Category Archives: World News

UAE-backed bid for Telegraph group dealt fatal blow by new legislation

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Proposed law bans foreign states and government officials from holding direct stakes in UK newspapers

The UAE-backed bid for the Telegraph group appears to be dead in the water after the UK published proposed laws that ban foreign states or government officials from holding any direct stakes in newspaper assets.

Foreign states and government officials will be banned from holding any direct stakes in newspaper assets – effectively dealing a death blow to the £600m bid for the Telegraph group from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by the United Arab Emirates.

The head of a foreign state.

A foreign government.

Authorities responsible for administering the affairs of an area within a foreign country.

Governing political parties.

Officers of governing political parties.

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Dozens of Rohingya refugees rescued from overturned boat in Indian Ocean

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Soaked survivors clung to hull overnight before being taken to safety by Indonesian rescue team

Dozens of Rohingya refugees have been rescued from the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia after spending the night balanced on the hull of their overturned boat.

Seventy-five people were pulled from the stricken vessel, which was spotted on Thursday by an Indonesian search and rescue ship.

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US calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in draft UN resolution

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Source says wording suggests significant movement in US position as pressure mounts on Israel to halt campaign

The US has drafted a new UN security council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and hostage deal in Gaza, amid mounting pressure on Israel to halt its military campaign and allow the delivery of substantial amounts of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.

The CIA and Mossad spy chiefs, William Burns and David Barnea, were expected to arrive in Qatar on Friday in the hope of clinching an elusive truce-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas. Speaking in Egypt, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said difficult work remained to be done but added: “I continue to believe it’s possible.”

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Europe live: European leaders gather for two-day summit as concerns grow over aid for Ukraine

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EU is preparing for elections in June and summit agenda includes Ukraine, the Middle East and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU accession candidacy

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has just revealed he is not looking for a new job in the EU.

Asked by the Guardian if he was looking for a new job in Brussels he expressed surprise and laughed. “No, definitely not”.

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West Africa heatwave was supercharged by climate crisis, study finds

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High temperatures in February affected millions of people and put further pressure on chocolate prices

A searing heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4C hotter and 10 times more likely by human-caused global heating, a study has found.

The heat affected millions of people but the number of early deaths or cases of illness are unknown, due to a lack of reporting.

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Article 23: China hits back at criticism of Hong Kong’s hardline new security law

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Beijing dismisses chorus of concern from western governments over punitive new law as slander

China has accused western governments and the United Nations of slander after they criticised Hong Kong’s new national security law, which was rushed through the city’s pro-Beijing parliament this week.

The law, known as Article 23, covers newly defined acts of treason, espionage, theft of state secrets, sedition and foreign interference. Critics said it was ushering in a “new era of authoritarianism”, would further erode the rights and freedoms of residents, and would scare off international business and investment.

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Populist parties’ divisions jeopardise chances of setting European agenda

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Survey shows supporters of nationalist parties hold widely differing views on EU membership, migration and support for Ukraine

Populist and nationalist parties fighting the European elections in June are deeply divided on almost all key issues, according to a survey, in a finding that questions their chances of defining the bloc’s agenda even in the event of a predicted far-right surge.

However, the report, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), also said pro-EU parties risked mobilising the Eurosceptic vote if they continued to ape hard-right policies rather than coming up with persuasive alternatives.

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EU leaders urged to put economies ‘on war footing’ at Ukraine negotiations

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Prime ministers to examine plans to confiscate billions of euros in interest from frozen Russian assets and send the money to Kyiv

EU leaders are to meet in Brussels to discuss ways to radically increase military and financial support for Ukraine amid calls for member states to put their economies “on a war footing”.

Fuelled by what one diplomat said was a new “sense of urgency and immediacy” over the war in Ukraine, rhetoric on Moscow has notably hardened in the past few days.

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Dutch project tells wartime stories of intrepid ‘England voyagers’

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Hundreds of Engelandvaarders took various routes from occupied Netherlands to Britain to fight in second world war

They travelled over land and water, braving the North Sea, trekking across the Pyrenees or fleeing north through Sweden to reach Britain and join the fight against the Nazis.

Now a project at the Dutch national archives, opening on Thursday, is for the first time publishing the stories of 2,150 “England voyagers”. These brave Dutch men and women escaped the occupied Netherlands during the second world war and found their way to London to volunteer.

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Portugal’s new prime minister promises to bring stability after narrow win

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Luís Montenegro must now try to form government but has vowed not to do any deal with far-right Chega party

Portugal’s new prime minister, Luís Montenegro, has promised stable government after the country’s president invited him to try to form a minority administration that could face a rough ride in a hung parliament.

Montenegro, 51, was named prime minister early on Thursday after a long-awaited count of overseas votes confirmed a narrow victory in 10 March elections for his centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD).

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Elon Musk’s Neuralink shows brain-chip patient playing online chess

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Noland Arbaugh, paralyzed after diving accident, received implant in January but experts caution that procedure is in early days

Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink live-streamed its first patient implanted with a chip playing online chess.

Noland Arbaugh, the 29-year-old patient who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, was playing chess on his laptop and moving the cursor using the Neuralink device.

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Venezuela orders arrest of key opposition figure’s campaign manager

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Maria Corina Machado’s campaign manager and eight others accused of involvement in a violent anti-government conspiracy

Venezuela’s top prosecutor has announced arrest warrants for the presidential campaign manager of the prominent opposition figure María Corina Machado and eight other of her staffers, accusing them of involvement in a violent anti-government conspiracy.

The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, said in a nationally televised news conference on Wednesday that the campaign manager Magalli Meda and the others were accused of being part of a “destabilizing” plot that included demonstrations, a media campaign and plans to attack military barracks.

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Netanyahu addresses Senate Republicans days after Schumer calls for his ouster

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Israeli PM speaks via video link and answers questions after his request to talk to Democrats was turned down

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, virtually addressed Republican senators in Washington on Wednesday, days after the chamber’s majority leader, the Democrat Chuck Schumer, called him an impediment to peace in an unsparing floor speech.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, told reporters, shortly after leaving the Senate Republicans’ policy lunch, that Netanyahu joined the gathering via video link, delivered a presentation, and answered questions.

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Israeli diplomats pre-emptively attack findings of Unrwa inquiries

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UN refugee agency criticised by Israel, which claims Unrwa staff were implicated in 7 October Hamas attacks

Israeli diplomats have pre-emptively attacked the findings of two inquires into the role of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, in Gaza, on the day that one of the inquiries submitted its interim finding to the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres.

Unrwa has come under heavy criticism since Israel accused 12 of its Gaza staff of 13,000 of being implicated in the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel. The agency denies the charge and says no solid evidence has been presented to support it.

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Schumer warns of making Israel support ‘partisan’ amid reports he stopped Netanyahu addressing Senate Democrats – live

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Senate majority leader reportedly rejects request from Israeli prime minister to address Senate Democratic caucus

Since being elected speaker of the House last year, the Republican Mike Johnson has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s most prominent defenders on Capitol Hill, and today is no exception – even when it comes to the former president’s recent comment that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate” Israel and their religion.

Asked about it at a press conference, Johnson said he understands where Trump is coming from:

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Two bar workers in Russia detained under new anti-LGBTQ law

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Pair are accused of roles in ‘extremist organisation’ and could face up to 10 years in prison

A Russian court has ordered two bar workers to be placed in custody, accusing them of roles in an “extremist organisation”, under new legislation criminalising the LGBTQ community.

It is the first criminal case of its kind since Russia banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” in November.

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Fed leaves interest rates unchanged but signals three cuts this year

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Rates to stay at 25-year high of 5.25% to 5.5% as central bank says ‘inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated’

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would leave US interest rates at a 25-year high as it continues to assess their impact on cooling inflation and the wider economy.

After a two-day meeting, the Fed announced rates would be unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5%, where they have been since July. But the Fed signaled it still expects to cut rates three times this year.

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World Bank report finds imminent risk of catastrophic famine in Gaza Strip

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Findings come as UN secretary general calls on Israel to give unconditional access to Gaza for aid relief

Half the population of the Gaza Strip is at imminent risk of famine as food shortages approach catastrophic levels for more than a million people, the World Bank has warned.

Almost six months after the war between Israel and Hamas began, the Washington-based Bank said urgent action was needed to prevent widespread deaths from starvation within the next two months.

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Scientists find skull of enormous ancient dolphin in Amazon

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Fossil of giant river dolphin found in Peru, whose closest living relation is in South Asia, gives clues to future extinction threats

Scientists have discovered the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin, from a species thought to have fled the ocean and sought refuge in Peru’s Amazonian rivers 16m years ago. The extinct species would have measured up to 3.5 metres long, making it the largest river dolphin ever found.

The discovery of this new species, Pebanista yacuruna, highlights the looming risks to the world’s remaining river dolphins, all of which face similar extinction threats in the next 20 to 40 years, according to the lead author of new research published in Science Advances today. Aldo Benites-Palomino said it belonged to the Platanistoidea family of dolphins commonly found in oceans between 24m and 16m years ago.

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Senior UN officer on Gaza hunger strike claims assault by guards at New York HQ

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Bruno Donat, head of UN Mine Action Service in Geneva who is fasting over child victims of war, in ‘intense pain’ after incident

A senior UN official who went on hunger strike in support of child victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict has said he was assaulted by UN security guards at the organisation’s New York headquarters.

Bruno Donat, head of the UN Mine Action Service in Geneva, alleged the guards pushed him back on to the pavement outside the headquarters on Monday so forcibly that he fell, striking the back of his head. Donat did not break any bones and has since been discharged from hospital, but says he is still in intense pain.

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