Category Archives: World News

Russia-Ukraine war: explosions reported in Crimea; Kyiv publishes identities of soldiers accused of war crimes – as it happened

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

Russia’s Black Sea fleet is struggling to exercise effective sea control, with patrols generally limited to the waters within sight of the Crimean coast, according to the latest British intelligence report.

The Black Sea fleet continues to use long-range cruise missiles to support ground offensives but is keeping a defensive posture, the British Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence bulletin.

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Outrage as Australians discover former prime minister secretly gave himself five additional ministries

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Incumbent prime minister says he ‘cannot conceive of the mindset’ that enabled Scott Morrison to appoint himself to additional positions while PM

Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to five additional ministries while Australia’s prime minister, in what his successor has labelled an “unprecedented trashing of the Westminster system”.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Tuesday he was waiting on legal advice over any possible ramifications of the secret appointments and was “open to reforms and suggestions” so the situation did not reoccur.

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Five Europeans face trial on mercenary charges in separatist-controlled Ukraine

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Three Britons and two EU citizens appear in Donetsk court accused of ‘undergoing training to seize power by force’

Five Europeans captured in eastern Ukraine have gone on trial in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk, Russian media reported.

The five – Mathias Gustafsson of Sweden, Vjekoslav Prebeg of Croatia, and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy – all pleaded not guilty to charges of being mercenaries and “undergoing training to seize power by force”, according to Russian media reports.

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Ecuador city declares state of emergency amid dramatic rise in gang bombings

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Gangs in Guayaquil use increasingly violent tactics in battle for dominance of cocaine trafficking routes to Europe and the US

Ecuador’s embattled president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a fourth state of emergency in the violence-racked city of Guayaquil after a deadly bomb attack killed at least five and injured 17 people.

Ecuador’s interior minister, Patricio Carrillo, described Sunday’s explosion as a “declaration of war on the state” by organised crime in the country’s largest city and it has been classified as a terrorist act. Security forces will be mobilised for a month and allowed to make home inspections.

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Grenadian minister Simon Stiell to be next UN climate chief

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Grenada’s environment minister faces task of getting countries back on track to meet climate goals ahead of Cop27

The next UN climate chief will be Simon Stiell, the environment minister of Grenada, a surprise appointment that will cement the importance of holding global temperature rises to 1.5C.

Stiell will face the task of putting countries back on track to meet international climate goals at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and a global energy price crisis.

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William Ruto declared winner of Kenya presidential election amid dispute

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Electoral commission chair declares deputy president winner of tight race as other senior officials disown results

William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, amid last-minute chaos as four senior election officials denounced the week-long count and disowned the result.

Official results showed that Ruto, the current deputy president, won 50.5% of the vote, beating the longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga and narrowly avoiding a run-off.

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Ukraine claims it has struck base used by Wagner Group paramilitaries

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Kyiv says facility used by Russian group destroyed in ‘precision strike’, with bridge near Melitopol also hit

Ukraine says it has struck a base used by the shadowy Wagner Russian paramilitary group as well as a bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol.

Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, said the base was “destroyed by a precision strike” after its whereabouts were established “thanks to a Russian journalist”.

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Italy records a big increase in femicides over the past year

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Official data shows 125 women murdered, with the vast majority killed within a family context

The number of femicides in Italy has risen by almost 16% over the past year, with the vast majority taking place in a family context.

Data published by the interior ministry on Monday showed 125 femicides between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022, compared with 108 during the same period in the previous year.

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Oil prices hit lowest level since Ukraine invasion on China growth fears

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Chinese recovery from lockdowns shows signs of fizzling out as central bank cuts interest rates

Global oil prices have dropped amid concerns over weaker growth in the Chinese economy caused by repeated Covid lockdowns and a downturn in the property sector.

A barrel of Brent crude fell by about 5% to below $94 (£78) on Monday, hitting the joint lowest levels since the Russian invasion of Ukraine as traders reacted to weaker figures from the world’s second-largest economy.

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Oder river: mystery of mass die-off of fish lingers as no toxic substances found

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Polish scientists only found elevated salt levels after thousands of dead fish were found floating in the central European waterway

Mystery continues to surround the cause behind a “catastrophic” mass die-off of fish in the Oder River, after Polish scientists said laboratory tests found elevated salt levels but no other toxic substances in the central European waterway.

German municipalities have banned bathing and fishing in the Oder after thousands of dead fish were found floating in the 520 mile (840km) river, which runs from the Czech Republic to the Baltic Sea along the border between Germany and Poland.

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Kosovo stops import of electricity and begins energy rationing

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Power blackouts after wholesale prices soar as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Soaring international energy prices have brought power blackouts to Europe as Kosovo said it could no longer afford to import electricity, adding to fears that tensions with Russia will plunge the continent into crisis this winter.

Consumers in the Balkan state have been told they will be allowed six hours of power at a time, punctuated by two-hour breaks, according to a spokesperson for its energy distribution company, KEDS.

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Iran denies role in Salman Rushdie attack but claims author is to blame

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Foreign ministry spokesperson blames author and supporters after stabbing that left him with ‘life-changing’ injuries

Iran has denied having any role in the attack on Salman Rushdie but claimed the author had only himself to blame for crossing a “red line” over Islam in his writings.

Rushdie’s life was reported to be out of danger but he was said to have sustained “life-changing” injuries after being stabbed 10 times when he was speaking at an event on Friday in Chautauqua, New York.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow’s forces attempt advance in Donetsk; Putin vows to expand relations with North Korea – live

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Russian attack in eastern region also leaves 13 injured, Ukrainian officials say; Vitali Klitschko talks about ‘harsh realities’ facing residents

Another six ships have received permission to pass through the maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea, according to a statement released by the UN-backed Joint Coordination Centre (JCC).

Two of the vessels, MV Kafkam Etler and MV Zelek Star, have reportedly already passed inspection in the Sea of ​​Marmara and can go to Chornomorsk, Odesa, for loading.

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Norway was right to put down Freya the walrus, prime minister says

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Jonas Gahr Støre speaks out after criticism from campaigners, while a zoologist says decision was inevitable

Norway’s prime minister has said it was “right” to put down Freya, a 600kg (1,300lb) female walrus euthanised on Sunday in Oslo fjord, as animal rights campaigners attacked the decision but a leading zoologist insisted it was inevitable.

“I support the decision to euthanise Freya,” Jonas Gahr Støre told the public broadcaster NRK on Monday. “It was the right decision. I am not surprised that this has led to many international reactions. Sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions.”

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Volunteers sail Roman boat replica along Danube to Budapest

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Boat built by Friedrich-Alexander University as part of EU-funded history project visits Hungary’s capital

A replica of a Roman-era boat of the kind that once sailed along the Danube from Germany to the river’s delta at the Black Sea is cruising in Hungary this week, stopping along its journey in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

The Danuvia Alacris is crewed by volunteers wearing Roman tunics and the expedition is part of an EU-funded project to raise awareness of the region’s Roman past.

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Experienced British skier died in off-piste fall in France, inquest told

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Michael Rowell, 34, from Hampshire is thought to have slipped on to rocks in Alps while skiing with friend

An experienced British skier fell to his death while attempting to traverse an off-piste slope with a friend in the French Alps, an inquest heard.

Michael Rowell, 34, from Farnborough, Hampshire, who had skied since he was five, is thought to have slipped and fallen 24 metres (80ft) from an edge on to rocks.

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Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, 95, says she will run in general elections

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Hollywood actor plans to run for senator with Eurosceptic party ISP, saying she is ‘fed up with quarrelling politicians’

The Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida has said she is running in general elections next month because she is “fed up with quarrelling politicians”.

Lollobrigida, who turned 95 in July, is endeavouring to become a senator with the Sovereign and Popular Italy party (ISP), a new Eurosceptic, anti-Mario-Draghi political alliance that opposes sending arms to Ukraine and “warmongering Atlanticism”.

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Aung San Suu Kyi given six extra years in prison on corruption charges

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Ousted leader of Myanmar will appeal against new conviction added to earlier 11-year sentence

A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on more corruption charges on Monday, adding six years to her earlier 11-year prison sentence, a legal official said.

The trial was held behind closed doors, with no access for media or the public, and her lawyers were forbidden by a gag order from revealing information about the proceedings.

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‘A hotel is not home’: Afghan families still wait for a place of their own in UK

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Families who fled Taliban rule say they are grateful for the help they have received but long for a home where they can settle

The west London hotel where Fawzia Amini, a senior Afghan judge, her husband and their four daughters have lived for the last nine months has comfortable sofas in the foyer, a restaurant serving tasty meals on the first floor, and friendly reception staff – but it isn’t home.

After the turmoil and danger of fleeing their spacious home in Kabul when the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital, the family say that while they are grateful for everything the UK government has done for them, they long to be in a place of their own where they can cook their own food, work, study, and entertain relatives and friends.

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Wildfires in Europe burn area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium

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Experts say drought and extreme high temperatures likely to make it a record year for destruction by fires

Across Europe, an area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium has been ravaged by flames as successive searing heatwaves and a historic drought propel the continent towards what experts say is likely to be a record year for wildfire destruction.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), 659,541 hectares (1.6m acres) of land burned across the continent between January and mid-August, the most at this time of year since records began in 2006.

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