Category Archives: World News

Shooter at Örebro school had taken classes there, reports Swedish media

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Police say suspect, who is among the dead, acted alone as they continue the work of identifying victims

The gun rampage that left 11 people dead in the Swedish city of Örebro was “a one-man operation”, police have said, as local media identified the shooter as a former student of the adult education centre he attacked.

As Sweden reeled from the deadliest mass shooting in its history, investigators were working on Wednesday to identify the people who were killed and injured after the attack at Campus Risbergska just after 12.30pm on Tuesday.

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French PM François Bayrou survives first confidence vote

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National Rally and Socialists did not back no-confidence motion tabled by hard-left France Unbowed

The French prime minister, François Bayrou, has survived an initial confidence vote in parliament called for by the hard left, after the far-right National Rally (RN) and centre-left Socialists did not back the motion against him.

On Wednesday, 128 lawmakers voted in favour of the first motion of no confidence, well short of the 289 votes needed.

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US Postal Service briefly halts packages arriving from China and Hong Kong

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Normal service resumes after initial suspension, in latest episode of growing trade war between the US and China

The US Postal Service briefly suspended incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday before returning to normal service on Wednesday after accusations of “unreasonable suppression” from Beijing, in the latest episode of a growing trade war between the US and China.

The initial suspension came as Donald Trump said he was not in a hurry to speak to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, despite expectations that they would hold talks after announcing tit-for-tat tariffs.

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Doctor faces inquiry after giving his cat a Cat scan at Italian hospital

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Italian radiologist, who says injured pet was ‘between life and death’, also operated on animal at Aosta facility

An Italian doctor has been placed under investigation after giving his cat a Cat scan at a hospital in Aosta before performing a life-saving operation on the feline.

Gianluca Fanelli took the animal, called Athena, to Umberto Parini hospital in the northern Italian region, where he is a manager of the radiology unit, after she fell from a roof.

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EU to tighten checks on goods sold by sites such as Shein and Temu

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European Commission also urges EU lawmakers to phase out exemption on customs duties for parcels under €150

Parcels sent from China by online retailers such as Shein and Temu will face strict new customs controls as part of a crackdown by the European Commission on “dangerous products” flooding the EU market.

Brussels officials also urged EU lawmakers to phase out the exemption on customs duties that is allowed for parcels under €150 (£125), which enables foreign suppliers to sell cheap goods in the bloc without paying the tax.

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Flies in hospital wards may be spreading drug-resistant bacteria to patients

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Scientists in Nigeria found the insects carry infections resistant to last-resort antibiotics, adding to fears about superbugs

Flies buzzing between beds may be spreading drug-resistant bugs among patients in hospitals, according to new research.

Researchers from the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) found that houseflies in Nigerian hospitals carry bacteria resistant to some key antibiotics, including those used only as a last resort.

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Trump dismisses USAid direct-hire workers around the world

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Agency staffers overseas – except those deemed essential – placed on leave as diplomats’ union plans legal action

The Trump administration is placing US Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave, except those deemed essential.

A notice posted online on Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home, upending the aid agency’s six-decade mission overseas.

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Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip in shock announcement during Netanyahu visit

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President’s plan, which is low on detail, would involve the permanent resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries

Donald Trump has vowed that the US would “take over” war ravaged Gaza and “own it”, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, in an announcement shocking even by the standards of his norm-shattering presidency.

Trump, who has previously threatened Greenland and Panama and suggested that Canada should become the 51st state, added Gaza to his expansionist agenda, claiming that it could become the “Riviera of the Middle East” and declined to rule out sending US troops to make it happen.

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US Senate confirms Trump nominee Pam Bondi as attorney general

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Bondi approved 54-46 as staunch political ally of president propelled to top perch of US law enforcement

The US Senate confirmed Pam Bondi on Tuesday as the next attorney general to steer the justice department through Donald Trump’s second term and his clear intent to turn it into an extension of his executive power, especially as a cudgel against his personal and political adversaries.

The 54 to 46 vote to confirm Bondi was largely across party lines. All Republicans voted to confirm and all but one Democratic senator, John Fetterman, voted against.

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Foundations laid for tribunal to try Putin for Ukraine invasion, EU says

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Tribunal’s creation was first proposed days after the full-scale invasion, but lawyers have struggled to find the right courtroom for nearly three years

International lawyers have “laid the foundations” for a special tribunal to try Russia for the crime of aggression, the EU has said, hailing a significant step towards holding Vladimir Putin and his top officials accountable for the invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement late on Tuesday, the EU executive declared a breakthrough that it said would mean the Russian political and military leaders “who bear the greatest responsibility” would be held to account.

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El Salvador offers to hold deportees and incarcerated US citizens in its jails

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Human rights groups alarmed as Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, meets with Nayib Bukele during overseas trip

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has offered to accept deportees from the US of any nationality and hold them in his jails, including “dangerous American criminals”, Marco Rubio said on Monday.

The US secretary of state, who this week made his first overseas trip as the top US diplomat, visited El Salvador on Monday as part of a wider trip through Central America and the Caribbean.

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Trump says Palestinians have ‘no alternative’ but to leave Gaza

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President in effect endorses ethnic cleansing of territory before hosting meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu

Donald Trump has said Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza due to the devastation left by Israel’s war on Hamas, in effect endorsing ethnic cleansing of the territory over the opposition of Palestinians and neighbouring countries.

Speaking as he prepared to host Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday, Trump repeated the suggestion that Gaza’s population should be relocated to Jordan and Egypt – something both countries have firmly rejected.

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Trump administration says it has begun deporting migrants to Guantánamo Bay

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Press secretary says at least two deportation flights to Cuban base of undocumented immigrants ‘under way’

The Trump administration has begun flying undocumented immigrants from the US to a military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday.

Leavitt told Fox Business Network that at least two deportation flights were “under way”, but gave no further details.

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Mauritian PM expects ‘speedy resolution’ with UK over Chagos Islands

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Navin Ramgoolam says Keir Starmer expressed confidence about finalising agreement within weeks

Downing Street has refused to comment on the prospect of an imminent deal over the Chagos Islands, after the Mauritian prime minister said Keir Starmer had told him he was confident about finalising an agreement in the coming weeks.

An interim deal on returning sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which would maintain the key UK-US military base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, was agreed last year, building on work that began under the Conservative government.

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Panama court is asked to cancel Hong Kong firm’s contract to run canal ports

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Complaint by local lawyers to supreme court follows US demands to reduce China’s alleged influence on waterway

Two Panamanian lawyers have lodged a lawsuit with the country’s supreme court in an attempt to cancel a Hong Kong-based company’s concession to operate two ports at either end of the Panama canal.

Their complaint – filed a day after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, to reduce China’s alleged influence on the canal – argues that the contract for the two ports is unconstitutional.

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Iran reformists urge concessions in attempt to reconnect to west

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Decision expected in next week that could allow country to rejoin international banking system

Iran’s reformists are pressing for the country to make concessions on financial transparency to allow it to reconnect to the global economic system and send a signal to the Trump White House that it is serious about renegotiating a new relationship with the west, including around its nuclear programme.

Tehran is expected in the next week to take decisions that would mean it would be taken off the blacklist of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the body that tackles money laundering and terrorist financing.

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China has reacted in kind to Trump’s tariffs, but a deal may still emerge

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Beijing will defend its core interests, but its initial response is more cautious than when Trump imposed levies in 2018

Moments after Donald Trump introduced tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods, Beijing retaliated with countermeasures.

China’s finance ministry put tariffs of 10-15% on imports of a range of US goods and its anti-trust regulator announced an investigation into Google. Several US companies were also added to China’s “unreliable entity” list, potentially restricting their ability to conduct business in the country.

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Netanyahu hoping to ‘redraw map’ of Middle East in Washington DC ceasefire talks with Trump – Israel-Gaza war live

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Israeli PM in Washington for talks with US president as Hamas says it is ready to discuss details of second phase of ceasefire and hostage releases

We have some voices from some of the people affected by the Israeli operation in the Jenin refugee camp.

Khalil Huwail, 39, is a father of four and has been forced to leave the area with his family.

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Ukraine open to exchanging minerals for US military aid, says Zelenskyy

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Germany’s Olaf Scholz criticises Trump’s transactional foreign policy as ‘very selfish, very self-centred’

Ukraine is open to “investment” from allies as long as they help it fight Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv supply the US with rare earth resources – critical elements used in electronics – in exchange for military aid.

The US president’s proposal has been criticised as exploiting Russia’s invasion for material gain, with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, calling the plan “selfish”. However, Ukrainian media reported that the idea may have originated in Kyiv as an incentive to keep weapon shipments flowing into the country.

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Johnnie Walker owner Diageo says Trump tariffs could hit profits by $200m

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UK drinks company considering possible price rises as shares fall despite strong Guinness sales

Diageo, the company behind Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, has said US tariffs could damage a nascent recovery in its sales and result in a $200m (£161m) hit to profits, with its tequila portfolio and Canadian whisky most affected.

The UK drinks company returned to sales growth in the latest half year, as strong performances for Guinness and tequila offset weakness in other spirits – but Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports could stop this recovery in its tracks, analysts said.

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