Joe Biden addresses America’s ‘original sin’ of slavery on Angola visit

US president remembers ‘stolen men and women and children brought to our shores’ and lauds American investment in country

Joe Biden addressed America’s history of enslavement in a speech on Tuesday at Angola’s National Museum of Slavery, calling it “our nation’s original sin” during a trip in which he also lauded recent US investment in the region.

“We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty,” Biden said, as the sun set over the water behind him.

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Tamils arriving in UK after three years stranded on Diego Garcia speak of relief

Lawyers and campaigners hail removal of 47 people from remote Indian Ocean island as ‘a big day for justice’

Dozens of people stranded in hellish conditions for more than three years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia have arrived in the UK and told of their relief that their journey is over.

Lawyers and campaigners hailed the arrival of 47 Sri Lankan Tamils on Monday night as a “big day for justice”, with a further eight arriving on Tuesday morning from Rwanda, where they had been receiving medical treatment. Twelve children were among them.

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Vietnamese tycoon faces scramble to raise billions to avoid death sentence

Truong My Lan must repay three-quarters of $12bn she embezzled from bank in a case that shocked the country

The Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan has lost her appeal against the death penalty for masterminding a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal – though she could still save her life if she can repay most of the funds she embezzled.

Lan, who founded the real-estate developer Van Thinh Phat, was sentenced to death in April for embezzling $12bn (£9.95bn) from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), in a case that shocked the country.

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Seizure of Aleppo threatens Moscow’s foothold in Syria – and the wider region

Assault on Syria’s second-largest city by Islamist militants may tarnish Russia’s reputation as a global player

The walls of the military office in Aleppo were adorned with pictures of the Kremlin, flanked by Russian and Syrian flags hanging side by side. On the desks, documents detailing the cooperation between the two nations lay abandoned – telltale signs of Bashar al-Assad’s forces’ hasty retreat as rebels closed in on Syria’s second-biggest city over the weekend.

The short clip circulating online was recorded in the office of Russian advisers at Aleppo’s military academy after it was taken by rebels in a surprise offensive. It highlights the escalating threat to the Assad regime and, by extension, to Moscow’s strategic foothold in Syria and the broader region.

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Scientists dissect ‘world’s rarest whale’ for clues on little-known species

Only seven spade-tooth whales have ever been documented, now work is beginning on a specimen that washed ashore in New Zealand in July

A spade-tooth whale – thought to be the world’s rarest whale species – is undergoing dissection in New Zealand, in the first ever examination of a complete specimen.

Spade-toothed whales are a type of beaked whale named for their teeth resembling the spade-like flensing blade once used to strip whales of their blubber. Just seven have been documented since the 1800s, with all but one found in New Zealand.

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Sifting of landfill to begin in search for Manitoba serial killer victims

Winnipeg effort involves carting waste that may contain remains of First Nations women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki to a purpose-built facility and combing through it by hand

The unprecedented search of a landfill in Canada for the remains of two murdered Indigenous women entered a critical yet “difficult” stage as teams braced for the possibility of finally recovering the victims of a convicted serial killer.

On Monday morning, trucks began carrying excavated material from a Winnipeg landfill, said the Manitoba premier, Wab Kinew, as he outlined the immense scope of a search aiming to bring some closure to grieving families.

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Replica Harry Potter swords recalled in Japan for breaking weapons law

Police said 86cm stainless steel blade – mounted on a wooden plaque and sold in the hundreds – contravened Japan’s firearms and sword control law

Full-size replica swords sold as souvenirs at a popular Harry Potter exhibition in Tokyo have fallen foul of Japan’s strict weapons control law and been recalled.

The 86cm stainless steel blade, which comes mounted on a wooden plaque, is described on the Warner Bros website that promotes the event as an “authentic recreation of Godric Gryffindor’s sword”.

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Chip war ramps up with new US semiconductor restrictions on China

Biden administration broadens limits on Chinese access to advanced microchip technology, with Donald Trump expected to go even further

The US has announced new export restrictions targeting China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, drawing swift condemnation from Beijing.

Washington is expanding efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China that can be used in advanced weapons systems and in artificial intelligence.

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Elon Musk’s $56bn Tesla pay package rejected again by US judge

Kathaleen McCormick in Delaware rules Musk not entitled to vast sum despite Tesla shareholders voting to reinstate it

A judge ruled on Monday that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is still not entitled to receive a $56bn compensation package even though shareholders of the electric vehicle company had voted to reinstate it six months ago.

The ruling by the Delaware judge, Kathaleen McCormick of the court of chancery, follows her January decision that called the pay package excessive and rescinded it, surprising investors. The decision cast uncertainty over Musk’s future at the world’s most valuable carmaker. Tesla’s board argued the enormous payment scheme was necessary to keep Musk involved in the company, an argument that the billionaire, already the world’s richest man, echoed.

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Georgian police fire teargas at pro-EU protesters as political crisis deepens

Tbilisi experiences fifth day of demonstrations amid anger over ruling party’s decision to shelve EU accession talks

Georgian police have fired teargas to try to disperse thousands of pro-EU demonstrators rallying in the centre of Tbilisi amid a deepening political crisis in the Black Sea nation.

The country’s prime minister hours earlier had vowed “no negotiations” with the opposition, enraged by the ruling Georgian Dream party’s decision to shelve EU accession talks after it claimed victory in an election they decried as fraudulent.

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Middle East crisis: Israel strikes Lebanon amid fears ceasefire could collapse – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest full report here:

We’re closing our Middle East crisis liveblog now after a day in which Israel and Hezbollah traded fire in Lebanon, five days after a ceasefire was declared in the conflict.

Here’s what we’ve been following:

Hezbollah said it launched two rockets near a watchtower in the occupied Shebaa farms earlier on Monday night. They landed in an open area and caused no injuries. In a statement, the group said the attack on the watchtowers was an “initial warning defensive response” against “repeated violations” by Israel of the ceasefire agreement.

In response, Israel said it targeted “dozens of targets” in southern Lebanon, claiming to have struck “Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure” across the country. “Israel demands that the relevant parties in Lebanon fulfill their responsibilities and prevent Hezbollah’s hostile activity,” the army said in a statement.

US officials said they believed the ceasefire, announced last Wednesday, had not broken down. “If we do see violations of the ceasefire, we’ll go to the parties and tell them to knock it off,” state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at an afternoon briefing.

But the UN peacekeeping force, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), told CNN through an unnamed source said Israel has been serially in breach of the ceasefire agreement. The source said “approximately 100” incidents have been recorded.

Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East - But it’s all talk, and no action!

Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!

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Starmer rejects false choice between Trump’s US and EU in key speech

At lord mayor’s banquet in London, British PM says ‘national interest demands that we work with both’

Keir Starmer has “utterly rejected” the idea that the UK must choose between the United States and Europe when Donald Trump comes to power, arguing that it is in the national interest to work with both.

The prime minister said the UK would “never turn away” from its relationship with the US, despite the difficulties the new administration could pose, as it had been the “cornerstone” of security and prosperity for over a century.

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Airstrikes hit hospitals in Syria’s Idlib region as insurgents fight Assad forces

White Helmets say at least 18 people killed in strikes on five healthcare facilities including maternity hospital

A wave of airstrikes has pummelled hospitals and neighbourhoods in the rebel-held region of Idlib in northern Syria as Islamist insurgents continued to battle forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad after the militants’ lightning assault on Aleppo.

White Helmets civil defence forces based in Idlib, from where the insurgents had launched their attack, said Russian airstrikes had struck five healthcare facilities including a maternity hospital. At least 18 people were killed and 35 injured, they said, adding that they feared numbers could rise.

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Israel responds to Hezbollah rocket attack with airstrikes on south Lebanon

Bombing comes an hour after Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed a ‘strong’ response to Hezbollah’s action

Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes in the Nabatieh district, south Lebanon, in response to Hezbollah rocket fire near a watchtower, in the deadliest attacks since a ceasefire came into effect last week.

The Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised there would be a strong response to Hezbollah’s attack, and the Israeli military later said it had “struck Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon”.

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Syria crisis due to Assad’s refusal to engage with opposition, says Turkish minister

Iran’s foreign minister blamed Israel’s intervention instead, but emergency talks in Ankara said to be ‘constructive’

The crisis in Syria is the result of President Bashar al-Assad’s refusal to engage in political dialogue with the opposition, and not external interventions, the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said after meeting his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, for emergency talks in Ankara.

Araghchi, by contrast, blamed intervention by Israel for the crisis. But the two sides appeared to agree on the need to convene an urgent summit between Turkey, Iran and Russia, the three main external powers inside Syria.

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Talks over return of Parthenon marbles to Athens are ‘well advanced’

Exclusive: Keir Starmer reiterates support for British Museum reaching deal with Greek PM, who visits UK on Tuesday

Talks concerning the Parthenon marbles between Athens and the British Museum are “well advanced”, the Guardian has learned, even if officials have decided the cultural row will be low on the agenda when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, meets his Greek counterpart on Tuesday.

The fate of the classical masterpieces, which caused a quarrel last year between Rishi Sunak and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will not be actively raised by either side when the two leaders hold their first Downing Street discussions. Starmer’s spokesperson said on Monday: “Our position on the Elgin marbles has not changed.”

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Belgium found guilty of crimes against humanity in colonial Congo

Court said five women were victims of ‘systematic kidnapping’ by state over forced removal from mothers as small children

The Belgian state has been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their mothers in colonial Congo.

In a long-awaited ruling issued on Monday, Belgium’s court of appeal said that five women, born in the Belgian Congo and now in their 70s, had been victims of “systematic kidnapping” by the state when they were removed from their mothers as small children and sent to Catholic institutions because of their mixed-race origins.

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At least 56 people killed in crush at Guinea football stadium

Witnesses say people scrambled to escape after teargas used during pitch invasion at match in Nzérékoré

At least 56 people have died and dozens of others were injured in a crowd crush at a football stadium in southern Guinea, authorities in the west African state said.

The Stade du 3 Avril in Nzérékoré, the country’s second largest city, was hosting the final of a football tournament in honour of the leader of the country’s junta, Mamady Doumbouya, on Sunday afternoon. Local reports said thousands of spectators were present at the stadium and children were among the victims but did not give a definitive figure in either case.

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Iran frees rapper Toomaj Salehi jailed for supporting protests

Rapper who spoke up for Woman, Life, Freedom movement is released five months after death sentence overturned

The Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in April for his support of anti-regime protests, has been released from prison by the Iranian authorities.

Salehi was sentenced by a revolutionary court in April for backing the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in police custody.

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Centre-right Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael set to retain power in Ireland

Parties expected to hold talks as election results show incumbents closing in on majority needed to govern

The two main centre-right parties in Ireland are expected to start talks on returning to government as the general election put the incumbents within touching distance of forming the 34th Dáil.

With all Teachta Dála (TD) seats filled by 10pm on Monday evening, Fianna Fáil – led by Micheál Martin – and Fine Gael – led by the taoiseach, Simon Harris – won 86 seats, just two shy of the 88 needed for a majority.

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