Category Archives: World News

Let them eat bugs: UK urges hunger-stricken African nations to farm insects

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Aid projects in DRC and Zimbabwe encourage rural inhabitants to eat insects rich in vitamins and minerals

UK aid spending is encouraging hunger-stricken Africans to eat insects, with projects aiming to develop the practice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.

Edible insects have long been touted as a resource-efficient source of protein, requiring less land and water than conventional livestock. However, taste and cultural resistance have proved to be stumbling blocks in extending the practice in many parts of the world.

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Ex-UK ambassador and her husband jailed for a year in Myanmar, reports say

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Vicky Bowman and Htein Lin were arrested last week accused of violating immigration laws

Britain’s former ambassador to Myanmar and her husband, a prominent artist, have been sentenced to one year in prison by the country’s military-controlled courts, reports say.

Vicky Bowman, who was the ambassador in Myanmar from 2002 to 2006, and her husband, Htein Lin, a veteran democracy activist, were arrested last week in Yangon and accused of violating immigration laws.

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Weather tracker: South Korea and Japan brace for typhoon Hinnamnor

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Strongest tropical storm of the year also forecast to hit China’s mainland this weekend after winds reach 160mph

Destruction is imminent across southern Japan and South Korea as super typhoon Hinnamnor barrels northwards through the East China Sea this weekend.

The typhoon is so far the strongest tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season and developed gradually this week out in the Pacific, edging towards the Philippines and Taiwan. By Thursday, maximum sustained winds had reached 160mph, leading to classification as a category 5 tropical cyclone, or a super typhoon.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Russia says gas pipeline suspended indefinitely; G7 nations agree price cap for Russian oil – as it happened

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State-owned Gazprom announces NordStream 1 pipeline to stay out of action citing turbine engine damage after EU announces upper limit on oil prices

Russian news agency Tass is carrying a quote from Alexander Volga, head of the Russian-imposed occupation administration of Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) is located.

It reports he said on Russian television that eight people from the IAEA mission remain at the ZNPP, alongside four more people, who he described as service personnel who accompany them through their activities.

The IAEA mission must state that the presence of the military, the presence of weapons at the station, is a real threat to nuclear safety. This is obvious.

This mission is unique because there are no analogues in the history of the IAEA at all. Missions took place at objects that were controlled by states. But there was no such mission format as it is now.

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Aid continues to arrive in Pakistan as deaths from floods pass 1,200

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Planes bring food, medicine and tents to disaster zone, with officials blaming floods on climate change

Planes carrying fresh supplies are forming a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan as the death toll passed 1,200, officials have said with families and children at special risk of disease and homelessness.

The ninth flight from the United Arab Emirates and the first from Uzbekistan were the latest to land in Islamabad overnight as a military-backed rescue operation elsewhere in the country reached more of the 3 million people affected by the disaster.

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Crisis-hit Zambia secures $1.3bn IMF loan to rebuild stricken economy

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Years of mismanagement have led to soaring debt levels, but critics say that without meaningful relief, austerity will continue

The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.3bn (£1.1bn) loan to Zambia, as the country scrambles to rebuild its crisis-hit economy after defaulting on its foreign debts in 2020.

The Covid pandemic compounded Zambia’s economic woes, blamed on years of mismanagement and corruption, which left the country with unsustainable levels of debt.

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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: arrest after attempted shooting of Argentina vice-president

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Fernández de Kirchner was greeting supporters when man approached her and raised handgun to her face

A man has been arrested after a handgun was aimed at point-blank range at Argentina’s vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in an apparent assassination attempt.

Fernández de Kirchner survived only because the pistol – which was loaded with five bullets – did not fire, President Alberto Fernández said.

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Physical integrity of Zaporizhzhia plant ‘violated’, says UN nuclear chief

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IAEA head Rafael Grossi says his team will stay at Russian-held site in Ukraine to assess safety and damage

The “physical integrity” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in south-eastern Ukraine has been “violated”, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said, as Ukraine’s authorities accused Russia of misleading the inspection mission.

After leading a team of inspectors to the Russian-occupied plant, the biggest nuclear power station in Europe, Rafael Grossi said that two IAEA experts would stay on permanently to provide constant monitoring and an uninterrupted flow of information to IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

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Papua New Guinea PM takes out advert urging journalists to stop calling him direct

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Notice in two major newspapers asks reporters to use ministerial emails instead of contacting James Marape

The Papua New Guinean prime minister’s office has taken out a full page advertisement in the country’s two major newspapers urging journalists to stop calling and texting him directly.

“This circular is to advise all members of the media fraternity, both national and international, that the Prime Minister Hon. James Marape MP will no longer accept direct press enquiries from the date of this correspondence onwards,” said the public notice published in the Post Courier and the National on Friday.

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Japan’s hottest city to give out umbrellas to protect children from sun

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After an increase in the number of days when the mercury rose to at least 35C, 9,000 yellow fibreglass umbrellas will be handed out to children in Kumagaya

Children living in Japan’s hottest city will be given specially designed umbrellas to protect them from the heat, after a summer that saw record-breaking temperatures in many parts of the country.

Local authorities in Kumagaya in Saitama prefecture have devised an umbrella that keeps out the rain and doubles as a parasol, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.

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Iran nuclear deal: US dismisses latest move from Tehran as ‘not constructive’

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US state department rejects what Iran characterised as a bid to ‘finalise the negotiations’ in latest efforts to agree a deal

Hopes of a rapid conclusion to negotiations on a revived nuclear deal with Iran have receded after the US quickly rejected the latest Iranian proposal as “not constructive”.

Washington’s rapid reaction to the Iranian text, which had been delivered shortly before 3am on Friday Tehran time, directly contradicted Tehran’s claims that its proposals presented “a constructive approach” aimed at “finalising the negotiations”.

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Lawyer criticises UN report’s failure to call Uyghur oppression ‘genocide’

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Sir Geoffrey Nice QC says outgoing human rights chief’s report on China makes it easier for international community to do nothing

The UN’s failure to mention the word genocide in its report alleging serious human rights violations by China against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province is an “astonishing” lapse, according to a leading British human rights lawyer.

The 45-page report from the outgoing UN human rights commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, landed minutes before her term ended on Wednesday, outlining allegations of torture, including forced medical procedures, as well as sexual violence against Uyghur Muslims.

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Chengdu locks down 21 million people in fresh Covid outbreak

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Authorities impose sweeping restrictions as China holds fast to zero-Covid policy

About 21 million people in the Chinese city of Chengdu have gone into lockdown as authorities raced to snuff out a new Covid-19 outbreak.

China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, stamping out virus flare-ups with snap shutdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.

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Urgent aid appeal launched as satellite images show a third of Pakistan underwater

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Humanitarian workers expect conditions to worsen as monsoon rains continue and say millions face a terrible winter

Aid workers have appealed for urgent donations to fight the “absolutely devastating” impact of flooding in Pakistan, as new satellite images appeared to confirm that a third of the country is now underwater.

As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to raise funds for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data captured by its Copernicus satellite.

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Appeal for UK aid as worst floods in Pakistan’s history leave 6 million in urgent need

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Disasters and Emergency Committee urges British public to give whatever they can

An urgent appeal has been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee for donations in Pakistan, where at least 1,000 people have been killed by floods described as the worst in the country’s history.

“The scale of these floods has caused a shocking level of destruction – crops have been swept away and livestock killed across huge swathes of the country,” said the DEC’s chief executive, Saleh Saeed.

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South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell

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Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine life

A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.

The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life.

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Russia-Ukraine war: UN to maintain ‘continued presence’ at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant amid reports of shelling nearby – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the war here

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head, Rafael Grossi, has said the agency would consider establishing a continued presence at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“There has been increased military activity including this morning, until very recently, a few minutes ago … but weighing the pros and cons and having come so far, we are not stopping,” Reuters reports he told journalists before setting out for the nuclear power plant.

Today, at about 6am Moscow time, Ukrainian troops landed on the coast of the Kakhovka Reservoir, 3 km northeast of the ZNPP plant in two sabotage groups of up to 60 people in seven boats and attempted to seize the power plant. Measures have been taken to destroy the enemy, including with the use of army aviation.

In addition, from 8am Moscow time, the armed forces of Ukraine have been shelling the meeting point of the IAEA mission in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Vasylivka and the ZNPP. Four shells exploded at a distance of 400m from the first power unit.

This is Martin Belam in London taking over the live blog from my colleague Samantha Lock. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

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Five key points from the UN report on Xinjiang human rights abuses

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Damning report cites human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in north-west Chinese province

China has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province which may amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights commissioner has said in a long-awaited and damning report.

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IAEA team arrive at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after shelling delay

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Inspectors on site after Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of trying to sabotage visit

UN inspectors have arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after being delayed for several hours by reports of shelling around Europe’s biggest atomic facility that led to one of its two working reactors being shut down.

The plant’s operator, Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission was on site on Thursday after Russia and Ukraine had earlier accused each other of trying to sabotage the visit.

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