Category Archives: World News

UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer

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El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers

The UK has warned countries around the world that the climate and nature crises and the coming El Niño threaten their national security and defence, presenting foreign ministries with the findings of an explosive report suppressed under Keir Starmer.

Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, made a presentation to the foreign ministers of the EU as well as Kenya and other countries on Wednesday night at a private meeting during the UN general assembly in New York, based on the report by the UK’s spy chiefs that found the collapse of natural systems around the world would lead to conflict, migration and food shortages.

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‘We hope he’ll accept’: US invites Putin to G20 summit at Trump golf club

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Kremlin yet to respond publicly to US invitation that is likely to raise concerns from Ukraine and EU countries

The United States has invited Vladimir Putin to take part in the meeting of the G20 scheduled in Miami in December in what would be the first major summit with the Russian leader present since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The invitation, which marks a significant reversal by the Trump administration of Russia’s international isolation, was announced by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, during a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations conference in New York.

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No signs Chagos deal can be adapted to suit Trump, say UK officials

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Agreement with Mauritius over Diego Garcia unlikely to be revived unless president changes his mind, insiders believe

The Chagos Islands deal is on hold for as long as Donald Trump objects to it, UK officials believe, with no immediate signs it can be adapted to suit the US president.

After Trump savaged the three-way plan as “a terrible deal” during a meeting with Andy Burnham at the UN general assembly, the prime minister said he was “confident” the UK would be able to find a solution to revive the idea.

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FBI investigates breach of jobs website as hackers claim ‘very sensitive data’ stolen

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FBIjobs.gov offline on Wednesday as ShinyHunters group claims to have accessed records of agents and applicants

The FBI is investigating an apparent breach of its jobs website as a criminal hacking group claimed to have accessed “very sensitive data” on nearly all agents and job applicants.

“The FBI is aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating,” the bureau said in a statement. The website, the main portal for prospective employees to learn about the FBI and initiate the application process, remained offline Wednesday morning.

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Iran’s president hits out at ‘bully’ Trump in UN speech but signals willingness to talk

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Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is ready for dialogue and diplomacy ‘but without the language of force’

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, turned the tables on Donald Trump, describing the US as the true bully and terrorist in the Middle East while insisting that Iran had always shown a commitment to the negotiating table.

In a defiant speech to the UN general assembly in New York, his first since the US and Israel launched an all-out war on Iran, Pezeshkian repeatedly vowed that Tehran would never bend the knee to the US.

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Germany pledges to phase out fossil fuels for first time with target of 2045

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Campaigners say plan marks notable shift away from oil and gas as previously pledges were only for carbon neutrality

Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045, despite fierce debate about its green policies.

In a roadmap published on Wednesday, the German government set out for the first time an explicit promise of “transitioning away” from fossil fuels. Previous pledges were only for “carbon neutrality”.

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The EU’s Canada offer is more mood than reality but it could hint at a future geometry for the bloc

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While Brussels and Ottawa desire a deeper partnership born of Trump-era volatility, ​the EU has no legal framework to accommodate it

The EU and Canada, Ursula von der Leyen said last week, “see the world with the same eyes”, with shared stances on everything from AI to the climate crisis, the Ukraine war and the unholy chaos unleashed by the current occupant of the White House (OK, she didn’t actually say that last bit. But I like to think she almost certainly thought it.)

So, the European Commission president went on, Canada should become “the first associate member of the EU”. In the audience, Mark Carney beamed with delight. The next day, Canada’s prime minister enthusiastically embraced the idea of an “alliance for the future”, to build “collective resilience” through “deep cooperation”.

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UK to join EU ocean science scheme to better predict extreme weather events

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Cooperation on OceanEye, which aims to create ‘real-time’ model of world’s oceans, comes amid efforts to boost EU ties

Britain is to join a major new ocean science programme, led by the EU, to better forecast extreme weather and climate events, the environment secretary is to announce in New York.

The announcement on Wednesday will come as Andy Burnham’s government aims to rebuild the UK’s relationship with Europe, and follows warnings this year’s “supersized” El Niño, tracked in the Pacific Ocean, will fuel more extreme weather globally.

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Delcy Rodríguez poses with Trump in New York as Maduro languishes in jail nearby

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Venezuela’s interim president hails ‘historic meeting’ and does not say whether she will visit snatched predecessor

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has celebrated a “historic” meeting with Donald Trump in New York, posing for a smiley photo with the US president, less than nine months after he ordered the abduction of her boss, Nicolás Maduro.

The former foes met at a five-star hotel a few blocks from Trump Tower in Manhattan late on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN general assembly. The hotel is about 7 miles from the Brooklyn prison where Maduro has been held since he was snatched during a special forces raid on Caracas in January.

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Indian billionaire’s payments firm plots biggest London flotation in years

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Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel Money targets $9bn IPO in boost for ailing UK stock market

Nils Pratley: Does this mark the end of London’s listing drought? Not yet

A payments business that operates across Africa and is ultimately controlled by an Indian billionaire has announced its intention to float on the struggling London Stock Exchange.

Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, is planning one of the biggest UK listings in years, in a boost for the shrinking London market that has faced a string of recent departures.

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Iran denies dropping preconditions amid ‘very productive’ three-hour UN talks in New York

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Trump says further talks possible as barrel of Brent crude falls to below $100 for first time in two weeks

Iran has pushed back on claims that it dropped former preconditions for reopening the strait of Hormuz in surprise talks held in New York under the mediation of Qatar between Tehran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Trump said the three-hour talks held in a room at the UN headquarters had gone very well and been very productive. He suggested further talks were possible imminently, which led to the price of a barrel of Brent crude to fall to below $100 (£75) for the first time in two weeks. Witkoff said the talks had been “encouraging, constructive and successful”.

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Top South African police officer charged with raping woman, 18, and grooming 16-year-old girl

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Arrest of Shadrack Sibiya comes as country reels from cases of femicide and alleged police corruption and criminality

One of South Africa’s most senior police officers has been charged with raping an 18-year-old woman and grooming a 16-year-old girl, as the country’s police face allegations of corruption and failing to tackle violence against women and girls.

Shadrack Sibiya, who was already suspended from his role as deputy national police commissioner over allegations he interfered with political killings investigations, was arrested on Monday. He is facing charges of rape, people trafficking, promoting the sexual grooming of a child and two counts of grooming a child.

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US supreme court declines to intervene in custody fight over baby born via surrogate

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Surrogate who rejected abortion request had asked justices to halt court order recognizing LA couple as legal parents

The supreme court has refused to get involved with a custody dispute between an Alaska surrogate and a California couple whose child was born with a rare and serious heart defect.

On Tuesday, Justice Elena Kagan denied an emergency request from McKenna West, an Alaska nurse and surrogate who had asked the US’s highest court to halt a California court order recognizing the couple, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, as the boy’s legal parents.

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Spain allows US extradition case against pro-Palestine aid donor to proceed

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Lawyers for James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, wanted over alleged support for Hamas, say client is being persecuted

The Spanish government has decided to allow the Trump administration’s controversial extradition request to extradite wealthy activist James “Fergie” Chambers to continue in the country’s courts.

Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects, is currently imprisoned in Madrid. It is the first known case of the US seeking to extradite a citizen over alleged support for Hamas, an accusation tied to money Chambers has donated to support Palestinians, including the Sameer Project, in Gaza.

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California and New York sue over Trump push to halt wind energy projects

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US officials have begun to buy back wind leases as president seek to block renewables in favor of fossil fuels

Democratic attorneys general from California and New York have sued the Trump administration over its plans to buy back offshore wind leases as Donald Trump seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels.

California attorney general Rob Bonta said he was suing over removal of a project off his state’s coast planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The Trump administration said in June it was buying back the company’s US offshore wind leases for four wind projects on the east and west coasts.

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Iran and US have held talks on sidelines of UN summit, says Donald Trump

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Senior Iranian official indicates willingness to reopen strait of Hormuz if US takes steps to ease pressure on Tehran

Iranian officials held three hours of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, Donald Trump disclosed on Tuesday.

He said there would a further meeting in the very near future.

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Six-year-old Chinese girl ‘sets new women’s Rubik’s Cube world record’

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Lian Yunzhi solves 3x3 puzzle on several occasions in average time of under 4.5 seconds, according to state media

A six-year-old Chinese girl has set a new women’s world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube in just over four seconds, state media reported.

“Speedcuber” Lian Yunzhi broke the women’s 3x3 average world record twice this month at two World Cube Association certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

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EU removes two oligarchs from Russia sanctions list as deadline looms

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Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman delisted in what Ireland’s EU presidency calls ‘a difficult compromise’ for the bloc

The EU has agreed to remove two Russian billionaires, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, from its sanctions list, while extending restrictions on nearly 3,000 individuals and companies accused of supporting the war on Ukraine for the next three years.

With an end-of-Tuesday deadline looming to preserve the Russia blacklist, the EU’s 27 member states found a compromise that meant delisting the two oligarchs in spite of very few countries wanting this outcome. EU sanctions have to be approved unanimously.

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US fighter jet crashes at air base in western Germany

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Officials say one pilot safely ejected as F-16 believed to have crashed on approach to Spangdahlem after training drill

⁠An F-16 fighter jet assigned to the US air ⁠base Spangdahlem ⁠in ​western Germany crashed on Tuesday, the US military said, ⁠adding that one pilot had ejected safely and was receiving ⁠medical treatment.

The cause of the incident ​is under ‌investigation, the military ‌said in a statement, with ‌emergency response personnel at the scene of the crash.

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Skirts given star billing as Prada swerves trousers and dresses in Milan

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Combination of Miuccia Prada with Belgian designer Raf Simons once again spins gold for fashion house

Miuccia Prada’s style formula is simple: begin with a great skirt. Her personal uniform is a knee-length skirt, A-line or pleated, most often with a plain sweater and kitten heels.

The Prada collection that opened Milan fashion week made a compelling case for her favourite outfit, with a skirt the star of every one of the 63 looks – no dresses, no trousers. It won the room over, so expect to see the personality skirt on a high street near you soon.

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