Category Archives: World News

Four former Volkswagen managers convicted of fraud in ‘dieselgate’ trial

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Braunschweig court gives two former executives prison sentences for roles in emissions test-cheating scandal

A German court has convicted four former Volkswagen managers of fraud and given two of them prison sentences for their part in the “dieselgate” emissions test-cheating scandal that erupted almost a decade ago.

The former head of development Heinz-Jakob Neusser received a suspended jail term of one year and three months from the court in the city of Braunschweig, according to the news agency Bloomberg.

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Germany and Ukraine’s other allies scrap range limits on arms sent to Kyiv

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Removal of restrictions, which is backed by UK, France and US, improves Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia

The German chancellor has said that Germany, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters, will remove range restrictions on weapons delivered to Kyiv for the first time, to enable it to defend itself against Russia.

Friedrich Merz said Germany, Britain, France and the US had lifted the restrictions to enable Ukraine to be better able to hit military targets on Russian territory.

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World’s oldest fingerprint may be a clue that Neanderthals created art

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A man 43,000 years ago dipped a finger in red pigment and made a nose on a face-like pebble in Spain, scientists say

One day around 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal man in what is now central Spain came across a large granite pebble whose pleasing contours and indentations snagged his eye.

Something in the shape of that quartz-rich stone – perhaps its odd resemblance to an elongated face – may have compelled him to pick it up, study it and, eventually, to dip one of his fingers in red pigment and press it against the pebble’s edge, exactly where the nose on that face would have been.

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Emmanuel Macron says video of wife pushing him shows them ‘joking around’

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French president denies quarrelling with Brigitte Macron after footage is seized on by Russia and far-right accounts

Emmanuel Macron has denied he and his wife, Brigitte, had an altercation after a viral video promoted by Russian state media and French far-right accounts appeared to show her pushing him in the face as they prepared to get off a plane in Vietnam.

The video, shot by an Associated Press camera operator, shows the French president appearing in the doorway of the plane at the start of a visit to Hanoi. His wife’s hand appears to shove him, causing him to step back before recovering and waving.

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Jafar Panahi returns to Iran in triumph after Cannes Palme d’Or win

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The director of It Was Just an Accident was cheered by supporters as he arrived back in his home country, where his work has previously landed him in jail

Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Tehran on Monday after winning the top prize at the Cannes film festival, footage posted on social media showed.

After being banned from leaving Iran for years, forced to make films underground and enduring spells in prison, Panahi attended the film festival in person and sensationally walked away with the Palme d’Or for his latest movie It Was Just an Accident.

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Crown questions to fore as king visits Canada amid tensions with Trump

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Charles to open parliament in show of support at a crucial time – but that has not quieted a chorus of critical voices

The decision by King Charles to formally open Canada’s parliament on Tuesday reflects his role as a “steadfast defender” of the country amid threats to its sovereignty, says prime minister Mark Carney.

But Indigenous leaders say the rare visit is also a reminder that Canada’s founding relationship between the monarchy and the country’s first peoples cannot ever be “forgotten or displaced or broken”.

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Malawi battles mpox as cases of the infectious disease surge in Africa

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Medicine shortages plus limited testing and hospital capacity exacerbated by withdrawal of USAID as outbreak gathers pace across countries in the region

Malawi’s ministry of health has announced three new cases of mpox in the capital, Lilongwe, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 11 since the country’s first was reported in April.

Malawi is one of 16 countries in Africa reporting mpox outbreaks as health officials battle with vaccine shortages as well as limited testing and hospital capacity.

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Starwatch: Venus will be unmistakably brilliant in the predawn sky this week

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The planet will reach its maximum western elongation from the sun, making it visible in the early hours

Venus will reach maximum western elongation from the sun on 31 May. Maximum elongation means that it appears as far from the sun as it can, making it the most easily visible. The fact that it is to the sun’s west means that it is visible in the morning sky.

From the UK, Venus rises at about 03.15 BST, giving an observing window of about an hour from 03.30 BST. The sun rises at about 04.45 BST, and no observations should be undertaken once the sun is in the sky because permanent eye damage can occur from looking at its fiery surface.

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EU officials accuse bloc of taking ‘little to no meaningful action’ on Gaza

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EU Staff for Peace letter accuses institution bosses of failing to exert influence to help Palestinians

A group of EU officials has written to the leaders of the European institutions criticising the bloc for “little or no meaningful action” in response to the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The group EU Staff for Peace said that more than 2,000 officials working for the European Commission, European parliament and EU agencies had signed a letter drafted in May 2024 which accused the EU of apathy to the plight of Palestinians.

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Estonia eschews phone bans in schools and takes leap into AI

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Country at top of education charts aims to equip students and teachers with ‘world-class artificial intelligence skills’

While many schools in England have banned smartphones, in Estonia – regarded as the new European education powerhouse – students are regularly asked to use their devices in class, and from September they will be given their own AI accounts.

The small Baltic country – population 1.4 million – has quietly become Europe’s top performer in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s programme for international student assessment (Pisa), overtaking its near neighbour Finland.

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Marcel Ophuls, Oscar-winning film-maker of The Sorrow and the Pity, dies aged 97

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The German-French documentarian, who fled the Nazis twice as a child, spent his career exploring wartime atrocities and conflicts around the world

Marcel Ophuls, the Oscar-winning French film-maker whose documentary The Sorrow and the Pity uncovered the truth of the Vichy government’s collaboration with Nazi Germany during the second world war, has died aged 97.

Ophuls “died peacefully” on Saturday, his grandson Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert confirmed on Monday.

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EU president secures tariffs delay after talk with Trump

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Enactment of 50% tariffs postponed until July so both sides can ‘reach a good deal’ after pressure from European leaders

Donald Trump has announced that he will pause his threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union until 9 July, after a “very nice call” with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Commission president announced in a social media post that she had spoken with Trump and secured the delay to give the two sides more time to negotiate.

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‘US silence encourages Putin’ says Zelenskyy after largest Russian attack to date – Ukraine war live

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At least 12 people killed in strikes involving nearly 300 drones and almost 70 missiles

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged international leaders to increase their pressure on Russia, after Moscow’s forces intensified strikes on Ukraine overnight.

The Ukrainian leader said rescuers are working in over 30 Ukrainian cities and villages after nearly 300 attack drones and almost 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, were launched by Russia overnight.

Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia.

Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.

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Irish pro-Palestine activists embrace ‘Paddystinian’ term as badge of honour

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Believed to have originated as an insult by Israel supporters, neologism is now used to campaign against war in Gaza

The term was coined to disparage Ireland’s solidarity with Palestine but has been adopted as a badge of honour that now adorns T-shirts, hoodies, pins and social media bios: welcome to Paddystine, home of the Paddystinians.

Irish activists have embraced the neologism as a galvanising term to campaign against Israel’s war in Gaza and to pressure the Irish government to do more to end the conflict.

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North Korea detains three over warship launch accident, state media reports

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Kim Jong-Un vowed to punish those found responsible for ‘criminal’ damage to new 5,000-tonne naval destroyer

North Korea has detained three people over an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this past week, state media reported early on Sunday.

Pyongyang has said that “a serious accident occurred” at Wednesday’s launch ceremony in the eastern port city of Chongjin for a newly built 5,000-tonne naval destroyer, in which sections of the bottom of the vessel were crushed.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Record number of Americans are seeking residency in UK, according to Home Office

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Nearly 2,000 applications for British citizenship submitted since since January, when Donald Trump took office

During the 12 months leading up to March, more than 6,000 US citizens have applied to either become British subjects or to live and work in the country indefinitely – the highest number since comparable records began in 2004, according to data released on Thursday by the UK’s Home Office.

Over the period, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship – with more than 1,900 of the applications received between January and March, most of which has been during the beginning of Donald Trump’s second US presidency.

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Israel investigates use of Palestinians as human shields by its forces in Gaza

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IDF says practice ‘strictly prohibited’ after report of incidents quoting both Palestinians and Israeli troops

Israel is investigating “several cases” involving soldiers who have forced Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for bombs and gunmen.

“The use of Palestinians as human shields, or otherwise coercing them to participate in military operations, is strictly prohibited in IDF [Israel Defense Forces] orders,” the Israeli army said in a statement.

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