Category Archives: World News

Erdoğan met by protests from Turkish Cypriots during visit

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‘Provocative’ trip to northern Cyprus angers residents as well as the south and Greece

Turkey’s president has been greeted with protests from Turkish Cypriots denouncing Ankara’s overt meddling in their domestic affairs as he visited northern Cyprus.

In a rare display of opposition for a leader whose tolerance for critics is notoriously low, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was met by demonstrators as he flew into the territory for celebrations marking its unilateral declaration of independence 37 years ago.

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Amazon ridiculed on Twitter for error reunifying Ireland

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Tech firm told Northern Ireland resident who wanted to watch rugby that he didn’t live in UK

It was an unlikely statement from one of the world’s biggest companies, but for a brief period on Saturday afternoon it appeared that Amazon had pledged its backing to a united Ireland.

The tech company has now apologised after telling a resident of Northern Ireland that he could not watch its rugby union coverage because he didn’t live in the UK.

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Doctor who tried to save Covid patients from Romania hospital fire hailed as hero

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Man named in local media as Catalin Denciu transferred to hospital in Belgium with 40% burns

A doctor left badly burned in a Romanian hospital fire that left 10 dead was been hailed as a hero after it emerged he had tried to help Covid-19 patients to safety.

After suffering second and third degree burns to 40%, the doctor, named in local media as Catalin Denciu, was transferred to Belgium’s Queen Astrid military hospital on Sunday for specialised treatment.

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Damage to multiple organs recorded in ‘long Covid’ cases

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Exclusive: study of low-risk individuals finds impairments four months after infection

Young and previously healthy people with ongoing symptoms of Covid-19 are showing signs of damage to multiple organs four months after the initial infection, a study suggests.

The findings are a step towards unpicking the physical underpinnings and developing treatments for some of the strange and extensive symptoms experienced by people with “long Covid”, which is thought to affect more than 60,000 people in the UK. Fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness and pain are among the most frequently reported effects.

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Belgian racing pigeon sets fanciers’ hearts aflutter in €1.6m sale

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Record auction price for New Kim beats last year’s €1.25m for Armando, another Belgian

A two-year-old Belgian racing pigeon called New Kim has been sold for a world-record €1.6m (£1.4m) in an auction that ended on Sunday.

Offers for the pigeon had already hit €1.32m in the past week, surpassing the previous record of €1,252,000 set in March 2019 for another Belgian pigeon, Armando. They then went higher in a frantic last 30 minutes of bidding on Sunday.

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Marina Litvinenko submits €3.5m ECHR claim against Russia

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Exclusive: widow seeks damages for 2006 murder and payment of lost income

The widow of Alexander Litvinenko has submitted a claim against Russia to the European court of human rights (ECHR), seeking €3.5m (£3.1m) in compensation for his murder by radiation poisoning in London.

Marina Litvinenko is requesting punitive damages and payment for accumulated lost income. A public inquiry concluded that her husband’s murder in 2006 was probably ordered by Vladimir Putin.

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Spain’s general medical council calls for Covid health chief to be fired

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Fernando Simón appeared to blame doctors for some cases and accused of incompetence

Spain’s general medical council has called for the country’s health emergencies chief to be sacked, accusing him of “patent and prolonged incompetence” in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and of undermining the morale of overworked doctors.

Fernando Simón, the head of Spain’s coordination centre for health emergencies and alerts, has been the public face of the government’s response to the coronavirus since March.

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Bars and shops closed as Europe battles second wave of coronavirus

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Strict measures – including curfews and states of emergencies – are in force once more across the continent as Covid cases surge

The country announced a second lockdown from 30 October after daily Covid-related deaths reached their highest levels since April. Due to last at least a month, it is having a limited effect: new infections and hospital admissions dropped sharply at first only to increase sharply at the end of last week. , health ministry data showed

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World poverty rising as rich nations call in debt amid Covid, warns Gordon Brown

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Child mortality crisis is looming as nations struggle to make payments to west and China, says former prime minister

It is being called the “great reversal”. After decades of progress, the international goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 is in jeopardy, Gordon Brown has warned, as developing countries battling the coronavirus sacrifice their health and education systems to pay western and Chinese creditors.

“We need a comprehensive new plan that recognises the need for some countries to restructure and reduce debt,” Brown told the Observer. Ahead of a key G20 meeting next weekend, the former prime minister is calling for a global solution if an imminent child mortality crisis is to be averted.

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US poll chaos is a boon for the enemies of democracy the whole world over

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While Democrats and Republicans squabble in Washington, injustice and violence reigns from Palestine to Mozambique

Believe it or not, the world did not stop turning on its axis because of the US election and ensuing, self-indulgent disputes in the land of the free-for-all. In the age of Donald Trump, narcissism spreads like the plague.

But the longer the wrangling in Washington continues, the greater the collateral damage to America’s global reputation – and to less fortunate states and peoples who rely on the US and the western allies to fly the flag for democracy and freedom.

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Religious intolerance is ‘bigger cause of prejudice than race’, says report

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Attitudes to faith said to drive negative perceptions more than ethnicity or nationality

Religion is the “final frontier” of personal prejudice, with attitudes to faith driving negative perceptions more than ethnicity or nationality, a report to be published tomorrow will say.

How We Get Along, a two-year study of diversity by the Woolf Institute, is due to conclude that most people are tolerant of those from different ethnic or national backgrounds, but many have negative attitudes based on religion.

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Two killed as huge pro-democracy protests continue in Peru

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Doctors say pair died of gunshot wounds as Peruvians protest against removal of Martín Vizcarra as president

Two protesters have been killed in massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Peru, the first deaths in nearly a week of unrest over the controversial removal of Martín Vizcarra as president and his replacement by a de facto government, seen by many Peruvians as a coup.

Protests have mounted demanding the resignation of Manuel Merino, the former speaker of congress who was sworn in as president on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people filling the streets of Lima and dozens of towns and cities.

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Coronavirus live news: German minister predicts five more months of ‘severe restrictions’; UK reports 24,962 more cases

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UK death toll rises by 168; economy minister says Germany ‘isn’t out of the woods’; Greece limits public gatherings; US records 177,000 new cases

France reports 302 deaths and 27,228 new cases in the last 24-hours, according to the French health ministry website. The country has had in total 44,246 deaths and 1,981,827 confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak.

The prime minister of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ambrose Dlamini, has tested positive for Covid-19.

In a statement published on Twitter he said he was asymptomatic and currently isolating in line with the government’s coronavirus protocols:

We should not tire of looking after one another and encouraging adherence to all health protocols at all times.

Government Press Statement: Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini tests positive for #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/HoqABtoRKh

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Will Scotland become the new ski destination?

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With British skiers nervous about booking holidays in Europe, travel specialists are predicting an exodus to the north

The Scottish mountains may be an unlikely beneficiary of the Covid-19 pandemic. With British skiers nervous about committing to a package holiday with a tour operator in one of the main European destinations, travel specialists are predicting the rise of the DIY ski trip, which could be good news for the Cairngorms.

“There’s clearly still an enormous amount of uncertainty about what will happen across the winter season,” said Rob Stewart, founder of Ski Press PR, who represents clients in the ski industry. “The general view is that December – and I’m talking about for UK skiers – will be a write-off in regards to skiing. This is mainly due to uncertainties on when resorts will really start to open up and, of course, the quarantine and Foreign Office advice against all but essential travel.”

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Cannabis resin now 25% more potent, global study reveals

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Concentrations of intoxicating THC have risen, data from more than 80,000 street drug samples gathered over 50 years shows

Cannabis resin – or “hash” – has increased in strength by nearly 25% over the past half century, a major international study has revealed.

Researchers with the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath analysed data from more than 80,000 cannabis street samples tested in the past 50 years in the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Denmark, Italy and New Zealand.

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Judge rules Daca suspension invalid, Homeland Security head in office illegally

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Chad Wolf took office unlawfully, says federal court judge, therefore could not suspend program that shields young people from deportation

A federal judge in New York has ruled that the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, assumed his position unlawfully and has invalidated Wolf’s suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program, which shields young people from deportation.

“DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” the US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote.

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Simon Birmingham urges China to respect ‘spirit’ of new Asian trade pact

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Australia hopes 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will help reset economic relations with China

Simon Birmingham has urged China to respect the “spirit” – not just the letter – of the new 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Australia is hoping the deal, signed on Sunday, will help reset economic relations with China after a rolling series of trade disputes or disruptions widely regarded as retaliation for Australian policies towards China.

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Hiker lost in Mount Rainier whiteout dies in ER – and is brought back to life

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  • Hospital uses extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine
  • ‘I’ve got a million people to thank,’ says Michael Knapinski, 45

A hiker who was rescued after being lost overnight in a whiteout in Mount Rainier national park died in the emergency room but was brought back to life after his heart stopped for 45 minutes.

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