Category Archives: World News

UN tries to limit staff going to Cop30 in Brazil due to high price of hotels

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Accommodation costs at climate summit in Belem are pricing out some developing countries and media outlets

The United Nations has urged its staff to limit attendance at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil in November due to high accommodation prices, while government delegations are still scrambling to find rooms within their budgets.

The move comes as delegations grow increasingly concerned about the cost of accommodation in the coastal Amazon city of Belem hosting Cop30. Brazil said it is working to increase the number of available hotel beds, but soaring prices for accommodation have stoked calls from some governments to relocate the conference, which Brazilian officials have rejected.

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Who was Agnes Wanjiru, Kenyan woman killed near army base in 2012?

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Relatives remember a dependable, kind and funny woman and remain traumatised by her death

Perhaps the Kenyan market town of Nanyuki’s greatest claim to fame was that it straddles the equator. But now it has become synonymous with something darker. It was here where Agnes Wanjiru was born and lived and where she was brutally killed.

Her family searched for her for months before her body was found stuffed into a septic tank at the same hotel where she had last been seen alive.

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Kenya seeks arrest of former British soldier over alleged murder of Agnes Wanjiru

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High court judge issues arrest warrant, saying a suspect has been charged in relation to 2012 death of 21-year-old

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a British national on suspicion of the murder of the Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru, who was found dead in the grounds of a hotel near an army base in 2012.

The high court judge Alexander Muteti issued the arrest warrant earlier on Tuesday in Kenya, with the prosecution telling the court a suspect had been charged with murder, and his extradition to Kenya was being sought.

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Lesotho villagers complain of damage from water project backed by African Development Bank

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About 1,600 people file complaint to AfDB demanding transparency over forced relocations and compensation

Eighteen rural communities in Lesotho have filed a complaint with the African Development Bank (AfDB) over its funding of a multibillion-pound water project whose construction process they claim has ruined fields, polluted water sources and damaged homes.

About 1,600 people living in the villages in Mokhotlong district in north-east Lesotho are demanding transparency over planned forced relocations and compensation they say they have not been consulted on.

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Israel launches ground offensive deep inside Gaza City

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IDF says advance aims to ‘dismantle Hamas’s grip’ as UN report says Israel has committed genocide in territory

Israel unleashed its long-threatened ground offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, sending tanks and remote-controlled armoured cars packed with explosives into its streets, in defiance of international criticism and the findings of a UN commission that it was committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.

“Gaza is burning. The IDF is striking terror infrastructure with an iron fist,” Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X as the attack was launched in the early hours of the morning, adding: “We will not relent until the mission is completed.”

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Russia has network of 200 camps for ‘brainwashing’ Ukrainian children – report

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Investigation uncovers documents and satellite imagery that confirm children being taken to sites for patriotic indoctrination, weapons training and combat drills

Russia is running an extensive network of more than 200 camps to re-educate, Russify and militarise Ukrainian children, a new investigation has found.

The facilities, across Russia and occupied Ukraine, include camps as well as schools, military bases, medical facilities, religious sites and universities.

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Trump at first says he is ‘not familiar’ with Minnesota Democrat’s assassination

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President says he would have ordered half-staff flags for Melissa Hortman if Tim Walz had asked him to do so

In response to a question about why he did not order flags lowered to half-staff to honor Melissa Hortman, the Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives who was assassinated alongside her husband this summer, Donald Trump initially said he was “not familiar” with the case.

The question came up during a briefing in the Oval Office on Monday, in light of the president’s order last week to lower flags in response to the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.

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US judge rejects lawsuit challenge to SpaceX launch site over risks to wildlife

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FAA ruled to have satisfied obligations in granting approval for expanded SpaceX operations next to wildlife refuge

A US district court judge on Monday rejected a suit by conservation groups challenging the Federal Aviation Administration approval in 2022 of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk’s SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in south Texas.

The groups said noise, light pollution, construction and road traffic also degrade the area, home to endangered ocelots and jaguarundis, as well as nesting sites for endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles and for threatened shorebirds. US district judge Carl Nichols in Washington said FAA had satisfied its obligation “to take a hard look at the effects of light on nearby wildlife”.

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Gulf leaders call on Trump to rein in Israel after Qatar emergency summit

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Arab states say US should use its leverage and influence as they promise to ‘activate joint defence mechanisms’

Gulf leaders meeting at an emergency summit in Qatar have called on the Trump administration to use its leverage to rein in Israel following the unprecedented Israeli attempt last Tuesday to assassinate Hamas negotiators in Doha.

Speaking after the meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the group’s secretary general, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, said: “We … expect our strategic partners in the United States to use their influence on Israel in order for it to stop this behaviour … they have leverage and influence on Israel, and it’s about time that this leverage and influence be used.”

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First group of children from Gaza arrive in UK for life-saving NHS treatment

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Care and support package, including housing, will help 30-50 young Palestinians for an initial two years

The first group of children from Gaza have arrived in the UK for specialist life-saving treatment on the NHS, the Guardian understands.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, informed the parliamentary Labour party on Monday evening about the development. On arrival in the UK, the patients and their families have been granted access to NHS treatment, appropriate housing and comprehensive support services for an initial two-year period.

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RAF Typhoon jets ready to shoot down drones over Poland, UK says

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‘Nato is responding with unity and strength’ to Russian threats, says John Healey

RAF Typhoon jets will be deployed within days to shoot down drones over Poland and other Nato allies in eastern Europe if necessary, after last week’s incursion of 19 uncrewed Russian aircraft into Poland.

The British fighters, based at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, will join Nato’s new Eastern Sentry mission working alongside French, German and Danish counterparts who are acting as reinforcements for Dutch F-35s and Polish F-16s.

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Rubio says Netanyahu has full support of US over plans to destroy Hamas

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US secretary of state, who is visiting Jerusalem, warns of ‘Israeli counter reaction’ if allies recognise Palestine

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has put the Trump administration’s full support behind Benjamin Netanyahu in a visit to Jerusalem, saying Washington’s priorities were the liberation of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas.

In public remarks standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio did not mention the possibility of a ceasefire, and did not repeat his earlier criticism of Israel for carrying out an airstrike last week aimed at Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of another close US ally, Qatar.

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US’s Rubio says efforts to recognise Palestinian state make it harder to end war – as it happened

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This live blog is closed.

That brings the press conference to a close, as Netanyahu takes a moment to acknowledge both his and Rubio’s staff who are sat in the front row.

The main takeaways from the event, which lasted just over half an hour, are that the US views international efforts to recognise the Palestinian state as a hindrance to peace efforts and that Netanyahu refuses to rule out future strikes on Hamas leaders – wherever they are.

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Spain’s PM calls for Israel to be banned from sports events after Gaza protests force end to Vuelta race

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Speaking after Gaza protesters forced early end to cycle race, Pedro Sánchez says Israel should not be allowed to use sports to ‘whitewash’ its ‘barbarism’

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for Israel to be barred from international sports competitions for as long as its “barbarism” in Gaza continues, saying the country should not be allowed to use high-profile events to “whitewash” its offensive.

Speaking a day after pro-Palestinian demonstrators forced a premature end to the Vuelta a España cycle race amid chaotic scenes and clashes with police, Sánchez said he had “a deep admiration” for all those who had protested peacefully against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team.

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Conor McGregor pulls out of Ireland’s presidential race

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Former mixed martial arts fighter had vowed to curb immigration to shore up ‘Irish culture’ and give power ‘back to the people’

The former mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has withdrawn from Ireland’s presidential election and complained that nomination rules were a “straitjacket” that prevented a true democratic contest.

“Following careful reflection, and after consulting with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy from this presidential race,” he posted on X on Monday morning. “This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one at this moment in time.”

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Chinese economy slows amid Trump trade war and weaker consumer spending

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Slowing growth in factory output and retail sales prompts calls for fresh economic stimulus

China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month as it comes under strain from Donald Trump’s trade wars and domestic problems, with factory output and consumer spending rising at their slowest pace for about a year.

The disappointing data adds pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus to fend off a sharp slowdown, with a debt crisis denting the country’s once-booming property sector and exports facing stronger headwinds.

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Monday briefing: Israel’s bombing of Qatar threatens the fabric of Gulf security

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In today’s newsletter: For decades, Gulf states have believed that a close relationship with US will guarantee their safety. That is no longer the case

Good morning. Last Monday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, announced that his country had accepted the US ceasefire proposal to end the devastating war in Gaza. The very next day, Israel attempted to kill Hamas’s negotiating team while they were in Qatar’s capital to discuss that same proposal.

Israel, initially bullish about the success of the operation, has since grown more doubtful that it killed any Hamas leaders in Doha. Hamas said that while six people were killed in the bombing – including the son of Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of its political bureau – the top leadership including the negotiating team survived.

UK news | Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the English flag as cover for violence and to instil fear, Keir Starmer has said, condemning attacks against police officers and racist harassment after more than 110,000 people attended an extremist London rally.

Crime | Christian Brueckner, prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has refused to be interviewed by the Metropolitan police before his pending release from prison in Germany, Scotland Yard has said.

US | The Utah governor, Spencer Cox, has said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk, “does come from a conservative family – but his ideology was very different than his family”. Robinson was not cooperating with authorities, said Cox.

Europe | Poland’s foreign minister has said the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace was an attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s reactions by incremental escalations without prompting a full-scale response, as Romania became the second Nato country to report an incursion in a matter of days.

Television | It was a full sweep for Adolescence at the Emmys, winning every award in which the show was nominated tonight. Fifteen-year-old Owen Cooper made history as the youngest ever actor to win the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series. Emmy awards 2025 – full list of winners

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Europe’s summer of extreme weather caused €43bn of short-term losses, analysis finds

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Greatest damage from heat, drought and flooding done in Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Bulgaria

The violent weather that battered Europe this summer caused short-term economic losses of at least €43bn, according to an EU-wide estimate, with costs expected to rise to €126bn by 2029.

The immediate hit to the economy from a single brutal summer of heat, drought and flooding amounted to 0.26% of the EU’s economic output in 2024, according to the rapid analysis, which has not been submitted for peer review but is based on relationships between weather and economic data that were published in an academic study this month.

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Trump insists foreign workers are ‘welcome’ days after arrest of hundreds of South Koreans

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US president says he doesn’t want to ‘disincentivize investment’ after images of workers chained and handcuffed caused widespread alarm in South Korea

President Donald Trump has said foreign workers sent to the United States are “welcome” and he doesn’t want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.

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Guy Pearce and Annie Lennox join call to end ‘normalised horror’ for children in Gaza

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Stars read Michael Rosen’s 2014 poem Don’t Mention the Children in film released by Save the Children

Guy Pearce, Annie Lennox and Vanessa Redgrave are among the celebrities calling for an end to the “normalised horror” of children being killed in Gaza, as part of new short film.

Released by Save the Children and Choose Love, it features the stars reciting the words to a poem by Michael Rosen. Titled Don’t Mention the Children, the poem was written in 2014 in response to a Guardian article about the Israeli government banning a radio advert naming children killed in Gaza. It begins:

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