Category Archives: World News

Japan’s ruling coalition to lose majority in election, national broadcaster says

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PM Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic party faces losses amid voter anger over funding scandal and cost of living

Japan’s ruling coalition is certain to lose its majority in parliament in Sunday’s general election, according to the national broadcaster, after taking losses amid voter anger over a funding scandal and a cost of living crisis in the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

The outcome may force the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which has ruled Japan almost without interruption since the mid-1950s, or the main opposition Constitutional Democratic party (CDP) into power-sharing agreements with other parties to form a government. The official result is not expected until Monday morning.

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Japan gripped by two things: a general election and Shohei Ohtani’s shoulder

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Speculation about the country’s political future is competing for space with the fortunes of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar in the World Series

The Monday morning headlines in Japanese newspapers will be dominated by the result of the previous day’s general election. But speculation about the country’s political future after a tightly contested vote will be competing for space with another event taking place thousands of miles away. And all because of one man: Shohei Ohtani.

On Tuesday in Japan, millions of people are expected to devour every pitch and hit in the next instalment of the seven-game World Series between Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, with enthusiasm reaching levels usually reserved for the climax of domestic baseball, the Japan Series.

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Crash between cargo truck and bus in Mexico kills 19 and injures six

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Collision occurred when a container filled with corn fell off truck, causing bus carrying 25 people to overturn

A cargo truck collided with a passenger bus in northern Mexico on Saturday, leaving at least 19 people dead and six injured, authorities said.

Officials adjusted the death toll after initially reporting 24 deaths, citing information from first responders.

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Israel’s strikes on Iran reportedly hit air defence systems protecting energy sites

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Strikes also targeted military sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production

Details have emerged suggesting Israel used precision air and drone strikes in its unprecedented attack on Iran this weekend to target air defence systems protecting crucial oil and gas facilities, as well as military sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production.

Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time on Saturday in the latest direct confrontation between the regional enemies, bringing the Middle East another step closer to a full-scale conflagration.

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Scheme to boost French school trips to Britain ‘at risk’ under new UK entry rules

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Trade body for France’s travel industry reportedly writes to UK home secretary over concerns for programme’s future

A scheme designed to boost the numbers of French children able to travel to Britain for school trips is reportedly in peril as a result of an overhaul of entry requirements in the UK.

New rules for French school trips were introduced in December last year after a meeting between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the then UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

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Who is Bidzina Ivanishvili, the shadowy billionaire behind Georgia’s pivot to Russia?

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Country’s wealthiest and most influential figure has guided shift away from the west while cultivating an air of mystery

In the winding streets of ancient Tbilisi, one is ever under his watchful gaze. From a hilltop glass mansion, likened by critics to a Bond villain’s lair, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s wealthiest and most influential figure, has guided the country’s shift away from the west over more than a decade.

With his party’s latest victory in the pivotal parliamentary elections on Saturday, that trajectory appears set to continue for years to come, sparking warnings from opponents that Ivanishvili plans to dismantle Georgia’s fragile three-decade experiment with democracy while blocking any viable path to EU integration.

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Man dies while trying to cross Channel to UK

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Forty-year-old has cardiac arrest after boat carrying 50 people deflates shortly after leaving France

A 40-year-old man died on Sunday trying to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK.

According to the prefecture in Calais, the man was of Indian heritage and had a cardiac arrest after the boat he was in with about 50 other men, women and children deflated minutes after leaving the French shore.

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Iran says it will respond ‘appropriately’ to Israeli strikes but does not seek war

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It is unclear whether Iran is mulling direct military response as foreign minister calls for UN security council meeting

Iran’s leadership has said it is weighing a response to this weekend’s Israeli airstrikes, as the country called on the UN security council to meet on Monday.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Tehran was not looking for a war but would respond “appropriately” to Israel’s strikes.

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Georgia’s ruling pro-Russia party retains power in blow to EU aspirations

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OSCE observers say election bore evidence of ‘democratic backsliding’ with reports of intimidation and coercion

Georgia’s ruling party has retained power in a contested parliamentary election in a blow to the country’s long-held aspiration for EU membership, amid accusations of intimidation and coercion of voters.

Georgia’s pro-western opposition refused to concede defeat, accusing the ruling party of a “constitutional coup” and promising to announce protests, setting the stage for a potential political crisis that could further polarise the Caucasus country.

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China vows to take ‘countermeasures’ over US and Taiwan $2bn arms deal

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Package includes Nasams air defence system that Taiwan says will help it in the face of China’s frequent military manoeuvres

China will take “countermeasures” to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government said, lambasting a $2bn arms sale package by the United States to Taiwan.

The Pentagon on Friday said the United States had approved a potential $2bn arms sale package to Taiwan, including the delivery for the first time to the island of an advanced air defence missile system battle-tested in Ukraine, including advanced surface-to-air missile systems and radar. The deal awaits approval by Congress.

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Japan’s new PM in precarious position as country votes in tight election

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Shigeru Ishiba may struggle to win majority, undermining his position as Liberal Democratic party leader

Citizens of Japan will be voting in the country’s tightest election in years on Sunday, with new prime minister Shigeru Ishiba and his juggernaut Liberal Democratic party (LDP) facing potentially their worst result since 2009.

Opinion polls suggest the conservative LDP and its junior coalition partner may fall short of a majority, a result that could deal a knockout blow to Ishiba.

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G7 vows to clamp down on Russia’s oil sanctions evasion

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Group commits to unspecified measures to enforce price cap on Russian exports in response to Ukraine war

Finance ministers of the G7 nations vowed on Saturday to step up efforts to prevent Russia from evading sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.

“We remain committed to taking further initiatives in response to oil price cap violations,” the group said in a statement after a meeting in Washington. Those further steps were not spelled out in detail.

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Nasa astronaut released from hospital after space return

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Unidentified member of team who returned in SpaceX capsule from ISS had been kept for observation

A Nasa astronaut who was briefly hospitalised after returning from space has been released, the space agency said Saturday.

Nasa’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin, were flown to the hospital for additional medical checks on Friday after parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast on board a SpaceX capsule.

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Florida woman found guilty of murder after zipping boyfriend in suitcase

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Sarah Boone was accused of leaving Jorge Torres to die at their home in Winter Park in 2020

A woman accused of leaving her boyfriend to die after he was zipped into a suitcase in their home was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in central Florida.

Four years after Sarah Boone was arrested over the death of Jorge Torres, jurors handed down the verdict against her on Friday evening after deliberating for about 90 minutes. Boone had pleaded not guilty.

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Joe Biden says he hopes latest Israeli strike on Iran will end escalation

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Iran’s military suggests it would prioritise an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and Lebanon over any retaliation

The US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he hopes Israel’s latest strikes on Iran will mark the end of a months-long cycle of escalation, as his administration doubles down on efforts to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza and Lebanon. “I hope this is the end,” he told reporters.

Waves of fighter jets and drones bombed military sites across Iran in an hours-long barrage on Saturday, the first time Israel has openly attacked its erstwhile enemy after decades of shadow warfare.

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Georgia’s ruling party leading in pivotal election ahead of pro-EU opposition

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Results with 70% of precincts counted give Georgian Dream majority in vote seen as crucial to possible EU membership

Georgia’s ruling party is leading in a pivotal parliamentary election widely seen as a make-or-break vote for the country’s long-held aspiration for EU membership.

Early official results, with 70% of precincts counted, showed the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party had won 53% of the vote, the electoral commission said.

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Dozens dead in floods and landslides after tropical storm Trami hits the Philippines

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Rescue workers continue to search for missing after storm brings two months’ rainfall to some areas in 24 hours

The number of dead and missing after tropical storm Trami caused extensive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has exceeded 100, as the president said many areas remained isolated.

Trami blew away from the north-western Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 81 people dead and 34 others missing in one of the south-east Asian archipelago’s deadliest and most destructive storms so far this year, the government’s disaster response agency said. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from previously isolated areas.

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World leaders call for restraint after Israel’s airstrikes on Iran

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US and European states urge Tehran not to respond, while Middle Eastern countries condemn Israeli operation

World leaders have called for restraint after the first open Israeli airstrikes on Iran, after Tehran reiterated that it was “entitled and obligated to defend itself”.

The Israeli air force struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air defence systems, in the early hours of Saturday.

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‘There is no money’: Cuba fears total collapse amid grid failure and financial crisis

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Repeated blackouts leave residents concerned about food, water supply and Cuba’s future

Maria Elena Cárdenas is 76 and lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street.

“You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city.

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Iran mocks Israel’s ‘weak’ attacks as hardliners call for reprisal

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Political elite under pressure from variety of sources, with US urging Iran to step back from the brink

The Iranian government has belittled the scale and effectiveness of the Israeli attack on its military sites, but hardliners in the parliament insisted the strikes breached Iranian red lines and required a swift response, preferably at a time when Israel is already enmeshed in Lebanon and Gaza.

The internal Iranian debate on how to respond to the long-awaited Israeli attack turns on whether to treat Israel’s breach of Iranian national sovereignty as too grave to be ignored, or instead to heed the advice coming from the region and from the US to acknowledge the relatively limited nature of the attack and to step back from the brink by not launching reprisals.

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