Category Archives: World News

Haiti on verge of collapse, NGOs warn as UN talks on restoring order continue

Posted on by

Haitians currently facing series of crises that are becoming deadlier by the day with gangs, hunger and cholera outbreak

NGOs operating in Haiti warn that the chaos engulfing the country has become so total and the social fabric so torn that the country is on the verge of collapse, as discussions continue at the UN security council on how to restore order.

Haitians are currently facing a series of overlapping crises that are becoming deadlier by the day as heavily armed gangs continue to blockade the country’s principal port and fuel terminal.

Continue reading...

Iran protesters need same western support as Ukraine, say exiles

Posted on by

Iranian opposition sign open letter calling for tougher measures over regime’s actions against protesters

A prominent group of Iranians in exile, human rights activists and families of dual-national political prisoners has called on the west to do more to help Iranians’ demands for freedom.

The EU, US and UK have imposed largely symbolic travel bans and asset freezes on a dozen security officials linked to a crackdown on people protesting in Iran after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The west has not broken off talks with the Iranian regime over the 2015 nuclear deal or downgraded diplomatic relations.

Continue reading...

Tamil refugees on Chagos Islands fear deportation under Rwanda-type plan

Posted on by

UK government lawyers tell asylum seekers they can return to Sri Lanka or be removed to undisclosed country

Tamil refugees seeking asylum from the British-claimed Chagos Islands face being forcibly removed to a third country under Rwanda-style plans drawn up by the UK government.

Government lawyers have told the asylum seekers that if they cannot be returned to Sri Lanka they will instead be removed to another undisclosed country.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia evacuating citizens from Kherson as commander describes ‘tense’ situation

Posted on by

Sergei Surovikin says Ukraine forces ‘continually’ trying to take positions of Russian troops, particularly in Kupiansk, Lyman and Mykolaiv

A Russian missile struck an apartment building in the southern Ukrainian port city Mykolaiv, in one of three explosions heard there in the early hours of Tuesday, a Reuters witness said.

The missile completely destroyed one wing of the building in the downtown area, leaving a massive crater. A fire crew pulled the dead body of a man from the rubble, the witness said.

Continue reading...

There’s lithium in them thar hills – but fears grow over US ‘white gold’ boom

Posted on by

The treasured mineral is critical for electric vehicles and could help slow global heating, but locals worry about the harmful extraction near tribal land

Deep in the parched landscapes of Nevada, there is a stirring boom. The mining of lithium holds the promise of a treasured resource that can help slow disastrous global heating.

Spurred by a growing demand for battery parts essential for electric vehicles, the US’s only major lithium mine, in Silver Peak, a remote outpost situated in desert scrub and nascent Joshua trees a three-hour drive north of Las Vegas, is doubling its production.

Continue reading...

Missing Iranian climber dropped headscarf by mistake, Instagram post claims

Posted on by

Friends of Elnaz Rekabi have been unable to contact athlete since Sunday, while embassy says she returned home with rest of team

A female Iranian climber who competed in an international tournament without a hijab did so because her headscarf had dropped by mistake, a post on her Instagram account has claimed.

Footage of Elnaz Rekabi, 33, scaling a wall without her head covered during an international tournament went viral, coming amid big female-led demonstrations against Iran’s clerical rulers sparked by strict Islamic rules on women’s clothing.

Continue reading...

Chinese diplomat involved in violence at Manchester consulate, MP says

Posted on by

Footage shows figure believed to be Zheng Xiyuan kicking down poster and pulling pro-democracy protester’s hair

One of China’s most senior diplomats in the UK was involved in the violence against pro-democracy protesters at the Manchester consulate, a British MP has said.

Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP, told the House of Commons that Beijing’s consul general in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, was seen “ripping down posters” before a Hong Kong campaigner was attacked on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Brazil’s fearsome militias: mafia boom increases threat to democracy

Posted on by

Rio’s heavily armed paramilitary groups have exploded in influence in recent years to wield power over dozens of communities

The theme from Mel Gibson’s Braveheart filled the air as the man accused of helping spawn Rio’s paramilitary mafia movement was lowered into the soils of a graveyard called the Garden of Longing. Fireworks exploded overhead.

“My brother was a noble man with a magnificent heart,” said the dead man’s sibling, Natalino Guimarães, as he and hundreds of mourners prepared to say their last goodbye.

Continue reading...

Unity ‘the only way forward’ says Chad PM as anti-junta anger rises

Posted on by

In interview from capital, Saleh Kebzabo says he wants powerful rebels to join transitional government

Chad’s new prime minister has said that uniting the population “is the only way forward” for the chronically unstable African country after its president, Mahamat Idriss Déby, appointed him to head an interim national unity administration.

Saleh Kebzabo, 75, a former opposition figure and journalist, has been tasked with leading the country towards the first free and fair elections in its political history.

Continue reading...

Just Stop Oil protesters block Dartford Crossing for second day

Posted on by

Closure of major road bridge linking Essex and Kent causes fresh rush-hour delays

Just Stop Oil protesters remain on top of the M25 Dartford Crossing, threatening another day of commuter chaos.

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge linking Essex and Kent was closed after it was scaled by two climbers from the group, whose demands include that the government “halts all new oil and gas licences and consents”.

Continue reading...

Israel criticises Labor’s decision to drop recognition of West Jerusalem as capital

Posted on by

PM Yair Lapid says he’s ‘deeply disappointed’ in the ‘hasty’ foreign policy shift and has summoned Australia’s ambassador to explain

Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, has criticised Labor’s decision to drop the recognition of West Jerusalem as that country’s capital and Australia’s ambassador has been summoned to explain.

Lapid has accused the Australian government of a “hasty” foreign policy shift, after it reversed the previous government’s decision.

Continue reading...

Pregnant Baltimore firefighter goes into labor while rescuing crash victim

Posted on by

After being involved in same wreck, Megan Warfield felt contractions start but stayed to help trapped woman

Megan Warfield, a firefighter in Baltimore county, Maryland, was nine months’ pregnant with her third child when the car she was riding in crashed and she began to experience contractions.

But she didn’t allow herself to go to the hospital and give birth until after helping free a woman trapped under another car in the wreck, actions that drew widespread praise.

Continue reading...

Iranian schoolgirl ‘beaten to death for refusing to sing’ pro-regime anthem

Posted on by

Fresh protests ignited around Iran by 16-year-old Asra Panahi’s death after schoolgirls assaulted in raid on high school in Ardabil

Another schoolgirl has reportedly been killed by the Iranian security services after she was beaten in her classroom for refusing to sing a pro-regime song when her school was raided last week, sparking further protests across the country this weekend.

According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, 16-year-old Asra Panahi died after security forces raided the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil on 13 October and demanded a group of girls sing an anthem that praises Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Continue reading...

UN warns against alarmism as world’s population reaches 8bn milestone

Posted on by

UNFPA head urges countries to focus on helping women, children and marginalised people most vulnerable to demographic change

The world must not engage in “population alarmism” as the number of people living on Earth nears 8 billion, a senior UN official has said.

The global population is projected to reach that milestone on 15 November, with some commentators expressing worries about the impact of the growing number on a world already struggling with huge inequality, the climate crisis, and conflict-fuelled displacement and migration.

Continue reading...

What are European countries doing to cut power consumption?

Posted on by

Governments across the continent have announced a range of measures to tackle any energy shortages this winter

Paris is switching off the Eiffel Tower lights an hour early, Milan has turned off public fountains, and Hanover is offering gym users cold rather than hot showers in an effort to combat potential energy shortages this winter.

At the same time, the public are being encouraged to do their bit by avoiding using household appliances between 4pm and 7pm, stock up on blankets and slow down their driving.

Continue reading...

Relief tinged with unease as Japan reopens after two ‘really tough’ years

Posted on by

In Kyoto, local shop owners are ready to welcome back tourists but there is a way to go before a return to pre-Covid days

After more than two years of near-total isolation, Japan has reopened its borders to overseas visitors – but the road back to the pre-Covid tourism boom could be long and bumpy.

Last week, the country lifted some of the strictest pandemic border controls in the world when it removed a 50,000 daily cap on arrivals, reinstated waivers for short-term visas and dropped a rule requiring tourists to visit as part of group tours.

Continue reading...

UK to issue ‘threat alert’ over China’s attempts to recruit RAF pilots

Posted on by

Former and serving pilots told not to disclose sensitive information, in attempt to ‘mitigate risk’ of schemes

British defence intelligence is to issue a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military is trying to recruit serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force with generous recruitment packages.

Officials expressed “concern and disapproval” of these schemes because they posed “a threat to UK and western interests”. Although they are not explicitly banning pilots from providing training, they aim to take steps to “manage the risk”.

Continue reading...

At least 13 reported dead in Russia after military plane hits building

Posted on by

Residential building in Yeysk, near the Ukraine border, hit by Su-34 fighter-bomber, says defence ministry

A Russian military jet has crashed into a residential building shortly after taking off near the border with Ukraine, sparking a major fire that has reportedly left at least 13 people dead, according to Russian news agency Interfax, citing a senior official.

Video and photographs uploaded to social media on Monday showed a residential building engulfed in flames in Yeysk, a port and resort town in Russia located just south of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol across the Sea of Azov.

Continue reading...

US and Mexico call for international force to break gangs’ stranglehold on Haiti

Posted on by

Scheduled session brought forward in view of dire conditions – rampant gang violence, a cholera outbreak and escalating famine

The US and Mexico have proposed the deployment of a multinational force in Haiti to help break the stranglehold of gangs over the distribution of fuel, water and other basic goods.

Presenting a resolution at a special session of the UN security council on Monday, the US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called for “a limited carefully-scoped non-UN mission led by a partner country with the deep, necessary experience”.

Continue reading...

Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Posted on by

Judges described the Sri Lankan author’s second novel as a ‘rollercoaster journey through life and death’ and praised its audacity and ambition

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has won the Booker prize for fiction. The judges praised the “ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques”.

Karunatilaka’s second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida comes more than a decade after his debut, Chinaman, which was published in 2011. The Booker-winning novel tells the story of the photographer of its title, who in 1990 wakes up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. With no idea who killed him, Maali has seven moons to contact the people he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos of civil war atrocities that will rock Sri Lanka.

Continue reading...