Category Archives: World News

Liz Truss accused of ignoring evidence of rendition of UK citizen to Nigeria

Posted on by

Family of Nnamdi Kanu, a separatist leader, say he was seized and tortured in Kenya and then flown to Nigeria

The family of a British citizen have accused the foreign secretary of ignoring “overwhelming evidence” he was taken to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition and failing to end his “unlawful” imprisonment there.

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a prominent separatist movement proscribed in Nigeria, has been held there since June last year.

Continue reading...

Indian state razes Muslim homes after riots over prophet remarks

Posted on by

Uttar Pradesh authorities demolish property belonging to people allegedly involved in unrest

Authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have demolished the homes of several people accused of involvement in riots last week triggered by derogatory remarks made by ruling party figures about the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims have taken to the streets across India in recent weeks to protest against anti-Islamic remarks by two members of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

Continue reading...

The Quiet Girl: Irish-language film breaks box office records in Ireland and UK

Posted on by

An Cailín Ciúin, as it is known in Irish, has earned more than €600,000 since its release last month

An Irish-language film has shattered box office records in Ireland and the UK and become a standard-bearer for a language seldom seen on the big screen.

The Quiet Girl has astonished the industry by quadrupling the previous record for an Irish language film, and by last week earning more than €610,000 (£518,000) since its release in mid-May.

Continue reading...

Stars align for Cuban migrants as record numbers seek better life in US

Posted on by

The journey to America, often via Nicaragua, has become more viable – and many are taking their chances at the border

One morning last spring, 22-year-old Ernesto Hernández set out from the outskirts of Havana on a rickety boat hoping to cross the Florida Straits. The plan was to leave behind a dilapidating communist-ruled island in which he saw no future, and sail into an American dream.

Nobody has heard from him, or the other six people onboard, since.

Continue reading...

Pakistani garment workers left destitute and starving after Missguided collapse

Posted on by

Fashion retailer’s suppliers in Pakistan have sacked hundreds without pay, as invoices for completed orders remain unpaid

Hundreds of garment workers in Pakistan making clothing for collapsed fast fashion brand Missguided say they have been left destitute and starving after not receiving salaries for more than four months.

The workers, who typically earn between £100 and £160 a month, say that despite not being paid they have continued working even as the Manchester-based retailer went into administration, with suppliers claiming the company owes them millions of pounds for clothing already completed and shipped.

Continue reading...

Malaysia’s ‘mystery hybrid monkey’ could be result of habitat loss

Posted on by

Researcher says proboscis monkey may have mated with silver langur when unable to reach female of own species

The emergence of a “mystery monkey”, believed to be a rare hybrid of two distantly related primates, highlights the importance of protecting habit connectivity, according to a researcher who studied the animal.

The female monkey first attracted attention in 2017, when photographs taken of it along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysia, were uploaded to social media wildlife photography groups.

Continue reading...

‘China’s Taiwan’: Beijing’s defence minister rails against ‘smearing and interfering’ US

Posted on by

Wei Fenghe says ties are at critical juncture and puts onus on United States to improve bilateral relationship

China will “fight to the very end” to stop Taiwan from declaring independence, the country’s defence minister has vowed in a speech amid his counterparts from other countries including the United States.

“We will fight at all cost and we will fight to the very end. This is the only choice for China,” Wei Fenghe told the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, where he called Taiwan “first and foremost China’s Taiwan”.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong NETs – foreign teachers of English – forced to take allegiance oath

Posted on by

Authoritarian measures are widened to meet Chinese loyalty requirements, despite fears it will worsen teacher shortages

Foreign English-language teachers working in Hong Kong government schools will need to swear allegiance to the city, officials have ordered, as fears grow about the territory’s ability to retain educators in the face of increasing restrictions.

Hong Kong’s education bureau said on Saturday that native-speaking English teachers (NETs) and advisers working in government-run schools must sign a declaration by 21 June in order to continue working.

Continue reading...

Defence minister rubbishes Coalition claims on France compensation deal – as it happened

Posted on by

Marles brushes off suggestions former Coalition government was close to signing compensation deal with France; nation records at least 24 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Interview with minister for NDIS and government services Bill Shorten now. First question is about energy policy.

Shorten says “the real issue about power, in my opinion is for 10 years we’ve had a decade of denial and delay.”

What we are suffering from this winter in the short term is floods of coal mines, outages of a plant which is more than 50 years old, but the real long-term problem is that we haven’t made a plan for transition to renewables, now the chickens have come home to roost.

Continue reading...

Biden faces anger over huge New Mexico wildfire sparked by federal burns

Posted on by

President visits state beset by Hermits Peak Calif Canyon fire, result of two accidental fires that merged

Joe Biden landed in New Mexico on Saturday amid anger and frustration from wildfire survivors as he visited the state to review efforts to fight its biggest blaze in recorded history – which was started by federal officials.

Driven by drought and wind, the fire has destroyed hundreds of homes in mountains north-east of Santa Fe since two controlled burns by the US Forest Service went out of control in April.

Continue reading...

‘Enough is enough’: thousands rally across US in gun control protests

Posted on by

The March for Our Lives rallies come after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York

Rallies for gun reform were held in Washington, New York, other US cities and around the world on Saturday, seeking to increase pressure on Congress to act following a spate of mass shootings.

In Washington, the son of an 86-year-old victim in the Buffalo supermarket shooting said: “Enough is enough. We will not go quietly into the night.”

Continue reading...

Greek pilot jailed for murdering British wife ‘fears contract killing’

Posted on by

Babis Anagnostopoulos claims he is living in fear from those he initially blamed for Caroline Crouch’s death

The Greek helicopter pilot given a life sentence for the brutal murder of his British wife in Athens last year claims to be living in fear of those he initially blamed for the crime.

Weeks after being found guilty of suffocating Caroline Crouch, Babis Anagnostopoulos has said his own life is in danger because he has become the target of a “contract killing”.

Continue reading...

EU will likely grant Ukraine candidate status to join bloc, says Ursula von der Leyen

Posted on by

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pushing for rapid admission, and says the decision will determine the future of Europe

The EU executive will next week make a recommendation on whether Ukraine should be given candidate status to join the bloc, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said.

Such a recommendation would be a preliminary step on a long road to full membership, and Ukraine would need the backing of all 27 EU governments before candidate status was given. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been pushing for rapid admission into the EU to provide the country with more security since the Russian invasion.

Continue reading...

Indigenous leaders express frustration at military in search for two men in Brazil

Posted on by

Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips went missing in the western Amazon, but the search has been called inefficient

Indigenous leaders in the area where a British journalist and Brazilian explorer went missing last Sunday have expressed increasing frustration at the lack of coordination in the search for the two men.

Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips, a longtime contributor to the Guardian, were last seen on Sunday morning while traveling by boat on the Itaquaí River in the western Amazon.

Continue reading...

Sanctions are hitting hard enough to hurt Russia, if not stop it

Posted on by

Analysis: the assault in Ukraine continues, but it seems clear that real damage is being done to Putin’s economy

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Sanctions have affected many aspects of life in Russia, but one particular shortage has sent the wealthy elite into a spin: beauty clinics are running out of Botox.

The business daily newspaper Kommersant reported this month that Botox imports saw a threefold drop to 74,500 units in the period between January and March compared with the same time last year, after one western manufacturer stopped exporting to Russia.

Continue reading...

Family of UK man sentenced to death by Russia call for cooperation

Posted on by

Shaun Pinner’s loved ones ‘devastated’ after he received verdict alongside Aiden Aslin in what UK calls a ‘sham’ sentence

The family of a British man sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces have said they are “devastated” and called for “urgent cooperation” to secure his release.

Shaun Pinner, 48, received the death penalty, along with fellow Briton Aiden Aslin, this week in what the UK government has branded a “sham” sentencing.

Continue reading...

Blacklist Dubai over failure to crack down on Russian oligarchs, say campaigners

Posted on by

UAE has become haven for superyachts, private jets and ‘dirty money’ since invasion of Ukraine, but has taken no action

Campaigners and politicians are calling for the United Arab Emirates to be blacklisted over its failures to combat the flow of “dirty money” and to enforce sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs.

The Gulf state has emerged as a key refuge for the Russian super-rich fleeing the impact of global sanctions, with private jets and superyachts linked to oligarchs heading to the UAE after the invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Chinese police arrest eight after group of women attacked at restaurant

Posted on by

Footage shows man striking and dragging woman outside after she pushes him away

Eight people have been arrested over a vicious attack on a group of women at a restaurant in China, police said on Saturday, in a case that has prompted outrage over predatory sexual behaviour.

Footage of the incident widely circulated online shows a man placing his hand on a woman’s back as she shares a meal with two companions at a barbecue restaurant in northern China’s Hebei province.

Continue reading...

‘It isn’t about politics – it’s about money’: will Hollywood take Johnny Depp back?

Posted on by

The actor has been coy about returning to movies after his blockbuster defamation case – but PR moves are being made

Johnny Depp can probably thank his lawyers and PR for suddenly having a shot at a dramatic public image resurrection, but the question remains whether Hollywood will soon restore him to the big screen he used to dominate.

In the wake of his dramatic win in the defamation case against his ex-wife and fellow star Amber Heard – though Heard herself also won on one count against her former husband’s agent – speculation is now rife that Depp may go back to movies, despite his own claims that he has no interest in returning to the franchise blockbusters that supplied his fortune.

Continue reading...

Aukus pact: Australia pays $830m penalty for ditching non-nuclear French submarines

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese pledges to reset Australia’s strained relationship with France after settling cancelled contract with Naval Group

The Australian government has agreed to pay €550m (A$830m) in a settlement with Naval Group over the former Morrison government’s controversial decision to scrap the French attack class submarine project.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced on Saturday the confidential settlement would draw a line under the cancelled $90bn project. Labor gave bipartisan support to the Aukus partnership that replaced the project – under which the US and the UK have offered to help Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines and cooperate on other advanced technologies.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...