Russian president and Indian prime minister among more than 20 world leaders attending Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin
At an emergency meeting of the UN security council on Friday, the US warned Russia to move toward some sort of peace settlement and meet with Ukraine or face possible sanctions.
The meeting was called after a major Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday that killed more than 20 people.
Continue reading...Ahmed al-Rahawi killed alongside several ministers gathered for prerecorded speech by rebel group’s leader
An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, the Houthis have said.
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a strike in Sana’a on Thursday along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement on Saturday. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing further details.
Continue reading...Former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy shot dead as EU ministers meet to discuss measures to force Moscow to the negotiating table
A Ukrainian former parliamentary speaker was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday, authorities said, as European foreign ministers met to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.
Andriy Parubiy, a member of parliament who served as parliamentary speaker from 2016 to 2019 and a key figure in Ukraine’s 2013 pro-European Maidan revolution, was shot dead, prosecutors said. A murder investigation has been launched and the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the killing as a “horrific murder”.
Continue reading...Armoured vehicle hit in Zeitoun neighbourhood as Arab media reports intense clashes in the area
Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in an explosion targeting an armoured vehicle in Gaza City on Friday night, the Israel Defense Forces have said.
The soldiers were wounded while operating in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, which has been the site of intense Israeli military activity in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Cities in Indonesia rocked by protests after motorcycle taxi driver run over by police tactical vehicle
Protesters have torched parliamentary buildings in three further Indonesian provinces, a day after at least three people were killed by a fire started by demonstrators at a council building in the city of Makassar.
Protests erupted across Indonesia after footage spread showing a motorcycle taxi driver being run over and killed by a police vehicle on Thursday night during earlier demonstrations over low wages for workers and perks for lawmakers.
Continue reading...Police launch investigation into escalation of dispute in bar in Évreux, Normandy, after five others injured
A man has driven a car into a crowd outside a bar in northern France after a dispute in which one person was killed and five others injured, according to prosecutors.
The incident took place in the town of Évreux, Normandy, at about 4am on Saturday.
Continue reading...Experts say extremists openly talking of how home-built drones will be critical tool in so-called second civil war
Taking their cues from modern warfare, the far-right American terrorist movement sees off-the-shelf or home-built first-person viewer (FPV) drones as a critical weapon in their own future war against the US government, which has American authorities on edge.
And there’s ample reasons for those fears: in the open and closed online spaces where far-right extremists congregate, talk is commonplace of how these cheap drones are revolutionizing current wars and will be the critical tools of a so-called second civil war.
Continue reading...Regulator Easa concludes there is not enough evidence it is as safe as flying with two pilots as currently required
Proposals for commercial aeroplanes to operate with just one pilot in the cockpit have been put on ice after a report for the European regulator suggested it would make flying more dangerous.
A three-year research project into “extended minimum crew operations” commissioned by the EU Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) found that despite advances in technology there was not sufficient evidence that flying with a single pilot could be as safe as with the two currently required.
Continue reading...Analysts say Putin and Xi will aim to align positions during Russian leader’s unusually long stay
Vladimir Putin will travel to China this weekend for what the Kremlin has called a “truly unprecedented” visit to his most important ally, which comes at a crunch moment in talks over Ukraine.
During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week – unusually long for the Russian leader – he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing’s Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba.
Continue reading...Decorated navy pilot who served in House of Representatives pleaded guilty to accepting illegal gifts
Randy “Duke” Cunningham, whose feats as a US navy flying ace during the Vietnam war catapulted him to a House of Representatives career that ended in disgrace when he was convicted of accepting $2.4m in bribes, has died. He was 83.
Cunningham died Wednesday at a hospital in a Little Rock, Arkansas, according to former representative Duncan L Hunter, who spent time with him a week before his death.
Continue reading...Appellate panel upholds lower court’s ruling as homeland security spokesperson attacks ‘activist’ judges
A federal appeals court on Friday blocked Donald Trump’s plans to end protections for 600,000 people from Venezuela who have permission to live and work in the US, saying that plaintiffs are likely to win their claim that the president’s administration’s actions were unlawful.
A three-judge panel of the ninth US circuit court of appeals unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that maintained temporary protected status for Venezuelans while TPS holders challenge actions by the Republican president’s administration in court.
Continue reading...State follows Texas’s lead in Trump’s push to gain more House seats for Republicans in 2026 midterms
The Missouri governor, Mike Kehoe, has moved to help the Republican party gain an additional seat in Congress, calling a special legislative session to redraw congressional districts in his state.
Kehoe’s announcement on Friday followed a pressure campaign from Donald Trump, who has urged Republican states to reshape district boundaries to more heavily favor Republicans, boosting the party’s chances of maintaining control of the House of Representatives in 2026.
Continue reading...Irish aid worker and director Gena Heraty was taken along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old child
An Irish aid worker and seven fellow captives have been released nearly a month after they were kidnapped in Haiti.
Gena Heraty, a missionary who ran the Our Little Brothers and Sisters orphanage in the hills outside Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, was abducted on 3 August along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old child.
Continue reading...Announcement follows statements from Quebec premier, who expressed frustration over public prayers in Montreal
Quebec says it will ban prayer in public, a move that civil rights groups described as an “alarming measure” that targets religious minority groups and would infringe on “basic democratic freedoms”.
The province’s secularism minister, Jean-François Roberge, said the move had been prompted by the “proliferation of street prayer” which he described as “a serious and sensitive issue” adding that the government had watched with “unease”. Roberge said the government would introduce legislation in the fall.
Continue reading...Internal letter also calls on UN member states to suspend arms sales, saying ‘criticising Israel is not enough’
Hundreds of employees of the United Nations’ leading human rights agency have backed an internal letter telling its leadership to declare Israel’s offensive in Gaza a genocide and to call on UN member states to suspend arms sales to Israel.
The 1,100-word letter, signed by about a quarter of the 2,000 staff of the Geneva- and New York-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the Israeli offensive in Gaza meets the legal threshold of genocide and that this means “arms sales, transfers and related logistical or financial support to Israeli authorities” constitutes a clear breach of international law by all those involved.
Continue reading...Government faces calls for police reform amid violent clashes across Jakarta and demonstrations in other cities
Hundreds of Indonesians have protested at sites across Jakarta over the death of a man hit by a police vehicle, in the first big test for Prabowo Subianto’s nearly year-old government.
The man, a motorcycle ride-sharing driver, was hit at the site of violent clashes near parliament on Thursday as police sought to disperse demonstrators protesting about a number of issues including lawmakers’ pay and education funding.
Continue reading...Unifil mandate extended but troops patrolling Lebanon-Israel border to be withdrawn in December 2026
The UN security council has voted to extend the body’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for a further 16 months, but ordered it finished at the end of 2026 under Israeli and US pressure.
UNSC members voted unanimously on Thursday to extend the mandate for the UN interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) ahead of its expiration on Sunday, prompting relief from Lebanese officials who rely on it. The approved resolution said Unifil would begin an “orderly and safe withdrawal” of its 10,800 peacekeepers from Lebanon in December 2026.
Continue reading...Around one million Palestinian people expected to be displaced in shattered city where famine has been declared
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said earlier this week that the evacuation of Gaza City is “inevitable”. Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will launch its Gaza City assault while simultaneously pursuing a ceasefire, though talks have stalled.
The Israeli prime minister has claimed the assault is the best way to weaken Hamas and return hostages, but many hostage families disagree and fear it will endanger hostages lives.
In accordance with the situational assessment & directives of the political echelon, starting today at 10:00, the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone.
The IDF continues supporting humanitarian efforts while conducting operations to protect Israel.
Continue reading...Senators’ fury at developments at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Jim O’Neill picked to replace Susan Monarez
Nearly 1,000 “worker over billionaire” protests are being planned in all 50 states starting this weekend as part of a Labor Day week of action organized by labor unions and advocacy groups in opposition to the Trump administration’s policies.
The actions include marches and rallies in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, a Labor Day parade in New York City, rallies in Palmer, Alaska, Freeport, Maine, and a planned protest at the state capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch says US military personnel could face criminal prosecution for assisting Israel’s war in Gaza
Human rights groups and activists who protest against continued US support for Israel have focused primarily on the flow of US weapons, warning that continuing to send weapons to a state which has been documented using them in probable war crimes makes the US complicit.
However, this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted another facet of US military support for Israel: military cooperation and intelligence sharing.
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