Provisional results give João Lourenço more than 52% of the vote despite surge for rival party Unita
Provisional results from elections in Angola have put the incumbent president, João Lourenço, and the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ahead.
The polls are the most tightly contested vote in the country’s democratic history, and have been described by analysts as an “existential moment”.
Continue reading...Some asylum seekers have received letters saying government intends to remove them, the Guardian has learned
The Home Office is planning a new deportation flight to Rwanda, the Guardian has learned.
Some newly arrived asylum seekers in hotels have received letters from the department telling them their asylum claims are deemed inadmissible for consideration in the UK.
Continue reading...Ren Zhengfei writes in leaked memo that ‘chill will be felt by everyone’ and company must focus on survival
The founder of Huawei has delivered a stark warning for the tech company’s future, sparking alarm with the frankness of his assessment and what it signals for smaller businesses amid China’s economic troubles and a global downturn.
In a leaked internal memo, Ren Zhengfei told Huawei staff “the chill will be felt by everyone” and the company must focus on profit over cashflow and expansion if it is to survive the next three years, indicating further job cuts and divestments.
Continue reading...Vicky Bowman and Burmese husband Htein Lin detained and charged with immigration offences
Myanmar’s military junta has detained Britain’s former ambassador to the country, as well as her husband, a prominent artist, in Yangon.
Vicky Bowman and Htein Lin, a renowned painter and former political prisoner, were arrested in Yangon on Wednesday and charged with immigration offences, Reuters reports. They were taken to Insein prison, a notorious facility where many political prisoners are held.
Continue reading...Itaru Nakamura says fresh start needed after assassination ‘to ensure this never happens again’
Japan’s most senior police officer has said he will resign to take responsibility for security lapses leading up to the fatal shooting last month of the former prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
Itaru Nakamura said on Thursday that he intended to step down as head of the national police agency to give the organisation a “fresh start”, weeks after Abe was gunned down while making an election campaign speech.
Continue reading...Police barred until 1 September from arresting former PM, whose supporters gathered outside court
A Pakistani court has barred officers from arresting the former prime minister Imran Khan until the end of the month, according to officials, after police filed terrorism charges against him.
The court protected Khan, the leader of Pakistan’s opposition, from arrest until 1 September over accusations that during a speech at the weekend, he threatened police officers and a judge.
Continue reading...Power line restored after plant occupied by Russian troops taken off national grid for several hours; toll confirmed after Russian forces attack train station
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration has issued an update regarding the series of explosions reported near the city earlier this morning.
Oleksiy Kuleba said Russia launched a rocket attack on the Vyshgorod district north of the city centre.
Continue reading...Investigation into attacks by Bashar al-Assad’s forces that left 700 people dead could help bring justice for victims
The “startling display of violence” meted out by Syrian government forces against civilians in the town of Daraya 10 years ago has been laid bare in the first detailed investigation into the massacre.
At least 700 people were killed when forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad stormed the town between 24 and 26 August 2012. Troops went door to door killing and detaining men, women and children. Terrified people sheltered in basements.
Continue reading...WHO hails west African country as first in world to stamp out Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma
Togo has been praised by the World Health Organization for becoming the first country in the world to eliminate four neglected tropical diseases.
The WHO presented the west African country with an outstanding achievement award this week for eliminating Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma in just 11 years.
Continue reading...Women less interested in ‘macho competitiveness of violence’ in conflict, says author
A new book has shed light on the little-known history of nearly 200 female journalists from 29 countries who covered the Spanish civil war.
While Ernest Hemingway and Arthur Koestler were among writers who made their names reporting on the war, Bernardo Díaz Nosty’s 900-page Periodistas extranjeras en la Guerra Civil (Foreign Female Journalists in the Civil War) uncovers the story of 183 women whose writing gave a new slant on the 1936-39 conflict, distinct from the masculine and bellicose tales of life on the frontline.
Continue reading...Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily disconnected from national grid amid fears over disaster; Putin signs decree to increase armed forces
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was temporarily taken off the Ukrainian power grid. The plant in eastern Ukraine is under Russian occupation and was disconnected from the national power supply for several hours before a last remaining line supplying electricity that cools the reactors was reconnected. Disconnecting the plant raises the risk of catastrophic failure of cooling systems for its reactors and spent fuel rods, which run on electricity.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, Reuters has cited the Russian state-owned news agency Ria as saying. The figure, which includes a 137,000 increase in the number of military personnel to 1.15 million, will come into effect on 1 January.
The death toll from Russia’s rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has risen to 25 people. Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday. Four trains caught fire and the deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed its forces struck the railway station, prompting condemnation from the US and the EU. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the attack “fits a pattern of atrocities” while the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said those responsible would be held to account.
The UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has called on Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine and its “unimaginably terrifying” impact on civilians. Bachelet spoke about the six months since the Russian leader ordered his troops into Ukraine during a speech marking the end of her term as the UN’s high commissioner for human rights.
The mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region has been “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, posted a video on Telegram reportedly showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to plan a “pseudo-referendum” by Russia-backed authorities on whether the region should join Russia.
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration said Russia launched a rocket attack on the region’s Vyshgorod district north of the city centre early on Thursday morning. Oleksiy Kuleba said there were so far no casualties or damage to residential buildings or infrastructure facilities. Ukraine’s armed forces said “several” explosions were heard at about 3am.
The US president, Joe Biden, was set to speak to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after the announcement of a further $3bn (£2.5bn) in US military aid for Ukraine. John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the national security council, said the phone call would also provide the Ukrainian president with an update on US arms shipments.
Continue reading...Congressional investigation finds new evidence of efforts to override health decisions early in pandemic
Officials in the Trump White House tried to pressure health experts to reauthorize a discredited Covid treatment, according to a congressional investigation.
A report published on Wednesday by the Democratic-led House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis contained new evidence of efforts to override Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions early in the pandemic.
Continue reading...Rocket attack in Chaplyne wounds 50 people as country marks six months since Moscow’s invasion
At least 22 people have been killed and 50 wounded in a Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian railway station, as the country marked six months since Moscow’s invasion on a sombre independence day overshadowed by warnings of further “brutal” attacks.
Addressing the UN late on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the rockets struck a train in a station in the town of Chaplyne, about 145km (90 miles) west of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Continue reading...US to send anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment as Zelenskiy praises ‘unwavering support’
Joe Biden has announced nearly $3bn in new military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment.
It is the biggest tranche of US military aid to date, bringing to over $13bn the total the US has supplied or pledged to Kyiv under the Biden administration. The new equipment, however, will have to be ordered by defence manufacturers and will not be delivered for months or years. US officials said it represented a longer-term investment in Ukrainian security.
Continue reading...Dawn Walker, who says she fled domestic abuse, is arrested and accused of stealing friend’s identity to cross border
An acclaimed writer who says she fled Canada to escape domestic abuse is to be extradited from the US, amid accusations she faked her own death, kidnapped her son and illegally crossed the American border.
Dawn Walker, an Indigenous author from Okanese Cree Nation in the province of Saskatchewan, was due to be driven to the border on Wednesday by US officials and handed over to Canadian police, more than a month after she first went missing.
Continue reading...Positive results in first ‘rigorous’ trial investigating compound’s effect on alcohol use
The most rigorous test yet of psilocybin as a treatment for alcoholism has found that the compound in psychedelic mushrooms helped heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely.
Psilocybin, found in several species of mushrooms, can cause hours of vivid hallucinations. Indigenous people have used it in healing rituals and scientists are exploring whether it can ease depression or help longtime smokers quit.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
The UN has said it is “very concerned” about plans by Russian-backed authorities to hold trials for captured Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
Pro-Russian officials appear to be installing metal cages in a hall in Mariupol as part of plans to establish what they were calling an “international tribunal”, a UN rights office spokesperson said, adding that such a process could itself amount to a war crime.
Continue reading...Court motion submitted by ex-president’s lawyers argues some materials seized by FBI could be subject to executive privilege
Donald Trump appeared to concede in his court filing over the seizure of materials from his Florida resort that he unlawfully retained official government documents, as the former president argued that some of the documents collected by the FBI could be subject to executive privilege.
The motion submitted on Monday by the former president’s lawyers argued that a court should appoint a so-called special master to separate out and determine what materials the justice department can review as evidence due to privilege issues.
Continue reading...Kyiv celebrations cancelled over concerns of ‘Russian provocations’ as US expected to announce further $3bn in aid
Air raid sirens sounded across every metre of Ukrainian-controlled territory as the country marked six months since Moscow’s invasion on a sombre independence day, overshadowed by warnings of “brutal” attacks.
The sense of foreboding was deepened by a warning from the White House that the Russians had stepped up preparations to hold sham referenda in occupied regions as a precursor to annexations, and that they could begin “in a matter of days or weeks”.
Continue reading...Italian government ordered to compensate UK firm after exploration forbidden within 12 miles of coast
A corporate tribunal has ordered the Italian government to pay more than £210m to the UK oil company Rockhopper as compensation for an offshore oil drilling ban.
Rockhopper’s case was launched after the Italian government banned oil exploration and production within a 12 mile-limit off Italy’s coast in 2015, scotching the company’s planned Ombrina Mare oilfield.
Continue reading...