over the death of Mahsa Amini entered a third month.

Footage shared on social media showed passengers running towards exits, with many falling and being trampled, after police opened fire on a crowded platform. Police were also filmed through train windows marching through carriages and beating women with batons.

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Xi Jinping’s cordial tone at G20 does not herald softer foreign policy

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Apparent rapprochement with western leaders does not mean China is about to ditch its ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomacy

Fresh from consolidating power with a third term at home, Xi Jinping struck a largely cordial tone at the G20 summit in Indonesia, but don’t expect a change in China’s often aggressive “wolf-warrior” diplomacy.

While laying down a hard line on Taiwan, the Chinese president’s three-hour meeting with Joe Biden was described by the US president as “candid and clear” on subjects ranging from Taiwan to trade. After China accused the US of breaching the “One China” policy in its pledge to protect Taiwan, Biden reassured Xi that the US remained committed to the policy and “a new cold war” could be avoided.

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Arrest of mafia drug-trafficker on Europol’s most wanted list shrouded in mystery

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Bruno Carbone, right-hand man of mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale, was arrested at Rome airport amid claims he was extradited from Syria

The arrest of an Italian drug trafficker who was on Europol’s most wanted list is shrouded in mystery amid reports that he was captured and extradited from Syria.

Bruno Carbone, who had been on the run since 2003, was the right-hand man of Raffaele Imperiale, a drug broker for the Naples’ Camorra mafia who was arrested in Dubai in August 2021.

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Lula says ‘Brazil is back’ as he vows to reverse Amazon deforestation – as it happened

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Brazil’s president elect beat Jair Bolsonaro, under whose watch deforestation had rocketed, in last month’s election

This liveblog is now closed

A long-mooted deposit return scheme in the UK will not be in place for a further two years, the UK environment secretary said on Wednesday, writes Fiona Harvey, Guardian environment correspondent.

“It will be another couple of years at least,” Thérèse Coffey told journalists at Cop27. “Scotland has not started theirs yet. We are getting on with our environmental targets and a business plan and Elms. We are coming up to the fifth anniversary of the 25 year environment plan.”

Let’s talk to the secretary-general of the UN for the next op to be done in Brazil, in the Amazon. I think it is important that the people who defend the Amazon know the region and the concrete reality.

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Missile that hit Poland likely came from Ukraine defences, say Warsaw and Nato

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Poland says no evidence to suggest missile was launched by Russia – but Kyiv insists ‘it was not our rocket’

Ukraine’s air defence was probably responsible for a blast that killed two people in south-eastern Poland, the Polish president has said, while Nato said Russia was ultimately to blame as Moscow had started the war and launched the attack that triggered Kyiv’s defences.

While fears eased of a dangerous escalation in the war, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, insisted on Wednesday he had “no doubt” the missile concerned was not Ukrainian.

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‘China can play mediating role’: Macron to visit Xi Jinping over war in Ukraine

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French president believes China can help push Russia to de-escalate Ukraine war

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he intends to visit Beijing in the new year and believes his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, can play a mediating role that prevents a resumption of large-scale land fighting in Ukraine in February.

Speaking at the close of the G20 in Bali, a summit dominated by the Russian attack on Ukraine and its implications for the world economy, he said he believed China could take a mediating role in the conflict.

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US and Israel blame Iran after drone strikes oil tanker off Oman

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Pacific Zircon, linked to Israeli billionaire, said to have been ‘hit by projectile’ but suffered only minor damage

The US and Israel have pointed the finger at Iran after an oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire was struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman.

The drone attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon happened on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, a Middle East-based defence official told the Associated Press.

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Xi angrily rebukes Trudeau over ‘leaks’ to media about Canada-China relations

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Chinese president’s testy remarks about briefings on earlier conversation captured by media pool at G20 summit in Indonesia

Xi Jinping has angrily rebuked Justin Trudeau after Canadian officials shared details of a previous meeting, highlighting the frosty relationship between the two leaders.

In a clip recorded by the media pool at the G20 summit in Indonesia, a visibly frustrated Xi pulls the Canadian prime minister aside and says it was “not appropriate” for details about a previous conversation between the two leaders to have been shared with media, suggesting Trudeau lacked “sincerity” in his approach.

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Food aid convoys enter Tigray for first time since ceasefire

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Doctors and aid workers describe race against time to keep patients alive in northern Ethiopian region

Convoys carrying desperately needed food aid have entered Tigray, as humanitarian groups gained access to the war-torn northern Ethiopian region for the first time since a ceasefire agreement was signed two-week ago.

Doctors and aid workers in Tigray have described a race against time to keep sick or malnourished patients alive as they wait for humanitarian assistance.

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Alleged Russian ‘torture room’ uncovered in liberated Kherson

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Ukrainian investigators claim Russian forces took over juvenile detention centre, beating and killing people inside

Ukrainian investigators have uncovered a claimed “torture room“ in Kherson city where dozens of men were allegedly detained, electrocuted, beaten and some of them killed.

Police said Russian soldiers took over the juvenile detention centre
in around mid-March and turned it into a prison for men who refused to collaborate with them or who were accused of partisan activity.

Three neighbours and two local shopkeepers said they started hearing screams about six weeks after they saw Russian soldiers take over the building. The witnesses said they started seeing people being taken in with bags on their heads, and some bodies being removed.

Mykola Ivanovych, whose balcony overlooks the back yard of the
detention centre, said he saw two bodies thrown into the garages behind the centre. The Guardian was with press and prosecutors when they first entered the site, and the bodies had been removed.

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Oil prices rise after drone attack on tanker owned by Israeli tycoon

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Incident off Oman involved vessel owned by Idan Ofer conglomerate

Oil prices have risen after a tanker owned by an Israeli billionaire was hit by a drone carrying a bomb off the coast of Oman.

The attack on Pacific Zircon, which is owned by Idan Ofer and operated by the Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, sent Brent crude prices up 65 cents to $94.5 (£79.23). The Liberian-flagged tanker had departed from Sohar, Oman, on Monday afternoon and was destined for Buenos Aires.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy dismisses Nato’s suggestion missile that hit Poland was Ukrainian – as it happened

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

Nato and G7 leaders have condemned Russia’s “barbaric missile attacks” on Ukraine in a statement following the emergency meeting held earlier with members in Bali.

The leaders of Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States met on the margins of the G20 Summit and released the following statement:

We condemn the barbaric missile attacks that Russia perpetrated on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure on Tuesday.

We discussed the explosion that took place in the eastern part of Poland near the border with Ukraine. We offer our full support for and assistance with Poland’s ongoing investigation. We agree to remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as the investigation proceeds.

We reaffirm our steadfast support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, as well as our continued readiness to hold Russia accountable for its brazen attacks on Ukrainian communities.”

The secretary-general is very concerned by the reports of a missile exploding on Polish territory. It is absolutely essential to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.

He sends his condolences to the families of the victims. He hopes that a thorough investigation will be conducted.”

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‘Paris agreement’ for nature imperative at Cop15, architects of climate deal say

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Leaders say December biodiversity summit in Montreal is ‘unprecedented’ chance to turn tide on nature loss

The architects of the Paris agreement have urged world leaders to reach an ambitious sister deal for nature at the Cop15 biodiversity conference this December while warning that limiting global heating to 1.5C is impossible without protecting and restoring ecosystems.

On biodiversity day at the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, Christiana Figueres, Laurence Tubiana, Laurent Fabius and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who helped design the Paris agreement, said that Cop15 would be an “unprecedented” opportunity to turn the tide on nature loss.

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News live: Penny Wong condemns Russia’s deadly missile attacks; Deliveroo to end operations in Australia

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Foreign minister says ‘Australia stands with Ukraine’ following reports a Russian missile landed in Polish territory killing two people. Follow the day’s news

ABC Radio asked Simon Birmingham about reports from this morning that a Russian missile has hit Poland near the Ukraine border: The shadow foreign affairs minister says:

This is deeply, deeply troubling news.

If an accident occurs it can result in a real escalation ... it shows just how dangerous a game Russia is playing.

We can’t expect instant miracles, but the ultimate test of dialogue will be the outcomes that are received if this dialogue is successful, to see breakthroughs in regard to those trade barriers... and also critically the just treatment of Australian’s detained in China.

And then of course challenges in terms of engagement within the region, that we must continue to argue for China to respect international law, international rules and norms

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Donald Trump announces 2024 run for president nearly two years after inspiring deadly Capitol riot

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Twice-impeached ex-president makes expected election announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantis

Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners.

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Poland considers calling meeting of Nato ministers after missile strike

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Two farmers killed near border with Ukraine by what Poland has claimed were Russian-made weapons

Poland’s president Andrzej Duda said he expected his country would call for an emergency meeting of Nato members on Wednesday after “Russian-made” missiles strayed over into the country killing two people.

The incident is the first time that the territory of a Nato country has been struck during the near nine month Ukraine war, and follows an intense 100-missile attack by Russia on Ukraine, which saw millions lose power and supply in neighbouring Moldova also disrupted.

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