Category Archives: World News

Alexei Navalny releases investigation into Vladimir Putin’s wealth – video

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Alexei Navalny’s team has released a mammoth investigation into Vladimir Putin’s wealth, including a £1bn palace on the Black Sea allegedly built for the Russian president that the opposition leader called 'the biggest bribe in history'.

Navalny’s allies plan to hold demonstrations on Saturday in about 65 cities across the country in support of the Kremlin critic, who was arrested and jailed on his return to Russia last weekend. Navalny, 44, returned to Russia on Sunday from Germany, where he had been recovering from a near-fatal poisoning with the novichok nerve agent in an attack he blamed on Russian security services and Putin. 

The Kremlin has denied the luxury complex belongs to Putin and urged Russians not to send their money to 'crooks'. They have also warned social media platforms against spreading online calls to stage weekend protests

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US missionary faces new legal action over child deaths at Uganda health centre

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Four families seek damages and apology from Renee Bach, who settled two cases out of court last year

Four Ugandan families are taking legal action against an American missionary accused of taking part in treatments at a religious health centre she ran, despite having no medical qualifications.

Renee Bach founded the now defunct Serving His Children (SHC) centre in Jinja, a city in east Uganda, where the families took their children, three of whom later died.

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Joe Biden’s Oval Office: what changes has the new president made?

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From a Cesar Chavez bust and the removal of portraits, to a desk piled high with orders tearing up Trump’s legacy

The Oval Office has long symbolised the power and grandeur of the US presidency, and incoming White House incumbents traditionally change the decor to reflect the tone of their administration.

Joe Biden has unveiled the new ceremonial backdrop to his administration, marking a number of significant changes from that of his predecessor.

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The teenage taekwondo trainer fighting child marriage in Zimbabwe – photo essay

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Natsiraishe Maritsa saw so many friends being forced into marriage that she started a campaign to drive out the practice.

It is 11am on a Sunday and Natsiraishe Maritsa, 17, is running through some workout drills with a group of sweating teenage girls from her neighbourhood in Epworth, a poor township nine miles (15km) south-east of the capital, Harare.

On a normal Sunday, Maritsa and her friends would be attending church, but the strict 30-day lockdown imposed by the government earlier this month has banned religious gatherings – so it’s time to catch up on a taekwondo training session.

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James Bond film No Time to Die delayed again over Covid

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Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 hit by coronavirus disruption, along with Ghostbusters sequel and Cinderella

James Bond film No Time To Die has been delayed again as Hollywood grapples with the continued disruption caused by the pandemic.

Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 will now arrive on 8 October, the official Bond Twitter account announced. It had been set to be released in April following multiple pandemic-enforced delays.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil variant found in Germany; AstraZeneca EU vaccine deliveries to fall short

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Germany says first case of Brazilian version of virus discovered in Hesse; AstraZeneca blames production glitch for delivery shortfall

Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, AP reports.

Prime minister Alexander De Croo said that “when people travel, the virus travels with them.”

Public outrage is growing in Spain as cases of politicians and well-connected opportunists jumping the queue in the coronavirus vaccination campaign come to light, even as delivery delays have forced some regions to stop new inoculations, AP reports.

Spain’s defence ministry has been the latest governmental department to launch an internal inquiry to find out if the military top brass dodged coronavirus vaccine protocols by receiving a jab before their turn.

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Global nuclear weapons ban begins – without the world’s nuclear powers signing up

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Treaty signatories include Africa’s most populous country and Europe’s least populated, but Russia and Nato on the sidelines

An international treaty banning all nuclear weapons that has been signed by 51 countries and that campaigners hope will help raise the profile of global deterrence efforts comes into force on Friday.

Although in some respects the step is largely symbolic because the world’s nuclear powers have not signed up, the treaty will be legally binding on the smaller nations that have endorsed it, and it is backed by the UN leadership.

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Jesuit order in Spain apologises for decades of sexual abuse by members

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Society of Jesus admits 81 children and 21 adults were sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927

The Jesuit order in Spain has admitted that 81 children and 21 adults have been sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927, and has apologised for the “painful, shameful and sorrowful” crimes.

In a report released on Thursday, the Society of Jesus, whose members often work as teachers, said most of the abuse had taken place in schools “or was related to schools”.

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Mexico: witness to disappearance of 43 students alleges soldiers involved in attack

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Witness testified soldiers detained group of students, interrogated them and then handed them to a drug gang

A witness to the disappearance of 43 Mexican student teachers has alleged that soldiers were involved in the 2014 attack , the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has confirmed.

The disappearance of the trainees from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College on 26 September 2014 rocked Mexico, sparking widespread protests and calls for justice, but the investigation into the case has been widely criticized.

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Two suicide bombers kill at least 32 shoppers in Baghdad

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Attack wounded more than 100 people and raises fear of return to violence in Iraqi capital

Two suicide bombers have killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 100 at a Baghdad market, raising fears of a return to the militant violence seen for years in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion and during the Islamic State era.

In the worst such attack in three years, bombers lured shoppers towards them and set off devices they were carrying at a secondhand clothes bazaar. It happened in mid-morning when the market was teeming with people after the lifting of nearly a year of Covid-19 restrictions across the country.

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Small but mighty, Pacific states have led the charge for banning nuclear weapons | Emily Defina

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A global treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons becomes international law today. But the fight to rid the world of these dismal weapons continues.

In 1995, thousands of people marched peacefully hand-in-hand through the Tahitian capital of Pape’ete. The palm-lined streets were awash with songs of protest.

On a nearby shorefront, Cook Islanders had just arrived by traditional voyaging canoe: a vaka. They were there to deliver a message of solidarity with their island neighbours, en route to the nuclear test site of Moruroa.

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Woman who allegedly helped steal Pelosi laptop to be released from jail

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Federal judge directed that Riley June Williams be released into the custody of her mother, with travel restrictions

A Pennsylvania woman facing charges that she helped steal a laptop from the office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, during the attack on the US Capitol will be released from jail, a federal judge decided on Thursday.

US magistrate judge Martin Carlson directed that Riley June Williams be released into the custody of her mother, with travel restrictions, and instructed her to appear on Monday in federal court in Washington to continue her case.

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Previously unseen dog painting by Manet to be sold at Paris auction

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Artist painted pet as present for Marguerite Lathuille, whose family has owned picture for last 140 years

A previously unseen painting of a pet dog by Édouard Manet will be sold for the first time at an auction in Paris next month.

The French modernist artist dashed off the small work in 1879 as a present for Marguerite Lathuille, the daughter of a Paris innkeeper whose portrait he painted around the same time.

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Giant worm’s undersea lair discovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan

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Scientists believe 2-metre-long burrow once housed predator that ambushed passing sea creatures

The undersea lair of a giant worm that ambushed passing marine creatures 20m years ago has been uncovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan.

Researchers believe the 2-metre-long burrow found in ancient marine sediment once housed a prehistoric predator that burst out of the seabed and dragged unsuspecting animals down into its lair.

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Honduras lawmakers seek to lock in ban on abortion for ever

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A constitutional reform would require a three-quarters majority in congress to overturn Latin America’s most draconian ban

Legislators in Honduras are pushing a constitutional reform through Congress that would make it virtually impossible to legalise abortion in the country – now or in the future.

Related: Argentina legalizing abortion will spur reform in Latin America, minister says

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McConnell proposes delaying Trump’s trial as Biden details Covid strategy – live

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The American Medical Association has welcomed the Biden administration’s moves to boost the production of PPE and vaccines.

“Since March, the AMA has called on the federal government to implement a coordinated national strategy and pull every lever to ramp up PPE production for N95 masks, gowns, gloves, as well as testing supplies - and coordinate distribution,” said the organization’s president, Susan R. Bailey.

Thank goodness pic.twitter.com/mDZdR9FVIR

McConnell said in a statement that he has sent a timeline for the impeachment trial to Schumer, implying that rushing a trial would be unfair.

“Senate Republicans are strongly united behind the principle that the institution of the Senate, the office of the presidency, and former President Trump himself all deserve a full and fair process that respects his rights and the serious factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake,” he said.

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Coronavirus live news: Portugal bans all UK flights; France recommends surgical masks

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Move aimed at tackling spread of new variant; Cloth masks ‘fail to provide enough protection’; Rio carnival cannot be held even in middle of year, warns city mayor

Japan’s government has privately concluded the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, The Times has reported, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition.

The government’s focus is now on securing the games for Tokyo in the next available year, 2032, the newspaper said.

French president Emmanuel Macron said France will make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers into France from Sunday, including from fellow EU countries, Reuters reports.

Cross-border workers and land transportation will be exempt from that obligation, the French presidency added. The test will have to be carried out no later than 72 hours before departure.

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EU could ban travellers from Britain to contain Covid variants

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Movement restrictions at EU internal borders will also dominate debate between 27 chiefs

The European Union could ban travellers from Britain and restrict movement at the bloc’s own internal borders under proposals to be debated by leaders at a videoconference summit.

The need to clamp down on the spread of the new variants of coronavirus will dominate discussions between the 27 heads of state and government on Thursday evening.

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Wear medical-grade masks if you can’t socially distance, Britons told

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As new Covid variants emerge, scientists advise use of FFP masks that filter inflow and outflow of air

Scientists have urged Britons to wear medical-grade masks when they cannot physically distance, amid growing concerns of faster-spreading Covid-19 variants – but said that any face covering is better than none at all.

This week French health officials advised people to wear surgical masks rather than homemade fabric ones as these afford greater protection against highly contagious new variants.

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