Category Archives: World News

Barclays could be fined £50m for failing to disclose 2008 Qatari deal

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Provisional fine relates to £322m bank paid to Gulf state allegedly in exchange for £4bn investment to save lender from bailout

The City watchdog could fine Barclays up to £50m for failing to disclose a deal struck with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, reviving a controversial episode that failed to gain traction in UK courts.

The provisional fine – which Barclays is in the process of appealing against – relates to the £322m the bank paid to Qatar in 2008, allegedly in exchange for the gas-rich Gulf state investing £4bn, helping save the lender from a UK government bailout.

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Airline hired for UK’s Rwanda deportations pulls out of scheme

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Exclusive: Privilege Style causes problem for Home Office as it bows to pressure from campaigners

A charter airline hired to remove people seeking refuge in the UK to Rwanda has pulled out of the scheme after pressure from campaigners.

A plane operated by Privilege Style first attempted to fly asylum seekers to the east African country in June but was grounded by an 11th hour ruling by the European court of human rights.

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Ontario mayor faces lone challenger – the brother he doesn’t speak to

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Charles Steele runs against estranged brother Bill in Port Colborne mayoral race – but siblings keep mum on source of conflict

When Charles Steele stepped on to a debate stage last week, it was the first time since the election campaign began that he’d confronted his lone opponent in a bitterly contested race to become mayor of a small Canadian town.

The encounter also marked the first time he’d spoken to his brother Bill – the incumbent mayor – in more than 30 years.

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Weather tracker: Nigeria flooding and US blows hot and cold

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Authorities partly blamed after months of deadly flooding in African nation; jet stream causes temperature divide in US

Nigeria has found itself at the centre of devastating floods over the past week, with poor preparation from authorities partly blamed for the damage caused. At least 600 people have died across the west African nation, with two-thirds of states affected by the disaster.

An estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced, with up to a quarter of a million homes reportedly destroyed. The floods are a culmination of months of above average rainfall, with the first floods having occurred in summer.

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More bodies, thought to be of Ethiopian migrants, found in mass grave in Malawi

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Bodies of four men, believed to be en route to South Africa, found less than a mile from where 25 bodies were exhumed in Mzimba

Authorities in Malawi have discovered four bodies in a forest close to where dozens more were found in a mass grave on Wednesday.

Police say the bodies were found yesterday morning, less than a mile from where 25 others were exhumed in Mtangatanga Forest Reserve in the northern district of Mzimba.

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India criticised over arbitrary travel bans after photojournalist blocked from Pulitzer trip

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Sanna Irshad Mattoo says she was barred from taking a flight to New York where she was scheduled to receive the 2022 Pulitzer Prize

Indian authorities have been criticised after a Kashmiri photojournalist said she was barred from taking a flight to New York where she was scheduled to receive the 2022 Pulitzer prize.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo, 27, was in a team of Reuters photographers who had won a Pulitzer for feature photography for their coverage of the coronavirus crisis in India.

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Iran provides ‘technical support’ for Russian drones killing civilians, says US

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Iranians brought trainers and technical support to Crimea to help Russians use drones ‘with better lethality’, White House says

Iran has significantly deepened its involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by providing technical support for Russian pilots flying Iranian-made drones to bomb civilian targets, the White House has confirmed.

The national security council lead spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Thursday that it was the US’s understanding that the Iranian advisers were in Crimea to provide training and maintenance – but not to actually pilot the drones – after Russian forces experienced difficulties in operating the unmanned flying bombs.

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US says Iranian troops ‘directly engaged’ in Crimea supporting Russian drone strikes – as it happened

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‘Relatively small number’ of troops helping Russian forces, says John Kirby, national security council spokesperson

Joe Biden described Liz Truss as a “good partner on Russia and Ukraine,” after the British prime minister announced she would step down after just 45 days in office.

Speaking to reporters at the White House before leaving for Pennsylvania, Biden added, “The British are going to solve their problems.”

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Ukraine plans power cuts after Russian strikes on plants

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Local ‘stabilisation blackouts’ will take place around country at times between 7am and 10pm

Ukraine has introduced an emergency schedule of power cuts to help stabilise the country’s energy supply, which has been badly damaged by more than 300 Russian drone and missile attacks over the past 10 days as the weather turns cooler.

The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said people needed to be “especially conscious of electricity consumption” from 7am and avoid using unnecessary appliances as he warned of local “stabilisation blackouts”.

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Canada supreme court refuses to hear appeal in blow to residential school survivors

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Survivors of St Anne’s Indian residential school allege government withheld key evidence in determining compensation for victims

Canada’s supreme court has declined to hear an appeal brought by a group of Indigenous residential school survivors, dealing a major blow to their decade-long fight against federal government over thousands of unreleased documents.

Survivors of St Anne’s Indian residential school had hoped the country’s top court would take their case, which alleges Canada’s federal government withheld key evidence in determining compensation for victims of abuse at the school in northern Ontario.

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Vanuatu to welcome first female MP since 2008 after snap election

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Vanuatu Election Commission yet to declare official results but Julia King likely to be lone female voice in 52-member parliament

Votes are still being counted in Vanuatu’s snap election, but with the preliminary votes tallied, one change seems certain: Vanuatu’s all-male parliament is no more, with the first woman elected to office since 2008 likely to be announced within days.

“I’m excited for Vanuatu women of course,” Julia King said. King looks set to be returned as the MP for Mele on the outskirts of the capital of Port Vila. “I’m happy for women in general to know they have a voice that can be represented up there. That’s the part I can be excited about.”

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Dozens dead in Chad capital as security forces fire on protesters

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‘Rebels’ accused of setting fire to ruling party HQ during demonstrations calling for faster democratic transition

Security forces in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have violently dispersed banned protests calling for a quicker transition to democratic rule, leaving at least 50 dead and dozens injured, according to the country’s prime minister.

Palls of black smoke could be seen in some areas in N’Djamena and the crack of teargas grenades could be heard throughout much of the day. Several roads had been blocked with barricades and burning tyres and most shops closed their doors to avoid looting.

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Italy slams Economist ‘Welcome to Britaly’ cover for rehashing stereotypes

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Weekly newspaper describes Britaly as ‘country of political instability, low growth and subordination to markets’

Italy’s ambassador to the UK has criticised the Economist for rehashing old stereotypes after featuring Liz Truss dressed as a centurion and holding a fork of spaghetti under the headline “Welcome to Britaly” on the cover of its latest edition, which focuses on Britain’s political mayhem.

Truss, who resigned as prime minister on Thursday after just 45 days in office, is also holding a pizza-shaped shield, with a union jack design and one slice eaten.

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Head of WHO’s Syria office faces allegations of fraud and abuse

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Numerous complaints made about Dr Akjemal Magtymova, AP reports after whistleblower leak

The head of the World Health Organization’s Syria office has been accused of widespread mismanagement, including misspending donor money, plying government officials with gifts and pressing for contracts to be signed with regime officials and politicians.

Staff at the UN organisation have made numerous complaints about Dr Akjemal Magtymova, who has led WHO’s Syrian operations for almost three years, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.

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Schoolboy protester dies in Iran after reportedly being shot at close range

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Abolfazl Adinezadeh reportedly shot at from less than a metre away by security forces in city of Mashhad

A 17-year-old schoolboy has died in Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, after reportedly being shot at close range by state forces during anti-government protests.

Abolfazl Adinezadeh’s death certificate showed that he died of liver and kidney damage caused by birdshot, according to a BBC Persian report. A doctor was cited as estimating the distance from which the teenager was shot on 8 October as less than 1 metre.

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Russia threatens to ‘reassess collaboration’ with UN chief over drone inspection

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Ambassador denies drones fired on Ukraine are supplied by Iran and calls UN investigation ‘illegitimate’

Russia has threatened that it will reassess cooperation with the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, if he sends United Nations experts to Ukraine to inspect drones that western powers say were made in Iran and used by Moscow in violation of a UN resolution.

Speaking after a closed-door UN security council meeting on Moscow’s use of drones, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, called on Guterres and his staff to “abstain from engaging in any illegitimate investigation”. He also threatened Russia would withdraw from the grain deal that has allowed Ukrainian grain to be transported out of Black Sea ports.

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Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard sentenced to five years for sexual assault

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Musician was found guilty earlier this year for sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman in a ‘particularly degrading rape’

Jacob Hoggard, the front man for the Canadian band Hedley, has been sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday after he was found guilty earlier this year of sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman in what the presiding judge called a “particularly degrading rape”.

Ontario superior court justice Gillian Roberts said she accepted the woman’s testimony in its entirety and said it involved “gratuitous degradation” and “gratuitous violence”.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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West Bank visitors ordered to register romances as Israel brings in strict rules

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Curbs on people falling in love with a Palestinian among measures expected to stifle economy and academia and hit aid agencies

Israel has implemented strict rules limiting the ability of foreigners to enter and stay in the occupied West Bank despite international criticism of the measures, which include the compulsory declaration of romantic relationships.

A 90-page ordinance replacing the previous four-page document came into effect on Thursday for a two-year pilot period. It is expected to stifle the Palestinian economy and academia and the work of aid agencies, and create complications for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families with dual nationality, who are already struggling to navigate a convoluted permit system.

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French right votes down move to make abortion constitutional right

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Further proposals to be put before lower house next month after first attempt rejected in senate

The French government has said it supports making the country the first in the world to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, after the right-dominated senate voted down the left’s first attempt at a proposal.

Several political parties in France, from the left to the centrist lawmakers of Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, began pushing for abortion rights to be written into the constitution after the US supreme court’s decision in June to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling, which recognised a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide.

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Indonesia bans sale of syrup medicines after at least 99 child deaths

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Country investigating 206 cases of kidney injury that could be linked to ingredients in liquid medicines

Indonesia has banned the sale of all syrup medicines as it investigates the deaths this year of nearly 100 children, warning that the liquids may contain ingredients linked to fatal kidney injuries.

The move comes just weeks after the World Health Organization issued an alert over four Indian-made cough syrups that it said were potentially linked with acute kidney injuries and the deaths of 70 children in the Gambia.

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