Category Archives: World News

Climate crisis funds not reaching countries in need, senior UN official says

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With famine in Somalia almost inevitable, Martin Griffiths criticises opaque handling of $100bn a year promised to poorer countries

The UN’s humanitarian chief has questioned why billions of dollars pledged to tackle the climate crisis have not been used to fight famine in Somalia.

Martin Griffiths said he did not know where the promised $100bn (£87bn) a year to fight the impact of global heating in poorer countries had gone, and called for greater transparency around climate finance.

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China locks down part of Wuhan, nearly three years after first Covid case emerged

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More than 800,000 people locked down in site of world’s first Covid outbreak in 2019, as other Chinese cities seal up streets and homes

Chinese cities from Wuhan in central China to Xining in the north-west are doubling down on Covid-19 curbs, sealing up buildings, locking down districts and throwing millions into distress in a scramble to halt widening outbreaks.

China on Thursday reported a third straight day of more than 1,000 new Covid cases nationwide, a modest tally compared with the tens of thousands a day that sent Shanghai into a full-blown lockdown earlier this year but enough to trigger more curbs and restrictions across the country.

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New Zealand influencers detained in Iran ‘extremely relieved’ to be home

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NZ government facing accusations that its response to Iran protests has been muted in order to secure release of pair

Two New Zealand influencers who were detained for nearly four months in Iran have said they are “extremely relieved” to be out of the country and back with family.

Christopher “Topher” Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray were on a trip they called Expedition Earth; driving a Jeep through 70 countries to “promote environmental issues” and documenting their travels on Instagram. They disappeared in early July, shortly after they were questioned by authorities upon entering Iran. The pair are understood to have been kept in the country by security forces.

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Iran: gunmen kill at least 15 people at Shia shrine in Shiraz

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Attack takes place same day security forces reportedly open fire at mourners in Mahsa Amini’s hometown

Armed men have attacked a Shia Muslim shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz, killing at least 15 people, the state news agency Irna said, as security forces clashed with protesters marking 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini in custody.

Irna described the attackers as “takfiri terrorists”, a label used by officials in predominantly Shia Muslim Iran to refer to hardline, armed Sunni Islamist groups. The attack was later claimed by Islamic State in a statement posted on the terror group’s telegram channel.

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Finnish MPs abolish need to see two doctors before abortion

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Pregnant woman’s request will be sufficient to obtain procedure without need for further reasons

Lawmakers in Finland have approved a legislative reform that will ease the process of getting an abortion in the country, which currently has the Nordic region’s strictest abortion law.

Finland’s 200-seat Eduskunta legislature on Wednesday voted by a wide margin 125-41 in favour of a law reform that will, among other things, abolish the need for approval from two doctors to terminate a pregnancy.

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French-German friendship ‘still alive’ as Macron meets Scholz amid tensions

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Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

Both leaders, whose countries are seen as the joint driving force of the European Union, made an effort to smile as Scholz emerged from his black Mercedes at the Élysée Palace to shake hands, but the German chancellor appeared to sidestep Macron’s attempts to put an arm around him.

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Quebec separatist urges Canada to cut ties with ‘incredibly racist’ monarchy

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Yves-François Blanchet, leader of Bloc Québécois, says ‘slave-driven’ British monarchy is ‘archaic’ and ‘humiliating’

The leader of Canada’s Quebec separatist party has renewed calls for the country to sever its ties with the “incredibly racist” and “slave-driven” British monarchy ahead of the coronation of King Charles III.

The Bloc Québécois leader, Yves-François Blanchet, tabled a motion on Tuesday, widely seen as purely symbolic, in the House of Commons.

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Heathrow passengers may have to fly outside peak times in run-up to Christmas

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Airport still has shortage of 25,000 staff and is keen to avoid disruption of summer

Heathrow has said passengers may have to fly outside peak times on some days in the run-up to Christmas to avoid further travel chaos, as Europe’s busiest airport admitted it is still short of 25,000 staff to meet high demand.

The airport, which this Sunday is due to lift the current cap of 100,000 passengers a day that was introduced in July as summer holiday travel descended into chaos, said it was in talks with airlines over the selective cap.

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Archaeologists unearth 2,700-year-old rock carvings in Iraq

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Experts find artefacts from ancient empire during restoration of historic site destroyed by Islamic State

Archaeologists in northern Iraq have unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian empire, an archaeologist has said.

The carvings on marble slabs were discovered in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, where experts have been working to restore the site of the ancient Mashki Gate, which was bulldozed by Islamic State militants in 2016.

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Germany announces plan to legalise cannabis for recreational use

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Minister says legalisation could set precedent for rest of Europe, though plan is still subject to EU approval

Germany wants to make it legal for adults to purchase and own up to 30g of cannabis for recreational use and to privately grow up to three plants, the country’s health minister has announced, saying the intended outcome could set a precedent for the rest of the European continent.

“If this law comes to pass, it would be the most liberal project to legalise cannabis in Europe, but also the most regulated market”, the Karl Lauterbach said at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. “It could be a model for Europe.”

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Georgia Meloni faces first migration test from two NGO rescue boats

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Vessels carrying at least 380 people could ask Italian authorities to disembark them in Sicily safe port

Two NGO rescue boats carrying hundreds of asylum seekers in the central Mediterranean are expected to face the first test of migration policy under Italy’s new far-right government after Rome threatened to prevent them from entering Italian waters.

The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, operated by the NGO SOS Mediterranée, has more than 200 people onboard. The other vessel, Humanity One, flying the German flag and run by the German charity SOS Humanity, is carrying about 180. Most left Libya on small boats. Both ships could ask the Italian authorities for authorisation to disembark their passengers in a safe port in Sicily.

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Iran’s security forces reportedly open fire as thousands mourn Mahsa Amini

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Teargas also used against protesters gathered in home town of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, says rights group

Iranian security forces have clashed with protesters who had gathered in their thousands in Mahsa Amini’s home town to mark 40 days since her death, with reports that shots were fired.

“Security forces have shot teargas and opened fire on people in Zindan Square, Saqqez city,” Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, tweeted without specifying whether there were any dead or wounded. It said more than 50 civilians were injured by direct fire in cities across the region.

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EU plans tighter controls on pollution as doctors call for urgent action

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Stricter standards will tackle fine particulates and PFAS and require polluters to pay for cleanups

The EU executive has proposed tighter controls on pollutants and chemicals that harm air quality and foul lakes, rivers and seas, but health campaigners said the plans lacked urgency.

As part of a major reform of the EU’s anti-pollution legislation, the European Commission said it planned to tighten air quality standards, including on one of the most dangerous pollutants, fine particulate matter. Water standards are also going to be stricter, with 25 substances added to a control list, such as the category of PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”), the substance Bisphenol A, pesticides including glyphosate, and antibiotics.

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Python swallows woman at plantation in Indonesia

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Body of 54-year-old worker found in stomach of 7-metre snake on island of Sumatra

A woman was found dead in the stomach of a 7-metre python at a rubber plantation where she worked in Indonesia, according to local reports.

The woman, identified as Jahrah, 54, went to work on the plantation in Jambi province, on the island of Sumatra, on Sunday morning and her husband reported her missing when she did not return home that evening.

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World has left Bangladesh to shelter 1m Rohingya refugees alone, says minister

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Shahriar Alam criticises international community for doing ‘absolutely nothing’ to press Myanmar’s junta to guarantee a safe return

The world has done “absolutely nothing” to ensure safety in Myanmar for its persecuted Rohingya minority, said Bangladesh’s foreign minister, complaining that his country is sheltering more than 1 million refugees without support.

Foreign minister Shahriar Alam told the Guardian financial support for the Rohingya has decreased each year and there has been no real progress towards repatriation in the five years since more than 700,000 fled massacres by Myanmar’s military. That wave, in August 2017, joined approximately 300,000 people that had already fled Myanmar because of previous security crackdowns.

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Ukraine refugees told not to return yet as energy crisis looms

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Government tells citizens to wait until spring, amid warning damaged networks ‘will not cope’ as fighting continues

Ukraine’s government is advising refugees living abroad not to return until the spring amid mounting fears over whether the country’s damaged energy infrastructure can cope with demand this winter.

The energy crisis comes as officials in Kyiv warned that the coming winter may herald the heaviest fighting of the war, around the southern city of Kherson where Russian forces have been digging in.

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UK minister criticised over call for gay World Cup fans to show respect in Qatar

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James Cleverly says ‘flex and compromise’ needed on both sides in country that criminalises homosexuality

The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been criticised for telling gay football fans they should show respect to Qatar, which criminalises their sexuality, when attending the World Cup in the emirate.

Cleverly said Qatar was willing to make compromises to allow people it would normally persecute to attend the tournament, which kicks off on 20 November. On Tuesday, the prominent British LGBTQ campaigner Peter Tatchell claimed he had been arrested in Qatar for highlighting the country’s stance.

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China using illegal police bases in Netherlands to target dissidents, say reports

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Dutch government investigating ‘undeclared’ stations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, claimed to be part of global network

The Dutch government has said it is investigating reports that Chinese police forces have illegally opened at least two stations in the Netherlands since 2018, using them in part to keep tabs and put pressure on overseas dissidents.

An investigation by RTL Nieuws and Follow the Money said the “overseas service stations” in Amsterdam and Rotterdam ostensibly served an administrative purpose, allowing Chinese nationals to renew driving licences and change their civil status.

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At least 230 Sudanese villagers killed in tribal attacks over disputed land

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Minister says more than 30,000 people forced to flee in Blue Nile state as tensions between rival communities erupt into violence

At least 230 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in attacks on villages in Sudan’s Blue Nile state over the past few days, according to authorities.

Gamal Nasser al-Sayed, the health minister in the southern state, which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan, told the Guardian that more than 30,000 people in eight villages in the Wad al-Mahi area had had to flee as their homes were torched and villagers were attacked.

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Cyclone Sitrang: 24 dead as Bangladesh seeks to restore power to millions

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Nearly 10,000 homes were destroyed or damaged by storm that flooded cities and forced a million to evacuate

At least 24 people have died and millions were without power after Cyclone Sitrang struck Bangladesh, forcing the evacuation of about a million people.

Most of the deaths were from falling trees, police and government officials said, with two dying in the north on the Jamuna river when their boat sank. A Myanmar national working on a ship also died by falling off the deck, an official said.

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