Category Archives: World News

Protection deal for Amazon rainforest in peril as big business turns up heat

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Exclusive: With Brazil’s politicians, agribusiness organisations and global traders piling on the pressure, the highly successful 2006 Soy Moratorium is under threat

One of the cornerstones of Amazon rainforest protection – the Soy Moratorium – is under unprecedented pressure from Brazilian agribusiness organisations, politicians, and global trading companies, the Guardian has learned.

Soy is one of the most widely grown crops in Brazil, and posed a huge deforestation threat to the Amazon rainforest until stakeholders voluntarily agreed to impose a moratorium and no longer source it from the region in 2006.

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French government teeters on brink of collapse as no-confidence vote looms

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Administration of Michel Barnier likely to fall after far-left and far-right opponents table motions

France is staring into the unknown as the minority government of the prime minister, Michel Barnier, faces near-certain defeat in a no-confidence vote that could dramatically intensify the political crisis in one of the EU’s key member states.

If the vote on Wednesday is carried, Barnier’s administration, which took office only in September, would be the first in France to be ousted with a motion of no confidence since 1962. Its fall, at the hands of the far-right and leftwing parties, would be a significant blow to Europe weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

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South Korea’s president lifts martial law in the face of united opposition

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Rightwing president backs down after most serious challenge to country’s democracy since 1980s

South Korea’s rightwing president has been forced to back down after he unexpectedly declared martial law only to face unanimous opposition from the national assembly, in the most serious challenge to the country’s democracy since the 1980s.

President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late on Tuesday amid a dispute with opposition parties he accused of pro-North Korean sympathies and anti-state activities.

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Namibia elects its first female president in disputed elections

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Vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah avoids runoff vote, as win extends Swapo party’s 34-year hold on power

Namibia has elected its first female leader, with Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declared the winner of last week’s presidential election in a result that will extend the ruling Swapo party’s 34-year hold on power.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, the current vice-president, won with 57% of the vote, according to official results, defying predictions that she might be forced into a runoff. Swapo has ruled the country since its independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

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Trudeau meets rivals as he seeks united front in face of Trump tariff threat

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Canadian government scrambles to ward off tariffs as prime minister briefs politicians on meeting with Trump

Canada’s federal government has redoubled its efforts to ward off potentially disastrous tariffs from its closest ally, but provincial leaders have hinted at divergent strategies in response to the protectionist threat from president-elect Donald Trump.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, convened a rare, in-person meeting with his political rivals on Tuesday to brief them on a surprise meeting with Trump at his Florida resort over the weekend.

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South Korea president’s aides offer to resign en masse – as it happened

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The White House has said it is “closely” monitoring the situation in South Korea.

“The administration is in contact with the ROK government and is monitoring the situation closely,” a spokesperson for the national security council said, using the official acronym for the Republic of Korea, where thousands of US troops are based as parts of efforts to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.

All political activities are banned in South Korea following the imposition of martial law on Tuesday and all media will be subject to government monitoring.

All political activities, including those of the national assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, as well as assemblies and demonstrations, are strictly prohibited.

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Experts create controllable gastric balloon to aid weight loss

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Device inflates before eating and contracts afterwards, simulating the effects of having a meal, say scientists

From weight loss jabs to vibrating pills, the obesity crisis has spawned myriad innovations to help people shed pounds.

Now scientists have overhauled the humble gastric balloon – producing a device that both inflates and deflates to keep it effective for longer.

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Trump team signs agreement on background checks for nominees; lawyers push for hush-money case dismissal – as it happened

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Notre Dame Cathedral will reopen in Paris on Saturday with incoming US president Donald Trump set to attend the ceremony marking the resurrection of the Gothic masterpiece five years after a devastating fire.

The Republican confirmed Monday he had accepted an invitation from French president Emmanuel Macron to attend the grand re-opening of the 850-year-old edifice which was nearly lost to flames in April 2019.

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South Korean MPs defy president’s declaration of martial law as crowds gather

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Yoon Suk Yeol says in late-night address that opposition parties have taken parliamentary process hostage

South Korea’s National Assembly has voted to block an attempt by the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to declare martial law, leaving the future of his emergency measure unclear as protesters and armed forces gathered in Seoul.

There was jubilation outside the National Assembly building late on Tuesday night where hundreds of people had gathered to witness armed forces enter the building as lawmakers sat in the legislature to hold an emergency session to block Yoon’s sudden declaration.

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Wolves to lose protection, as EU lowers bar for shooting wildlife

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Downgrading species’ protection status for political gain puts decades of conservation efforts at risk, says WWF

Europe’s wolves will lose their “strict protection” status, alarming conservationists who fear for the survival of an animal brought back from the brink of local extinction.

A committee charged with saving wildlife took the wolf’s protection status down a notch on Tuesday after members voted through a proposal from the European Union that lowers the bar for shooting a wolf.

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Man jailed for life for murder of university student that horrified Italy

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Brutal killing of Giulia Cecchettin, 22, triggered protests across country and cast grim spotlight on femicide in Italy

Filippo Turetta has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder of Giulia Cecchettin, a university student whose brutal killing cast a grim spotlight on femicide in Italy.

Cecchettin, 22, was stabbed more than 70 times before her body was wrapped in black plastic bags and dumped in a ditch close to a lake north of Venice in November last year. Her murder triggered protests across the country.

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Hamas and Fatah agree to create committee to run postwar Gaza Strip

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Two main Palestinian factions agree during talks in Cairo that politically independent technocrats will run territory

Hamas and Fatah – the two main Palestinian factions which have been at odds for almost two decades – have agreed in talks in Cairo to create a committee that will jointly run the postwar Gaza Strip.

While Israel had refused to countenance a “day after” governing scenario involving Hamas or the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, the move nonetheless signifies fresh willingness from Hamas to give up its rule of Gaza and could help advance internationally mediated ceasefire talks.

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Smartphones should carry health warning, Spanish government told

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Report by committee of experts also calls for doctors to ask about screen time during checkups

Smartphones sold in Spain should carry a label warning users about their potential health impacts, experts have told the Spanish government, in a report that calls for doctors to ask about screen time during checkups.

As Spain pushes forward with a draft law to limit children’s exposure to technology, the 50-member committee of experts has also called for minors to have limited exposure to digital devices until they are 13 to mitigate what they see as a public health problem.

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Meloni says Italy aims to protect jobs after CEO of Fiat owner Stellantis quits

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Company is at loggerheads with Italian government, which claims it has not invested enough in the country

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said her government will try to protect jobs as political tensions mount with Fiat maker Stellantis after the abrupt resignation of its chief executive.

Meloni said she would attempt to “defend” employees in the carmaker’s Italian operations in the wake of the surprise exit of Carlos Tavares, its longstanding chief executive, who left after the company said “different views have emerged” between the executive and its board.

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Court rules former Nazi camp guard, 100, can face trial in Germany

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Gregor Formanek is charged with aiding and abetting 3,322 murders at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp

German authorities are pressing for a 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to face trial almost 80 years after the end of the second world war.

The higher regional court in Frankfurt said on Tuesday it had overturned a decision by a lower court under which the suspect had been deemed unfit to stand trial.

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Syrian insurgents advance on Hama city after capturing Aleppo

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Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad in ‘violent confrontations’ with armed groups in Hama, according to reports

Syrian insurgents fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched attacks in the central province of Hama, threatening to cut off government troops from a key route linking the capital, Damascus, with rebel-held Aleppo.

The army was engaging in “violent confrontations” with armed groups in Hama, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

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Middle East crisis: Israel will not differentiate between Lebanon and Hezbollah if ceasefire collapses, defence minister Katz says – as it happened

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Israel Katz says Israel will no longer offer Lebanon an exemption and will enforce ‘maximum impact and zero tolerance’

Israeli media reports that the cabinet is set to meet in the coastal city of Nahariya on Tuesday, a symbolic show of renewed security in the north after the ceasefire deal with Lebanon came into effect.

The move has received some criticism, however, with Hebrew news site Ynet reporting that the heads of local authorities in the north of Israel are angry that they have not been invited to participate.

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Unknown disease kills 143 people in south-west DRC, local authorities say

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Infected people described as having flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches

An unknown disease killed 143 people in a south-west province of Democratic Republic of the Congo in November, local authorities told Reuters.

Infected people had flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches, Remy Saki, the deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, the provincial minister of health, said on Monday.

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Health services across Idlib ‘no longer functioning’, say Syrian doctors

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Airstrikes on the city’s hospitals have led to death of at least two patients as well as the evacuation of medics and those being treated

Health services are no longer functioning in the Syrian city of Idlib after a series of airstrikes on key hospitals damaged intensive care units and specialised services, doctors said.

At least two intensive care patients have died because of power and oxygen shortages caused by the airstrikes, according to the rescue group White Helmets, and hospitals have had to evacuate patients or move them into basements.

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On the Grenadian island of Carriacou, even the dead are now climate victims

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As ICJ hears landmark climate case, Grenada’s PM says vulnerable nations expect a long, hard fight for aid

It’s a macabre picture: tombs, headstones and wreaths, lovingly selected by family members, floating into the oblivion of the ocean, and with them the remains of loved ones uprooted from their final resting place. Some are dragged back to land, washed up on beaches on the Grenadian island of Carriacou, transforming the beautiful Caribbean shoreline into a chaotic graveyard.

This disturbing reality, says Grenada’s prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, is a poignant example of the gravity of the climate crisis and its impact on his country.

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