Category Archives: World News

Case of mother who died during forced sterilisation in Peru to be heard in court

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Celia Ramos was one of thousands of women subjected to government’s brutal policy in the 1990s. A ruling by the inter-American court of human rights could open way for reparations

The case of a forced sterilisation carried out in Peru in the 1990s will be heard by an international court on Thursday, 28 years after the procedure – one of many thousands – resulted in a woman’s death.

Celia Ramos was 34 when she died in 1997, 19 days after surgery for a tubal ligation caused respiratory failure. The mother of three was “harassed” into accepting the procedure, which was part of a nationwide family planning programme.

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Five Valladolid fans given suspended prison sentences for Vinícius Júnior hate crime

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  • Insults were directed towards Brazilian in December 2022

  • La Liga hails judgment as ‘unprecedented milestone’

  • Luka Modric to leave Real Madrid after Club World Cup

Five Valladolid fans who abused the Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior have been given suspended prison sentences, in what La Liga described as a landmark ruling that condemned racist insults hurled in a football stadium as a hate crime.

The case goes back to Madrid’s 2-0 win in December 2022 at Real Valladolid’s José Zorrilla Stadium, during which several fans hurled racist abuse at the Brazilian. The individuals were later identified using images and videos published on social media.

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German troops start first permanent foreign deployment since second world war

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Heavy combat unit of 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian staff inaugurated in Lithuania on Nato’s eastern flank

The German chancellor has visited Lithuania to mark Berlin’s first permanent foreign troop deployment since the second world war, as he called on allies to dramatically expand their efforts to bolster European defences against a hostile Russia.

As a crowd waved Lithuanian, German and Ukrainian flags, Friedrich Merz and his defence minister, Boris Pistorius, attended a ceremony launching the official formation of an armoured brigade aimed at protecting Nato’s eastern flank.

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UK to conclude Chagos Islands deal after court lifts last-minute injunction

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Government due to give green light to deal handing sovereignty of islands to Mauritius

The UK government is due to conclude its deal to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands after an eleventh-hour high court injunction was lifted.

Ministers are preparing to finalise the agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after they were blocked from doing so for several hours by a court ruling in the early hours of Thursday.

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Israeli army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas in northern Gaza – Middle East crisis live

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AFP says army released statement in Arabic claiming it was ‘operating with intense force’ in a number of areas

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place.

Israel has faced criticism from Europe as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.

There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder.

This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.

These libels about genocide, crimes against humanity and murdering babies pave the way exactly for such murders.

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Trump and AOC condemn antisemitism after Israeli embassy staff shooting

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Politicians took to social media to express shock and sorrow over killings of staffers outside Jewish museum in DC

Donald Trump, Republicans and Democrats have condemned antisemitism in the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC on Wednesday night.

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” Trump wrote on social media in response to the shooting. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”

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UK government urged to introduce GCSE in Ukrainian for child refugees

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Children’s commissioner joins Kyiv in asking DfE to create new qualification to cope with ‘immense upheaval’ of fleeing war

The children’s commissioner has joined Kyiv in lobbying the UK government to introduce a new GCSE in Ukrainian to help child refugees cope with the “immense upheaval” of fleeing war in their country.

In December, the Guardian revealed that Ukraine was “deeply concerned” to discover many Ukrainian teenagers are being pressed into learning Russian in British schools because no GSCE in Ukrainian is available.

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Romania’s top court rejects far-right candidate’s attempt to annul election

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George Simion, a pro-Trump ultranationalist, had alleged foreign interference in rerun vote won by Nicușor Dan

Romania’s top court has unanimously rejected an application by the defeated far-right candidate in Sunday’s presidential election rerun, George Simion, to annul the vote on the grounds of foreign interference.

“Following deliberations, the constitutional court unanimously rejected the request … as unfounded,” the court said in statement on Thursday, adding that its decision was final and it would publish its full reasoning at a later date.

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Hong Kong authorities trying to disrupt independent press with ‘strange’ tax audits

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Inland revenue targets eight outlets, union, 20 journalists and their families with supposed ‘random’ checks

Hong Kong authorities have targeted journalists and media outlets with what are supposed to be “random” tax audits, in a move the industry union says adds pressure to waning press freedoms.

The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Selina Cheng, detailed what she said were “strange” and “unreasonable” accusations by Hong Kong’s inland revenue department. Requests or audits were made against the association, at least eight independent media outlets, and at least 20 journalists and their family members, including Cheng and her parents, she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Kim Jong-un furious as North Korea warship partly ‘crushed’ in launch gone wrong

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South Korea said the destroyer was lying sideways in the water after ceremony to launch the new 5,000-tonne ship

A ceremony to welcome a new addition to North Korea’s naval fleet has ended in embarrassment following a major accident during the ship’s launch that the country’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, described as a “criminal act”.

Kim was present when the 5,000-tonne destroyer appeared to go off balance during its launch in the eastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday. The tipping caused damage to sections of the hull, the state-run KCNA news agency said on Thursday.

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Judge rules White House violated order by deporting migrants to South Sudan

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Eight people apparently deported as their lawyers say they are at ‘risk of harm’ and that there is ‘no clarity’

A federal judge has ruled the US government’s attempt to deport migrants to South Sudan “unquestionably” violated an earlier court order.

Brian E Murphy, the US district judge in Massachusetts, made the remark at an emergency hearing he had ordered in Boston following the Trump administration’s apparent removal of eight people to South Sudan, despite most of them being from other countries.

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Trump administration accepts jet from Qatar for possible use as Air Force One

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Plane offer set off a firestorm of bipartisan criticism of Trump and raised questions about Qatar’s motives

The Trump administration has accepted the controversial gift of a Boeing 747 jetliner from the government of Qatar, and directed the air force to assess how quickly the plane can be upgraded for possible use as a new Air Force One.

The offer of the jet has set off a firestorm of bipartisan criticism of Trump, particularly following the president’s visit to the country last week to arrange US business deals.

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European unity against Putin in peril if Trump moves to ease sanctions

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EU’s hopes of US increasing pressure on Kremlin have been dashed, and Hungary could yet make situation worse

European leaders – who have promised to impose “massive” new sanctions on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine – face the prospect of having to introduce their planned expansion of economic restrictions on the Russian war economy without the United States.

European hopes that Donald Trump might increase the pressure on the Kremlin were dashed after the US president’s two-hour inconclusive phone call with Putin on Monday. Trump did not follow through on previous threats to introduce “large-scale” sanctions on Russia if there was no ceasefire, but instead extolled the prospect of restarting trade with Moscow.

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European unity against Putin in peril if Trump moves to ease sanctions

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EU’s hopes of US increasing pressure on Kremlin have been dashed, and Hungary could yet make situation worse

European leaders – who have promised to impose “massive” new sanctions on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine – face the prospect of having to introduce their planned expansion of economic restrictions on the Russian war economy without the United States.

European hopes that Donald Trump might increase the pressure on the Kremlin were dashed after the US president’s two-hour inconclusive phone call with Putin on Monday. Trump did not follow through on previous threats to introduce “large-scale” sanctions on Russia if there was no ceasefire, but instead extolled the prospect of restarting trade with Moscow.

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Two people die attempting to cross Channel in dinghy

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Ten others on board asked to be rescued after small boat carrying 80 migrants set off from northern France

Two people have died attempting to cross the Channel in the early hours of Wednesday, according to the French rescue service. It follows a similar death on Monday.

According to the Gris-Nez regional operational surveillance and rescue centre, 80 migrants set off from Gravelines in a dinghy monitored by a French navy vessel on Tuesday evening.

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Former prisoners and hostages urge Starmer to secure release of Jimmy Lai

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Call for UK PM to act urgently over pro-democracy campaigner who has spent 1,602 days in solitary confinement

Former prisoners and hostages wrongly held abroad have urged the UK prime minister to urgently secure the release of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai before he dies in a Hong Kong jail.

The 77-year-old media mogul, who is a British citizen, has been held in solitary confinement for 1,602 days and his family fears he might not survive another summer in Hong Kong, where temperatures can reach 40C (104F).

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Pakistan blames India for suspected suicide attack on school bus

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Three children and two adults killed in attack on bus en route to army public school in Balochistan province

Pakistan has blamed India for a suspected suicide attack on a school bus in its south-western province of Balochistan on Wednesday morning that killed three children.

The bus was en route to the army public school in the city of Khuzdar. According to local officials, an attacker drove a vehicle into the bus and then detonated explosives.

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South Africa’s Ramaphosa expected to take golf stars to Trump meeting

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Ernie Els and Retief Goosen reportedly part of delegation as president seeks to reset ties after white ‘genocide’ claims

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to take the golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen with him to meet Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, as the government attempts to reset relations with the US amid Trump’s accusations that it is fomenting a white “genocide”.

Ramaphosa’s appeal to Trump’s love of golf, with the potential inclusion of Els and Goosen reported by South African local media, is part of his efforts to avoid a public dressing down of the kind Trump gave to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in February.

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EU’s ‘chocolate crisis’ worsened by climate breakdown, researchers warn

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Cocoa one of six commodities vulnerable to environmental threats in ‘extremely worrying picture’ for food resilience

Climate breakdown and wildlife loss are deepening the EU’s “chocolate crisis”, a report has argued, with cocoa one of six key commodities to come mostly from countries vulnerable to environmental threats.

More than two-thirds of the cocoa, coffee, soy, rice, wheat and maize brought into the EU in 2023 came from countries that are not well prepared for climate change, according to the UK consultants Foresight Transitions.

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Japanese minister resigns after saying he doesn’t buy rice because he gets it free

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Taku Etō’s remarks drew fury as cost of rice has nearly doubled in a year amid soaring food prices

Japan’s agriculture minister has resigned after saying he never buys rice because he gets it free, a remark that drew public fury in a country facing soaring food prices.

Taku Etō’s resignation has added to pressure on the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, whose failure to rein in soaring rice prices and address a wider cost of living crisis has angered voters ahead of upper house elections in July.

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