Category Archives: World News

Australian academic pleads not guilty in trial with ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, official says

Posted on by

Sean Turnell was arrested and charged with violating the official secrets act five days after Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was ousted in 2021

An Australian academic who is being tried with ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of violating the country’s official secrets law testified in court for the first time on Thursday, a legal official has said.

Sean Turnell, an economist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, had served as an adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested when her elected government was ousted by the army on 1 February 2021.

Continue reading...

Discovery of small armoured dinosaur in Argentina is first of its kind

Posted on by

Jakapil kaniukura was about 5ft long and probably walked upright in then-steamy Patagonian landscape about 100m years ago

Palaeontologists have announced the discovery of a previously unknown small armoured dinosaur in southern Argentina, a creature that probably walked upright on its back legs roaming a then-steamy landscape about 100m years ago.

The Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Jakapil kaniukura, would have been well-protected with rows of bony disc-shaped armour along its neck and back and down to its tail, they said. It measured about 5ft (1.5 meters) long and weighed only 9-15lb (4-7kg), similar to an average house cat.

Continue reading...

Toronto blackout puts top businesses in the dark and forces mall evacaution

Posted on by

Power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customers

A power outage in Toronto’s downtown core has left the offices of Canada’s top businesses in the dark, forced the evacuation of one of the city’s biggest shopping malls, and caused some bank branches to be locked.

The power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customers in downtown Toronto, Canada’s biggest city. Hydro One was investigating but gave no details on the cause.

Continue reading...

US and allies should move to protect ‘freedom of navigation’, says Taiwan envoy

Posted on by

Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh called for operations to uphold the ‘median line’ in the Taiwan Strait in response to China’s military exercises

The US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live ammunition drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s official representative to the UK has said.

In an interview with the Guardian, Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh also called on the UK to uphold the principles of rules-based international order and forge closer trade and security investment relations with Taiwan. He welcomed the decision of the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to condemn the unprecedented Chinese military exercises in the wake of the visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to the island, the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.

Continue reading...

Man who took hostages demanding his own money becomes public hero in Lebanon

Posted on by

Public rallies around gunman who surrendered after bank agreed to give him funds for father’s medical bills

An armed man has emerged as an unlikely hero in Lebanon after holding hostages in a central Beirut bank and demanding access to his own money – a move that generated broad public support.

Brandishing a rifle and threatening to douse himself with petrol, Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, entered the Federal Bank branch about noon on Thursday and insisted on withdrawing part of his frozen savings of $210,000 (£172,000) to help pay for his father’s hospital bill.

Continue reading...

Afghan cleric killed by explosives in attacker’s artificial leg, say officials

Posted on by

Taliban in Kabul investigating death of prominent figure they describe as a ‘huge loss’

A prominent Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in an attack in a seminary in Kabul when the attacker detonated explosives hidden in a plastic artificial leg, according to officials and Taliban sources.

“Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies,” said Bilal Karimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration.

Continue reading...

Citizens’ manifesto declares Brazilian democracy facing ‘immense danger’

Posted on by

Declaration comes amid fears Jair Bolsonaro could attempt January 6-style coup to retain power if voted out in October

Brazilian democracy faces a moment of “immense danger”, a manifesto signed by almost a million citizens has warned amid growing fears president Jair Bolsonaro could refuse to accept defeat in October’s election.

The declaration – whose backers include major figures in business, politics, science and the arts – comes after Bolsonaro escalated his attacks on Brazil’s voting system and summoned hardcore supporters to hit the streets “for the last time” before the 2 October vote.

Continue reading...

Sierra Leone rocked by deadly violence at cost of living protests

Posted on by

Six police officers and at least 21 civilians killed, as hundreds take to streets in frustration at economic hardship and rising prices

At least 27 people have died in anti-government protests in Sierra Leone, police and other sources said on Thursday, sharply raising the death toll from the previous day’s clashes as shocked citizens stayed mostly behind closed doors in the capital, Freetown.

Six police officers and at least 21 civilians were killed, the sources said, as hundreds took to the streets in frustration at economic hardship and a perceived failure by the government to cushion the impact of rising prices.

Continue reading...

Indians forced to buy national flag in return for food rations, says opposition

Posted on by

Shopkeeper filmed telling customer he had been told to deny rations to anyone refusing to buy flag in run-up to Independence Day

India’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has accused the government of forcing people entitled to free food at government ration shops to buy flags in return for provisions in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations on 15 August.

India will celebrate 75 years of independence from the Raj on Tuesday, and the streets of cities across the country are full of flags for sale.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: invasion ‘starting to fail’ and Russian forces suffering huge losses, says UK – as it happened

Posted on by

At a meeting of European defence ministers, Ben Wallace says Russia ‘unlikely to ever succeed in occupying Ukraine’. This live blog is now closed

Heavy fighting raged around the eastern Ukrainian town of Pisky on Thursday as Russia pressed its campaign to seize all of the industrialised Donbas region.

An official with the Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic said Pisky, on the frontlines just 10km (6 miles) northwest of provincial capital Donetsk, was under control of Russian and separatist forces.

Continue reading...

Blinken raises concerns over Hotel Rwanda dissident trial with Kagame

Posted on by

US secretary of state on last stop of African tour has been clear about US misgivings related to Paul Rusesabagina’s conviction

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has raised US concerns about the trial of the jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and other senior Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.

Blinken is in Kigali on the last stop of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa that aims to regain the diplomatic initiative across a continent that received little attention under the Trump administration.

Continue reading...

Seoul to phase out Parasite-style semi-basement flats after storm deaths

Posted on by

Properties seen in Oscar-winning film to be curbed after three people drown in South Korean capital

Authorities in Seoul will phase out semi-basement flats after three people drowned inside one of the cramped properties during record rainfall in the South Korean capital this week.

Banjiha, which gained global recognition in the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite, are usually occupied by people on low incomes and have come to symbolise the growing inequality in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

Continue reading...

Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs; 87 more Covid deaths – As it happened

Posted on by

Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials. This blog is now closed

ACT warns of scam health texts

ACT Health says it has been made aware of scam text messages claiming to be services such as HealthDirect or Medicare.

Continue reading...

Vandalised Mayer-Marton mural in Oldham church granted Grade II-listed status

Posted on by

Crucifixion mosaic and fresco saved from destruction after two-year campaign

A stunning mural created in a Catholic church by a Jewish refugee from the Nazis has been saved from destruction, decay and vandalism after being granted Grade II-listed status by the UK government.

The Crucifixion, by the leading 20th-century artist George Mayer-Marton, is a rare combination of mosaic and fresco standing almost 8 metres (26ft) high, taking up an entire wall inside the Holy Rosary church in Oldham.

Continue reading...

America’s summer of floods: climate crisis fueling barrage, scientists say

Posted on by

Yellowstone, Death Valley, Kentucky – experts say extreme rainfall spurred by global heating is rendering historical norms obsolete

An entire building and roads washed away by raging waters in Yellowstone. People desperately swimming from their homes in St Louis. Dozens dead after torrential downpours in Kentucky. The summer of 2022 has been one of extreme floods in the US, with scientists warning the climate crisis is worsening the devastation.

The deadliest of the recent barrage of floods, in Kentucky, was described as “heartbreaking” by Joe Biden as he surveyed ruined houses and inundated cars on Monday. At least 37 people died after five days of pounding record rain washed down mountainsides and drowned entire towns, an event that scientists say is a once in 1,000 year occurrence.

Continue reading...

Tehran museum unveils western art masterpieces hidden for decades

Posted on by

‘Deviant’ works by artists including Picasso and Warhol return to display at exhibition in Iranian capital

Some of the world’s most prized works of contemporary western art have been unveiled for the first time in decades in Tehran.

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric, rails against the influence of the west. Authorities have condemned “deviant” artists for “attacking Iran’s revolutionary culture”. And the Islamic Republic has plunged further into confrontation with the US and Europe as it rapidly accelerates its nuclear programme and diplomatic efforts stall.

Continue reading...

Chinese president Xi Jinping expected to visit Saudi Arabia next week

Posted on by

The planned gala reception is in stark contrast to the low-key audience afforded Joe Biden in June, as ties between China and the kingdom grow closer

The Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia next week, where plans are under way for a gala reception to match that given to Donald Trump on his first trip abroad as president.

The welcome being prepared for the Chinese leader is in stark contrast with that afforded to Joe Biden in June, when the US president received a low-key reception, reflecting strained ties between the two countries and personal distaste between Biden and the de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman.

Continue reading...

China overtakes the US in scientific research output

Posted on by

Between 2018 and 2020 China published 23.4% of the world’s scientific papers, eclipsing the US

China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research output and “high impact” studies, according to a report published by Japan’s science and technology ministry.

The report, which was published by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTP) on Tuesday, found that China now publishes the highest number of scientific research papers yearly, followed by the US and Germany.

Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un fell ‘seriously ill’ during North Korea Covid crisis, his sister says

Posted on by

Kim Yo-jong says regime leader had a ‘high fever’, a byword for coronavirus in the country, as it claims victory over the virus

North Korea has declared a “shining victory” in its battle with Covid-19, amid suggestions from Kim Jong-un’s sister that he was among those who contracted the virus.

Speaking at a meeting of health workers and scientists in Pyongyang, Kim called for preventive measures to be eased and described the official death toll of 74 as an “unprecedented miracle in the history of the world health community”, state-run media said on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Russian warplanes destroyed in Crimea airbase attack, satellite images show

Posted on by

Multiple aircraft at Saky base in Crimea blown up, with the new evidence suggesting possibility of targeted attack

At least eight Russian warplanes appear to have been damaged or destroyed in the recent attack on Saky airbase in Crimea, according to newly released satellite images, in contrast to Russian claims that none were damaged.

Late on Wednesday Ukraine’s air force said at least nine Russian aircraft were destroyed on the ground following Tuesday’s dramatic explosions at the Saky airbase, which Russia said killed one, wounded 14 and damaged dozens of nearby houses.

Continue reading...