Category Archives: World News

Entire families reportedly killed in fighting in north-west Syria, UN says

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Human rights commissioner calls for investigation into ‘extremely disturbing’ attacks in Latakia province

The UN has condemned what it called “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being killed in north-west Syria as clashes between security forces and Assad regime loyalists resulted in the country’s highest death toll since the start of its revolution in 2011.

The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, called on Sunday for investigations into the killings and for perpetrators to be held accountable. “We are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children and hors de combat [surrendered] fighters, being killed,” he said in a statement. “The killing of civilians in coastal areas in north-west Syria must cease, immediately.”

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Pilot and passengers taken to hospital after Pennsylvania plane crash

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Five people onboard survived small plane crash near Lancaster but officials say no details of their condition

A small airplane with five people onboard crashed in a parking lot near Lancaster airport in Manheim Township, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the single-engine plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza, and the incident happened around 3pm in Lancaster county.

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Israel to cut off electricity in Gaza in apparent effort to force hand of Hamas

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Humanitarian officials say move could hit already meagre water supply, as ceasefire talks grow increasingly chaotic

Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory.

The potential consequences of the Israeli decision for the 2.3 million residents of the devastated Palestinian territory are unclear, as most rely on diesel-fuelled generators for power.

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Mark Carney to be next Canada PM after winning Liberal leadership race

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Former central banker will be only second prime minister in Canadian history without a seat in parliament

Mark Carney, the former central banker who oversaw the response to financial crises in North America and the UK, will become the next prime minister of Canada after winning the race to lead the country’s federal Liberal party.

Carney, 59, takes on the role as Canada is locked in a potentially catastrophic trade war with the US, long its closest ally and largest trading partner. Last week Donald Trump announced a 25% tax on all Canadian goods, with a carveout for the automotive and energy sectors. The tariffs have the power to push Canada’s fragile economy in a recession.

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Kristi Noem names new Ice leadership and vows to punish media ‘leakers’

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Homeland security secretary pledges lie detector tests for employees she suspects are passing information to press

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.

Noem confirmed, in addition, that the government will expand immigration detention operations further into the military sphere, following reports of the intention to use the huge Fort Bliss army base close to the US-Mexico border in Texas for that purpose.

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Ice arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia protests, lawyer says

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Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest comes as Trump vows to deport foreign students involved in protests against Israel’s war

A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement was arrested on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.

Mahmoud Khalil was at his university-owned apartment, blocks from the private Ivy League university’s main campus in New York when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents entered the building and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press.

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Germany to reach out to France and UK over sharing of nuclear weapons

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But Friedrich Merz cautions such a move could not replace the US’s existing protective shield over Europe

Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, has said he will reach out to France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but cautioned that such a move could not be a replacement for the US’s existing protective shield over Europe.

“The sharing of nuclear weapons is an issue we need to talk about,” Merz said in a wide-ranging interview on Sunday with the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF). “We have to be stronger together in nuclear deterrence.”

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Journalist quits role after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre

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Jean-Michel Aphatie stands by comments he made on broadcaster RTL

A prominent French journalist has said he is stepping down from his role as an expert analyst for broadcaster RTL after provoking an uproar by comparing French actions during colonial rule in Algeria to a second world war massacre committed by Nazi forces in France.

Jean-Michel Aphatie, a veteran reporter and broadcaster, insisted that while he would not be returning to RTL, he wholly stood by his comments made on the radio station in February equating atrocities committed by France in Algeria with those of Nazi Germany in occupied France.

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Visitors flock to Paris’s Pompidou Centre before it closes for renovations

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Art lovers catch last glimpse of prestigious art collection before gallery shuts for five years for major revamp

Visitors from around the world have been flocking to the Pompidou Centre in Paris this weekend, seizing the last opportunity to enjoy Europe’s largest temple of modern and contemporary art before it closes its doors for a five-year overhaul.

In one of the most complex closures of its kind, the task of removing the museum’s 2,000-strong permanent collection will start on Monday. The Pompidou’s Chagalls, Giacomettis and myriad other treasures will be relocated to other sites in Paris and museums elsewhere in France and around the world.

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‘Nothing is off the table’ on EU defence funding, says Ursula von der Leyen

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Commission president says ‘something fundamental’ has shifted and democracy and rule of law are under threat

“Nothing is off the table” when it comes to raising money for defence, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said, as she warned European values such as democracy and the rule of law were under threat in a increasingly “transactional” world.

Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, the head of the EU executive told reporters there was a new sense of urgency in the geopolitical sphere and that “something fundamental” had shifted since she began her second term in office on 1 December, nearly 100 days ago.

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Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’

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More governments seeking to keep millions of people offline amid conflicts, protests and political instability

Digital blackouts reached a record high in 2024 in Africa as more governments sought to keep millions of citizens off the internet than in any other period over the last decade.

A report released by the internet rights group Access Now and #KeepItOn, a coalition of hundreds of civil society organisations worldwide, found there were 21 shutdowns in 15 African countries, surpassing the existing record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021.

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How Trump is driving US towards Russia – a timeline of the president’s moves

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Since becoming president, Trump has upended the US approach to Ukraine and treated Moscow more as an ally

In just seven weeks since returning to the White House for a second term, Donald Trump has upended the US approach to the invasion of Ukraine and treated Russia increasingly not as an adversary, but an ally.

After tossing aside decades of alignment with Europe against Russian aggression, the US president suspended military assistance and intelligence to Kyiv and said on Friday he finds it “easier” to work with Russia than Ukraine.

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More than 1,000 people killed in two days of clashes in Syria, war monitor says

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About 745 civilians among those killed in fighting in Latakia province between security forces and fighters loyal to former president Assad

More than 1,000 people, including 745 civilians, were killed in the two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and fighters loyal to the former Assad regime and ensuing revenge killings, a war monitor has said, one of the highest death tolls in Syria since 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said 745 civilians were killed mostly execution-style, while 125 Syrian security forces and 148 Assad loyalists were killed. Death tolls from the two days of fighting have varied wildly, with some estimates putting the final death toll even higher.

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‘They brought it on themselves’: a new low in US-Ukraine relations

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Diplomats gasp as Keith Kellogg claims Zelenskyy to blame for soured relations with America

“There was an audible gasp in the room at the Council on Foreign Relations as Keith Kellogg, the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, characterised the US decision to cut off intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv as like beating a farm animal with a piece of wood.

“Very candidly, they brought it on themselves, the Ukrainians,” Kellogg said as the veteran diplomats, academics, and journalists in the room recoiled in surprise. Several held their hands in their faces. “I think the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” he continued. “You got their attention, and it’s very significant, obviously, because of the support that we give.”

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Iran is riven with conflict. Donald Trump’s offer of talks won’t ease it

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With internal politics at their most unstable for years, the risk of escalation is rising

The letter the US president, Donald Trump, says he sent to Iran’s leadership offering to reopen talks on the country’s nuclear programme comes at a point when Iranian domestic politics is at its most unstable for years.

In the past month, the conservative-dominated parliament has asserted its power over the broadly reformist president elected last June by impeaching and sacking the experienced economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, while Mohammad Javad Zarif, the vice-president and most prominent reformist, has also been forced out.

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Iran’s supreme leader rails against Trump’s ‘bullying’ military threat

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Ayatollah Khamenei says US demand to reopen talks on Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at domination

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has criticised what he described as bullying tactics a day after Donald Trump threatened military action against Iran.

“Some bully governments – I really don’t know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying – insist on negotiations,” Khamenei told officials after Trump threatened military action if Iran refused to engage in talks over its nuclear programme.

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Global celebrations and protests mark International Women’s Day

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From Istanbul and Warsaw to Athens and Madrid, activists demand equality and the end of gender-based violence

Women took to the streets of cities across Europe, Africa and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day with demands for ending inequality and gender-based violence.

On the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul, a rally in Kadiköy saw members of dozens of women’s groups listen to speeches, dance and sing in the spring sunshine. The colorful protest was overseen by a large police presence, including officers in riot gear and a water cannon truck.

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Dread haunts Gaza as airstrikes dent hopes of renewed ceasefire

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The territory is mired in a ‘grey zone’ of uncertainty as the peace process has stalled and neither side seems willing to compromise

Fears of a return to war in Gaza are intensifying this weekend, with faltering diplomatic efforts and almost daily airstrikes by Israeli forces in the devastated territory.

There has been relative calm in Gaza since a ceasefire for prisoners deal between Hamas and Israel came into effect in January, pausing 15 months of conflict. However, the first phase of that agreement expired more than a week ago and a second phase has stalled, leaving Gaza plunged into a “grey zone” of uncertainty.

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Two men arrested in India over alleged rape of Israeli and local woman

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The two women were said to have been stargazing with three male travellers when the incident took place

Two men have been arrested in India in connection with the alleged rape of an Israeli and a local woman.

The Israeli woman and her homestay operator were said to be stargazing with three male travellers in Koppal town in southern Karnataka state on Thursday night.

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Russia launches devastating attack on Ukraine after Trump’s defence of Putin

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Latest attacks came hours after Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin was ‘doing what anybody would do’

Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more, hours after Donald Trump defended Vladimir Putin and said the Kremlin leader was “doing what anybody would do”.

Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of Dobropillia in the eastern Donetsk region. Fire engulfed a five-storey apartment building. As emergency services arrived, Russia launched another strike on the same area. Eleven civilians were killed, with five children among the 30 injured.

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