Category Archives: World News

Racist and anti-LGBTQ+ texts target Americans across US, including teens

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FBI investigating anti-migrant and anti-gay texts that follow messages sent to Black people after Trump election win

Racist text messages targeting Black people across the US just hours after Donald Trump won a second presidency have now expanded to the Hispanic communities – and homophobic versions have been aimed at LGBTQ+ people, the FBI said on Friday.

Authorities say they are investigating the messages – which now include emails – and that they have not received reports of violent acts stemming from the hateful messages.

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Netanyahu aide questioned over alleged tampering with 7 October phone records

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Police investigate claim that Israeli PM’s chief of staff changed recorded time of call made about Hamas attacks

A top aide of Benjamin Netanyahu has been questioned by police investigating reports of alterations made to official records of phone calls involving the Israeli prime minister on the morning of the 7 October attacks.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, is suspected of changing the recorded time of a conversation the prime minister held with his military secretary in the first minutes of the attack to protect the prime minister.

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New Brunswick premier calls on Canadian government to investigate mysterious brain illness

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Previous provincial government said most patients were misdiagnosed and instead had dementia or cancer

The newly elected premier of New Brunswick has called on Canada’s federal government to aid in a “full, open scientific investigation” into the mysterious brain illness that has plagued the province for years, in a move that those suffering from the condition hope could finally bring answers.

“We need to conduct a thorough investigation into what is making people sick,” the premier, Susan Holt, told the National Post.

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Pelicot trial: young vineyard worker proposed drugging and raping his own mother

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Video showed Charly A, one of 51 men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot, discussing plan with Dominique Pelicot

A young vineyard worker accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot on six occasions over four years when she had been drugged by her husband also proposed drugging and raping his own mother, a court has heard.

Charly A, 30, is one of 51 men on trial over the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, whose then husband, Dominique Pelicot, crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020 in the village of Mazan in Provence. Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges, telling the court: “I am a rapist.”

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Fears grow that Milei will withdraw Argentina from Paris climate accord

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Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump

There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.

Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.

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Middle East crisis: Hamas ‘ready’ for Gaza ceasefire, says senior official – as it happened

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Senior official Bassem Naim says militant group ‘ready for ceasefire’ and urges Donald Trump to ‘pressure’ 'Israel to ‘end the aggression’

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, is reporting that two Palestinian people were killed in an Israeli artillery attack in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Three other Palestinians were killed in a separate Israeli airstrike near the general security junction in western Gaza City, according to Wafa. A renewed Israeli assault was launched on the northern part of the Gaza Strip last month, with the Israeli military claiming it was to stop Hamas fighters regrouping there. The blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, however, have led to accusations that Israel is committing the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population. The entirety of northern Gaza has been under Israeli evacuation orders but it is unclear how many people remain.

We have some comments coming through from Ali Larijani, the senior advisor to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. He has been speaking with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, in Beiurt.

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Political turmoil rocks the Netherlands after Amsterdam violence

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Ruling coalition in crisis amid claims of racist remarks and speculation government may collapse

The violence that erupted on Amsterdam’s streets last week has triggered a political crisis in the Netherlands, with the ruling coalition in turmoil over alleged racist remarks made by government officials during a closed-door meeting to discuss the events.

Nora Achahbar, the Moroccan-born secretary for benefits from the centre-right New Social Contract (NSC) party, part of the ruling coalition, is expected to announce her resignation over allegedly inflammatory and racist remarks by colleagues about Dutch citizens from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Other NSC members are also considering resigning in protest, the Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported.

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The Gruffalo’s illustrator launches book to help UK pupils learn German

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Axel Scheffler says he hopes Wuschel auf der Erde will encourage more children to learn his first language

Axel Scheffler, the illustrator behind the international children’s bestseller The Gruffalo, has launched a book to help primary school pupils learn German.

Wuschel auf der Erde: A New Adventure in Learning German tells the story of a friendly alien called Wuschel arriving on Earth from a distant planet with a mission to learn German. Through Scheffler’s distinctive illustrations, children are introduced to their first German words, such as die Maus (mouse) and der Spielplatz (playground), in a fun and interactive way.

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Protesters storm Abkhazia parliament over Russian investment deal

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Black Sea separatist region is backed by Moscow but recognised as part of Georgia by most of the world

Protesters have stormed the regional parliament in Abkhazia, forcing the government to halt an investment deal with Russia that some fear will spoil the breakaway Georgian region’s natural beauty.

The Black Sea separatist region is backed by Moscow but recognised as part of Georgia by most of the world. It has been thrust into turmoil over concerns that a proposed investment deal with Russia could lead to apartment complexes mushrooming in a region known for its natural beauty and beaches.

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Scholz’s call with Putin will open ‘Pandora’s box’, Zelenskyy says

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Ukrainian president says talk between German and Russian leaders on war will reduce Putin’s isolation

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that a telephone conversation between Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin will open a “Pandora’s box”, after the German chancellor and the Russian leader discussed the war in Ukraine in a rare call on Friday.

Scholz urged his Russian counterpart to withdraw troops from Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv to achieve a just and lasting peace, in the first call between a major western leader and Putin since December 2022.

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Anger in Lebanon at large number of rescue workers killed by Israel

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Attacks on Thursday night bring total number of emergency workers killed by Israel in Lebanon to more than 200

Twenty-one civil defence rescuers have been killed in two Israeli strikes on Lebanon, in one of the deadliest days for rescue workers since the fighting began between Israel and Hezbollah 13 months ago.

Thursday night’s airstrikes brought the total number of emergency workers killed by Israel in Lebanon to more than 200, most of them during the last two months.

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‘A fork in the road’: laundry-sorting robot spurs AI hopes and fears at Europe’s biggest tech event

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Humanoid called Digit fuelled boosterism at Web Summit, but also raised concerns about jobs, safety and climate

This year’s Web Summit, in Lisbon, was all about artificial intelligence – and a robot sorting laundry.

Digit, a humanoid built by the US firm Agility Robotics, demonstrated how far AI has come in a few years by responding to voice commands – filtered through Google’s Gemini AI model – to sift through a pile of coloured T-shirts and place them in a basket.

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Shrinking GDP forecast adds to German woes after coalition collapse

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European Commission figures predict German economy, usually the engine of the EU, will contract O.1% this year

Germany’s looming general election will be fought against the backdrop of a stagnating economy, the European Commission has forecast, with GDP expected to have contracted in 2024.

The commission’s quarterly forecast suggested Germany, traditionally the engine of the bloc’s economy, will be its weakest performer in 2025, notching up growth of just 0.7% after shrinking by 0.1% this year.

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Smog crisis envelops Indian capital as Pakistan province declares emergency

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Schools ordered to close in Delhi and Punjab province as neighbouring countries battle dangerous air pollution

India’s capital, Delhi, has ordered all primary schools to cease in-person classes until further notice because of an air pollution crisis that has also prompted Pakistan’s Punjab province to declare a health emergency and ban construction, shut schools for another week and move universities online.

Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops world rankings for air pollution in winter. It is estimated to reduce life expectancy for the capital’s residents by up to seven years.

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Pakistan military has no intention of cutting deal with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan – sources

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Speaking from his jail cell, the former superstar cricketer had told the Guardian he would be willing to engage with army leadership

Pakistan’s military has no intention of entering into negotiations or cutting a deal with incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, senior military sources told the Guardian, after Khan said he would be willing to engage with the army leadership from his jail cell.

Khan, who is being held in Pakistan’s Adiala jail, is banned from meeting journalists but the Guardian was able to submit questions through his legal team.

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Elon Musk meets with Iran’s UN ambassador – report

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Contact was reportedly at Trump-allied billionaire’s request and could be significant for dismal US-Iranian relations

Elon Musk reportedly met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, a day before Donald Trump named the SpaceX founder as one of the heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

The meeting was a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States, according to two Iranian officials who spoke with the New York Times. One of the Iranian officials said that the Tesla executive requested the meeting and that the ambassador picked the site.

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Fears mount over Trump’s second term amid flurry of shock selections

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Dismay as president-elect picks Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth for key roles

Fears that Donald Trump’s second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.

Dismay over some of the president-elect’s early picks escalated to outrage after the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was unveiled as his selection to be attorney general – a position Trump has previously said he views as the most important in his administration.

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Fans clash at football match between France and Israel

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Skirmish quickly quashed by security guards at stadium as riot police is deployed at ‘high-risk’ game

A skirmish involving Israel fans broke out in the stands of the Stade de France during a tense match between Israel and France’s men’s football teams, but a heavy police presence ensured a repeat of the serious violence in Amsterdam was avoided.

The game had been designated as “high risk” after the hooliganism and antisemitism witnessed in the Netherlands before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.

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Stop ‘draconian’ mass deportations of Haitians fleeing gangs, activists say

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Tens of thousands deported from Caribbean states, as Dominican Republic pledges to return 10,000 people a week

Activists have called on Caribbean governments to halt the mass deportation of Haitians fleeing escalating gang violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

In the past month, tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti, including 61,000 from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, whose president recently pledged to deport 10,000 migrants a week.

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Elizabeth Warren denounces Biden administration over Gaza humanitarian situation

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Massachusetts senator now joins Bernie Sanders in endorsing joint resolution of disapproval against Joe Biden

Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice in the US Senate, has denounced the Biden administration’s failure to punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and endorsed a joint resolution of disapproval in Congress.

The amount of aid reaching the territory has dropped to the lowest level in 11 months, official Israeli figures show. The White House last month gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired on Tuesday, international aid groups said Israel had fallen far short.

But the US state department announced it would not take any punitive action, insisting that Israel was making limited progress and was not blocking aid and therefore not violating US law. Warren condemned the Biden administration’s decision to continue supplying arms to its ally.

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