Category Archives: World News

Macron accuses Australian PM of lying over submarine deal

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French president criticises Scott Morrison and expresses scepticism that Aukus pact will deliver on schedule

Emmanuel Macron has accused the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, of lying to him over an abandoned $90bn submarine contract, in a significant escalation of tensions between Paris and Canberra.

The French president levelled the accusation in impromptu comments to Australian journalists on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome. He said he had a lot of “respect and friendship” for Australia and Australians, but that respect between nations needed to be reciprocated.

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Man dressed as Joker arrested after injuring 17 in Tokyo train attack

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Japanese media report man in Batman villain costume stabbed people and started a fire

A man dressed in Batman’s Joker costume has been arrested for attempted murder after a knife and fire attack on a train in Tokyo, according to Japanese media, with at least 17 people reportedly injured and one in a serious condition after being stabbed.

Witnesses told national broadcaster NHK of the bloody attack which happened on Sunday, when the Japanese capital was full of Halloween revellers, many in costume.

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Brazilian police kill 25 suspects allegedly part of bank robbery gang

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Congressman hails ‘historic clean-up’ after police raids on farmhouses in Minas Gerais

Police in Brazil have killed 25 suspects as part of what authorities called an unprecedented offensive against heavily armed bank robbers whose brazen heists have brought several major cities to a standstill.

The alleged criminals were gunned down in the early hours of Sunday in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, where police claimed they had been poised to unleash an attack.

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Sudan coup protesters return to barricades on seventh day of unrest

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Militia and police personnel target protesters in south Khartoum a day after deadly crackdown

Sudanese anti-coup protesters gathered behind barricades in Khartoum on Sunday, a day after a deadly crackdown on mass rallies.

Tens of thousands of people turned out across the country for Saturday’s demonstrations, and at least three people were shot dead and more than 100 people wounded, according to medics. Police denied the killings or using live bullets.

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Huma Abedin says kiss from unnamed senator was not sexual assault

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  • Clinton aide gives first interview for memoir Both/And
  • Abedin also discusses 2016 election and Anthony Weiner

In her first interview to promote her new book, Huma Abedin said she did not think an unnamed senator sexually assaulted her when he kissed her at his apartment, some time in the mid-2000s.

She also said she would “take to her grave” her part in the emails investigation which cost Hillary Clinton dearly in the 2016 presidential election, which the candidate lost to Donald Trump, though she knew it was not all her fault.

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Reclusive Taliban supreme leader makes rare public appearance

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Haibatullah Akhundzada said to have visited religious school in Kandahar, confounding rumours of his death

The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, made a rare public appearance in the southern city of Kandahar, Taliban officials announced on Sunday, contradicting widespread rumours of his death.

Akhundzada, known as the leader of the faithful or Amir ul Momineen, had not been seen in public even after the Taliban’s August takeover of the country, giving rise to the speculation.

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Covid live news: Russia reports record new cases; China rejects US intelligence report on virus origins

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Follow the latest updates on the coronavirus from the UK and around the world

Covid infections in the UK are at record levels, with 1.28 million people suffering from the virus, but scientists say that cases may have peaked as separate figures suggest the number of daily infections has declined by 14%.

Russians are spurning the Sputnik jab and heading west for vaccines to enable them to travel more freely as international regulators delay approval.

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Man dies after being gored at bull-running festival in Spain

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Death of 55-year-old attacked in Onda is first such fatality since events resumed following Covid hiatus

A man bled to death from his injuries after he was gored at a bull-running festival in eastern Spain, authorities said.

It was the first related fatality in the country since such events resumed after Covid-19 curbs were relaxed during the summer.

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Gothic becomes Latin America’s go-to genre as writers turn to the dark side

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The region used to be almost synonymous with magic realism but recent bestselling fiction draws on a legacy of dictatorship, poverty and sinister folklore

A young man follows the bloody trail of his CIA father, through Paraguayan torture chambers and the sites of Andean massacres. An Ecuadorian artist fantasizes about running a scalpel through the tongue of her mute twin. In a Buenos Aires cemetery, teenage fans devour a rock star’s rotting remains.

These grisly scenes – and many more like them – populate the pages of Latin America’s recent bestselling fiction. From the Andes to the Amazon and to the urban sprawl of some of the world’s biggest cities, a ghoulish shadow has been cast over Latin American literature.

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Russians spurn Sputnik jab and head west for vaccines

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EU and UK travel bans fuel boom in travel to Serbia for authorised Covid vaccinations

When Denis Ovchinnikov read the news this summer that his Russian Sputnik V vaccine would not be recognised in Europe, he decided to take matters into his own hands and planned a trip to Belgrade.

“I contacted a travel agency that sorted everything out. It was very easy. I made a little holiday out of it too, in between getting the two Pfizer shots,” Ovchinnikov, who works at a PR agency in St Petersburg, said.

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Time running out for LGBTQ+ Afghans hiding from Taliban, warn charities

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Large numbers linked to previous administration are stranded in Afghanistan, with calls for the UK to broker rapid mass evacuation

Calls for the government to speed up the evacuation of gay, lesbian and transgender Afghans intensified on Saturday after the first LGBTQ+ group arrived safely in Britain but left many behind to face an uncertain fate.

The group of 29 is “hoped to be the first of many” in the coming months, the Foreign Office said, hours after the Taliban announced LGBTQ+ rights would not be respected.

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Master of the Game review: Henry Kissinger as hero, villain … and neither

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Martin Indyk’s well-woven biography is sympathetic to the preacher of realpolitik condemned by many as a war criminal

As secretary of state, Henry Kissinger nursed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war to a close. The disengagement agreements between Egypt and Israel ultimately yielded a peace treaty. The Syrian border remains tensely quiet. Unlike Vietnam, in the Middle East Kissinger’s handiwork holds.

The Sunni Arab world has gradually come to terms with the existence of the Jewish state. Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have diplomatic ties with Jerusalem. Relations with Saudi Arabia are possible.

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Hindu-Muslim violence crosses border from Bangladesh to India

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Footage shared on social media blamed for igniting violence between communities that left seven dead, buildings torched and many living in fear

It was early morning when Achintya Das, a 55-year-old teacher in the city of Cumilla in Bangladesh, was woken by the ringing of his mobile phone. On the other end of the line was a fearful, stricken voice. Come quickly, the local told him, something very grave had happened. A Qur’an had been found in the shrine they had recently erected for the upcoming Hindu festival of Durga Puja. The Islamic holy book had been placed on a statue of the Hindu god Hanuman.

Das, a Hindu who organised the festival in Cumilla, felt dread rise up in him at the news of the desecration of Muslim holy scripture in their shrine. “It didn’t even take me a second to understand the gravity of the situation. I rushed there immediately,” he said.

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Coronavirus live news: UK records a further 41,278 cases and 166 deaths; Thailand issues ban on rallies

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UK figures down from 43,467 new infections and 186 deaths on Friday; authorities in Thailand issue order as country prepares to open to tourists

People observe tributes to the nearly 300,000 Mexicans who have died in the pandemic as the official global death toll approaches 5 million:

Tonga – formerly one of the last countries in the world to have remained Covid-free – has recorded its first coronavirus case.

“The reason the lockdown won’t happen this weekend is because I have been advised that the virus will take more than three days to develop in someone who catches it before they become contagious,” Tuionetoa said.

“We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus.”

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Alec Baldwin breaks silence on Rust shooting: ‘She was my friend’

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Actor tells reporter ‘this is a one-in-a-trillion episode’, in first remarks since fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on film set

In his first public comments since accidentally fatally shooting the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of a film, Rust, in New Mexico earlier this month, Alec Baldwin said on Saturday: “She was my friend.”

The actor spoke to BackGrid, a “global celebrity news agency”, in Vermont, where he was photographed having lunch with his wife.

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Yemen: bomb blast near Aden airport kills at least 12 civilians

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Attack in interim capital comes weeks after car bomb targeted Aden’s governor

At least 12 civilians have been killed in a blast near the airport of Aden, the Yemeni government’s interim capital, a senior security official told AFP.

There were also serious injuries, said the official, adding that the cause of the blast on Saturday was unknown. Another security official confirmed the death toll.

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Gunmen kill at least three at Afghan wedding to stop music being played

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Killers said they were Taliban but government denies responsibility and says two of them have been arrested

Gunmen presenting themselves as Taliban attacked a wedding in eastern Afghanistan to stop music being played and killed at least three people, the government has said.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Saturday that two of the three attackers had been arrested, and denied they were acting on behalf of the Islamist movement.

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Kuwait expels Beirut envoy in row over Saudi’s military role in Yemen

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Expulsion ordered a day after similar move by Saudi Arabia in response to criticism of the Riyadh-led intervention

Kuwait has given Lebanon’s envoy to the emirate 48 hours to leave, a day after Saudi Arabia made a similar move over a minister’s criticism of the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.

The diplomatic row, in which Saudi Arabia has also suspended imports from Lebanon and Bahrain has expelled Beirut’s envoy to Manama, is another blow for a country already in the grip of crippling political and economic crises.

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