Category Archives: World News

Zelenskyy admits Trump White House meeting ‘not good for both sides’

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Ukraine president expresses regret over contentious meeting but says relationship with Trump can be salvaged

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed regret that an Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump devolved into a shocking display of acrimony between the leaders of two historically allied nations, while insisting that their relationship could be salvaged.

Hours after the public confrontation in which Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of “gambling with world war three,” the Ukrainian leader defended himself during an in-studio interview on Fox News, while also agreeing that the dispute was “not good for both sides”.

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Mexican drug lord pleads not guilty to killing of DEA agent after US extradition

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Rafael Caro Quintero arraigned in New York over federal agent’s death after years as one of US’s most wanted men

After years as one of US authorities’ most wanted men, the Mexican drug cartel boss Rafael Caro Quintero was brought into a New York courtroom on Friday to answer charges that include orchestrating the 1985 killing of a US federal agent.

Caro Quintero pleaded not guilty to running a continuing criminal enterprise. Separately, so did Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the leader of another cartel. Carrillo is accused of arranging kidnappings and killings in Mexico but not accused of involvement in the death of the DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

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‘Rather fraught’: how Starmer’s team laid groundwork for positive Trump talks

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President’s warmth towards PM was apparent – but will No 10’s strategy prove successful longer-term?

“We’re feeling good, we’re very well prepared,” one senior UK official declared on the eve of Keir Starmer’s highly anticipated first meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. The prime minister had just landed in Washington DC and been driven straight to a glitzy reception at the UK ambassador’s opulent Edwin Lutyens-designed residence.

Under the sparkling crystal chandeliers and among the grand marble columns, his euphoric host, Peter Mandelson, introduced Starmer to guests including the new FBI director, Kush Patel. The Republican senator Lindsey Graham and the New York-based editor Tina Brown were also present.

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Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats

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Recent incidents indicate US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cyber security threat, marking a radical departure: ‘Putin is on the inside now’

The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments.

The shift in policy could make the US vulnerable to hacking attacks by Russia, experts warned, and appeared to reflect the warming of relations between Donald Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.

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Israel proposes Gaza plan that gives it tighter military control than before war

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Plan for IDF-protected ‘humanitarian hubs’ to selectively issue aid casts doubt on Israeli intent to withdraw

The Israeli military has presented the UN and aid organisations with a plan for running Gaza that involves Israel having tighter control than it did before the war, according to humanitarian officials, casting doubt on whether Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has any intention of carrying out a military withdrawal.

At meetings with UN representatives on Wednesday and with officials from other agencies on Thursday, Cogat, the army unit given the task of delivering aid to the occupied territories, outlined a scheme of distributing supplies through tightly managed logistics hubs to vetted Palestinian recipients.

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Cuts to UK vaccine funding could lead to ‘huge numbers’ of child deaths overseas

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Exclusive: Hundreds of thousands of world’s poorest children could die if aid programme slashed, experts warn

Hundreds of thousands of children in the world’s poorest countries will die if the UK cuts back funding for a hugely effective vaccination programme as part of its significant reduction in overseas aid, the Guardian has been told.

According to data collated by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), to which the UK has previously been one of the main contributors, even a small cut in UK funding would be expected to result in millions fewer vaccinations, leading to huge numbers of preventable deaths.

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‘I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules’: Francis Ford Coppola says he’s ‘thrilled’ by Golden Raspberry votes

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Veteran film-maker defends his sci-fi epic Megalopolis as it scores two Razzies from nominations that included ‘worst picture’

Francis Ford Coppola has said he was “thrilled” to accept multiple Golden Raspberry nominations for his film Megalopolis, which ended up winning two awards.

On Instagram, Coppola said that he was treating the nominations, which are voted for by Razzie members, who pay for the privilege, as a “distinctive honour … when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking!”

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Russia to appoint new US ambassador as diplomatic relations thaw

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Moscow says Alexander Darchiyev will take up Washington post that has been unfilled since October last year

Russia has announced it will appoint a new ambassador to Washington, signalling a further diplomatic thaw in relations just a day after Russian and American officials met in Istanbul to discuss strengthening ties.

Moscow said Alexander Darchiyev, a career diplomat who is currently the head of the foreign ministry’s North America department, will soon leave for the role in Washington.

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Starmer to hold talks with Zelenskyy and Meloni before Ukraine defence summit

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Prime minister will host more than a dozen countries over weekend as Europe tries to secure deal to end war

Keir Starmer will hold talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni in Downing Street on Sunday before a major London defence summit aimed at securing “lasting and enforced” peace in Ukraine.

Fresh from his trip to see Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, Starmer has headed back to London to host the defence summit, where more than a dozen world leaders will gather to discuss Ukraine.

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Five unknowns about any possible deal to end Ukraine-Russia war

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As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, a number of questions remain unanswered

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, questions remain over the future of Ukraine and the country’s war with Russia. Here are five things we don’t know about a possible deal to end the conflict.

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US shutdown of HIV/Aids funding ‘could lead to 500,000 deaths in South Africa’

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USAid cuts to clinics dispensing antiretroviral drugs will be ‘death sentence for mothers and children’, expert warns

Sweeping notices of termination of funding have been received by organisations working with HIV and Aids across Africa, with dire predictions of a huge rise in deaths as a result.

After the US announced a permanent end to funding for HIV projects, services across the board have been affected, say doctors and programme managers, from projects helping orphans and pregnant women to those reaching transgender individuals and sex workers.

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Weather tracker: six cyclones swirl simultaneously in southern hemisphere

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Bianca, Garance and Honde churn across Indian Ocean as Alfred, Rae and Seru spin through south-west Pacific

An uncommon meteorological event unfolded on Tuesday when six named tropical cyclones were active simultaneously in the southern hemisphere, several in close proximity to one another.

Three developed in the south-west Pacific. Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on 20 February in the Coral Sea to the north-east of Australia, reaching an intensity equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on Thursday with sustained winds of 105mph (170km/h) and gusts at about 140mph.

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China’s defence ministry warns Taiwan ‘we will get you, sooner or later’

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Threat after Taipei announces bigger military drills appears to mirror a line from children’s film Ne Zha 2

China’s defence ministry spokesperson has warned Taiwan “we will come and get you, sooner or later”, after Taipei announced an expansion of military exercises.

The threat was delivered in a press conference on Thursday, but grabbed attention inside China for its apparent mirroring of a line from the record-breaking children’s movie Ne Zha 2.

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Doug Ford wins Ontario election on back of tariff rallying cry

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Progressive Conservative premier of Canada’s most populous province retains office and vows to work with all sides of politics in ‘fighting back against Donald Trump’

Doug Ford, the incumbent premier of Canada’s Ontario province, has declared victory in an election returning his Progressive Conservative party to office for a rarely won third term.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) projected a sweeping victory for the Progressive Conservatives, with 43% of the vote.

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Youths throw rocks at police in Athens as violence erupts amid train crash rally

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Riot officers fire teargas at hundreds of hooded youths as protests across Greece mark anniversary of Tempe disaster

Peaceful protests in central Athens have been eclipsed by the eruption of full-scale clashes between rock-throwing youths and riot police, as demonstrations and strikes were held across Greece to mark the second anniversary of a fatal train crash.

Thousands of people who had crammed into Syntagma Square for a demonstration later fled, some even seeking refuge in the parliament, as riot police fired rounds of teargas at hundreds of black-clad hooded youths lobbying rocks at them.

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Australian politicians unworried by Trump’s ‘what does that mean?’ response to Aukus question

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US president was questioned about defence deal during meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer

Australian politicians have played down a slip from Donald Trump, who initially failed to understand a question about Aukus posed by a British reporter.

The US president was questioned about the Australia-UK-US defence deal during a meeting with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, in the Oval Office.

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Mexico releases 29 high-level organized crime operatives into US custody

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Prisoners, including Rafael Caro Quintero, extradited as Mexico faces pressure to show it’s tackling fentanyl trafficking

Mexico has extradited 29 high-level organised crime operatives to the US, as it faces intense pressure from the Trump administration to show that it is tackling fentanyl trafficking.

Among the prisoners sent to the US was Rafael Caro Quintero, the drug lord who was convicted of the murder of an undercover US Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985.

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Trump says Putin would keep his word on a Ukraine peace deal

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President claims presence of US workers in Ukraine would deter Russian aggression after talks with Keir Starmer

Donald Trump has insisted that Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a peace deal for Ukraine, arguing that US workers extracting critical minerals in the country would act as a security backstop to deter Russia from invading again.

During highly anticipated talks at the White House with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president said that Putin could be trusted not to breach any agreement, which could aim to return as much of the land as possible to Ukraine that was seized by Russia during the brutal three-year conflict.

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Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky dies aged 88

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World champion will be remembered for the ‘match of the century’ against American Bobby Fischer in 1972

Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated at the height of the cold war, has died at 88, the Russian Chess Federation has announced.

“The tenth world champion Boris Spassky has died at 88,” the federation said in a statement on its website on Thursday, calling it a “great loss for the country”. The statement did not say when he died or from what cause.

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The São Paulo connection: a Brazilian gang is spreading its cocaine business into Australia

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The PCC – First Capital Command – formed in a Sāo Paulo prison but is now spreading its tentacles around the world

In September 2020, the Australian Border Force intercepted 552kg of cocaine concealed in 2,000 boxes of frozen banana pulp that had arrived at the port of Sydney on a ship from Brazil.

Two years later, a diver was found floating dead next to 52kg of cocaine near the port of Newcastle, in New South Wales, Australia. Police later discovered that he was a Brazilian national who had been attempting to retrieve drugs from a cargo ship’s hull.

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