Category Archives: World News

Sri Lanka on a knife-edge as Rajapaksa lands in Singapore

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Country in state of emergency amid protests against president, who is reported to be heading for Saudi Arabia

The Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has arrived in Singapore, with his final destination reported to be Saudi Arabia, as the beleaguered leader continues his pursuit of a safe haven.

Sri Lanka has been gripped by mass protests over its economic meltdown, and tensions remained on a knife-edge on Thursday, with a curfew imposed in the commercial capital of Colombo and military tanks deployed on the roads.

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Zelenskiy condemns Russian ‘terrorism’ as Vinnytsia attack kills more than 20

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Three children among dead and dozens of people injured after missiles hit civilian buildings in Ukrainian city

Russian missiles have struck civilian buildings and a cultural centre in the city of Vinnytsia, in central Ukraine, killing at least 23 people – including three children – and wounding dozens more in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called “an open act of terrorism”.

The attack on Vinnytsia, far from the war’s frontlines, occurred in mid-morning when the streets were full of people. It appeared to hit a business centre, setting cars on fire and sending plumes of thick black smoke over the city.

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Four Hong Kong men arrested while trying to flee to Taiwan

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Police said men, including one shot by officer in 2019 protest, had been hiding from law enforcement

Four Hong Kong men, including one shot by the police during the 2019 protests in Tsuen Wan and later charged with rioting, have been arrested as they attempted to leave the city for Taiwan.

The police said the four, aged 16 to 24, were intercepted at a bus terminal near a ferry pier before dawn on Wednesday.

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Shanghai declares third rare extreme heat warning of summer

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Temperatures of over 40C cause red alert in the city and test records as heatwave ravages parts of Europe

China’s most populous city, Shanghai, has issued its highest alert for extreme heat for the third time this summer as sweltering temperatures repeatedly tested records this week.

The commercial and industrial hub of 25 million people declared a red alert on Thursday, warning of expected temperatures of at least 40C (104F) in the next 24 hours. Temperatures soared as high as 40.6 C in the afternoon but fell short of Wednesday’s 40.9 C, which matched a 2017 record.

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Europe could face energy rationing as ‘really tough winter’ looms, Shell boss warns

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Ben van Beurden says Ukraine war fallout means big rise in bills and possible need to ration supplies

European consumers could face the prospect of energy rationing this winter as costs continue to soar amid the risk of Russia cutting off gas supplies, Shell’s chief executive has said.

“It will be a really tough winter in Europe,” said Ben van Beurden, speaking at the Aurora spring conference in Oxford on Thursday. “We will all face very significant escalation in energy prices. In the worst case, Europe will need to ration its energy consumption.”

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MoD considers review after Panorama’s SAS death squad claims

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Inquiry not being ruled out after BBC reports on 54 allegedly suspicious killings by SAS unit in Afghanistan

A UK defence minister has hinted that the government is considering a further inquiry or review of a pattern of 54 allegedly suspicious killings by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan, reported in a BBC Panorama programme earlier this week.

James Heappey told MPs on Thursday morning that the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, “rules nothing out”, and that “he’ll be back in touch with the House very shortly to say how he thinks this might be further reviewed”.

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Alan Hall: miscarriage of justice inquiry to look into New Zealand crown lawyers

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Inquiry into conviction of innocent man jailed for 19 years will investigate why crucial witness evidence not given to defence

The role of crown lawyers in the prosecution of Alan Hall, a New Zealander who spent 19 years in jail for a murder he did not commit, will be investigated by an independent inquiry, the country’s solicitor-general has announced.

The crown has released the terms of reference for its unprecedented investigation into its involvement in one of New Zealand’s worst miscarriages of justice, as it attempts to understand why crucial witness evidence was not given to the defence. The inquiry will be conducted by Nicolette Levy QC.

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‘Harassed here too’: Afghan artists find no sanctuary in Pakistan

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Musicians had hoped to keep their art alive after fleeing Taliban but now face crackdown on refugees

Ajmal Haikalzada, 44, first became a refugee when his artist father left Afghanistan for Pakistan during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s. In 2001, then a musician, he returned, singing and performing across the country of his birth after the US toppled the Taliban.

Two decades later, he fled once again as the Taliban took over Kabul.

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100% pure rip-off? New Zealand voted second-worst place to move to

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Cost of living too high and pay too low, say survey respondents, though natural environment, climate and sporting life are appreciated

New Zealand has been ranked second-worst place in the world to move by immigrants, according to a survey.

The expatriate networking organisation InterNations surveyed nearly 12,000 respondents of 177 different nationalities, living in 181 countries. Respondents were asked how their new homes performed on factors including quality of life, cost of living, safety, financial outlook, bureuacracy, and ease of fitting in.

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Ghana ‘fix the country’ activist says he was assaulted and illegally detained

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Cambridge doctoral student Oliver Barker-Vormawor says ‘trauma is still there’ as he files lawsuit

A prominent Ghanaian activist has accused authorities of subjecting him to a violent assault and illegal detention after he criticised the government in a series of Facebook posts.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge who founded the prominent “fix the country” protest movement, was arrested after he landed at Kotoka airport in Accra in February on a flight from the UK.

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Australian PM Albanese ‘very confident’ there will be no Chinese bases in Solomon Islands

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Prime minister Anthony Albanese’s comments come after meeting with Solomons leader at Pacific Islands Forum and despite Pacific nation’s security pact with China

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said he is “very confident” there will not be Chinese bases in Solomon Islands, despite the two countries’ security pact.

Albanese made the comments from Fiji, where he is attending the Pacific Islands Forum in a bid to reset relations with Pacific neighbours by outlining higher ambitions on climate change and asking for Australia to remain the region’s security partner of choice, not China.

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Biden in Israel as poll shows support for re-election bid at new low – as it happened

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Michigan’s Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order preventing women who travel to Michigan for an abortion from being extradited to other states where seeking the procedure is illegal.

Here’s how she described the order, which also protects abortion providers in the state from extradition:

I will stand up for all women, even if their local and statewide leaders refuse to. Michigan must remain a place where a person’s basic rights are preserved. In this existential moment for fundamental rights, it is incumbent on every elected official who believes that health—not politics—should guide medical decisions to take bold action.

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Jayland Walker funeral: hundreds gather to mourn victim of police shooting

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Wednesday declared day of mourning in Akron, Ohio, two weeks after Black man, 25, was killed by officers after chase

Hundreds of people filled a theater and passersby sounded horns in sympathy as family and friends shared their memories of Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man killed in a hail of police gunfire in Akron, at his funeral on Wednesday.

Mourners passed his open casket during the viewing at the Akron Civic Theatre, some wearing T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” or “Zero Threat, Zero Violence, Justice for Jayland”.

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How the Rajapaksa family fell after 15 years at the top in Sri Lanka

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Analysis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s authoritarianism and incompetence ended the family’s political reign

For weeks protesters in Sri Lanka have chanted “Go home Gota.” Now Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president, appears to be looking for one. His first stop was the Maldives, reached last night. The United Arab Emirates may be the final destination.

The Rajapaksa family’s fall has been spectacular. It has resonated across the region, and well beyond. The ruler of Sri Lanka has been a high-profile casualty of the global cost of living crisis, analysts have said. In distant South Africa, a talk show host asked if the soaring cost of living there could spell the end for the ruling party. Others are asking the same question.

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Amber Heard loses bid to dismiss $10m Johnny Depp judgment

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US judge Penney Azcarate rejects Heard’s claims after actor filed motion seeking to have defamation verdict against her set aside

A judge on Wednesday rejected a request from the actor Amber Heard to set aside the $10m defamation judgment awarded against her in favor of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

Depp won a suit against Heard last month in a high-profile civil trial. Heard won a $2m judgment on a counter-claim against Depp.

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Trouble for Trump as committee makes case Capitol attack was premeditated

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Criminal prosecution appears increasingly likely as January 6 committee strengthens case against former president

Donald Trump is facing growing legal peril as the House January 6 committee lays out a case that appears increasingly geared to making a criminal prosecution all but inevitable.

The panel’s seventh hearing on Tuesday argued that Trump instigated an attack on the US Capitol that was premeditated rather than spontaneous and that he cannot hide behind a defence of being “willfully blind”.

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More than 130 grain ships stuck in Black Sea as talks start in Istanbul

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Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, the UN and Turkey seek deal to enable exports to pass on to the Danube

A traffic jam of more than 130 cargo ships loaded with Ukrainian grain is waiting in the Black Sea to pass into the Danube as negotiators from Moscow, Kyiv, the UN and Turkey hailed progress at talks in Istanbul on easing Ukrainian agricultural exports.

The ships are waiting to access exit routes through the Sulina and Bystre estuary canals to reach a series of ports and terminals in Romania from where the grain can be transported on around the world, amid mounting global concern about the Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea.

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Ex-boyfriend charged over Elnaz Hajtamiri kidnapping in Ontario

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Police arrest Mohamad Lilo after frustrating six-month investigation into abduction by ‘fake officers’

Canadian police have arrested and charged a man in a kidnapping case that has baffled investigators for months and produced few leads.

Mohamad Lilo, an ex-boyfriend and former business partner of Elnaz Hajtamiri, was charged with her kidnapping, six months after she was abducted by men dressed as police officers.

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John Bolton says he ‘helped plan coups d’etat’ in other countries

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Former national security adviser to Donald Trump says US Capitol attack was not a coup because it was not carefully planned

John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump and before that ambassador to the United Nations under George W Bush, said on Tuesday he helped plan coup attempts in other countries.

Speaking to CNN after the day’s January 6 committee hearing, Bolton said it was wrong to describe Trump’s attempt to stay in power after the 2020 election as a coup.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Turkey announces deal with Ukraine, Russia and UN aimed at resuming grain exports– live

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Turkey to monitor grain exports and establish coordination centre; Zelenskiy says ‘several hundred thousand children’ taken to Russia against their will

Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that the Russian delegation has arrived in Turkey for talks over the export of grain from Ukraine. They cite a diplomatic source.

The source told them there was “high confidence” of progress in today’s talks, at which military delegations from Turkey, Russia and Ukraine will meet with a UN delegation at a secret location.

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