Category Archives: World News

Mayor orders New York’s homeless camps dismantled ‘within two weeks’

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Eric Adams says officials will place people in ‘healthy living conditions with wraparound services’ as debate swirls

New York mayor Eric Adams has ordered that every homeless encampment in the city should be taken down within two weeks, arguing that the situation is not only dangerous to those living there but to the city itself.

“We’re going to rid the encampments off our street and we’re going to place people in healthy living conditions with wraparound services,” Adams said Friday, though he provided few details on exactly how that extra provision would be provided for them.

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Russia’s invasion crystallises divide between west and rest of world

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Ukraine crisis is uniting democracies in Europe and Pacific but complicating relationships with China, India and Gulf states

“Decide who you are with” Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the European council, pointing to a choice that is becoming increasingly hard to avoid, as the sheer violence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine crystallises the division of the world into two camps.

The camp that stands with Russians is becoming easier to define with every passing day of the war. The colour-coded scoreboard at the UN general assembly in recent weeks, recording the votes on resolutions deploring the attack and calling for a ceasefire, could not have been clearer.

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Iditarod sledders punished for sheltering dogs during winter storm

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Race marshal says trio’s decision to bring dogs inside ‘affected the competition for racers’ as Peta condemns Alaska race

A fierce winter storm in the last stretch of this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog, which ultimately forced six mushers to quit the same day, now has seen three mushers punished for sheltering their dogs instead of leaving them outside in the harsh conditions.

Mille Porsild of Denmark, Michelle Phillips of Canada and Riley Dyche of Fairbanks were penalized for taking dogs inside shelter cabins to ride out the storm with winds so strong, they whipped up white-out conditions, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.

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Montana sheriff thanks searchers who found body of hiker believed killed by bear

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Huge search and resue mission discovered body of Craig Clouatre, who went missing north of Yellowstone this week

A Montana sheriff has thanked a huge search and rescue mission, involving people on the ground as well as helicopters, that discovered a missing hiker who appears to have been killed by a grizzly bear north of Yellowstone national park.

“We’re fortunate to have a group of experienced volunteers on our [search and rescue] team and we’re thankful for the folks who have come to help,” the Park county sheriff, Brad Bichler, said in a statement.

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Caribbean: William suggests monarchy will respect any decision to become republic

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Leaders of Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize present as duke says ‘we respect your decisions about your future’

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s controversial tour of the Caribbean draws to a close, William has signalled that the UK would support with “pride and respect” any decision by Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas to break away from the British monarchy.

It comes after the couple visited the three countries during a week-long tour to mark the Queen’s platinum jubileeand were met with criticism and protests amid calls for slavery reparations and fury over the Windrush scandal.

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‘This is going to be cherished’: Samuel L Jackson and Elaine May receive honorary Oscars

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Liv Ullmann and Danny Glover also honoured at Governors Awards, on night when Hollywood lavishes praise on beloved stars for lifetime achievements

Samuel L Jackson grew up watching movies on Saturdays at the Liberty and the Grand, segregated movie theatres in Tennessee. Some of the early roles he got in Hollywood didn’t even have names: he was cast, he said, as “gang member number two’, ‘bum’, ‘hold-up man’, and, unforgettable, ‘Black guy’.” But over fifty years and 152 films later, Jackson has made himself one of America’s most enduring film stars, as well as the actor whose movies have earned “more than any other actor in history,” his friend and fellow star Denzel Washington said. Jackson’s box office total is estimated at $27bn.

Despite this, Jackson, 73, had never won a single Oscar, not even for his celebrated performance as a hit man in Pulp Fiction. The Academy finally awarded him an honorary Oscar on Friday, as part of the annual Governors Awards, which mark lifetime achievement in film and in humanitarian efforts.

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‘Open the schools’: Afghan girls protest in Kabul for right to education

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Two dozen girls and women react to Taliban’s decision to shut secondary schools to girls across Afghanistan

Women and girls staged a protest near the Taliban’s ministry of education in Kabul on Saturday, calling on the group to reopen girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan.

The protesters chanted: “Education is our right – open the doors of girls’ schools!” as armed Taliban members looked on. They held banners that said: “Education is our fundamental right, not a political plan” as they marched for a short distance. They dispersed when Taliban fighters arrived at the scene later.

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Joe Biden visits Poland in show of support for eastern European nations

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US president to meet Polish counterpart as tour bolstering European efforts against Russian invasion continues

Joe Biden is due to give a “significant speech” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Saturday after arriving in Warsaw, where he will meet with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda.

Biden and Duda are expected to discuss Warsaw’s wish for more US troops bolstering Nato’s eastern flank, as well as the idea of an international peacekeeping mission proposed by the leader of Poland’s ruling party, Jarosław Kaczyński. US diplomats have voiced scepticism about the idea, which Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has criticised as “very reckless”.

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Ethiopia: Tigray rebels agree ‘cessation of hostilities’ after government truce

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Announcement marks turning point in the nearly 17-month war in the northern region

Tigrayan rebels have agreed to a “cessation of hostilities”, marking a turning point in the nearly 17-month war in northern Ethiopia after the government’s announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce a day earlier.

The rebels said in a statement sent to AFP they were “committed to implementing a cessation of hostilities effective immediately,” and urged Ethiopian authorities to hasten delivery of emergency aid into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands face starvation.

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Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to go ahead as planned despite Houthi missile attack

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  • Oil facility 10 miles from track set ablaze on Friday afternoon
  • Qualifying and main race to go ahead despite driver concerns

F1 has confirmed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will go ahead as planned after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile attack on an oil facility less than 10 miles from the circuit. But in a four-hour meeting with drivers that lasted until well past midnight local time on Saturday, several are believed to have voiced their concerns to F1’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, with some lingering doubts over whether the race will still take place.

Discussions continued until 2.30am local time, over four hours after Domenicali had made assurances that all was well. Organisers the Saudi Motorsport Company had earlier confirmed that it would go ahead after all 10 team principals agreed to race. “We are aware of the attack on the Aramco distribution station in Jeddah earlier this afternoon and remain in contact with the Saudi security authorities, as well as F1 and the FIA, to ensure all necessary security and safety measures continue to be implemented, to guarantee the safety of all visitors to the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as well as the drivers, teams and stakeholders,” read a statement.

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Biden in Poland for meetings on Ukraine refugee crisis – US politics as it happened

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Joe Manchin is back in the headlines with an apparent offer to revive Democrats’ climate and social spending plans – aims he had a lot to do with thwarting in December.

The Washington Post cites two sources in saying the West Virginia senator, who holds outsized power as a centrist swing vote in the 50-50 chamber, “wants the bill to take an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy policy … and that it’s still possible to reach a deal that includes billions of dollars’ worth of provisions to tackle climate change, cut prescription drug costs and update the tax code.

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Mutinous Russian troops ran over their own commander, say western officials

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Officials describe reported incident during fighting in Ukraine as sign of ‘morale challenges’ faced by invading forces

Western officials have said they believe a Russian commander was run over and killed by mutinous forces during the fighting in Ukraine, in a sign of what they described as the “morale challenges” faced by the invading forces.

They highlighted – and repeated – reports from earlier this week from a Ukrainian journalist that a colonel of the 37th separate guards motor rifle brigade was run over by a tank and subsequently died of his injuries.

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Canada: key Conservative says party risks takeover by far-right ‘lunatics’

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Jason Kenney warns a far-right element could seize control in the coming weeks as United Conservatives hold leadership review

Alberta’s premier has called fellow Conservatives “lunatics” who are “trying to take over the asylum” as a populist mutiny in his party foreshadows a bitter fight for the future of Canada’s Conservative movement.

In a leaked recording of a meeting with caucus staff on Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney warned a far-right element – skeptical of coronavirus measures and wedded to conspiracy theories – could seize control of the party in the coming weeks as the United Conservatives hold a leadership review.

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Fire breaks out at Jeddah oil depot ahead of Saudi Arabia grand prix

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim responsibility for huge blaze days before F1 race is due to take place

A fire has erupted at an oil depot in Jeddah days ahead of a Formula One race in the Saudi city after what Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed was an attack by the group.

The blaze – not immediately acknowledged by Saudi Arabia or its state-run oil company Saudi Aramco – was centred on the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days.

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‘Perfect storm’: William and Kate’s awkward Caribbean tour

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Calls for slavery reparations and Jamaica’s PM insisting country was ‘moving on’ signal sea change in relations with royals

It was supposed to be a visit to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee – a chance to present the modern face of the British monarchy to a region where republican sentiment is on the rise.

But it really didn’t turn out that way.

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Irish foreign minister abandons stage mid-speech after Belfast security alert

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Simon Coveney evacuated after suspect device driven to venue in hijacked van

Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has been evacuated mid-speech from an event in Belfast after a suspect device was discovered in a hijacked van driven to the venue.

A controlled explosion was carried out in the car park of the Houben Centre venue, next to Holy Cross church.

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Families want ‘Monster of Florence’ serial killer case reopened

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Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leads

Families of victims of a serial killer who terrorised Florence in the 1970s and 80s are demanding a new investigation into one of Italy’s darkest unsolved mysteries, a lawyer has said.

Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leads into the so-called “Monster of Florence”, believed to have murdered 16 people.

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Taliban U-turn over Afghan girls’ education reveals deep leadership divisions

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A lack of teachers and school uniform issues blamed for school closures but confusion is a sign of differences in vision for Afghanistan’s future

Earlier this week, girls across Afghanistan arrived for lessons on the day secondary schools were due to open for them for the first time since the Taliban seized power. They were told to go home, and informed schools would remain shut indefinitely.

As international outrage grew at the U-turn, the official Taliban response was confused and contradictory. The group blamed a lack of teachers on the closures and said they first needed to create an appropriate environment for girls to study, and decide on appropriate uniforms.

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Revealed: US to close or scale back troubled immigration detention centers

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  • Center in Gadsden, Alabama ‘long a facility of serious concern’
  • Advocates have complained over quality of Ice medical care

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is planning to close a troubled detention center in Alabama and will significantly scale back the number of beds contracted at three other facilities, citing concerns about conditions, according to an internal government document seen by Reuters.

According to the document, Ice will discontinue the use of the Etowah county detention center in Gadsden, Alabama, saying it had “long been a facility of serious concern, due to the quantity, severity, diversity and persistence of deficiencies identified during facility inspections”.

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EU agrees sweeping new digital rules in effort to curb big tech’s power

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Digital Markets Act seeks to prevent the likes of Google and Facebook parent company Meta from dominating digital markets

The European Union reached an agreement on landmark digital rules to rein in online “gatekeepers” such as Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta.

EU officials agreed late on Thursday on wording for the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, part of a long-awaited overhaul of digital regulations with major implications for the global tech market. The act, which still needs other approvals, seeks to prevent the biggest of tech firms from dominating digital markets through the threat of fines or even the possibility of a company breakup.

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