Category Archives: World News

Biden considers declaring climate emergency as agenda stalls in Congress – live

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Maryland is holding its primary elections today, and The Guardian’s Chris McGreal reports on the surprising involvement of pro-Israel lobbying groups in one of the races:

Pro-Israel lobby groups have poured millions of dollars into a Democratic primary for a Maryland congressional seat on Tuesday, in the latest attempt to block an establishment candidate who expressed support for the Palestinians.

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Peace will be on Russia’s terms, says former president – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in occupied Ukraine, which is only recognised as a legitimate authority by Russia, Syria and North Korea, has stated that as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces, “one resident of Verkhnotoretske was killed, and three people were injured. Twenty-two residential buildings and seven civil infrastructure facilities were damaged.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

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Italian police thwart illegal sale of Artemisia Gentileschi painting

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Carabinieri allege dealers fraudulently exported €2m work by 17th-century baroque artist for auction in Vienna

Italian police have prevented the potential illegal sale by a Viennese auction house of a 17th-century painting by the baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi.

The carabinieri art squad said dealers had allegedly described the work as being painted by a follower of Gentileschi, and not the artist herself, in order to fraudulently obtain export permission from Italian authorities.

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Human rights groups criticise EU’s Azerbaijan gas deal

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Agreement with autocratic ruler to double supplies within five years comes as EU seeks to reduce reliance on Russian energy

Human rights groups have criticised an EU deal to ramp up gas supplies from Azerbaijan, as Europe scrambles to secure non-Russian sources of energy.

The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday hailed Azerbaijan as a “crucial” and “reliable” energy supplier, as she announced an agreement with Baku to expand the southern gas corridor, the 3,500km pipeline bringing Caspian Sea gas to Europe.

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Ex-Trump aides expected to testify at primetime January 6 hearing

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Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews, deputy national security adviser and press aide respectively, to give evidence, source says

Two former White House aides are expected to testify at the House January 6 committee’s primetime hearing on Thursday as the panel examines what Donald Trump was doing as his supporters stormed the US Capitol, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Matthew Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, a former press aide, are expected to testify, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly to discuss the matter and requested anonymity.

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Spanish man filmed escaping wildfire treated for serious burns

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Man in 50s emerges from blaze with clothes burned to rags and flames flickering around him

A Spanish man in his 50s is being treated for serious burns after escaping the flames that engulfed his excavator as he tried to fight one of the wildfires raging in the north-western region of Castilla y León.

Video of the incident, which took place near the town of Tábara in Zamora province on Monday afternoon, shows the vehicle and its driver, Ángel Martín Arjona, being swallowed by the fire and disappearing behind drifts of smoke.

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Putin claims progress made in talks over lifting Ukrainian wheat blockade

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Russian president makes comments in Tehran, where he had a meeting with leaders from Turkey and Iran

Vladimir Putin has claimed on a trip to Tehran that progress has been made that may allow Russia to lift the blockade on Ukrainian wheat, an issue that is threatening famine across Africa.

“I want to thank you for your mediation efforts,” the Russian president told Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his Turkish counterpart, in comments released by the Kremlin.

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Jafar Panahi sentenced to six years in jail

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The Iranian director was arrested last week for criticising the government after enquiring about the earlier arrest of fellow film-maker Mohammad Rasoulof

The director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Iranian judiciary, who are seeking to enforce a previously handed-down sentence.

Panahi, who has won the top prizes at the Venice and Berlin film festivals, and is the director of films including The Circle, The White Balloon, Crimson Gold, Taxi and This Is Not a Film, is one of three film-makers arrested in Tehran in less than a week.

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Covid: European governments must urgently boost monitoring, WHO says

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‘Waiting for the autumn will be too late,’ says regional director as Omicron variants drive threefold surge in cases over past six weeks

The World Health Organization has called on European governments to urgently reinforce rather than reduce Covid-19 monitoring, warning of a potentially difficult winter as a new wave of infections sweeps across the continent.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said it was now “abundantly clear” that the region faced a surge driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variants BA.2 and BA.5 and that it would intensify further as indoor mixing increases in the autumn.

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Bolsonaro’s attack on Brazil’s electoral system sparks outrage

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Moves to question integrity of voting system come amid poor polling for far-right leader facing October election

Electoral officials and senior politicians have criticised the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, after the far-right leader called foreign diplomats to the presidential palace and made unfounded allegations about the integrity of the upcoming election.

Bolsonaro told them the electronic voting system in Brazil, which has been used without controversy since 1996, was vulnerable. The remarks raised concerns that the populist politician – facing poor polling results – may attempt to discredit the democratic process if he loses in October.

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Jackie Chan-produced action movie films in devastated Syrian city

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The decision to produce a film glorifying China’s Communist party in a town destroyed by civil war has been described as ‘appallingly bad taste’

A Chinese action film executive-produced by Jackie Chan has triggered outrage after shooting scenes in al-Hajar al-Aswad, a Syrian town destroyed in the civil war.

Home Operation, directed by Song Yinxi, is inspired by China’s evacuation of hundreds of its nationals from Yemen in 2015 during the civil conflict there, and is the first joint venture between Chinese and Emirati producers. AFP reported that Song said the film was intended to glorify the Chinese Communist party (CCP): “It takes the perspective of diplomats who are Communist party members, who braved a hail of bullets in a war-torn country and safely brought all Chinese compatriots on to the country’s warship unscathed.”

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Kosher phone dispute grips ultra-Orthodox Tel Aviv suburb

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An opaque council controls smartphone access for Israel’s Haredim population, but many are making forays online anyway

Tel Aviv’s booming science and technology industry, bolstered by graduates of elite army intelligence units, has earned Israel the nickname “start-up nation”.

Yet in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox suburb just a few miles east of Tel Aviv’s skyscrapers, a vicious fight is being waged over whether smartphones are compatible with traditional Jewish law, and who should have the power to decide on internet access.

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Hunt for wild monkey in Japan after 10 attacks in a fortnight

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Traps set and residents warned to keep windows shut after infant grabbed in most serious incident

Police in Japan are searching for a wild monkey that has attacked 10 people in the space of a fortnight.

The attacks began on 8 July in the Ogori district of Yamaguchi prefecture in the country’s south-west. In the most serious incident, it badly scratched an infant after invading a family home.

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Pro-Israel hardliners spend millions to transform Democratic primaries

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Critics say Aipac and its allies are seeking to influence Democratic politics with money from Republican billionaires

Pro-Israel lobby groups have poured millions of dollars into a Democratic primary for a Maryland congressional seat on Tuesday, in the latest attempt to block an establishment candidate who expressed support for the Palestinians.

A surge in political spending by organisations funded by hardline supporters of Israel, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), has reshaped Democratic primaries over recent months even though debate about the country rarely figures as a major issue in the elections.

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China’s challenges to Australian ships: three reasons not to panic | Adam Lockyer

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It’s important to view encounters between the two militaries in operational context

Last week it was reported that in early July an Australian warship had been closely followed by a Chinese guided-missile destroyer, a nuclear-powered attack submarine and multiple military aircraft as it travelled through the East China Sea.

This incident followed a confrontation on 26 May, when an Australian maritime surveillance plane was dangerously intercepted by a Chinese fighter over the South China Sea.

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North Korean labour could be sent to rebuild Donbas, Russian ambassador says

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Alexander Matsegora tells Russian newspaper there are ‘a lot of opportunities’ for economic cooperation, despite UN sanctions

North Korea could send workers to two Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s ambassador in Pyongyang – a move that would pose a challenge to international sanctions against the North’s nuclear weapons programme.

According to NK News, a Seoul-based website, ambassador Alexander Matsegora said North Korean workers could help rebuild the war-shattered infrastructure in the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.

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Mortgage strikes threaten China’s economic and political stability

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Analysis: worsening meltdown in the country’s debt-laden property market is at the heart of a problem that comes at a precarious time for the Communist party

The alarm bells are ringing louder. Last week, hundreds of depositors gathered in front of the Zhengzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China in the provincial capital of Henan, demanding their frozen life savings held in rural banks. A day later, tens of thousands of homeowners threatened to stop paying mortgages on scores of unfinished housing projects they had purchased. All of this happened in a week where the officials reported lacklustre second-quarter economic performance.

China’s economy is facing a dangerous cocktail of stalling growth, high unemployment, spreading mortgage payment strikes and continued Covid shutdowns that threaten to explode with serious social and political consequences.

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Blair urged Kuwait to buy UK artillery as Gulf war payback, papers show

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Notes from late 1990s show UK government believed it was due contract in recognition of defence of Kuwait

Tony Blair urged Kuwait to buy the UK’s latest artillery as payback for supporting the country during the Gulf war, newly released papers reveal.

Blair lobbied Crown Prince Sheikh Sa’ad between 1998 and 1999, including calling in on him during a brief stopover on a flight home from South Africa.

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UK knew of former French president’s ill health for 10 years, papers reveal

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Suspicions over François Mitterrand’s health were raised a decade before his cancer prognosis was made public

A British diplomat raised concerns about the secret extent of French president François Mitterrand’s ill health a decade before the statesman’s terminal prognosis was made public, newly released official papers reveal.

Sir Reginald Hibbert, the UK government’s ambassador in Paris, appraised Whitehall colleagues in December 1981 with “talk about the president’s health which seemed to me to carry a certain amount of conviction”.

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Neighbours stalwarts tell of tears on set after 28-year stint on soap

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Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburne – who play Karl and Susan – reflect as fans prepare for final episode to air

The Neighbours stalwarts Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburne, who played Karl and Susan Kennedy in the Australian soap opera, have said they shared “a few tears and a lot of hugs” as their 28-year stint on the show came to an end.

With the Neighbours finale due to air later this month, some of the show’s longest-standing actors have been reflecting on their time on set and working alongside future Hollywood stars.

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