Category Archives: World News

Red Cross urged to act over Russian branch’s links to Kremlin war machine

Posted on by

International organisation under growing pressure as Russian group’s activities appear to defy neutrality principle

The international Red Cross movement is under pressure to take action against the Russian Red Cross (RRC) over close links between the group and the Kremlin’s war and propaganda machine.

The evidence includes the RRC president’s central role in a pro-Putin “patriotic” organisation, senior RRC staff who speak of the impossibility of peace with “Ukrainian Nazis”, and RRC participation in military training for children.

A series of documents leaked from the Russian presidential administration, the most recent of which are dated December 2023, were obtained by Estonia’s Delfi. These documents were shared for joint investigation with the Guardian as well as VSquare and Frontstory.pl (Poland), Expressen (Sweden), Meduza and iStories (independent Russian outlets), Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel and ZDF (Germany), Der Standard (Austria), and Tamedia publications (Switzerland).

Continue reading...

Migrants mired in transit as Mexico becomes US’s immigration enforcer

Posted on by

Detentions soar as critics say President Amlo willing to trade rights of migrants for political capital in Washington

Between border visits and rallies, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are duelling to control the narrative on immigration, placing the issue – and Mexico’s role in it – at the heart of the coming election.

In tasking Mexico with reducing arrivals at the border, the US has given its neighbour leverage over US political discussion. On the ground, this has meant many migrants find themselves stuck in Mexico, running a gauntlet of extortion and violence as they try to make it to the northern border.

Continue reading...

US delegation leaves Saudi Arabia early over kippah row

Posted on by

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom cuts visit short after rabbi told to remove Jewish head covering

A US delegation on religious freedom said on Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town and Unesco world heritage site, when the commission’s chair, the Orthodox rabbi Abraham Cooper, “refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering”.

Continue reading...

Biden says US needs fair tax code to ‘make this country great’ in speech on $7.3tn budget plan – live

Posted on by

US president tells audience in New Hampshire: ‘I’m a capitalist. Make all the money you want. Just begin to pay your fair share in taxes’

Joe Biden is issuing a budget plan Monday aimed at getting voters’ attention: tax breaks for families, lower healthcare costs, smaller deficits and higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Unlikely to pass the House and Senate to become law, the proposal for fiscal 2025 is an election-year blueprint about what the future could hold if Biden and enough of his fellow Democrats win in November. The president and his aides previewed parts of his budget going into last week’s State of the Union address, with plans to provide the fine print on Monday.

Continue reading...

California officer shoots and kills boy, 15, holding gardening tool

Posted on by

Civil rights advocates call for release of police bodycam video after Ryan Gainer killed on Saturday by deputy responding to 911 call

A sheriff’s deputy in southern California shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who was holding a gardening tool, officials said.

The San Bernardino county sheriff’s department was responding to a 911 call on Saturday from a family reporting that a boy, identified as Ryan Gainer, was attacking his family at their home in Apple Valley, east of Los Angeles. The department said he was holding a 5ft gardening tool and approaching the first deputy who arrived at the scene when the deputy shot him. Gainer was later taken to a hospital where he died.

Continue reading...

New EU gig economy laws saved from oblivion by Belgian compromise

Posted on by

Directive aims to give taxi and delivery drivers such as those working for Uber and Deliveroo rights similar to those enjoyed by full employees

New laws designed to improve the rights of gig economy workers in the EU contracted to companies such as Uber have been saved from oblivion after they won the majority backing of member states.

The legislation had been blocked by a group of countries last month, when France said it could not support the text on the table and Germany abstained.

Continue reading...

Biden housing secretary Marcia Fudge resigns

Posted on by

US president praises legacy of ‘fierce advocate’ Fudge, 71, who says she is leaving with ‘mixed emotions’

Housing and urban development secretary Marcia Fudge announced Monday that she would resign her post, effective March 22, saying she was leaving “with mixed emotions”.

A former mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, and later an Ohio representative in Congress, Fudge, 71, served as HUD secretary since the start of Joe Biden’s administration.

Continue reading...

‘Real awe’: wave of Irish jubilation greets Cillian Murphy’s Oscars win

Posted on by

President of Ireland, artists, academics and friends pay tribute to actor, who dedicated award to ‘peacemakers’

Ireland used to take pride in begrudgery – a venerable tradition of belittling success – but Cillian Murphy’s win at the Oscars has ruined that legacy by uniting the country in delight.

The actor’s triumph in Los Angeles prompted a wave of tributes from Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland, as well as the government, artists, academics, commentators and childhood friends, with no dissenter.

Continue reading...

India enacts citizenship law criticised as ‘discriminatory’ to Muslims

Posted on by

Citizenship amendment act grants Indian nationality to refugees who are Hindu, Christian, Parsi, Jain or Buddhist, but not Muslim

The Indian government has enacted a divisive citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims, just weeks before prime minister Narendra Modi heads into a general election.

The law, known as the citizenship amendment act (CAA), was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation proposed by the Modi government after it explicitly made religion the basis on which people could become Indian citizens.

Continue reading...

Israeli human rights groups accuse country of failing to abide by ICJ’s Gaza aid ruling

Posted on by

Exclusive: 12 prominent organisations sign open letter criticising lack of humanitarian access

Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The court in The Hague made a number of legal requirements of Israel when it issued a provisional ruling in late January in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing the state of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Vienna court overturns decision to transfer Josef Fritzl to regular prison

Posted on by

Austrian man jailed for raping and imprisoning his daughter for 24 years to remain in psychiatric unit

A Vienna court has overturned a decision to transfer Josef Fritzl from a special psychiatric unit to a regular jail, ordering the case back to the lower court.

Fritzl, 88, repeatedly raped his daughter and locked her in a cellar for more than 24 years, fathering seven children with her.

Continue reading...

Stranded Haiti aid worker describes city under siege: ‘Fear and bewilderment’

Posted on by

Matt Knight, a British aid worker, tells of ferocious gun battles between security forces and gangs that keep him up at night

A British aid worker who is one of dozens of foreigners stranded in Haiti after a gang insurrection against the government has described the “fear and bewilderment” of being marooned in a city under siege.

Matt Knight, the director for the Irish humanitarian aid agency Goal Global in Haiti, flew into its capital, Port-au-Prince, from Europe three days before the uprising against Prime Minister Ariel Henry began on 29 February.

Continue reading...

British hedge fund trader goes on trial in Denmark accused of £1bn fraud

Posted on by

Sanjay Shah accused of scam that enabled companies he controlled to fraudulently claim tax refunds

A British hedge fund trader accused of defrauding Danish tax authorities in a billion-pound scam has gone on trial in Copenhagen, with the government hoping to recover the money in the blockbuster case.

Sanjay Shah, who was arrested in June 2022 in Dubai where he was living, is accused of running a 9bn krone (£1.03bn) scam that enabled companies he controlled to fraudulently claim Danish tax refunds between 2012 and 2015.

Continue reading...

Deutsche Bahn files legal action over German rail strike

Posted on by

GDL union has announced its sixth strike in a dispute over wages and hours

The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has taken urgent legal action in an effort to stop a strike by a train drivers’ union.

The GDL trade union, which has about 40,000 members and represents train drivers and other rail workers, announced a strike this week – its sixth in a months-long dispute over wages and hours.

Continue reading...

West won’t stop Houthi attacks unless it works with Yemeni authorities, say experts

Posted on by

Calls for closer collaboration made after multiple Houthi drone strikes on ships in Red Sea over weekend

Western efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea will fail unless the US and its allies build stronger intelligence and military relations with the UN-recognised government in Yemen, politicians and experts are warning.

Yemen’s ambassador to the UK has warned the Houthis have to be confronted and driven away from Red Sea ports such as Hodeidah. Similar calls were made by members of the Yemeni government coalition when they visited London last month.

Continue reading...

US defence contractor paid commissions to Saudi firm later alleged to be conduit for bribes

Posted on by

Harris had longstanding relationship with ABTSS, later alleged by British prosecutors to have handled or received illegal payments

One of the largest military contractors in the US paid commissions to a Saudi company later alleged to have been a conduit for bribes for the kingdom’s royal family.

A document disclosed in a UK criminal trial revealed that Harris Corporation, now L3Harris, paid commissions to the Saudi company for over two decades for services in the kingdom.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Nato chief confirms there are no plans to send alliance troops to Ukraine – as it happened

Posted on by

Jens Stoltenberg distanced himself from Macron’s suggestion that western allies should not rule out deploying troops in Ukraine

Kyiv said an Oscar awarded to 20 Days in Mariupol was an important success that showed the “truth about Russia’s crimes” to the world.

The film, directed by Ukrainian film-maker Mstyslav Chernov, won the Best Documentary Oscar at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Continue reading...

Bitcoin hits new record high above $70,000; US investor ends Currys chase – business live

Posted on by

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as exchange-traded funds help biggest cryptocurrency rally

The European Commission’s use of Microsoft email and office software broke its own privacy rules, an EU privacy watchdog has ruled.

Microsoft’s software transferred personal data outside the EU, breaching privacy rules, according to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Continue reading...

US airlifts embassy staff out of Haiti as gangs besiege political area

Posted on by

Officials say marines deployed for night-time evacuation amid intense fighting in Port-au-Prince, while German and EU representatives also leave

The US military has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added US forces to bolster embassy security, after dozens of heavily armed gang fighters tried to seize the political quarter of its capital, Port-au-Prince.

The German foreign ministry meanwhile said its ambassador joined other EU representatives in leaving for the Dominican Republic on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Europe is unprepared for risks from Russia and Trump, says Airbus boss

Posted on by

Aerospace group chief executive urges UK and Europe to pool efforts and merge fighter jet programmes

Europe is unprepared for war with Russia or the risk that Donald Trump could withdraw the US from Nato and needs to ramp up spending on defence equipment, the boss of Airbus has said.

Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of Europe’s biggest aerospace and defence company, said it was a “defining moment” for the continent’s defence industry, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought war to western Europe’s borders.

Continue reading...