Category Archives: World News

Ursula von der Leyen on track to keep job after EU elections boost

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Macron’s move to call snap elections also seen as helping commission president’s bid for second term

Ursula von der Leyen is on track to remain for a second term as president of the European Commission, as EU leaders meet on Monday for a first discussion on divvying up the bloc’s top jobs.

The EU’s 27 heads of state and government will gather for dinner in Brussels in their first group meeting since European elections last week boosted nationalist and far-right parties and triggered Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections in France.

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‘We need the world to wake up’: Sudan facing world’s deadliest famine in 40 years

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Millions face disaster as Sudanese army and RSF accused of using food access as a weapon in on-going war

Sudan is facing a famine that could become worse than any the world has seen since Ethiopia 40 years ago, US officials have warned, as aid deliveries continue to be blocked by the warring armies but arms supplies to both sides continue to flow in.

With much of the world’s attention focused on Gaza, the scene of another human-made famine, Sudan is already the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and is slipping towards a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions, with far less media coverage and global concern. A UN humanitarian appeal for the country has received only 16% of the funds it needs.

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‘Youth is the future’: gen Z should be celebrated, says Prada

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The house’s menswear show drew on youthful spirit, while Fendi got ready to mark 100 years with a new crest

They have been been ridiculed as snowflakes and “too woke” by some, but Prada’s co-creative designers think gen Z are a generation to be celebrated.

Speaking backstage after their latest menswear show, which took place on Sunday afternoon at the Prada Foundation in Milan, Miuccia Prada said: “Youth is the future. It is hope. We wanted to do something that would express youthful optimism because the times are so bad.”

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Key global powers fail to sign up to Ukraine peace summit communique

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Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia among countries not to endorse text supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity

Key regional powers including Brazil, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia have failed to sign up to a joint communique issued at the end of a Ukraine peace conference in which more than 80 countries and international organisations endorsed its territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s invasion.

Speaking at the end of the two-day summit in Switzerland, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed the “first steps toward peace” but acknowledged that not all attenders had come onboard. “Unfortunately there are people who are still balancing,” he said, adding that Russia was trying to divide the world.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Saudi Arabia, India and South Africa among countries opting out of Ukraine declaration – as it happened

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Nations also including Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and United Arab Emirates did not sign final communique at summit on peace, says Swiss government

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked leaders and officials for attending this weekend’s peace summit as today’s talks get under way.

“A united world is a world of peace, a world that knows how to do the right thing. I thank everyone who worked for this day – every leader, all the teams and advisors of the leaders, all the countries. Our unity here proves that the very idea of international law remains alive and effective,” Zelenskiy said in a tweet.

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US braces for ‘dangerous’ conditions as heatwave to hit midwest and north-east

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Meteorologists warn that heat will spread east through the week, with ‘heat dome’ expected to trap high temperatures

Millions of Americans are facing “dangerously hot conditions”, the National Weather Service said, with a heatwave set to hit the midwest and north-east US from Monday.

Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania were all under heat warnings starting Monday, with alerts in place until Friday evening. Meteorologists warned that the heat will spread east through the week, with a “heat dome” expected to trap high temperatures across New York, Washington DC and Boston.

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Macron calling snap elections could leave France in chaos, Sarkozy warns

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Ex-president says decision to hold vote after upheaval of European parliamentary ballot is ‘major risk’ for country

Emmanuel Macron has been warned by a former French president that his decision to call snap elections could plunge France into chaos, as his centrist party languishes third in opinion polls, far behind the far-right National Rally.

Nicolas Sarkozy said dissolving the national assembly was “a major risk” for France, “because it could plunge it into chaos, from which it will have the greatest difficulty emerging”.

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Russian special forces kill Islamic State-linked hostage-takers

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Men linked to militant group took two guards hostage at facility in southern city of Rostov

Russian special forces have freed two guards and killed six men linked to Islamic State who had taken them hostage at a detention centre in the southern city of Rostov, the prison service said.

State media said that some of the men had been convicted of terrorism offences and were accused of affiliation with IS, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall in March.

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Israeli military announces daily ‘tactical pause’ in southern Gaza to allow in aid

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Eleven-hour window to allow in aid via Kerem Shalom crossing will take place every day until further notice, military says

The Israeli army has said it will observe a limited daily “tactical pause” along one of the main roads in the Gaza Strip to allow delivery of increased quantities of humanitarian aid, as UN agencies have suspended deliveries from a US-built pier.

The Israel Defense Forces, however, added that the pause should not be seen as a “cessation of hostilities in the southern Gaza Strip”.

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Chinese firm sought to use UK university links to access AI for possible military use

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Exclusive: Revelation of emails to Imperial College scientists comes amid growing concerns about security risk posed by academic tie-ups with China

A Chinese state-owned company sought to use a partnership with a leading British university in order to access AI technology for potential use in “smart military bases”, the Guardian has learned.

Emails show that China’s Jiangsu Automation Research Institute (Jari) discussed deploying software developed by scientists at Imperial College London for military use.

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UK ‘morally incoherent’ for sending arms to Israel and aid to Gaza, says Oxfam chief

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Exclusive: Charity granted permission to intervene after ministers rejected calls to suspend weapon sales

Supplying arms to Israel while simultaneously providing humanitarian aid to Gaza is “intellectually and morally incoherent”, the head of Oxfam GB has said.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 37,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Israel and Hamas have both been accused of breaking international law.

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France elections: unpopular ex-president François Hollande to run for parliament again

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His former Socialist party reacted coolly to move, with one senior figure saying they were ‘devastated’

France’s former Socialist president François Hollande on Saturday said he would run for parliament again, the latest political twist following his successor Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to call snap legislative elections.

Macron’s dissolving of parliament after the French far right’s victory in European parliamentary elections has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics.

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Israel is fighting a war on two fronts. No end is in sight for either one | Peter Beaumont

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Israel’s conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are destined to grind on indefinitely

In 2019, Aviv Kochavi, then the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) chief of staff, delivered a bullish speech. The IDF, he proclaimed, is “all about victory”.

Assessing that the primary threats to Israel’s security were from nonstate actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Kochavi would the following year usher in a new operational doctrine titled “decisive victory”.

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ICC must be allowed to carry out work ‘without intimidation’, say 93 member states

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Joint statement of support for international criminal court issued following revelations of Israeli interference

The international criminal court must be allowed to carry out its work “without intimidation”, a group of 93 states has said in a significant public intervention intended to reinforce support for the judicial body.

In a joint statement issued late on Friday, the large group of ICC member states vowed to defend the institution and “preserve its integrity from any political interference and pressure against the court, its officials and those cooperating with it”.

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Eight Israeli soldiers killed in southern Gaza, military says

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Deaths will likely fuel calls for ceasefire and heighten Israeli public anger over military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox

Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in a blast that engulfed their armoured vehicle in southern Gaza, in the biggest loss of life for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a single incident since January.

The deaths came amid continuing fighting around Rafah in which at least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes.

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US vice-president Kamala Harris announces $1.5bn in Ukraine aid

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Money will go towards repairing country’s energy infrastructure as well as providing humanitarian assistance

US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has pledged more than $1.5bn in aid for Ukraine’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation amid its ongoing war with Russia.

Harris made the announcement at a peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She is expected to address the summit later.

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Russia-Ukraine war: ‘history being made’, says Zelenskiy, as world leaders plot path to peace – as it happened

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This lvie blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Three people were killed and five others injured by Russian shelling in Ulakly village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, local governor Vadym Filashkin wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

He said the village was hit by cluster munitions, adding that administrative buildings, a private house, a shop and eight cars were damaged.

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‘This could end up ugly’: after Macron’s gamble, will the far right seize power in France?

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Marine Le Pen’s party is breaking record high scores across vast areas of the country, polls show, with an increase in its influence inevitable

It is 8pm on Sunday 7 July. Polling stations have just closed after the second round of snap French parliamentary elections – the country’s most momentous ballot in living memory – and the first estimations flash up on the nation’s TV screens.

President Emmanuel Macron has lost his gamble. The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen has more than trebled its tally of deputies in the assemblée nationale to just over 290: an absolute majority. France’s next government will be far right.

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Children trapped in war zones because of UK refusal to ease refugee visa rules

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‘Abject failure’ of family reunion scheme to provide legal route is leaving children at risk of trafficking or even death

Children are being trapped in war zones as a result of “impossible” bureaucratic requirements imposed on one of the few legal routes for asylum seekers, a charity has found.

The government has championed family reunion processes as a means for refugees to safely reunite with loved ones in Britain, but according to a new report by Ramfel, a charity that supports vulnerable migrants, the scheme is “not fit for purpose” and applicants have been abandoned, leaving them at risk of trafficking or even death.

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Dubai influencer fined €1,800 for trespassing on Sardinia’s pink beach

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Authorities caught up with woman alleged to have sailed dinghy to off-limits shore after she posted videos about it

A Dubai-based influencer has been fined €1,800 for trespassing on an off-limits pink-tinged beach in Sardinia before sharing a series of video clips and photos of her escapade on social media.

The woman arrived by dinghy on the shore of Spiaggia Rosa, a beach famous for its pink sand on the tiny Sardinian island of Budelli, allegedly ignoring all the prohibition signs, according to reports in the Italian press.

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