Category Archives: World News

El Salvador faces scrutiny for ‘political’ trial of five environmental activists

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UN and legal experts have condemned prosecution of anti-mining campaigners over alleged civil war-era killing

Five environmental activists who helped secure a historic mining ban in El Salvador are facing life imprisonment for an alleged civil war-era crime, in a case that has been condemned by UN and legal experts as baseless and politically motivated.

The trial against Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega, who were arrested in January 2023 for the alleged killing of an army informant in 1989, opened on Tuesday in Sensuntepeque, in the department of Cabañas in northern El Salvador.

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Plan to fingerprint passengers on entry to EU to be delayed again

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France, Germany and the Netherlands have raised concerns over entry-exit system, originally due to launch in 2023

Plans to fingerprint passengers entering the EU from 10 November are to be delayed for a third time after concerns were raised by France, Germany and the Netherlands, it has emerged.

The introduction of the entry-exit system (EES) requiring non-EU citizens to have their fingerprints or photos taken before entering the Schengen area has already been delayed twice.

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‘I hope God gives me the strength to make more movies’: Scorsese addresses retirement rumours

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Director tells press conference he has ‘more films to make’ after long-planned Frank Sinatra biopic and adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s A Life of Jesus both get delayed

Martin Scorsese has denied he is planning to retire, telling a press conference in Italy that he has “more films to make” after reports surfaced in September that two long-planned projects had been postponed.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scorsese, 81, was speaking before an award ceremony in Turin and countered rumours he was no longer making films. “I’m not saying goodbye to cinema at all … I still have more films to make, and I hope God gives me the strength to make them.”

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Chinese stocks suffer worst fall in 27 years over growth concerns

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Investors disappointed after hoped-for policy plans by Beijing to stimulate economy failed to materialise

Chinese stocks have suffered their worst fall in 27 years after efforts by Beijing to stimulate the world’s second-largest economy disappointed investors.

Stock markets in Asia fell sharply after China’s top economic planning authority failed to announce further measures to improve flagging growth.

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Google facing US government attempt to break it up, court filing shows

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Department of Justice examining ‘structural remedies’ to challenge tech corporation’s internet search monopoly

The US government may ask a judge to force the breakup of Google’s business as it attempts to challenge the tech corporation’s monopoly over the internet search market.

The Department of Justice has filed court papers that say it is considering enforcing “structural remedies” that would prevent Google from using some of its products such as Chrome, Android and Play, which the DoJ argues give the company an advantage over rivals.

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Rio Tinto to buy US lithium producer Arcadium in $6.7bn deal

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Acquisition by Anglo-Australian miner comes despite global headwinds in electric car market

Rio Tinto is to buy the US company Arcadium Lithium for $6.7bn (£5.1bn), in a huge bet on the energy transition despite global headwinds in the electric car market.

The Anglo-Australian metals and mining company said it would pay $5.85 a share for the US-based lithium miner. That represents an almost 90% premium to Arcadium’s closing price of $3.08 a share on 3 October, the day before news of a potential deal emerged.

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Women’s health being neglected worldwide, says Melinda French Gates

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Exclusive: Billionaire launches $250m fund to address problem as she warns of growth of ‘maternity care deserts’

Women’s health is being neglected worldwide with “maternity care deserts” more common, millions denied abortions and maternal death rates surging, Melinda French Gates has warned as she launches a $250m (£190m) fund to improve women’s physical and mental health globally.

Despite advances in medicine, women experience “unacceptable” inequities across all aspects of their health, spend more years living with ill health and still face barriers to accessing basic care. Women in rich and poor nations are affected and more than 700 are dying in childbirth each day, French Gates said.

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China to head green energy boom with 60% of new projects in next six years

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IEA says faster clean energy rollout being led by solar power in China with country set to boast half of world’s renewables by 2030

China is expected to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s highly influential renewable energy report found that over the next six years renewable energy projects will roll out at three times the pace of the previous six years, led by the clean energy programmes of China and India.

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Mozambique ruling party likely to win elections despite dissatisfied youth

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Venâncio Mondlane is enthusing young voters in presidential elections but Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo still likely winner

Mozambicans go to the polls on Wednesday in elections that the ruling Frelimo party is expected to win easily, even as an outsider candidate is shaking up the presidential race and winning over young voters in a country where the median age is just 17.

Frelimo has ruled the southern African country since the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1975. For the first time, it is fielding a presidential candidate born after independence, Daniel Chapo, a provincial governor who was relatively unknown until being picked in May as the candidate to succeed the outgoing president, Filipe Nyusi.

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The high life: Kamala Harris cracks open a beer with Stephen Colbert

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Democratic nominee shares a Miller High Life in late-night TV chat, and discusses Trump, Gaza and Vladimir Putin

When they go low, she goes high. Miller High Life to be precise.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, took her election campaign to late night television on Tuesday by cracking open a can of the lager with host Stephen Colbert. The moment set her apart from Joe Biden and Donald Trump – both, famously, teetotallers.

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Fugitive father filmed with children in New Zealand wilderness three years after disappearing

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Pig hunters captured video of Tom Phillips and his three children in camouflage walking in rugged terrain in the Waikato region

A fugitive father and his three children have been spotted together for the first time in nearly three years, along the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into the Waikato wilderness with his children Ember, now 8, Maverick, now 9, and Jayda, now 11, following a dispute with their mother.

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Brazil lifts ban on X after Elon Musk complies with court demands

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Social platform was blocked after tech billionaire failed to name local representatives and pay fines

Brazilians are set to regain access to X after a supreme court judge lifted a ban introduced nearly six weeks ago as a result of Elon Musk’s failure to comply with the South American country’s laws.

X was blocked in Brazil, where it had more than 22 million users, at the end of August in what was the culmination of a months-long arm wrestle between the network’s billionaire owner and the Brazilian supreme court.

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Zelenskyy ‘victory plan’ summit in doubt after Joe Biden pulls out

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US president prepares for arrival of Hurricane Milton as German chancellor says meeting will be rescheduled

Joe Biden has called off a four-day trip to Germany this week that had been intended to culminate in a summit to discuss Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan” for Ukraine.

The White House said on Tuesday evening that the president would stay at home “to oversee preparations for and the response” to Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

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China puts tariffs on EU brandy in escalating trade row with Brussels

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Beijing also considering duties on European petrol cars after EU imposed extra levies on Chinese electric vehicles

China has imposed tariffs on EU brandy imports in an escalating tit-for-tat trade row with Brussels over extra levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

Beijing also said it was considering duties on imported petrol cars from Europe.

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Could Saudi-Iran talks prevent Lebanon from turning into a second Gaza?

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Hezbollah has been a past source of tension between the two countries, but Riyadh wants to improve relations with Tehran

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will meet his counterpart in Saudi Arabia to discuss the growing threat of an Israeli attack on Tehran and what steps, if any, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon can take to secure a ceasefire in the face of growing evidence that the US supports Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah and force it to disarm.

In what is becoming a multifront war, Iran and Saudi Arabia are probably the two key regional players. Araghchi, who has already been to Beirut and Damascus, has been playing his cards close to his chest but he is seen as critical to any decision that Hezbollah needs to step back, regroup and prevent Lebanon from turning into a second Gaza.

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Spanish tennis star Paula Badosa apologises after being accused of racism

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  • Badosa pulled eyes back with chopsticks in photograph
  • ‘I didn’t know this was offensive. I take responsibility’

The Spanish tennis star Paula Badosa has apologised after she was accused of racism over a photo that appeared to show her pulling her eyes back with chopsticks while in China for a series of tournaments.

Following her defeat on Saturday in the semi-finals of the China Open, Badosa’s coach, Pol Toledo, posted the photo on his Instagram, tagging the official China Open account. Comments soon began pouring in, accusing Badosa of racism.

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Hurricane Milton intensifies to category 5 again as Biden warns storm could be worst in over 100 years – as it happened

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National Hurricane Center announces sustained winds of up to 165mph, as US president says his team is doing everything ‘to save lives’. This blog is now closed.

Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book “War” also reveals that Donald Trump kept in touch with Vladimir Putin after his presidency ended, CNN reports.

Citing an aide to the former president, Woodward writes that there have been “maybe as many as seven” calls between the two since Trump left the White House.

But Putin — who infamously isolated himself over fears of Covid — told Trump on a phone call to keep the delivery of the Abbott machines quiet, Woodward reports.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward.

“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!” Biden said earlier this year, as Israel’s invasion of Gaza ground on.

“That fucking Putin … Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.” Those were the president’s thoughts, sometime after Russia invaded Ukraine.

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Israeli military deploys fourth division in Lebanon ground offensive

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Hezbollah acting leader says its military capabilities still ‘fine’ as Israel sends more troops and keeps up airstrikes

Israel has said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division after another night of intense airstrikes across the south and east of the country.

The reservist 146th division was sent to southern Lebanon overnight, hours after Israel announced the mobilisation of a third standing division, meaning the number of troops on the ground is now likely to number 15,000.

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Trump took ‘British naval secrets’ to Mar-a-Lago, says Christopher Steele

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Former UK spy says in new book Trump ‘apparently unauthorizedly’ took secrets with him

Donald Trump took “British naval secrets” to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House, the former UK spy Christopher Steele says in a new book.

“I was reliably informed by impeccable sources that among the classified documents which Trump, apparently unauthorizedly, took with him to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his presidency were British naval secrets, some of the most sensitive ones in our governmental system,” Steele writes.

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Scientists create surgical stitch to aid healing by electrical stimulation

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Researchers in China say their suture can speed up wound healing and reduce risk of infection by producing a charge

The humble stitch plays a crucial role in surgery, holding a gash together while tissues repair. Now scientists have created a type of suture they say can help speed up wound healing and reduce the risk of infection.

Researchers in China have created a suture that when put under strain – as occurs during movement – electrically stimulates the wound.

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