Category Archives: World News

Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against contested election results

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Mood among protesters is one of deflation as some say Georgian Dream has already won

Thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets in the capital, Tbilisi, to rally against the results of a contested weekend parliamentary election in which the increasingly anti-western governing party was declared victorious amid reports of irregularities and voter intimidation.

The demonstration outside the parliament in the city centre was organised by the country’s pro-western opposition, which has refused to concede defeat and has accused the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party of election rigging.

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Indonesia blocks Apple iPhone 16 sales over lack of investment

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Marketing and sale of model prohibited after tech giant fails to meet rule 40% of phones be made from local parts

Indonesia has prohibited the marketing and sale of the iPhone 16 model over Apple’s failure to meet local investment regulations, according to its industry ministry.

South-east Asia’s biggest economy has a young, tech-savvy population with more than 100 million people under the age of 30, but Apple still does not have an official store in the country, forcing those who want its products to buy from resale platforms.

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Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner and Arundhati Roy call for boycott of Israeli cultural institutions

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The authors are among 1,000 books industry figures pledging not to work with any publishers, festivals or publications ‘complicit in violating Palestinian rights’

Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy and Rachel Kushner are among more than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals who have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.

Signatories to the pledge say they will not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights”, including operating “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid or genocide”.

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Portuguese far-right leader criticised over police shooting comments

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Complaint filed against André Ventura and two Chega colleagues for statements about fatal shooting of black man

Former politicians, musicians and lawyers from across Portugal have filed a criminal complaint against the leader of the far-right Chega party over “false or biased” statements made after a fatal police shooting of a black man.

For the past week, Portugal has been reeling from the death of Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef originally from Cape Verde. An official police statement initially said Moniz had fled, crashed a car and brandished a knife before an officer opened fire.

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Gérard Depardieu sexual assault trial postponed after actor’s no-show

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Paris trial rescheduled for March 2025 after 75-year-old actor fails to appear in court, pleading ill health

The trial of Gérard Depardieu on sexual assault charges was postponed until next year after the actor failed to appear in court on Monday, saying he was unwell.

His lawyer Jérémie Assous had said the 75-year-old was “extremely affected” by ill health and that he had asked for the proceedings to be delayed until he could attend in person.

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Israeli prison staff accused of assaulting Marwan Barghouti

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Prominent Palestinian detainee, a former high-ranking member of Fatah party, attacked in his cell, say rights groups

Palestinian prisoner rights organisations have accused Israeli prison authorities of “brutally assaulting” Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody.

Prison staff assaulted Barghouti in his solitary confinement cell at Megiddo prison in northern Israel on 9 September, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club and a support group for Barghouti said in statements.

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London conference hears UK and Israeli criticism of conduct of Gaza war

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Speakers at event call for commitment to a two-state solution and urge Labour government to do more

Criticism of the Israeli government and calls for tolerance and a commitment to a two-state solution were the major themes of an event in London on Sunday organised by the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The conference, titled Israel After October 7th: Allied or Alone?, featured speakers from across Israeli and UK politics, academia and media. It served in part to show the extent to which some members of the Jewish diaspora have been traumatised not just by the horrors of 7 October but also the response of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

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Hedgehogs ‘near threatened’ on red list after 30% decline over past decade

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The mammals were once common across Europe but urban development has pushed them towards extinction

Hedgehogs are now listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list after a decline in numbers of at least 30% over the past decade across much of their range.

While hedgehogs were once common across Europe, and were until now listed as of “least concern” on the red list, they are being pushed towards extinction by urban development, intensive farming and roads, which have fragmented their habitat.

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Uruguay presidential election heads to runoff with center-left candidate in lead

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Yamandú Orsi came out ahead of two conservative rivals as voters rejected a controversial pension reform plan

Uruguay is heading for a tight presidential election runoff next month after a center-left candidate came out ahead of two candidates who split the conservative vote in Sunday’s first round.

Voters also rejected a controversial pension reform plan in one of two plebiscites.

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Sudan militia accused of mass killings and sexual violence as attacks escalate

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Experts fear reports of 124 dead in attack on villages south of Khartoum are significant underestimation

Sudanese militia have been accused of killings, sexual violence, looting and arson during eight days of attacks on villages south of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

The UN said there were reports of “gross human rights abuses” linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, which has escalated attacks on civilians in el-Gezira state since the area’s key commander was reported to have defected to government forces on 20 October.

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Duterte tells Philippines ‘war on drugs’ inquiry he kept a death squad

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Ex-president says he kept criminals to kill other criminals while mayor and offers no apologies at hearing investigating crackdowns

The former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has told a senate inquiry into drug killings under his leadership that he kept a “death squad” of criminals to kill other criminals while serving as a mayor.

The 79-year-old, making his first public appearance on Monday since his term ended in 2022, said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for his presidency, during which as many as 30,000 people were killed in a “war on drugs”.

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China’s kindergarten numbers shrink as policymakers struggle to arrest falling birthrate

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Various measures designed to encourage people to have more children have had limited success

The number of kindergartens in China fell by more than 5% last year, the second year in a row that preschool institutions were in decline, reflecting the country’s falling birthrate.

In 2023, there were 274,400 kindergartens across China, down from 289,200 in 2022, according to a Ministry of Education statistical bulletin published last week.

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Evo Morales accuses Bolivian government of trying to kill him

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Ex-leader implicates former ally Luis Arce after his vehicle hit by gunfire amid rising unrest in country

Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales has accused the government of his one-time ally Luis Arce of trying to kill him after his car was struck by bullets in an early-morning ambush on Sunday, threatening to ignite a political crisis in the Andean nation.

Morales, whose supporters have been organising road blockades for weeks to support the legally embattled former president, posted a video on Facebook that showed him in the front passenger seat and bullet holes in the car’s windshield.

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Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 70 as UN chief calls civilians’ plight ‘unbearable’

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One person killed as truck rams into bus stop in Israel, and Benjamin Netanyahu heckled at memorial event

Approximately 70 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past day, health officials in Gaza said, as Israel’s renewed campaign in the north of the strip shows no sign of slowing despite the revival of ceasefire talks after a three-month-long hiatus.

Separately, one person was killed when a truck rammed into a bus stop in Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday, in what Israeli police are treating as a suspected terrorist attack. About 40 people were injured to varying degrees, some seriously, and were taken to nearby hospitals, police said.

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Georgia’s pro-EU opposition calls for protest over ‘rigged’ election result

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Pro-western president Salome Zourabichvili claims country has fallen victim to ‘Russian special operation’

Georgia’s pro-western opposition has called on the country to protest on Monday against the disputed parliamentary victory of the ruling, Russia-aligned Georgian Dream (GD) party.

GD retained power in Saturday’s pivotal election that dealt a significant blow to the country’s long-held aspirations for EU membership, amid allegations of voter intimidation and coercion.

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Cutting off Unrwa would deeply harm Israel’s reputation, says UK minister

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Hamish Falconer says legislation under consideration by Knesset is ‘neither in Israel’s interest nor realistic’

Israel’s reputation as a democracy would be “deeply harmed” if the Knesset pressed ahead with bills this week that would end all Israeli government cooperation with the Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, the UK’s Middle East minister has said.

Hamish Falconer said such a move at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was catastrophic and worsening would “neither be in Israel’s interest or realistic”.

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Remains of man whose death was recorded in 1197 saga uncovered in Norway

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Researchers say skeleton retrieved from well is likely to be that of man ‘cast headfirst’ into it by besiegers of castle

In 1197, an ancient saga relates, a body was flung into a well by the besiegers of Sverresborg castle outside Nidaros, now the central Norwegian city of Trondheim. More than 800 years later, scientists think they may have found him.

“We can never be 100% sure that the remains in the well are those of the man described in the saga,” said Michael Martin of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, a co-author of the study published in the journal iScience.

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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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