Category Archives: World News

Two loggers shot dead with arrows in clash with Indigenous group in Peruvian Amazon

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Two more people missing and one injured after attack by ‘uncontacted’ Mashco Piro in rainforest

At least two loggers have been shot dead with arrows, one has been injured and two more are missing after a confrontation with members of the “uncontacted” Mashco Piro people in the Peruvian Amazon, according to Indigenous activists who have criticised the government for failing to formally recognise and protect all of the isolated people’s territory.

The deadly attack, which occurred last Thursday but was made known only this week, took place a day before the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) suspended for eight months the sustainability certification of a logging company that campaigners have accused of encroaching on the fiercely territorial Indigenous group’s ancestral land.

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Family of British aid worker killed in Gaza call for independent inquiry

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James Kirby was among seven WCK staff killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their marked vehicle in April

The family of James Kirby, a World Central Kitchen aid worker killed in Gaza, have called for an independent investigation into his death and said neither British nor Israeli diplomats had been in touch, even though an internal Israeli inquiry said his death had been a tragic accident.

Kirby was among seven aid workers, including Britons John Chapman and James Henderson, who were killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their clearly marked vehicle on 1 April. The Israeli inquiry led to the dismissal of two officers.

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Russian attack in Ukrainian city of Poltava kills at least 50 people

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy says more than 206 people injured as unconfirmed reports say strike targeted military ceremony

Ukraine has experienced one of the deadliest attacks of the war after a Russian missile strike on the central city of Poltava hit a military training institute and a nearby hospital, killing at least 51 people and injuring more than 200 others.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video address that, according to preliminary information, two ballistic missiles had “partially destroyed” one of the buildings of the Poltava Military Institute of Communications, leaving people under the rubble.

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Benjamin Netanyahu putting his own interests before Israel’s, says Gantz

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Political rival says PM ‘sees himself as the state’ after Netanyahu speech ruling out Gaza ceasefire concessions

Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival, Benny Gantz, has accused the Israeli prime minister of putting his personal interests before those of his country after he again insisted on the need for Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday, a position that has emerged as a key obstacle to a ceasefire deal.

Speaking in Tel Aviv at the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference on Tuesday, the centre-right National Unity party leader said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and “sees himself as the state … this is dangerous,” he said.

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Canada turning away more foreigners amid rise in anti-immigration sentiment

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Ratio of refused visitor visas to approved ones was higher in recent months than any point since height of the pandemic

Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.

According to figures obtained by Reuters, the ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May and June 2024.

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Maduro declares Christmas in October amid Venezuela’s post-election strife

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Authoritarian president moves up holiday celebrations yet again to apparently distract from political crisis

“Whatever happened to Christmas?” Frank Sinatra once asked. In Venezuela, the answer is that it has been brought forward to October.

The country’s strongman president, Nicolás Maduro, made the curious announcement that this year’s festivities would begin in October on Monday, in the midst of a political bleak midwinter for his crisis-stricken land.

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Daughter leaves French court during man’s trial over recruiting dozens to rape wife

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Caroline Darian overwhelmed as details are revealed during trial of father, Dominique Pélicot, and 50 other men

Harrowing details have emerged at the trial of a French man charged with enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife, with their daughter temporarily leaving the courtroom as she became overwhelmed by emotion.

The case against Dominique Pélicot, 71, has horrified France after the allegations were only exposed by chance when he was caught filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.

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Ireland to set up inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by religious orders

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Inquiry to follow preliminary investigation unearthing 2,400 allegations of historic abuse

The Irish government is to set up a statutory commission of inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by Catholic religious orders after a preliminary investigation found almost 2,400 allegations of historic abuse.

The investigation, led by a leading barrister, Mary O’Toole, documented 844 alleged abusers in 308 schools run by 42 religious orders across the Republic of Ireland.

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Ugandan opposition leader shot in leg after police confrontation

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Bobi Wine’s party, the National Unity Platform, said police ‘made an attempt on his life’

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine has been shot in the leg in a confrontation with police just outside the capital, Kampala, his opposition group said.

Photos posted online on Tuesday showed Wine surrounded by followers who yelled that he had been shot in the leg before some supported him into a waiting car.

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Lula says Elon Musk’s wealth does not mean world must accept his ‘far-right free-for-all’

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Brazilian president makes comments after supreme court votes to uphold X ban over refusal to obey court orders

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has said he hopes the crisis surrounding the social network X in Brazil might teach the world that “it isn’t obliged to put up with [Elon] Musk’s far-right free-for-all just because he is rich”.

Lula’s comments to the network CNN Brasil came after the supreme court voted unanimously on Monday to uphold the ban on X, which is now largely inaccessible in one of its biggest global markets.

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What happened to Cathay Pacific’s A350 and how will it affect Rolls-Royce?

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British manufacturer’s share price slumped 6.5% after engines failed on Cathay Pacific flight on Monday

• Cathay Pacific says 15 jets need new part after Rolls-Royce engine problem

An engine failure on a Cathay Pacific flight on Monday has put the spotlight on the British manufacturer Rolls-Royce, which makes and maintains the power plant on the Airbus A350.

As airlines that operate the twin-aisle plane inspect their fleets, investors are trying to establish whether there will be broader implications for Rolls-Royce. The A350, which carries up to 410 passengers, is used mainly on lon-haul routes.

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Daughter of South Africa’s ex-president Zuma to be Eswatini king’s 16th wife

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Engagement of Nomcebo Zuma, 21, to King Mswati, 56, confirmed at annual Umhlanga reed dance

A daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma and the king of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, have become engaged during a traditional ceremony in which Nomcebo Zuma was among hundreds of women and girls dancing for the monarch.

Zuma, 21, appeared on Monday night at the annual reed dance as the liphovela – the royal fiancee or concubine – and will become King Mswati III’s 16th wife.

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Irish prime minister says €336,000 cost for bike shelter is ‘inexcusable’

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Minister requests review of building project for bike shelter at Leinster House in Dublin

Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, has said he is “angry and annoyed” at the “inexcusable” €336,000 cost for a bike shelter at Leinster House in Dublin, the seat of the Irish parliament.

The taoiseach told a news conference that “people can see the benefit of having somewhere to park a bike at a workplace” but what they don’t get is “the extraordinary sum of money” the shelter cost, and neither does he.

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Elle Macpherson refused chemotherapy after secret breast cancer diagnosis

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Supermodel says she is in remission after being diagnosed seven years ago and rejecting traditional medicine

Elle Macpherson has said she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago but is now in remission despite refusing chemotherapy.

The Australian supermodel and actor, who rose to fame in the 1980s, is publishing a memoir – Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself – in which she says she took a holistic approach to the illness, going against the advice of 32 doctors.

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Russia-Ukraine war: More than 4o people killed in Russian missile strike on Poltava, says Zelenskiy – as it happened

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180 more people have been wounded after two ballistic missiles hit Ukrainian city, says president Volodymyr Zelenskiy

A Moscow court sentenced a prominent physicist to 15 years in a penal colony on Tuesday after finding him guilty of “treason” – the latest prison term for a scientist accused of sharing state secrets.

Several high-profile scientists have been arrested in recent years, with at least three detained since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

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Thieves try to steal almost half a tonne of olives as harvest begins in Spain

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Police find group ‘collecting olives in flagrante’ near Seville, with lucrative fruit a tempting target for criminals

Police in southern Spain have thwarted the theft of almost half a tonne of olives as the country’s harvest season begins and the lucrative fruit becomes a tempting target for opportunistic thieves and professional criminal gangs.

The verdeo – or collecting of the green olives – takes place in the early autumn and marks the beginning of the harvest season. As it got under way in Seville province this week, officers from Spain’s Guardia Civil force prevented 465kg (73st 2lbs) of olives from being stolen near the town of Albaida del Aljarafe.

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Emmanuel Macron continues consultations on next PM, weeks after French election – Europe live

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France led by caretaker administration since July snap election

Eric Ciotti, a right-wing politician who had allied himself with the far-right ahead of the elections, has expressed his opposition to Xavier Bertrand.

BFMTV reports that Emmanuel Macron will hold new phone consultations with different political groupings.

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Pope arrives in Indonesia, the first stop on longest tour of his papacy

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Pontiff lands in Jakarta before travelling on to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore over 12 days

Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday to kick off a four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific that will be the longest and farthest of the 87-year-old’s papacy.

The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics touched down in the capital, Jakarta, for a three-day visit devoted to inter-religious ties, and will then travel to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore.

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Netanyahu condemns ‘shameful’ UK suspension of some Israel arms sales

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Israeli PM says move will embolden a genocidal Hamas as British government faces growing backlash

Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the UK government’s decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel, describing it as a shameful decision that would embolden a genocidal Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister said his country was at war to also protect British hostages and vowed the UK measures would not prevent it from winning the conflict in Gaza.

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