Category Archives: World News

Five charged over alleged plot to bribe Minnesota juror with $120,000 in cash

Posted on by

Prosecutors say scheme – ‘like something out of a mob movie’ – was hatched to stop conviction in Covid fraud case

Five people have been charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest Covid-related fraud cases, the US attorney’s office and the FBI announced on Wednesday.

Court documents made public reveal an extravagant scheme in which the accused researched the juror’s personal information on social media, surveilled her, tracked her daily habits and bought a GPS device to install on her car. Authorities believe the defendants targeted the woman, known as juror 52, because she was the youngest and they believed her to be the only person of color on the panel.

Continue reading...

Fossil of Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome hints at early humans’ compassion

Posted on by

Skull anatomy shows the boy or girl would have been severely disabled, yet survived until the age of six

A Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome survived until at least the age of six, according to a new study whose findings hint at compassionate caregiving among the extinct, archaic human species.

Recent examination of a human fossil unearthed at the Cova Negra archaeological site in the Spanish province of Valencia found traits in the inner-ear anatomy which indicated Down syndrome, in the earliest-known evidence of the genetic condition.

Continue reading...

Film and TV crew members reach deal with Hollywood studios to avert strike

Posted on by

Iatse union agrees tentative three-year deal with Disney, Netflix and others over pay, AI protections and residuals

The union that represents film and television crews has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios that will stave off a major strike – a welcome development after the industry saw significant labor turmoil last year.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Iatse) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced on Tuesday they had a tentative three-year agreement that will affect about 50,000 crew members.

Continue reading...

Sudan’s warring factions using starvation as weapon, experts say

Posted on by

Special rapporteurs working for UN warn famine is imminent and over 25 million people need urgent help

Human rights experts working for the United Nations have accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings of imminent famine in the African country.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

Continue reading...

Closed-door trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

Posted on by

WSJ reporter faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on spying charges US says are politically motivated

A Russian court has begun a closed-door trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges that he, his employer and the US government have all described as politically motivated.

Gershkovich appeared in a courtroom in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, his head shaven by prison authorities, after being transferred from the Moscow jail where has been held since March 2023.

Continue reading...

Police bust gang using luxury cars to smuggle Chinese migrants into Italy

Posted on by

Victims were made to pose as well off but once in Europe they were confined to workplaces and severely exploited

Italian police have busted a trafficking network that used luxury cars to smuggle Chinese migrants into Italy before confiscating their passports and treating them like enslaved people.

The smugglers had the migrants pose as “unsuspecting Asian citizens, well-dressed, with little luggage, travelling in powerful and expensive cars driven by Chinese citizens who had lived in Italy for years and spoke Italian”, police said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Giorgia Meloni rails against pro-Europe parties’ deal on top commission jobs

Posted on by

Italian PM says deal that cut out her Eurosceptic block ignores EU’s rightward shift

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has condemned a deal to divide the EU’s top jobs between mainstream pro-European parties, saying it ignored the bloc’s rightward shift.

In an angry speech to the Italian parliament, Meloni said the top jobs deal reflected a view that “citizens are not mature enough to make certain decisions” and had been taken by those who believe “that oligarchy is basically the only acceptable form of democracy”.

Continue reading...

Toronto residents flood city lotteries amid ‘impossibly unaffordable’ housing

Posted on by

Demand far outstripped supply for six lotteries amid rising rents in city with scarcity of affordable options

Toronto inhabitants fed up with rising rents are flooding city-run lotteries for affordable housing in new developments, but the chance of being selected for a subsidized unit is often less than 1%.

One new development in the city’s West End recently offered a random public draw to allocate 135 units with rents pegged to income ceilings that would cost hundreds of dollars less than market rates. Nearly 12,500 people entered the draw for the homes aimed at middle-income earners in the Galleria on the Park development.

Continue reading...

Kenyan president scraps bill to raise taxes after violent protests leave 23 dead

Posted on by

William Ruto says he has listened to the people of Kenya, who gathered across the country to oppose the law

The Kenyan president, William Ruto, has withdrawn a bill to raise taxes a day after violent protests erupted around the country following its approval by parliament.

Ruto’s surprise decision not to sign the finance bill came after violent clashes between police and protesters at the Kenyan assembly and across the country left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.

Continue reading...

Human rights group urges UK financial regulator to block Shein’s LSE flotation

Posted on by

Campaigners allege Uyghur people used as forced labour at some of fast-fashion retailer’s cotton suppliers in China

A human rights group has urged Britain’s financial regulator to block the Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein’s planned blockbuster flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

Stop Uyghur Genocide, a UK-based human rights charity that alleges minority Uyghur people are being used as forced labour at some of Shein’s cotton suppliers in China’s north-western Xinjiang region, has begun a legal campaign against the planned stock market listing.

Continue reading...

Labor group praises Fatima Payman for upholding party ‘principles and policy’ to cross floor

Posted on by

Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine hit out at federal government’s stance as ‘weakening’ commitment to Palestinian statehood

Labor Friends of Palestine have praised Fatima Payman’s decision to cross the floor to support Palestinian statehood as “entirely consistent with Labor principles and policy” and rejected federal Labor’s stance as a “weakening” of its commitment on the issue.

After Anthony Albanese temporarily suspended the senator from caucus, the group wrote to Payman declaring that she had “the support of thousands of rank-and-file ALP members”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Julian Assange: Stella Assange says WikiLeaks founder needs time to ‘let our family be a family’ before speaking publicly – as it happened

Posted on by

Stella Assange says husband needs time to recuperate after arriving in Australia following plea deal with US

Here is a video of the moment Julian Assange arrived at court in Saipan alongside Australia’s ambassador to the US and former prime minister, Kevin Rudd:

On former US vice-president Mike Pence’s views that Julian Assange should be “prosecuted to the full extent of the law”, Australian deputy prime minister Richard Marles said:

I don’t think it serves to go over Mr Assange’s actions many, many years ago, other than to observe that since then, Mr Assange has been incarcerated for many, many years.

And that’s really the point that we are making here.

Continue reading...

Warnings over lethal and contagious strain of mpox as children in DRC die

Posted on by

Alarm over high mortality and miscarriage rates as mutated virus spreads in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

A dangerous strain of mpox that is killing children and causing miscarriages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most transmissible yet and could spread internationally, scientists have warned.

The virus appears to be spreading from person to person via both sexual and non-sexual contact, in places ranging from brothels to schools.

Continue reading...

EU braces for the nightmare scenario- a eurosceptic France

Posted on by

National Rally win may hamper bloc’s ability to get things done and pose existential question over French role

On the night her party swept to a crushing victory in European elections and France’s president triggered a political earthquake by dissolving parliament, Marine Le Pen, the longtime leader of the National Rally (RN), could not have been much clearer.

“Tonight’s message – including the dissolution – is also addressed to the leaders in Brussels,” she said. “This great victory for patriotic movements is in alignment with the direction of history … We are ready to take power if the people so wish.”

Continue reading...

Jay Slater family fear online ‘noise’ may impede Tenerife search mission

Posted on by

Attempt to find British teenager now in its second week as groundless theories circulate about his disappearance

As the search for Jay Slater, the British teenager who went missing while on holiday in Tenerife, enters its second week Spanish rescuers continue to comb the rugged mountain terrain where he was last seen for clues.

Staff and volunteers from the local police, fire brigade and civil defence force have been using dogs, drones and helicopters to hunt for the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire.

Continue reading...

Progressive Jamaal Bowman loses New York House Democratic primary

Posted on by

Congressman Bowman defeated by George Latimer, backed by pro-Israel groups in most expensive House primary ever

Jamaal Bowman, the progressive Democratic congressman whose criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza made him a target for pro-Israel lobbying groups, lost his primary race on Tuesday night.

The Democratic primary in New York’s 16th district became the most expensive House primary in history after Bowman was challenged by George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist.

Continue reading...

Haitians wary as Kenyan police arrive on latest US-backed mission

Posted on by

First contingent of multinational team lands in operation to end chaos in gang-controlled country

Hundreds of Kenyan police officers have arrived in Haiti as part of a US-backed security intervention aiming to rescue the Caribbean country from a criminal insurrection that toppled the prime minister and brought death and chaos to the streets.

About 400 members of the Kenya-led multinational police operation stepped off a Kenyan Airways plane at Port-au-Prince’s international airport on Tuesday. The US president, Joe Biden, hailed their arrival as the start of “an effort that will bring much-needed relief to Haitians”.

Continue reading...

From a plea deal to a 2am prison call: how Julian Assange finally gained freedom

Posted on by

A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder

• Julian Assange released from prison – live updates

It was, as his friends described it, the “last kick of the British establishment”. At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.

It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms.

Continue reading...

Julian Assange en route to US Pacific island after accepting US plea deal – live

Posted on by

Julian Assange to be sentenced at a hearing on the US territory island of Saipan Wednesday; WikiLeaks founder’s wife says he will seek a US pardon

The plea agreement comes months after the US president, Joe Biden, said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the US push to prosecute Assange.

Assange was indicted during the former president Donald Trump’s administration over WikiLeaks’ mass release of secret US documents, which were leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst who was also prosecuted under the Espionage Act.

Continue reading...

EU centrists’ deal paves way for von der Leyen to return as commission president

Posted on by

Agreement between three pro-European blocks would make Estonian PM top diplomat and former Portuguese PM council president

Ursula von der Leyen looks likely to clinch the nomination for a second term as European Commission president under a deal by EU leaders from the three pro-European political groups that sews up the bloc’s top jobs.

According to the agreement made by the centre-right European People’s party (EPP), the Socialists and the Liberals, von der Leyen will be nominated for a second five-year mandate at the head of the EU executive at a Brussels summit on Thursday.

Continue reading...