Poland’s PM hails Andrzej Bargiel’s completion of the challenge after two previous failed attempts
A Polish adventure skier has made history by becoming the first person to climb up and ski down Mount Everest without the use of additional oxygen.
The ascent was Andrzej Bargiel’s third attempt at climbing Everest – the tallest mountain on earth at 8,849 metres (29,032ft) high – after dangerous conditions forced the 37-year-old to abandon earlier attempts in 2019 and 2022.
Continue reading...Announcement of deal baffles experts and former ministers, who say there is no sign of any untapped reserves
The newfound camaraderie between the US and Pakistan was on full display this week as Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, into the Oval Office, heralding them both as “great leaders”.
Having been cold-shouldered by successive US presidents, this was the first time a Pakistani prime minister had been invited to Washington in more than six years. It was also the unprecedented second time this year that Munir – who holds no official government role – held an intimate meeting with Trump, which many took as a telling signal of where the power to cut deals really lies in Pakistan.
Continue reading...At a pro-Palestine protest, Petro urged US soldiers to ‘disobey Trump’s order’ and ‘not point their rifles at humanity’
The US state department said on Friday it would revoke the visa of Colombian leftist president Gustavo Petro for his “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York.
“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the state department said on X.
Continue reading...New York Times reports Michele Beckwith’s firing came after she reminded Border Patrol to comply with courts
Donald Trump fired a top federal prosecutor in Sacramento just hours after she warned immigration agents they could not indiscriminately detain people in her district, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times.
Michele Beckwith, who became the acting US attorney in Sacramento in January, received an email at 4.31pm on 15 July notifying her that the president had ordered her termination.
Continue reading...Rolex CEO stressed US president’s remarks were made ‘in jest’ in letter to Elizabeth Warren, who had raised concerns
Donald Trump asked Rolex executives if he would have been invited to watch this month’s US Open final from the luxury watchmaker’s VIP box had he imposed steep tariffs on Swiss exports weeks earlier.
The US president’s remarks were made “in jest”, stressed Jean-Frederic Dufour, the Rolex CEO, in a letter to Elizabeth Warren, the US senator who had raised questions about the decision to invite Trump – including whether the conglomerate was seeking to “curry favor” with the administration.
Continue reading...Shakur spent decades exiled after she was convicted of killing a state trooper in 1977 and escaped from prison
On 25 September, Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, died aged 78 in Havana, Cuba, according to Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cuban officials cited the reason for her death as old age and health conditions. Shakur, a longstanding symbol of resistance and Black liberation, spent several decades exiled in Cuba after she was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1977 and escaped from prison.
“At approximately 1:15pm on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath,” her daughter Kakuya Shakur wrote on Facebook. “Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I’m feeling at this time.”
Continue reading...New York meeting of Hague Group warns of shared responsibility to prevent genocide and proposes steps to isolate Israel
The international community has a legal and moral duty to deny Israel “the tools of genocide”, the Malaysian foreign minister, Mohamad Hasan, said at a meeting in New York of the Hague Group, the growing alliance of countries dedicated to coordinating practical economic and legal steps to isolate Israel over the war in Gaza.
The group, co-chaired by South Africa and Columbia, has become a central exchange for practical steps to try to pressure Israel, including stepping up collective action at ports and airports to prevent the transfer of weapons and goods to Israel, including dual-use heavy machinery.
Continue reading...Ministers aim to bolster defences after spate of airspace violations, amid rising momentum for €140bn loan to Ukraine
The EU has agreed to move forward with plans for a drone wall at the heart of its eastern defences as momentum grows for a €140bn loan to Ukraine based on Russian frozen assets.
After a meeting with ministers from 10 mostly central and eastern European member states plus Ukraine, the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said a drone wall to protect against incursions from the skies was an immediate priority and core element of the bloc’s eastern flank defences.
Continue reading...Union says it’s ‘outraged and appalled’ by government’s order of sweeping changes to the national service
Postal workers in Canada have gone on strike after the government warned of an “existential crisis” and ordered sweeping changes to the national service – including an end to door-to-door delivery within the decade.
The union representing Canada Post employees described the proposed changes as “an attack” on its workers who have struggled to compete with a surge in private courier services.
Continue reading...Former French president sentenced to five years for criminal conspiracy over election campaign funds scheme with Gaddafi regime
Lawyers for the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy have said they will try to ensure he serves as little time in prison as possible, after he was sentenced to five years for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to get election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
“We’re going to make sure that his incarceration will be as short as possible,” Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, told the BFMTV news channel on Friday after he became the first French president to go to jail.
Continue reading...Operation prompts outrage as Israeli PM criticises western countries for recognising Palestine as a state and pledges to continue war
Israeli military loudspeaker systems have broadcast Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN into Gaza in an unprecedented operation that immediately prompted controversy and outrage.
In a statement on Friday, an Israeli government spokesperson said: “As part of the public diplomacy effort, the prime minister’s office has directed civilian elements, in cooperation with the [Israel Defense Forces], to place loudspeakers on the backs of trucks on the Israeli side of the Gaza border so that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s historic UN general assembly speech will be heard in the Gaza Strip.”
Continue reading...Sonam Wangchuk, who has been agitating against the government, was on his way to speak at a press briefing
A renowned environmentalist at the forefront of a protest movement in the Indian region of Ladakh has been arrested amid a wider crackdown on dissent under the prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Sonam Wangchuk, an activist, engineer and inventor, has been leading a lengthy agitation against the Modi government, calling for statehood and greater protections to be granted to his home region of Ladakh. He was arrested on Friday afternoon, on his way to address a press conference.
Continue reading...Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi and Lara Gutiérrez were lured with a promise of a $300 payment for a ‘sex party’
The murder of two young Argentinian women and a girl whose torture by suspected drug traffickers was livestreamed on a private Instagram group has sent shock waves through a country unused to such extreme levels of narco violence.
Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutiérrez, 15, went missing on Friday, after they were lured to a house in the outskirts of Buenos Aires by a promise that they would be paid US $300 for taking part in a “sex party”.
Continue reading...Israeli PM expected to share a defiant message at the UN general assembly on Friday against a Palestinian state
Israel’s air force carried out airstrikes on Friday on eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese state-run news agency reported without giving any word on casualties. The Israeli military said it struck a site used for manufacturing precision missiles, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The airstrikes took place near the Lebanese village of Saraain in the Bekaa valley region, according to the National News Agency. They are the latest strikes since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November.
The Israeli military said the site constituted a violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon. It added that the military will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to Israel.
Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, alleging that Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its capabilities.
The White House is backing a plan that would see Tony Blair head a temporary administration of the Gaza Strip – initially without the direct involvement of the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to Israeli media reports.
Continue reading...MGX, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take 15% stake, with social media firm valued at $14bn
The Abu Dhabi royal family is to take a stake in TikTok’s US business after Donald Trump signed an executive order brokering a deal valuing the social media company at $14bn (£10.5bn).
MGX, a fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take a 15% stake and gain a board seat when TikTok US is spun out.
Continue reading...Response from leaders and key climate figures comes after PM’s aides advised non-attendance over concerns Reform may attack him
Leading climate figures and Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to attend the crucial Cop30 climate summit this November, after aides advised him not to attend for fear of attracting the ire of the Reform party.
Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, said: “Cop30 is where leaders are expected to come and roll up their sleeves, make deals to help their nation’s economy transition faster, creating more jobs, and guide the world on what next steps we take together.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Author challenges assumption monks on Iona created manuscript, instead positing its origins are Pictish
The Book of Kells was likely to have been created 1,200 years ago in Pictish eastern Scotland, rather than on the island of Iona, according to research that challenges long-held assumptions about one of the world’s most famous medieval manuscripts.
The Book of Kells is an intricate, illuminated account of the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that was long thought to have been started in the late eighth century at the monastery on Iona before being taken in the 9th century to the monastery of Kells in County Meath, Ireland, after a Viking raid.
The Book of Kells by Victoria Whitworth (Bloomsbury Publishing, £35). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Continue reading...Peak winds of 165mph bring 17 deaths in Taiwan, while Storm Bualoi threatens to strengthen into typhoon on its way to the Philippines
Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded Taiwan, Hong Kong and China before moving into Vietnam on Thursday night, though as a much-weakened storm.
At its peak Ragasa had mean wind speeds of 165mph as it moved to the south of Taiwan, where it brought significant heavy rain resulting in 17 deaths as a barrier lake burst.
Continue reading...Indictment comes after Trump instructed US attorney general to prosecute Comey and others he considers political foes
James Comey, the former FBI director and one of Donald Trump’s most frequent targets, was indicted on Thursday on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of justice, according to a person familiar with the matter, in the latest move in the president’s expansive retribution campaign against his political adversaries.
“No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case,” Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, tweeted on Thursday.
Continue reading...Wounds such as burns or leg injuries more common in Gaza than among US soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan
Civilians in Gaza have sustained injuries of a type and on a scale more usually seen among professional soldiers involved in intense combat operations, research has found.
A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that some types of wounds – such as burns or injuries to legs – were more common among civilians in Gaza than among US soldiers fighting in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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