German prosecutors accuse Kyiv of ordering 2022 Nord Stream sabotage

Indictment against alleged leader of gas pipeline attack claims former Ukrainian army officer was directed by state

German prosecutors have accused Ukrainian “state authorities” of ordering the 2022 explosives attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia with Europe, a charge likely to ignite tensions between Kyiv and Berlin, its biggest military backer.

The sabotage in the Baltic Sea by a team of assailants almost entirely destroyed the seafloor infrastructure of the key source of Russian gas to Germany.

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Papua separatists kill American pilot in ‘message’ to US and Indonesia

Rebels shoot pilot and set his civilian ⁠plane on fire amid long-running low-level battle for independence in region

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments.

Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province.

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At least 21 dead as Russia launches massive drone and missile attack on Kyiv

More than 70 missiles fired at Ukraine capital as Russia faces fuel shortages after strikes against its oil refineries

At least 21 people were killed and dozens injured overnight in Kyiv, local authorities said, in what the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, called the worst Russian attack on the capital during more than four years of air assault on Ukraine.

Russia used nearly 500 drones and more than 70 missiles in the hours-long attack on Kyiv and other parts of the country in the early hours of Thursday. Loud explosions shook the capital for several hours as waves of drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles came towards it and Ukraine’s air defence attempted to shoot them down.

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Albania warned EU accession at risk over Jared Kushner-backed resort plans

Proposed development of protected shorelines and wildlife zones violates EU environmental policy, says MEP

MEPs have warned Albania that EU accession talks are at risk if the government does not “change course” over plans for a luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Tineke Strik, the Dutch MEP heading a European parliament fact-finding mission to the Balkan nation, said Albania’s leadership was “playing with fire” by pursuing the €1.4bn (£1.2bn) real-estate venture that would, she said, wreak havoc on virgin coastline.

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Canada to ​join Eurovision song contest from 2027

Country is first to join since Australia in 2015 as event director says it ‘continues to welcome the world’

Canada will ​join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced.

Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member.

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Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says

Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civilians

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to capture El Fasher, Amnesty International has alleged.

Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday.

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Call to suspend new EU border system in peak holiday period as planes leave half full

Airlines and airports say passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours for biometric checks

Airlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period,saying some flights are leaving half full and passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours.

In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, airlines and airports asked for an option to suspend checks under the system over fears the situation will get much worse during the busy summer season.

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‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population

Fears of resurgence of HIV/Aids amid loss of access to PrEP drugs as at least 40 people arrested in ‘toxic’ climate

A “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year.

Up to 40 people have been arrested and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media.

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Wednesday briefing: After two powerful earthquakes, what is the reality on the ground in Venezuela?

In today’s newsletter: A country already in crisis since the removal of its leader earlier this year by the US, now has to find a way to rebuild with little state presence in evidence

The shaking seemed to come from nowhere. In a moment captured by fishers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, two earthquakes struck seconds apart. Plumes of dust appear where buildings once stood in the recording as the camera rises and falls with the swell. The men rapidly head for the shore in search of their families. “I’m shaking,” says the cameraman.

Since the quakes struck last Wednesday, the search for missing loved ones has not stopped for scores of Venezuelans. Officially, more than 1,700 people have died. But tens of thousands remain missing: desperate relatives are walking up and down streets lined by rubble and collapsed buildings with photos of those they cannot find, asking for help.

World news | A child has been rescued from the rubble in Venezuela, six days since the country was hit by devastating twin earthquakes.

UK politics | Andy Burnham will have to find an extra £4.7bn for defence in his first budget, after Keir Starmer announced a £298bn defence investment plan (Dip) without having fully identified how it will be funded.

US politics | The US supreme court has upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, affirming that nearly all people born on US soil are American citizens and rejecting a central pillar of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.

UK news | The European media group Axel Springer has completed its £575m takeover of the Telegraph, ending years of uncertainty over the future ownership of the 171-year-old titles.

US news | Nine matches in the World Cup group stage were played amid potentially dangerous heat and humidity, a Guardian analysis shows.

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US supreme court agrees to hear challenges to assault-weapons bans

Justices to consider whether bans on AR-15s and similar semi-automatic firearms violate second amendment

The US supreme court will consider whether bans on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms are constitutional.

The justices said on Tuesday they will hear appeals challenging bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area in the next term.

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US-Iran talks over $6bn Iranian assets to restart

Two sides yet to have face-to-face meeting since signing deal to reopen strait of Hormuz

Talks at an indirect level between US and Iranian officials over unfreezing at least $6bn Iranian assets will recommence on Wednesday in Doha, Iran has said. The two sides are yet to have their first face-to-face meeting since signing a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait of Hormuz.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Qatar on Tuesday for talks covering regional issues including the Iran ceasefire and Lebanon, but Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, stressed these were with Qatari mediators. “They are not here for their negotiations with the Iranians,” he said.

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‘Historic Event’: Trump announces Republican midterm convention

President unveils plans for Dallas summit, in break with tradition of conventions only in presidential election years

Donald Trump has announced that Republicans will stage their first ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections, a move aimed at energizing voters as the party fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November.

The two-day gathering will take place in Dallas on 9 and 10 September, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years. Trump confirmed the plans on Tuesday in a Truth Social post, describing Dallas as “One of my favorite places in the World”.

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US and European diplomats continue standoff over top Bosnia and Herzegovina post

European powers resist Trump administration’s pick for high representative after incumbent pushed out

Diplomats from the US and Europe have been unable to resolve their differences and agree on a new top international envoy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a standoff which has become a transatlantic test of wills over influence in the Balkans.

A meeting in Sarajevo to select a new high representative, a post with far-reaching powers, ended without a compromise, in a spat that has undermined western cohesion in the region in the Trump era.

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Six feared dead after ‘bizarre’ sinking of charter boat off Canadian coast

The vessel, thought to have been carrying 10 people, did not issue a mayday call before sinking in the strait of Georgia

Search teams in Canada have launched a recovery effort for six people believed to have drowned in a “bizarre” sinking of a fishing charter off the coast of Vancouver.

Police and rescue crews praised a couple who were passing in their yacht for making a critical mayday call and saving stranded passengers by pulling them onboard their craft.

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‘But we’re just 1% of emissions’: do smaller countries’ climate efforts matter?

Past and present leaders of wealthy nations such as UK and Germany have argued their actions are insignificant

On first hearing, it is a position that sounds reasonable. “When our share of global emissions is less than 1%,” Rishi Sunak argued when he was the UK prime minister in 2023, “how can it be right that British citizens are now being told to sacrifice even more than others?”

Sunak is not the only world leader to have cited such figures while delaying cuts to pollution. In 2019, Scott Morrison, Australia’s then prime minister, used his country’s 1.3% of global emissions to reject any suggestion Australia was not “doing our bit” on climate breakdown. In July, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, pointed to his country’s 2% share of global emissions while supporting loopholes in European climate targets. A few months later the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, followed suit, flagging the EU’s 6% share.

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‘He isn’t political’: the Ukrainian-born oligarch targeted by a Monaco bomber

Questions remain as to why somebody would want to kill Vadym Iermolaiev, who has a personal fortune of $225m

Nobody paid much attention to the man with the backpack, as he approached the entrance to a beige-coloured Monaco apartment building. It was 9pm, Monday. The street – rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla – is located in a quiet hillside part of the wealthy principality, close to the border with France.

The man left his bag on the front steps. Soon afterwards, the Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadym Iermolaiev emerged, together with his wife and their 13-year-old child. There was an explosion and CCTV captured an image of the suspect, wearing a black jacket and a bucket hat, running from the scene towards the neighbouring French town of Beausoleil.

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China is a clear winner from Trump’s war in Middle East, report concludes

Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand energy shock, is now gaining from global solar and EV push

China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The report by the Asia Group thinktank concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict.

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Did US drug agents allow lethal fentanyl to hit New Mexico’s streets?

Explosive AP story based on whistleblower testimony suggests agents ‘sat back and watched’ in hopes of securing larger drug-trafficking bust

Did the Drug Enforcement Agency break the law and gamble with public safety when it permitted large quantities of fentanyl pills to be trafficked in New Mexico in the hopes of getting a larger drug-trafficking bust?

That is the question at the heart of an explosive story published in the Associated Press, based on information provided by a former DEA agent turned whistleblower; the whistleblower filed a complaint in 2023 that claimed agents had allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Albuquerque – a city still reeling from the opioid crisis while many others across the country are seeing overdose rates decline.

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Police units deployed across South Africa before anti-immigration marches

Government fears repeat of anti-migrant violence in 2008 that led to looting and resulted in deaths of 62 people

South African authorities have deployed police units to towns and cities around the country before planned demonstrations against undocumented foreign nationals.

Security personnel were seen patrolling the central business district in Johannesburg, the economic capital, where many shopkeepers decided not to open on Tuesday. Trucks and other assets belonging to the South African National Defence Force were also present, according to local media reports.

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Manhunt under way after Ukrainian-born tycoon injured by Monaco bomb

Normally safe principality left reeling from apartment blast that also injured Vadym Iermolaiev’s wife and child

An international search is under way for a suspected bomber after a Ukrainian tycoon and his family were injured in an explosion in Monaco in an unprecedented attack that has shaken the normally ultra-safe principality.

Stéphane Thibault, Monaco’s public prosecutor, told reporters that a man entered an apartment block on Monday evening, left a package in the lobby and walked away. Moments later, as three occupants of a ground-floor flat approached the entrance, the package exploded, he said.

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