Category Archives: World News

Baptism of fire as Liz Truss heads to US amid submarine row

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As France accuses the US and Australia of ‘lies and duplicity’, new UK foreign secretary faces major diplomatic incident on her first official overseas trip

Liz Truss is heading for a furious diplomatic confrontation with France on her first trip abroad as foreign secretary, as anger mounts in Paris over the cancellation of a £48bn nuclear submarine contract.

Truss, whose appointment was one of the biggest surprises of Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle last Wednesday, will arrive in the US on Sunday before a four-day visit to New York and Washington during which she is aiming to promote the prime minister’s vision of “global Britain” to international leaders.

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Aukus pact could allow New Zealand to deepen relations with Europe and Pacific | Pete McKenzie

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As country’s traditional allies take a more confrontational approach to China, it could offset Anglosphere divide with new partnerships

During the announcement that America, the United Kingdom and Australia had formed a new Aukus defence pact – inaugurated with the sale of American nuclear-powered submarines to Australia – Australian prime minister Scott Morrison lauded it as a “forever partnership for a new time between the oldest and most trusted of friends”.

That phrasing was notable given that the deal excluded New Zealand, which has historically been so close with Australia that the Australian constitution contemplates complete integration of the two countries. Remarkably, New Zealand’s government apparently only learned about the Aukus deal when it began to be reported in the media on Wednesday.

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Ministers told to bar EU from UK trial data in vaccines row

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England’s deputy medical chief asked for data to be withheld unless British vaccine guinea pigs allowed to travel abroad

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England’s deputy chief medical officer asked ministers to withhold all UK clinical trial data from the EU if European countries continued to deny entry to British vaccine trial volunteers, the Observer can reveal.

Jonathan Van-Tam made the extraordinary proposal after months of uncertainty for the 19,000 volunteers who are effectively unable to travel to Europe to see family, work or go on holiday because they took part in trials of Novavax and Valneva.

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Will she run for president? Duterte’s daughter keeps the Philippines guessing

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Sara Duterte ahead in the polls despite refusing to commit to presidential race

It was a decade ago, before her father had become Philippine president, that Sara Duterte attracted national attention. A local sheriff had ignored orders issued by her, the mayor of Davao City, to delay the demolition of a shantytown. She arrived at the scene furious and punched him, not once, but four times in the head, in front of reporters.

Duterte, 43, a motorbike lover and tough talker, has a combative image that echoes that of her 76-year-old father, the populist president Rodrigo Duterte. It is widely believed that, as he nears the end of his six-year term limit, she will follow in his footsteps to Manila’s Malacañang Palace.

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Nike and Amazon among brands advertising on Covid conspiracy sites

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Household names may have unwittingly helped spread fake news, investigation reveals

Dozens of the world’s biggest brands, including Nike, Amazon, Ted Baker and Asos, have been advertising on websites that spread Covid-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories, it has emerged. The companies, as well as an NHS service, are among a string of household names whose ads appear to have helped fund websites that host false and outlandish claims, for example that powerful people secretly engineered the pandemic, or that vaccines have caused thousands of deaths.

Analysis of nearly 60 sites, performed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and shared with the Observer, found that ads were placed through the “opaque” digital advertising market, which is forecast to be worth more than $455bn (£387bn) this year.

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Three killed in explosions in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan

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Initial reports suggest a Taliban convoy may have been targeted in the ISKP’s stronghold region

At least three people have been killed and more than 18 people injured in three explosions in Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.

It is reported that the intended target may have been a passing convoy of the Taliban in the provincial capital. It is the first attack in the province since the Taliban came into power in mid-August.

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US to fly Haitian migrants back after thousands gather at Texas border

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Plan will likely involve five to eight flights a day, with San Antonio potentially among departure cities

The Biden administration on Saturday was working on plans to send many of the thousands of Haitian immigrants who have gathered in a Texas border city back to their homeland, a swift response to the huge influx of people who suddenly crossed from Mexico and congregated under and around a bridge.

Related: ‘A forgotten disaster’: earthquake-hit Haitians left to fend for themselves

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California wildfires burn into some groves of ancient giant sequoias

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National Weather Service issues weather watch for critical fire conditions in Sequoia national park

Crews continue to battle California wildfires that have burned into some groves of ancient giant sequoias, the world’s largest tree.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a weather watch for critical fire conditions in the Sequoia national park in the Sierra Nevada, where the Colony fire was burning about a mile from Giant Forest, a grove of 2,000 sequoias.

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French recall of ambassadors shows extent of anger over Aukus rift

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Analysis: ties between Paris and Washington in worse state than at time of Iraq war after Australia’s cancellation of submarine deal

The recall of the French ambassadors to Australia and the US – without precedent in two centuries of diplomacy between Paris and Washington – has plunged relations to depths unknown for decades.

Rifts over the Iraq war or Nato pale into insignificance. True, the French recalled their ambassador to Rome a couple of years ago, irked by the insults sent their way by the upstart Five Star leader Luigi di Maio, but that was a little warning to populists to stop encouraging the disruption of the yellow vest protests.

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How thousands of Haitian migrants ended up at the Texas border

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Gang violence, bloody protests, food and fuel shortages plus natural disasters have spurred many to leave the west’s poorest nation

Every night Guy would fall asleep to the sound of gunfire: warring gangs in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were fighting pitched battles in the city centre.

By day, the country was roiled by bloody protests against food and fuel shortages. Roadblocks with burning tyres were commonplace, and the police responded with tear gas and billy clubs.

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Coronavirus live news: holiday bookings expected to surge after England travel rules change; clashes at Melbourne protests

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Thomas Cook chief executive predicts this weekend will be biggest of the year so far; about 1,000 protesters gather in Melbourne as state records 535 cases

Prof Adam Finn, a member of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, has said while it is not “essential” for 12-15 years to get the Covid-19 vaccination, it is also “perfectly sensible” for them to have it.

He told Times Radio:

It’s a finely balanced decision. It’s not a black and white decision. It’s not essential that these children receive the vaccine, but equally it’s a perfectly sensible thing to do. It’s being offered because the benefits do outweigh the risks, and it’s available for people who want it. And I’m afraid that’s the truth of the situation.

Because the risks on either side are not that high. It’s not like these children are at great risk from Covid, or indeed that they’re at great risk from the vaccination.

Ronapreve, the Covid antibody drug, is to be given to vulnerable NHS patients.

Covid antibody drug Ronapreve to be given to vulnerable NHS patients https://t.co/lU6CTVlE3g

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We found out from the press, says French ambassador on scrapped submarine contract – video

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Jean-Pierre Thebault, the French ambassador to Australia, said France was kept in the dark over the surprise cancellation of a submarine contract in favour of a US deal. France recalled its ambassadors to Australia and the US on Friday in an unprecedented show of anger over a deal between the US, Australia and the UK to provide Australia with a fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines

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‘A feeling of deja vu’: author Sergio Ramírez on ex-comrade Ortega and Nicaraguan history repeating

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The country’s greatest living writer feels ‘surprised, bewildered and assaulted’ after the president issued a warrant for his arrest and seized copies of his new novel about the 2018 uprising

Sergio Ramírez, Nicaragua’s best-known living writer, hero of the Sandinista revolution, and former vice-president of the volcanic Central American nation, has lived through both tougher times and duller publicity tours.

Even so, the past few days have been – as he puts it, with a degree of understatement – “an odd experience”.

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Texas anti-abortion law shows ‘terrifying’ fragility of women’s rights, say activists

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Campaigners fear ban emboldens anti-choice governments as more aggressive opposition, better organised and funded, spreads from US

The new anti-abortion law in Texas is a “terrifying” reminder of the fragility of hard-won rights, pro-choice activists have said, as they warn of a “more aggressive, much better organised [and] better funded” global opposition movement.

Pro-choice campaigners have seen several victories in recent years, including in Ireland, Argentina and, most recently, Mexico, where the supreme court ruled last week that criminalising abortion was unconstitutional. Another is hoped for later this month when the tiny enclave of San Marino, landlocked within Italy, holds a highly charged referendum.

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Washington rally in support of 6 January rioters falls short of expectations

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Police prepared for trouble at event near Capitol but only a few hundred attended as politicians and pro-Trump groups did not

Any passing American might have been forgiven for thinking they had stumbled on one of the great human rights struggles of our time.

Related: Peril review: Bob Woodward Trump trilogy ends on note of dire warning

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Grief runs deep in Musa Qala as Taliban victory brings weary relief

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Everyone here has tales of lost loved ones, but many want foreigners back – with aid not weapons

A parade of white Taliban flags lines Musa Qala bazaar right up to the central monument where two kidnappers were hanged in a public execution earlier this year. The flags flutter from almost every shop in celebration, some rough and handmade, others printed and lined with tinsel.

The dusty town, an opium trading centre reached most of the year by driving up the gravel bed of a seasonal river, was the Taliban’s southern capital from 2015 until the militant group took over the national capital. Before that it was the site of intense fighting by British and US forces for more than a decade, including a bitter 2006 British siege in which 88 men were holed up for two months, leading to the first – albeit hyperlocal – international ceasefire negotiations with the Taliban.

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France recalls ambassadors to US and Australia after Aukus pact

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First time France has recalled a US ambassador in alliance dating back to American revolution

France has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia for consultations sparked by the “exceptional seriousness” of Canberra’s surprise decision to cancel an order for French-built submarines and its security pact with Washington and London.

The French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said the order to bring the ambassadors back to Paris “immediately” was made at the request of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

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FDA advisers vote not to recommend Pfizer booster shots for most Americans

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  • Vote may be significant blow to Biden administration
  • Panel does back boosters for those older than 65

Scientific advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have voted not to recommend a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine for most Americans, a potentially significant blow to the Biden administration after it announced a plan to “boost” adults before advisory committees had a chance to review scientific evidence in public.

Related: ‘Fascist and tyrannical’: US vaccine mandates induce rightwing hysteria

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Covid live news: more than 50 million have received at least one jab in France; UK records 32,651 new cases

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French president says close to 90% of people in country of 67 million have had at least one vaccine dose; UK reports 178 Covid-linked deaths

The US administered 383,994,877 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 464,315,725 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Those figures are up from the 383,038,403 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 16 out of 462,384,885 doses delivered, Reuters reports.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport criticised the Scottish government’s “decision to diverge yet again and further curtail Scotland’s aviation and travel industries in their recovery”.

He said: “We are now the most restrictive country in Europe yet there is no justification or health benefit to retaining testing measures, something clinical professionals and experts have themselves said.

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