Category Archives: World News

Bird remains found in both engines of crashed Jeju Air jet, report says

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Plane appears to have hit ducks before it crashed in Muan, South Korea, last month killing 179 people onboard

An investigation into the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil has found duck remains in both engines, according to a preliminary report, suggesting the passenger jet hit birds before slamming down on the runway.

While officials have not yet determined the cause of last month’s Jeju Air crash that killed all but two of the 181 people onboard, the report released on Monday said feathers and bird bloodstains were found inside the Boeing 737-800’s engines.

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Rwandan-backed rebels M23 claim capture of eastern DRC city Goma

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Fighters enter city on border with Rwanda after lightning advance, raising risk of broader regional war

Fighters from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group claim to have taken the eastern city of Goma after a lightning advance in recent weeks that has forced thousands from their homes and risked reigniting a broader regional war.

The M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on X: “We urge all residents of Goma to remain calm. The liberation of the city has been successfully carried out and the situation is under control.”

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What would happen if the US military went after cartels on Mexican soil?

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Experts say any incursion could come with serious repercussions, include violence against US tourists

Evan Hafer, a popular veteran and founder of Black Rifle Coffee, was on Joe Rogan’s podcast after the November election. As with any Maga acolyte, the US-Mexico border figured prominently in his mind.

“If we declare war on the cartel, these dudes are not going to understand what the fuck is going on. They are in for a world of ultra-violence,” said Hafer, who served in the Green Berets and the CIA.

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Rebels passed through Venezuela en route to Colombia before deadly attack, report reveals

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Leaked report raises likelihood that Venezuelan government green-lit attack that killed more than 80

Tensions are growing between Bogotá and Caracas after it emerged that rebels responsible for one of Colombia’s worst episodes of violence in recent years travelled through Venezuelan territory before launching the bloody wave of attacks.

At least 80 combatants armed with assault rifles and explosives passed through the Venezuelan border states of Táchira and Zulia before attacking a rival armed group and its suspected civilian supporters, according to a leaked military intelligence report.

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Stories woven in cloth in Pakistan’s first textile museum

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Nasreen and Hasan Askari open Karachi museum with her 1,000-piece centuries-old collection from trade crossroads

As a young medical student in 1970s Pakistan, Nasreen Askari had an encounter that would shape her for ever.

After asking the mother of a sick boy routine questions about his family history, the woman looked outraged. Marching Askari outside, she took off her colourful shawl and laid it on her lap. “Most of the answers to your pointless questions are here,” she said, pointing to intricate embroidery that symbolised everything, from the woman’s community, to her marriage status and her number of children.

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Israel insists it is going ahead with Unrwa ban – what it may mean for Palestinians

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UN agency ordered to vacate HQ by Thursday – just as aid is being increased to Gaza after ceasefire

Israel has insisted it will not back down over its plan to close down the Gaza operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), the UN relief agency for Palestinians, even though critics say the move will jeopardise urgent humanitarian aid efforts.

Israel has ordered the UN agency to vacate its headquarters in East Jerusalem by Thursday, after the Israeli Knesset passed a law on 28 October banning its operations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. It has not yet said how it will implement a related law ending all Israeli government cooperation with Unwra, which could come into force on the same day and strangle its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

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Weather tracker: cold wave sweeps China as new year approaches

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Temperatures in some areas could fall to more than 10C below seasonal average. Plus, blizzard fears in Alaska

China was hit by snowstorms and a significant cold wave over the weekend, and the extreme conditions are expected to persist as the country approaches the new year on Wednesday.

Temperatures are forecast to drop to more than 10C (18F) below the seasonal average in some areas, with northern regions experiencing the most severe weather. Maximum temperatures in Shenyang are expected to plummet by more than 13C, while Yinchuan could tumble to -8C.

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Bulgarian police ‘blocked rescue’ of teenage migrants who froze to death

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Report by rights groups alleges border police refused to rescue boys and blocked activists’ efforts to save them

Bulgarian authorities have been accused of ignoring emergency calls and obstructing efforts to rescue three Egyptian teenage boys, who later died in sub-zero temperatures near the Bulgarian-Turkish border in late December.

A dossier of evidence compiled by two humanitarian organisations, seen by the Guardian, contains photos, testimonies and geolocations allegedly showing the authorities’ failure to save the boys, who called for help as they struggled cold and lost in the forests of Burgas, in south-eastern Bulgaria.

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Search begins for UK sailor after yacht found ‘eviscerated’ off French coast

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The missing 73-year-old set off his distress beacon during stormy weather on Saturday afternoon

A 73-year-old British sailor is lost at sea and his yacht has been found “eviscerated” off the French coast in stormy weather.

A French air force helicopter was dispatched to find the man after he set off his distress beacon at 3pm on Saturday, approximately 50 miles (80km) west of Lacanau in south-west France.

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Syrian fighters execute 35 in three days, war monitor says

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Authorities have arrested dozens of people accused of taking advantage of the chaos in Syria to settle old scores

Fighters affiliated with Syria’s new leaders have carried out 35 summary executions over 72 hours, mostly of Assad-era officers, a war monitor has said.

The authorities, installed by the rebel forces that toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad last month, said they had carried out multiple arrests in the western Homs area over unspecified “violations”.

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Sweden opens inquiry into damaged undersea cable as Nato deploys ships

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A vessel has been seized after suspected sabotage of fibre optic line, probably due to external influence, Latvia says

An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, probably as a result of external influence, Riga has said, prompting Nato to deploy patrol ships to the area and triggering a sabotage investigation by Swedish authorities.

Sweden’s security service has seized control of a vessel as part of the inquiry, the country’s prosecution authority said.

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Reeves: third Heathrow runway would be hard decision but good for growth

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Chancellor expected to unveil new building projects and revise planning rules to stimulate UK economy

Rachel Reeves has given her strongest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth.

The chancellor is poised to make a significant speech this week where she will outline her plans to boost the British economy by radically altering planning rules and accelerating building projects.

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Belarus exit poll puts Lukashenko on 87.6% of vote in presidential election

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Putin ally projected to easily secure seventh term in election that US and EU have said could not be free or fair

Alexander Lukashenko was firmly on track to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president in an election western governments have rejected as a sham.

An exit poll broadcast on state television projected that Lukashenko would take 87.6% of the vote. The close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had earlier defended his jailing of dissidents and declared: “I don’t give a damn about the west.”

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Lukashenko says he has ‘no regrets’ about Belarus helping Russia to invade Ukraine

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Autocrat makes comment about support for ‘older brother’ Putin as Belarusians vote in ‘sham’ presidential election

Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said he had “no regrets” about allowing Russia to use his country to invade Ukraine, amid condemnation of the “sham” presidential vote almost certain to extend his 31 years of authoritarian rule.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Sunday that the vote was a “bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy”.

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Third of young adults in UK ‘unable to name Auschwitz or any Nazi death camps’

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Lack of knowledge about Holocaust identified as well as level of denial and disinformation seen on social media

A third of young adults in the UK are unable to name Auschwitz or any of the other concentration camps and ghettoes where the crimes of the Holocaust were committed, according to a study.

Other growing gaps in knowledge – especially among those aged 18-29 – were also identified, as part of a major international survey in countries including the US and UK.

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Where can Labor turn for ideas on how to win the Australian election? How about Mexico?

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The ALP could follow the Mexican example where an incumbent won an election in a cost-of-living crisis by combining radical policies with symbolic measures

Last year, as an anti-incumbent wave swept the globe, Mexico’s ruling leftwing Morena party recorded a landslide victory.

Those who study Latin American politics say the result offers lessons for Australia’s Labor government in its quest to buck the global trend and retain power at this year’s general election.

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Donald Trump says residents of Greenland want to be part of US

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President tells reporters he believes US will take control of island, after reports of ‘horrendous’ call with Denmark PM

Donald Trump has said he believes the US will take control of Greenland, after details emerged of a “horrendous” call in which he made economic threats to Denmark, which has said the territory is not for sale.

Speaking onboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said: “I think we’re going to have it,” and claimed that the Arctic island’s 57,000 residents “want to be with us”.

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South Korean president indicted for insurrection over martial law decree

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Impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeoul could face years in prison after six-hour imposition which set off political upheaval

South Korea’s prosecutors indicted the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, on Sunday on charges of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law on 3 December, the main opposition party said.

The charges are unprecedented for a South Korean president, and if convicted, Yoon could face years in prison for his shock martial law decree, which sought to ban political and parliamentary activity and control the media.

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Trump’s Gaza proposal rejected by allies and condemned as ethnic cleansing plan

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US president has suggested Palestinians should leave Gaza for neighbouring countries to ‘just clean out’ whole strip

Donald Trump’s proposal that large numbers of Palestinians should leave Gaza to “just clean out” the whole strip has been rejected by US allies in the region and attacked as dangerous, illegal and unworkable by lawyers and activists.

The US president said he would like hundreds of thousands of people to move to neighbouring countries, either “temporarily or could be long-term”. Destinations could include Jordan, which already hosts more than 2.7 million Palestinian refugees, and Egypt, he added.

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Scores killed in hospital attack in Sudan’s besieged El Fasher, says WHO

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About 70 people, including patients, believed to have been killed in attack blamed on rebel Rapid Support Forces

About 70 people have been killed in an attack on the only functional hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan, the head of the World Health Organization has said, the latest in a series of attacks as the African nation’s civil war has escalated in recent days.

The attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal hospital was blamed by local officials on the rebel Rapid Support Forces, a group that has recently faced apparent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

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