Category Archives: World News

Wes Streeting defends asylum system shake-up despite his unease

Posted on by

Health secretary says he is not comfortable with some elements of policy but that it is the right thing to do for the country

Wes Streeting has admitted he is not comfortable with forcibly deporting families under the home secretary’s migration plans, while maintaining it is still the right thing to do.

The health secretary said he thought the number of forced removals would be low under the proposed model, which is similar to Denmark’s, because there would be an increased financial incentive for people entering the UK illegally to return to their country of origin.

Continue reading...

Social Democrats in Denmark suffer sweeping election losses

Posted on by

PM Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left party loses control of Copenhagen for first time in more than 100 years

Mette Frederiksen has admitted that a fall in support for the Social Democrats was “greater than we had expected” after her party suffered sweeping defeats across Denmark and lost control of Copenhagen for the first time in more than 100 years.

While the Social Democrats remain the largest municipal party in Denmark, the prime minister’s centre-left party lost more than five percentage points across the country in Tuesday night’s municipal and regional elections, dropping from 28.4% in 2021 to 23.2%. Support for the far-right Danish People’s party, meanwhile, rose slightly from 4.09% to 5.9%.

Continue reading...

New drug could be a breakthrough in treatment for killer TB, trial suggests

Posted on by

Sorfequiline shows stronger action than existing treatments against illness that killed 1.23 million last year

A new treatment for tuberculosis could boost cure rates and shorten the time needed to treat the disease by months, trial results suggest.

Globally, an estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB last year and 1.23 million died from it.

Continue reading...

Watch out for online contact with Chinese spies, UK defence minister warns public

Posted on by

After MI5 issues China espionage alert to parliament, Luke Pollard says message should be heeded by all citizens

Ordinary UK citizens need to watch out for online contact with Chinese spies, the defence minister has said, after MI5 issued an espionage alert to parliament.

Luke Pollard said a warning given to parliamentarians on Tuesday that China was attempting to recruit individuals with access to sensitive information should also be heeded by the public at large.

Continue reading...

China suspends seafood imports from Japan as Taiwan row escalates

Posted on by

Beijing reimposes 2023 ban, citing Japan PM’s comment that military would respond to Chinese attack on island

China has suspended imports of Japanese seafood again, as the fallout over the Japanese prime minister’s comments about Taiwan continues to escalate in one of worst bilateral disputes in years.

The ban was first reported on Wednesday by the Japanese outlets Kyodo News and NHK, and appeared to be confirmed by China’s foreign ministry, which said there was “no market for Japanese seafood in the current climate”.

Continue reading...

Moscow passes laws to boost defences against Ukrainian strikes

Posted on by

Vladimir Putin authorises the guarding of fuel sites by reservists, internet blackouts and tighter sentencing for acts of sabotage

Russia has passed sweeping laws to bolster its defences at home against Ukrainian drone strikes and sabotage operations, reflecting the Kremlin’s expectation of a protracted war with Ukraine.

Almost four years into Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine – a full-scale invasion he expected to last only weeks – Moscow is being targeted almost daily by Ukrainian drones striking energy facilities, while Ukrainian operatives have assassinated a number of high-profile Russian military figures deep inside the country.

Continue reading...

UN to hear human rights complaint over New Zealand’s treatment of Māori

Posted on by

UN committee to consider claim by prominent Māori leader Tureiti Moxon that alleges government policies have harmed Indigenous people

The United Nations has agreed to hear an urgent complaint against New Zealand’s coalition government alleging it is responsible for significant and persistent discrimination against Māori.

Prominent Māori leader, Lady Tureiti Moxon, has filed the complaint to the UN’s committee for the convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (CERD).

Continue reading...

Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s White House visit

Posted on by

US president also claims Mohammed bin Salman ‘knew nothing’ about murder of journalist

Donald Trump has shrugged off the Saudi regime’s 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the journalist was “extremely controversial” and unpopular, dismissing the killing by observing “things happen”.

The US president made the remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment in Istanbul by Saudi state operatives.

Continue reading...

How did your representative vote on releasing the Epstein files?

Posted on by

US House today voted on the release of government files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Find out how your representative voted

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after Donald Trump and his Republican allies backed down from their opposition amid a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.

Though Trump has for months dismissed the uproar over the government’s handling of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he signaled his support for the House bill over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk. Here is how the House voted.

Continue reading...

Caribbean slavery reparations body calls for ‘mutually beneficial’ restorative justice from UK

Posted on by

On first official visit to UK, leaders say aim is not to ‘break the British Treasury’ but to find solution to help clean up ‘mess’ left by colonialism

The Caribbean’s slavery reparations body has decried misleading press reports that suggest their aim is to “break the British Treasury” by demanding trillions of pounds, as they call for a mutually beneficial restorative justice programme.

Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), which was set up to progress the Caribbean’s pursuit of justice for centuries of enslavement and colonisation by European nations, made the comments during the body’s first official visit to the UK.

Continue reading...

US perpetrators must face ‘same consequences’ as Epstein’s UK associates, congressman says

Posted on by

Thomas Massie urged accountability amid House vote and renewed calls for former prince Andrew to testify

The “same kind of consequences” faced by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein must be inflicted on “perpetrators of heinous crimes” linked to the disgraced financier in the United States, a congressman has said.

Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, also pointed to the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to Washington, as an example of the fallout faced by those with ties to the late pedophile.

Continue reading...

Pension changes row threatens Germany’s coalition government

Posted on by

Youth wing of conservatives say younger people will be left carrying can for older generation

A row over pension changes is threatening the future of the German coalition government, with a youth wing of the conservatives of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, gaining support for an attempt to block legislation which they argue will leave younger Germans carrying the can for the older generation.

An 18-strong group of young MPs, the Junge Union, has been accused of holding Merz’s coalition government to ransom over its demands to revise proposed pension changes, which would guarantee pension increases for the next six years.

Continue reading...

Sheinbaum again dismisses Trump’s threat of sending troops to Mexico: ‘We do not want intervention’

Posted on by

Mexico’s president responds to Trump’s latest warning that he could authorize strikes against drug cartels in country

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has again dismissed Donald Trump’s threat of military action against drug cartels inside her country, telling reporters: “It’s not going to happen.”

Sheinbaum made the comments on Tuesday morning in response to the US president’s latest warning that he could authorise strikes in Mexico.

Continue reading...

The Kessler Twins sisters Alice and Ellen die together aged 89

Posted on by

German pop duo who last year said their wish was ‘to leave together’ had joint assisted death at their home in Grünwald

Alice and Ellen Kessler, the pop singing sisters who were famous in Europe in the 1960s, especially in Italy where they were credited for bringing glamour to the country’s TV network, have died aged 89.

The identical twins had chosen to have a joint assisted death at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, said Wega Wetzel, a spokesperson for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Humanes Sterben (DGHS), a Berlin-based assisted dying association.

Continue reading...

Venezuela’s top opposition leader claims ‘new era’ is coming despite lack of clear plan

Posted on by

María Corina Machado pens a ‘freedom manifesto’ as plan to force Nicolás Maduro from power remains unclear

Venezuela’s top opposition leader, the Nobel laureate María Corina Machado, has declared her country “at the edge of a new era” as Donald Trump refused to rule out a ground invasion to topple its authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, but also signalled he was open to talks.

Machado, who has lived in hiding since her movement’s candidate was widely believed to have beaten Maduro in last year’s presidential election, made her claim in a “freedom manifesto” that was published on Tuesday as uncertainty continued to shroud the South American country’s future.

Continue reading...

Bhutan PM on leading the first carbon-negative nation: ‘The wellbeing of our people is at the centre of our agenda’

Posted on by

Exclusive: Tshering Tobgay says his country is doing ‘a lot more than our fair share’ on climate and west must cut emissions ‘for the happiness of your people’

The wealthy western countries most responsible for the climate crisis would improve the health and happiness of their citizens by prioritising environmental conservation and sustainable economic growth, according to the prime minister of Bhutan, the world’s first carbon-negative nation.

Bhutan, a Buddhist democratic monarchy and biodiversity hotspot situated high in the eastern Himalayas, is among the world’s most ambitious climate leaders thanks to its people’s connection with nature and a strong political focus on improving gross national happiness rather than just GDP, Tshering Tobgay told the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Saudi entourage for US visit may include official implicated in Twitter spy plot

Posted on by

Senior aide to Mohammed bin Salman allegedly led campaign to identify users who were posting critically about Saudi regime

A senior official in Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage, who is expected to travel with the crown prince on his first trip back to the US in seven years, has previously been accused by US prosecutors of playing a central role in a conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter and identify users who were posting critically about the Saudi regime.

Bader al-Asaker, who has headed Prince Mohammed’s private office since before he became crown prince, has never been formally charged by the US government for his role in the 2014-15 scheme, but was accused in court by a US government lawyer as having led the campaign to find a “mole” who would be able to extract sensitive information from the social media company, which is now known as X.

Continue reading...

Trump says US will sell F-35 stealth jets to Saudis as Prince Mohammed visits

Posted on by

Kingdom’s de facto ruler to arrive on first White House trip since killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018

Donald Trump is to welcome Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday, in a red-carpet visit expected to result in the sale of highly advanced US F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf monarchy.

The crown prince’s arrival in Washington will be his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist and critic of the kingdom Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA later determined Khashoggi’s murder was approved by the crown prince, leading to global condemnation.

Continue reading...

Chinese travellers cancel hundreds of thousands of trips to Japan amid rising tensions

Posted on by

Chinese airlines offer free cancellations and film releases postponed after Japanese PM’s comments on Taiwan

Chinese travellers are estimated to have cancelled hundreds of thousands of tickets to fly to Japan amid reports of suspended visa processing and cultural exchanges as a diplomatic dispute over Japan’s stance on Taiwan continues.

Under pressure from business groups, Japan has sent a senior diplomat to Beijing in an attempt to calm tensions after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said her country could get involved militarily if China attempted to invade Taiwan. Her comments prompted fury from China’s government, which issued warnings against Chinese travellers and students going to Japan.

Continue reading...

‘They have total impunity’: West Bank settler violence surges after Gaza ceasefire

Posted on by

UN logs 260 attacks in October alone, its highest monthly tally, as settlers attack farmers and burn olive trees

Violence has increased across the occupied West Bank as Palestinian farmers try to harvest their olive trees before the end of the season, in the face of a concerted campaign of harassment by groups of armed and aggressive Israeli settlers.

Dozens of new incidents have occurred in recent days across much of the occupied territory as settlers step up a broader effort to intimidate and harm Palestinian communities.

Continue reading...