Category Archives: World News

Desert city of Dubai floods as heaviest rainfall in 75 years hits UAE

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City records more than 142mm of rain in a day, about as much as it expects in a year and a half, as highways and malls flooded

Highways and malls have been flooded, schools have been closed, and flights disrupted at one of the world’s busiest airports after the United Arab Emirates experienced what the government described as its largest amount of rainfall in 75 years.

At least one person was killed, a 70-year-old man who police said was swept away in his car in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates.

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Backlash as USC cancels valedictorian’s speech over support for Palestine

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Asna Tabassum says university is ‘succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice’ after decision to scrap speech

The University of Southern California is facing intense backlash for the decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student at the commencement ceremony in May, a decision which the student has criticized as being silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred for her views on human rights.

In a missive to the USC community, the university’s provost, Andrew Guzman, wrote that the Los Angeles university took the unprecedented step of canceling Asna Tabassum’s planned speech because the “alarming tenor” of reactions to her selection as valedictorian – along with “the intensity of feelings” surrounding Israel’s ongoing military strikes in Gaza – had created “substantial risks relating to security”.

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Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation

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Juan Merchan admonishes ex-president for ‘gesturing and speaking in the direction of the juror’ as jury selection continues

Donald Trump met a stern rebuke on Tuesday from the jurist presiding over his criminal hush-money trial, with the judge warning: “I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Trump’s apparent misbehavior did not derail the trial’s progress; seven jurors were picked by day’s end.

A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far

The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump

How will Trump’s trial work?

From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

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Solomon Islands election: voters head to polls that could decide future of China security ties

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Election closely watched for any impact on Pacific country’s relationship with Beijing, while voters focus on struggling health and other services

Solomon Islanders have begun voting in a national election, the first since the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, struck a security pact with China in 2022 and drew the Pacific Islands nation closer to Beijing.

The election outcome will be closely watched by the US, China and Australia for its potential impact on regional security, although Solomon Islands voters will be focused on struggling health services, education and inadequate roads, opposition parties said.

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Ecuador rations power as Andean drought tightens grip

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El Niño weather phenomenon depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants

Ecuador has begun to ration electricity in the country’s main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power.

“We urge Ecuadorians to cut their electricity consumption in this critical week,” the ministry of energy said in a statement late on Monday. “And consider that each kilowatt and each drop of water that are not consumed will help us face this reality.”

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MPs in Georgia agree draft of ‘repressive’ foreign agents bill amid protests

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Legislation is seen as similar to an anti-democratic Russian law and Brussels has said it would undermine hopes of EU membership

Georgian lawmakers have agreed an early draft of a controversial “foreign influence” bill, sparking fresh street protests against the legislation criticised for mirroring a repressive Russian law.

The bill has sparked outrage in Georgia and concern in the west, with many arguing it undermines Georgia’s bid for EU membership.

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Netanyahu aims to trap west into war across Middle East, warns Iranian diplomat

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Iran’s chargé d’affaires in London said his country would respond more severely if Israel attacked it again in ‘another mistake’

Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to trap the west into a total war across the Middle East that would have incalculable consequences for the region and the world, Iran’s top diplomat in the UK has claimed, in his first interview since Tehran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel at the weekend.

Seyed Mehdi Hosseini Matin also warned that if Israel made “another mistake” by launching an attack on Iran, there would be a response from Iran that was stronger, more severe, and administered without a warning like that issued before the weekend attack.

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Middle East conflict risks sharp rise in oil prices, says IMF

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In the UK, anxiety over the crisis after Iran’s missile strike on Israel drives down UK shares

An escalating Middle East conflict risks leading to higher oil prices, a reversal of the recent fall in inflation and a puncturing of the optimistic mood in financial markets, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The Washington-based IMF said it was closely monitoring events in the region after Iran’s missile strike on Israel at the weekend and stressed the possibility that a war between the two countries could lead to higher interest rates.

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Italy passes measures to allow anti-abortion activists to enter abortion clinics

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Opposition parties say women’s rights dealt blow after package approved by Georgia Meloni’s cabinet

Italian opposition parties have said women’s rights in Italy have been dealt a “heavy” blow after parliament passed a measure by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government allowing anti-abortion activists to enter abortion consultation clinics.

The measure forms part of a package of initiatives approved by Meloni’s cabinet that will be funded by the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund, of which Italy is the biggest beneficiary, and was put to the lower house in a confidence vote on Tuesday. The package of measures is expected to comfortably pass in the senate, too.

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Greece becomes first European country to ban bottom trawling in marine parks

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The law will come into force in national parks within two years and in all of the country’s marine protected areas by 2030

Greece has become the first country in Europe to announce a ban on bottom trawling in all of its national marine parks and protected areas.

The country said will spend €780m (£666m) to protect its “diverse and unique marine ecosystems”.

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Vladimir Putin not welcome at French ceremony for 80th anniversary of D-day

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France says Russia can be represented but president will not be invited because of war in Ukraine

Russia will be invited to send representatives to an international ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-day – but not Vladimir Putin, the French organisers have announced.

The Élysée is reported to have accepted that the country should be represented but said its leader is not welcome because of Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy signs new mobilisation law in effort to boost Ukraine’s exhausted forces

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Kyiv brings in higher payments for volunteers and new punishments for draft dodgers

We have more in from Agence France-Presse (AFP) on the German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Beijing to meet China’s president, Xi Jinping (see earlier post at 08.46 for more details).

Xi laid out what state media described as “four principles to prevent the Ukraine crisis from spiralling out of control and to restore peace”.

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Rishi Sunak and Belgian PM criticise mayor’s halting of NatCon conference

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Emir Kir ordered police to close down radical rightwing conference attended by Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage

The UK prime minister has rounded on Belgian authorities for closing down a radical rightwing conference in Brussels that was addressed by British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.

After a day of chaos, claims and recriminations, the decision by a local Belgian mayor to stop the National Conservatives (NatCon) event was also condemned as “unacceptable” by Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo.

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US to impose new sanctions against Iran after its air attack on Israel

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National security adviser Jake Sullivan made the announcement as EU considers similar moves

The US has said it will impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s missile and drone programme as well as the Revolutionary Guard and defence ministry in the next few days, and expects its allies to follow suit, in the wake of Tehran’s large-scale air attack on Israel at the weekend.

The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made the announcement on the same day Germany said it expected concerted EU sanctions, as the allies rushed to punish Iran economically while urging Israel not to launch military reprisals that could ignite an all-out war. Sullivan also said that a regional air defence and early warning system would be expanded to help defend against future attacks.

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UN demands end to Israeli forces’ support of settler attacks on West Bank Palestinians

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UN human rights office expresses concern over escalating violence after deaths near Nablus over weekend

The UN and the UK have voiced grave concern over escalating violence in the West Bank, demanding that Israeli security forces “immediately” stop supporting settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory.

The comments came hours after two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli settlers in a northern village south of Nablus in the latest violent attack involving settlers in the increasingly tense West Bank.

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Artworks carried to safety as fire blazes at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange

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Spire collapses as fire engulfs Danish landmark, which houses one of country’s most valuable art collections

Firefighters at Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange have been battling a huge blaze that has engulfed the 17th-century building’s roof, toppled its distinctive spire and threatened one of Denmark’s most valuable art collections.

“We are witnessing a terrible spectacle. The Bourse is on fire,” the Chamber of Commerce, which occupies the building next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish parliament, wrote on X. “Everyone is asked to stay away.”

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‘A message of peace’: Olympic flame begins its journey to Paris

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Torch lit in ruins of ancient Olympia, Greek birthplace of Games, starting 3,100-mile relay that will end in July

A taste of the drama and beauty of this summer’s Paris Olympics has unfolded in the foothills of Greece with the lighting of the flame that will illuminate the world’s biggest sports event.

In a ceremony held amid the ruins of ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Games 2,800 years ago, the flame was kindled by performers dressed as priestesses, though this year because of weather conditions the torch was not ignited as usual in a parabolic mirror – which focuses the sun’s rays – but from a flame lit during a rehearsal.

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Barcelona bus route removed from map apps to tackle tourist overcrowding

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Residents welcome removal of number 116 route, often used to get to Park Güell

While some places will go to any lengths to attract visitors, residents of La Salut neighbourhood in Barcelona are celebrating a move to wipe themselves off the map.

For years, residents had complained that they could not get home because the number 116 bus was always crammed with tourists visiting Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell. The park is the city’s second most popular attraction after the Sagrada Familia basilica.

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Europe live: scores of emergency workers fight fire at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange – as it happened

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Spire and part of roof has collapsed in one of Denmark’s most famous buildings with much of the blaze still out of control

Spire collapses as fire breaks out at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange

A huge fire has broken out at Copenhagen’s 17th-century former stock exchange, one of the Danish capital’s most famous landmarks, engulfing the historic building’s roof and toppling its distinctive spire.

People were seen rushing in and out of the building carrying works of art to safety and Danish media reported an annexe of the parliament had been evacuated. Police asked people to avoid driving in the inner part of the city.

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Artists refuse to open Israel pavilion at Venice Biennale until ceasefire is reached

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Curators protesting against Gaza conflict say ‘art can wait but women, children and people living though hell cannot’

The artists and curators of the Israeli national pavilion at the Venice Biennale have announced their decision not to open until “a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached” in the conflict in Gaza, on the opening preview day of the largest and most prominent global gathering in the art world.

A sign on the front of the Israel pavilion in the Giardini, or public gardens, in Venice, one of the main venues for the Biennale, conveyed the team’s decision – while the pavilion itself is guarded by three armed Italian military personnel.

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