Category Archives: World News

Detained asylum seekers given Home Office booklet saying Rwanda is ‘generally safe’

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Glossy promotional leaflet handed out to asylum seekers detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy

Asylum seekers who have been detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy are being handed a colourful promotional document entitled: “I’m being relocated to Rwanda. What does it mean to me?”

The news came as the government faced a second legal challenge over the prime minister’s £500m policy and it emerged that dozens of asylum seekers were being forcibly taken to detention centres.

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Israelis voice sadness and defiance over Gaza protests on US campuses

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People in Jerusalem express little sympathy with anti-war demonstrators, with some accusing them of hatred for Israel

At the Jerusalem theatre on Thursday night, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks of pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses reached a tumultuous climax 6,000 miles away.

The noisy demonstrations have been closely followed in Israel, reported by major media and discussed by prominent public figures.

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Quebec premier says police should dismantle pro-Palestinian student camp

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François Legault advocates removal of week-long demonstration at Montreal’s McGill University: ‘The encampment is illegal’

Quebec’s premier has said police should begin dismantling an “illegal” week-long pro-Palestinian encampment at Montreal’s McGill University, as students at Canada’s largest universities ramp up demands that the schools sever relationships with groups linked to Israel.

“The encampment is illegal,” François Legault told reporters. “The law must be respected, so I expect the police to dismantle these illegal campsites, which is what McGill has requested.”

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Germany summons Russian envoy over 2023 cyber-attacks

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Investigation finds hacker group linked to Russian intelligence responsible for attacks targeting politicians and defence sector

Germany has summoned a top Russian envoy over a series of cyber-attacks targeting members of the governing Social Democrats and its defence and technology sector.

The 2023 attacks, in which several websites were knocked offline in apparent response to Berlin’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine, have been blamed on a hacker group linked to Russian military intelligence.

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‘We’re infantilised or demonised’: French students criticise Gaza protests crackdown

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University students air frustration that sit-ins motivated by peace are being shut down instead of heeded

Jack, 22, a student in public administration, was dragged out of his university building by the arms and legs on Friday, as police forcibly removed several dozen students who had been occupying Paris’s Sciences Po university overnight in a protest against civilian deaths in Gaza.

“We’ll keep going,” said the French-American student in his final year at the prestigious political science school, whose alumni include the president, Emmanuel Macron. “This is about speaking out against a genocide, it’s an international movement. We occupied the building peacefully.”

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Dog gone: Italy bans ‘puppy yoga’ after reports of alleged mistreatment

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Health ministry rules that only adult dogs can be used for ‘animal assisted’ wellbeing activities

Passionate yogis in Italy have been taking their downward dog to the next level in studios offering “puppy yoga” classes.

But the health ministry has curtailed the growing trend after banning the use of pups to protect the animals’ health and welfare.

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Mining industry braces for multi-billion pound Anglo American bidding war

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Glencore understood to be considering takeover offer while BHP could move again after initial rejection

The global mining industry is braced for a multi-billion pound bidding war for Anglo American amid growing speculation that mining companies are preparing rival bids.

The Australian miner BHP is understood to have sent senior executives to Anglo’s base in South Africa to meet key company stakeholders after an initial offer of £31bn was rebuffed by Anglo’s board last week.

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Panama to elect new president against backdrop of social unrest and drought

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Country to vote on Sunday after supreme court allows leading presidential contender to remain in the race

Panama’s supreme court has rejected a move to disqualify the candidacy of the leading presidential contender, José Raúl Mulino, two days before the country’s election on Sunday.

The ruling early on Friday removes an element of uncertainty from the vote, but the country remains racked by social discontent, against a backdrop of mass protests, economic slowdown, drought in the Panama Canal and the closure of one of the world’s largest copper mines.

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US confirms Russian forces deployed to same Niger airbase as American troops

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Russians in separate compound and do not have access to US forces or equipment, says defence secretary

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has confirmed Russian security forces have been deployed to the same airbase as American troops in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.

It remains unclear when the Russian troops, who have been in Niger for weeks, were deployed to Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani international airport in Niamey. It is also unclear how many troops are on the ground.

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Experts condemn US tobacco firm’s sponsorship of doctor training as ‘grotesque’

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Philip Morris International has supported non-smoking programmes around the world ‘to advance its own interests’, say health professionals

The tobacco company Philip Morris has sponsored courses for doctors in multiple countries, in what critics have called a “grotesque” strategy.

Medical education programmes on quitting smoking and harm reduction in South Africa, the Middle East and the US have been supported by Philip Morris International (PMI) or its regional subsidiaries, according to advertising material seen by the Guardian.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Lithuania hits out at Russia ‘disinformation’ over spy claims – as it happened

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Russia had said that a Ukrainian agent had entered country from Lithuania with the aim of targeting a fuel facility

Ukraine’s president and foreign minister has pressed British foreign secretary David Cameron to accelerate the delivery of promised military aid to Kyiv, as Russia heaps battlefield pressure on depleted Ukrainian forces in the third year of war.

“It is important that the weapons included in the UK support package announced last week arrive as soon as possible,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the social platform X, as Cameron visited Kyiv on Thursday.

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Trump trial to continue after vivid testimony from Stormy Daniels lawyer

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Court hears that Keith Davidson texted National Enquirer editor on night of Trump’s 2016 victory to say ‘What have we done?’

Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial enters its 11th day following raucous testimony about his increasingly unhinged underling and the tawdry business of celebrity sex scandals.

Keith Davidson, the attorney representing Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, returned to the witness stand on Thursday. Davidson was grilled on his communications with former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard around the 2016 election and Michael Cohen, Trump’s then fixer.

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UK whistleblower ‘morally compelled’ to speak out on Afghan withdrawal

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Civil servant Josie Stewart spoke to media after government presented ‘dishonest account’, tribunal told

A Foreign Office civil servant felt “morally compelled” to speak to the media about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the government presented a “dishonest account” of what happened, an employment tribunal has heard.

Josie Stewart was sacked by the Foreign Office (FCDO) after blowing the whistle on the failures of the withdrawal from Kabul and disclosing emails indicating Boris Johnson’s involvement in an “outrageous” decision to prioritise the evacuation of staff from the animal charity Nowzad, despite his denials.

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Ruined centuries-old town re-emerges as Philippines dam dries up during heatwave

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After a long spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and foundations at Pantabangan

Ruins of a centuries-old town have emerged at a dam parched by drought in the northern Philippines.

After a prolonged spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels in the dam have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and the foundations of structures from the 300-year-old town in Nueva Ecija province.

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Text shows Stormy Daniels lawyer’s shock at Trump win in 2016: ‘What have we done?’

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Keith Davidson gives colorful testimony at former president’s hush-money trial about how agreements came together in 2016

As Donald Trump’s presidential victory became clearer and clearer on election night in 2016, an attorney who brokered hush-money payments to bury the then candidate’s alleged sexual liaisons seemed shocked that his efforts had worked, texting his longtime confidant: “What have we done?”

So went the second day of testimony from Keith Davidson – who represented alleged Trump paramours Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal – in the ex-president’s criminal trial. The friend in question was Dylan Howard, then the editor of the National Enquirer. Prosecutors allege that the tabloid veteran kept Trump’s lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, apprised of damaging information about his boss.

This article was amended on 2 May 2024 to correct the amount of money that Davidson said in testimony that Michael Cohen sent to Stormy Daniels.

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David Cameron commits £3bn a year in aid to Ukraine ‘for as long as necessary’

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The foreign secretary called the conflict ‘the challenge of our generation’ after making second trip to Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy

The UK has promised £3bn a year “for as long as it is necessary” to help Ukraine, David Cameron said on Thursday as he made his second visit to Kyiv since becoming UK foreign secretary.

He also said he had no objection if weapons supplied by the UK were used to strike inside Russia.

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Turkey stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza

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Israeli foreign minister strongly criticises decision by President Erdoğan, accusing him of acting like a ‘dictator’

Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister.

“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday.

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Russian troops enter airbase in Niger where US soldiers are stationed

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Move comes after west African country’s military government had told US to withdraw its troops

Russian military personnel have entered an airbase in Niger that is hosting American troops, after a decision by Niger’s junta to expel US forces from the country.

The military officers ruling the west African country have told the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington’s fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

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Residents flee as Haitian gangs launch new gun and arson attacks in capital

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Hundreds have fled their homes as violence once again gripped Port-au-Prince after new prime minister sworn in last week

Gunmen have launched a string of fresh attacks in Port-au-Prince, burning homes and exchanging gunfire with police for hours in one of the biggest outbreaks of violence since Haiti’s new prime minister was announced.

The attacks, which forced hundreds to flee their homes, began late on Wednesday in neighborhoods including Solino and Delmas 18, 20 and 24, south-west of the main international airport, which has remained closed for nearly two months.

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Gazprom slumps to first annual loss in 22 years as trade with Europe hit

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£5.5bn loss in 2023 comes after gas sales more than halved following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom has plunged to its first annual loss in more than 20 years, after gas sales more than halved following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The company made a net loss of 629bn roubles (£5.5bn) in 2023 amid dwindling gas trade with Europe, once Gazprom’s main sales market, as a result of sanctions and the throttling of pipelines to the continent.

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