Category Archives: World News

China’s biggest tech firms dive in value as firms fear Beijing crackdown plan

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Frantic stock sell-offs across sector anticipating ‘monopoly’ rules, with Alibaba shopping site shares falling 9.8%

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wiped off the value of China’s biggest internet companies following two days of frenetic selling with investors fearing Beijing plans to curb the power of homegrown tech firms.

Shares in Alibaba, a Chinese version of Amazon, dropped by 9.8% on Wednesday, while its rivals, Tencent, and JD.com, fell by 7.4% and 9.2% respectively.

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Qatari officials intimidated claimants in terror case, high court told

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Met police counter-terror unit has been asked to investigate allegations, court hears

Counter-terrorism police have been asked to investigate claims that witnesses and claimants in a terror-funding case were intimidated by officials working for the state of Qatar, the high court has been told.

Allegations of perverting the course of justice emerged at the hearing in London on Wednesday in a case involving compensation claims submitted originally by eight Syrian refugees against Doha Bank, the headquarters of which are in the Gulf state.

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‘Buddha would be green’: Dalai Lama calls for urgent climate action

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Exclusive: The Dalai Lama warns of terrible consequences of climate inaction

The Dalai Lama has appealed to world leaders to take urgent action against climate change, warning of ecological destruction affecting the lives of billions and ruining the planet, including his birth country, Tibet.

As a call to action he has brought out a new book declaring that if Buddha returned to this world, “Buddha would be green”.

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Japanese town deploys robot wolves to ward off bear attacks – video

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A Japanese town has deployed robot wolves in an effort to scare away bears that have become an increasingly dangerous nuisance in the countryside.

Bear sightings in Japan are at a five-year high and occur mostly in rural areas in western and northern Japan. There have been dozens of attacks so far in 2020, two of them fatal, prompting the government to convene an emergency meeting last month to address the threat

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Hungarian government mounts new assault on LGBT rights

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Constitutional amendment proposed to enshrine defence of so-called ‘Christian values’

Moments before Hungary entered a second coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, the far-right government signalled its intention to pass a range of new legislation, including to make it harder for opposition political parties to join forces and to change the constitution to enshrine the defence of so-called “Christian values”.

Opposition politicians criticised both the substance and timing of the moves.

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Thousands of refugees cross into Sudan to flee fighting in Ethiopia

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Fears grow of humanitarian crisis as conflict in Tigray region pushes 8,000 people across border in two days

Thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region have crossed into neighbouring Sudan, as fears grow that conflict between national and provincial forces could prompt a serious humanitarian crisis.

As many as 8,000 Ethiopians are thought to have already crossed the border in the last two days, and aid officials say hundreds of thousands more are likely to leave their homes if the conflict, now entering its second week, does not end.

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‘We stand together’: entire Hong Kong opposition quits after members ousted from parliament – video

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Hong Kong has plunged further into crisis, as a new law imposed by Beijing allowing the disqualification of 'unpatriotic' opposition members led to the immediate disqualification of four sitting legislators.

The move prompted the entire pro-democracy caucus to announce their resignation, and was heralded by the opposition politician Claudia Mo as 'the death knell of Hong Kong’s democracy fight'

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Wild Mountain Thyme trailer blamed for Irish accent emergency

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Storm of paddywhackery cliches in promo for Hollywood film stuns critics – and even the leprechaun museum

A trailer is all that Ireland has seen of Hollywood’s latest romantic comedy, but that has been enough to declare an Irish accent emergency.

Wild Mountain Thyme stars Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan as star-crossed lovers – and farmers – on an emerald isle posing as Ireland.

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US records more than 1m new Covid cases in past 10 days as infections surge

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Texas becomes first to record a million cases as a state as experts warn White House appears to be doing little to control pandemic

The US has recorded more than 1m new coronavirus cases in just the past 10 days as the national total soared past 10m cases amid a widespread surge – while Texas on Wednesday became the first to record a million cases as a state.

The soaring figures came as experts warned that even though successful vaccines are coming into view the White House appears to be doing little to contain a pandemic increasingly out of control.

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‘An own goal’: experts question resignation of Hong Kong lawmakers

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Mass resignation after ousting of four ‘unpatriotic’ legislators leaves council with no opposition members

On Thursday, Hong Kong’s legislature will look remarkably more like its counterpart in mainland China. It will sit without any opposition lawmakers after they announced their resignations in protest at four colleagues disqualified from the body on Wednesday under a new power granted to Hong Kong authorities by Beijing to dismiss “unpatriotic” politicians with immediate effect.

The 70-member legislative council will then consist of only pro-Beijing lawmakers, turning into what several observers have described as a rubber-stamping body like China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), which passes pre-approved measures.

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Several injured in explosion at Saudi Armistice Day event

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France condemns ‘cowardly attack’ at Jeddah ceremony for foreign diplomatic staff

Several people have been wounded in an explosion in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah during a ceremony to commemorate the end of the first world war attended by staff from foreign diplomatic missions, officials have said.

“The embassies involved condemn this cowardly attack, which is wholly unjustified,” the French foreign ministry said. “They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators.”

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End of Trump era deals heavy blow to rightwing populist leaders worldwide

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As Biden’s victory sinks in across Brazil, Hungary and elsewhere, dreams of a rightwing global crusade appear to be fading

As the Donald Trump era draws to a close, many world leaders are breathing a sigh of relief. But Trump’s ideological kindred spirits – rightwing populists in office in Brazil, Hungary, Slovenia and elsewhere – are instead taking a sharp breath.

The end of the Trump presidency may not mean the beginning of their demise, but it certainly strips them of a powerful motivational factor, and also alters the global political atmosphere, which in recent years had seemed to be slowly tilting in their favour, at least until the onset of coronavirus. The momentous US election result is further evidence that the much-talked-about “populist wave” of recent years may be subsiding.

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Europe can’t afford to lose another generation to youth unemployment

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Covid-19 has already put 3 million young Europeans out of work. The scars for these under-25s could take a decade to heal

A decade ago, the global financial crisis left deep scars in terms of destroyed opportunities and unemployment for young people. In Europe in particular, youth unemployment persisted. Now the Covid-19 crisis threatens to do the same thing to the under-25s. Yet, none of the leaders of France, Italy or Spain, nor the president of the European commission, prioritised youth unemployment in their latest policy speeches. At the highest political level, the focus must be on averting the risk of a lost generation. Bold policies will be needed.

During the financial crisis, the US youth unemployment rate increased from about 10% to 19%, while in the European Union it increased from 16% to 26%. The rate in the EU only returned to its 2008 level in 2018, while the spike in US youth unemployment was overcome more rapidly. Even in the recovery, some EU countries fared much worse than the EU average. In Greece, Spain and Italy, youth unemployment in 2019 was still higher than it was before the 2008 crash.

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‘Everything buried in mud’: Hurricane Eta’s devastating blow to Honduras

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Flooding left thousands trapped for days without food or water and death toll may never be known

Across a sea of putrid mud a metre or so deep, Marvin Argueta pointed to the remnants of what a week ago was his home on the banks of the Chamelecón River. He had lost everything – but he still considers himself lucky.

“If we hadn’t got out in time, we all would have died,” said Argueta, 22, who along with his wife and four children abandoned their house when the flood waters reached waist height in the middle of the night. “A friend of mine lost his entire family.”

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Trump under growing pressure to accept election defeat – US politics live

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Some of Donald Trump’s advisers now say he will likely never concede that he lost the presidential race, according to NBC News.

NBC reports:

‘Do not expect him to concede,’ one top aide said. More likely, the aide said, ‘he’ll say something like, ‘We can’t trust the results, but I’m not contesting them.’’

Another adviser said that after the legal battles and recounts, the closest the president is likely to get to a concession is, ‘he’ll acknowledge the results and that we’ll never know how accurate they are.’

Joe Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania has now surpassed 50,000, after the latest batch of ballots from Allegheny county were posted.

As of this afternoon, Biden leads Donald Trump in Pennsylvania by 50,483, or 0.7% of the total vote in the state.

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Coronavirus live news: countries scramble to secure vaccine doses as US sees record hospitalisations

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Iran and Lebanon impose lockdowns; Hong Kong, Singapore plan quarantine-free travel bubble; US sees record hospitalisations

Mongolia has reported its first domestic transmissions of the coronavirus, from a truck driver who infected his wife and two other relatives after three weeks of quarantine, according to the AfP news agency.

The landlocked country bordering Russia and China has so far reported just 376 virus cases - all imported - and enforced strict arrival controls that have prompted protests by Mongolians stranded abroad.

Dr David Nabarro, one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) special envoys on Covid-19, urged people to be “careful” when students in the UK return to university after Christmas to prevent a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Asked about students returning to UK universities in January, and if there was an argument for keeping students at home for longer, Dr Nabarro told Sky News:

We did see that there was quite a big increase in cases in Europe in October and November. We think that was to do with movements that took place in September, including students coming to university.

So if there’s going to be a big return in January, all I’m going to say is, everybody be careful. Because that’s when the virus can really move around quickly.

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Coronavirus live news: Italy exceeds 1m cases; Greece tightens lockdown

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Italy passes mark after 32,961 new infections in 24 hours; Greece extends curfew after record surge in cases; US has 1m new cases in 10 days

Texas on Wednesday became the first US state with more than 1 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, and California closed in on that mark as a surge of coronavirus infections engulfs the country from coast to coast, AP reports.

The country’s second-most populous state, Teas has recorded 1.01 million coronavirus cases and over 19,000 deaths since the outbreak began in early March, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California, the most populous state, has logged more than 991,000 cases.

The Swedish prime minister has said his government will present a law proposal that would ban nationwide the sale of alcohol after 10pm in bars, restaurants and night clubs from 20 November in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Stefan Lofven said that “we are facing a situation that risks becoming pitch-black” and added that Sweden “currently is risking a situation like the one we had last spring”.

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China ousts pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers in new crackdown

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Disqualified legislator says move signals the end of ‘one country, two systems’

China has passed legislation allowing for the immediate disqualification of lawmakers in Hong Kong deemed dangerous to national security, in a move widely seen as heralding the end of political opposition in the city.

The measure, passed by China’s highest legislative body on Wednesday, bars anyone from Hong Kong’s legislative council who supports independence, refuses to recognise Beijing’s sovereignty over Hong Kong, seeks help from “foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region” or commits “other acts that endanger national security”.

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UN warns of impact of smart borders on refugees: ‘Data collection isn’t apolitical’

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Special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia believes there is a misconception that biosurveillance technology is without bias

Robotic lie detector tests at European airports, eye scans for refugees and voice-imprinting software for use in asylum applications are among new technologies flagged as “troubling” in a UN report.

The UN’s special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Prof Tendayi Achiume, said digital technologies can be unfair and regularly breach human rights. In her new report, she has called for a moratorium on the use of certain surveillance technologies.

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