Category Archives: World News

Seoul police officers sentenced for deleting Halloween crush evidence

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Pair are first police officials to be sentenced over 2022 disaster in which nearly 160 people died

A South Korean court has sentenced two former senior police officers for destroying evidence linked to Seoul’s deadly 2022 Halloween crush.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, had been out on 29 October 2022 to enjoy the first post-pandemic holiday celebrations in the popular Itaewon nightlife district. The night turned deadly when crowds poured into a narrow, sloping alleyway between bars and clubs, leading to nearly 160 people being crushed to death.

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Sculpture of colonial officer’s ‘angry spirit’ returns to DRC as Dutch urge reckoning

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Carved wooden figure at Venice Biennale aims to spark debate about colonial blindspots in the art world

A statue depicting the angry spirit of a Belgian officer beheaded during a 1930s uprising in the Congo will go on display at the Dutch pavilion of this year’s Venice Biennale, seeking to spark a debate about colonial blindspots in the art world – and the Belgian pavilion next door.

The carved wooden figure of colonial administrator Maximilien Balot will not be physically present at the world’s largest art event: a screen will show a livestream from a gallery in Lusanga, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the artefact will be on display for the six-month duration of the festival.

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Indonesia’s defence minister vows to be leader for all as polls suggest election win

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Sample counts show Prabowo Subianto, former special commander under Suharto dictatorship, taking 59% of vote

The Indonesian defence minister, Prabowo Subianto, a former general dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, has promised to be a leader for all Indonesians after unofficial figures showed he was on course to win the country’s presidential race.

More than 200 million people were eligible to vote on Wednesday in the world’s largest single-day election, a race to decide who should succeed the popular outgoing president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, as well as future executive and legislative representatives at all administrative levels across the country.

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Canadian federal police officer charged with passing information to a ‘foreign entity’

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Eli Ndatuje of Royal Canadian Mounted Police was charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government

A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been arrested and charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government.

The federal police force said on Tuesday that its integrated national security enforcement team (Inset) had arrested Constable Eli Ndatuje, who was stationed in Alberta.

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Tennessee advances bill to ban people from helping minors obtain abortion

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Proposed bill that could see prison sentences of up to 15 years for breaching rules moves forward in state legislature

Tennessee state legislators moved on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban people from taking minors for an abortion without parental permission – an act that the bill has dubbed “abortion trafficking”.

If someone illegally “recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor” for an abortion, they could face three to 15 years in prison under the proposed bill, which has now advanced out of a state house subcommittee after a hearing.

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Trial offers hope for millions that jab could prevent rheumatoid arthritis

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An existing drug for the chronic disease could slow or stop its progression, researchers say

Scientists have discovered a jab that could prevent rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a development experts say could offer hope to millions at risk of the disease.

RA is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the body and triggers pain in the joints. About 18 million people globally are affected by the condition, which can lead to heart, lung or nervous system problems, according to the World Health Organization.

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LA mayor ‘terrified’ of tragedy as half-built skyscraper becomes stunt magnet

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Karen Bass fears ‘someone’s going to fall or be pushed’ from Oceanwide Plaza, used by graffiti artists and parachutists

An abandoned high-rise tower in downtown Los Angeles has become a magnet for graffiti artists and parachuting stunts, leaving city officials furious.

“This isn’t art. It’s a crime,” Los Angeles police chief Michael Moore warned on Monday, saying the police were remaining at the site of the half-built development “as the city mobilizes resources to remove the graffiti and fortify the location”.

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David Cameron to meet EU ministers to seek more help for Ukraine

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Foreign secretary wants an increase in European defence output and to give profits from seized Russian assets in Europe to Kyiv

David Cameron will discuss strengthening Ukraine’s defences and finances against further Russian aggression with European partners in light of the continuing threat of the US Congress refusing to provide further financial support.

The foreign secretary is due to visit Bulgaria and Poland before meeting a host of European foreign ministers at a security conference in Munich on Friday.

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Missing Turkish miners ‘swallowed by cyanide-laced landslide’

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Hundreds of rescue workers searching for nine missing men in east of the country

Hundreds of Turkish rescue workers were searching through a cyanide-laced field for nine mine workers who were swallowed by a landslide that rolled over their open pit on Tuesday.

Images from the scene showed the landslide sweeping across a valley and crashing into a road where some of the workers were travelling by vehicle.

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Pakistan: coalition agrees to form government and shut out Imran Khan’s party

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Rival parties will make Shehbaz Sharif prime minister, despite Khan’s party getting most votes at election

A coalition including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) and the Pakistan People’s party (PPP) have agreed to form the next government of Pakistan, ensuring that the party of former prime minister Imran Khan will not take power despite getting the most votes in the election.

At a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday night, it was confirmed that the rival parties had agreed, with two smaller coalition partners, to form a joint government “to take Pakistan out of difficulty” and that PLM-N’s president, Shehbaz Sharif, would be their sole nominee for prime minister.

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Election turmoil leaves Pakistan with a weak and unpopular coalition

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Government will be formed by Nawaz Sharif’s party but it may not survive long given the popularity of the jailed Imran Khan’s PTI

It was mid-afternoon on Pakistan’s election day, sources say, when military intelligence began to realise that things on the ground were not going as planned.

Mobile services, including the internet, had been suspended across the country on the pretext of security issues. Those aware of the decision-making said the real reason was to keep voter turnout low, making the results much easier for Pakistan’s powerful military to “manage” and, most importantly, keep supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan away from the ballot box.

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Tui investors vote to leave London Stock Exchange amid record results

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More than 98% of shareholders in Europe’s biggest travel operator vote to delist in favour of Germany

Tui, Europe’s biggest travel company, is abandoning the London Stock Exchange in favour of listing its shares solely in Germany.

A vote on Tuesday resulted in 98.35% of shareholders backing a company proposal to drop its UK listing, in what will be seen as the latest blow to London’s standing in international finance.

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‘This is where I apologise’: Polish state TV presenter says sorry to LGBT+ viewers

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Activist Bart Staszewski hails ‘meaningful and necessary’ apology as opening new chapter for state broadcaster

A television presenter with Poland’s state broadcaster has apologised for the years of “shameful words” directed at LGBTQ+ people, in a moment hailed by a prominent rights campaigner as the closing of a chapter in Polish society.

Bart Staszewski, an activist and film-maker, said the apology made to him live on air on Sunday showed the transformation of a broadcaster that served as a mouthpiece for the Law and Justice (PiS) party during its time in power.

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Medellín authorities to meet embassies and dating apps after five foreigners die

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Cluster of cases in seven days follows spate of druggings and robberies of tourists, some of which have ended in death

Authorities in Medellín will meet representatives of embassies and popular dating apps this week after five foreigners were found dead in Colombia’s second city in the past seven days.

Police say none of the deaths were violent, though one of the cases appears to involve a man who was found dead in his hotel room hours after entering accompanied by two women.

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French regulator to look into CNews channel after ‘opinion media’ allegation

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Court orders regulator to examine balance and independence of CNews, described by critics as ‘French Fox News’

France’s highest administrative court has given the country’s media regulator six months to examine whether the television channel CNews is conforming to rules on balanced and independent journalism.

Tuesday’s ruling was a victory for the press freedom organisation Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), which had asked the state council to overturn the regulator Arcom’s refusal to investigate the channel, described by critics as the “French Fox News”.

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Houthis strike Iran-bound grain ship in first Red Sea attack in six days

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Militants fired missiles at Greek-owned ship, says US military, in strike that raises questions over who Houthis are trying to target

Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have carried out their first attack in the Red Sea in six days, firing at an Iran-bound grain cargo ship, the US military has said, in a strike that raises questions about the group’s targeting.

The lull in attacks on ships which the Houthis claim are linked to Israel has led to claims that US and UK strikes against the group have successfully neutralised its capabilities or that potential targets have been deterred from entering the Red Sea.

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US Senate approves $95bn aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

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Pre-dawn vote comes amid growing doubts about fate of legislation in Republican-controlled House of Representatives

After weeks of setbacks and delays, the US Senate gave final approval to a $95bn wartime aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies early on Tuesday morning, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House where its fate is uncertain.

In a pre-dawn vote, the Senate passed the measure 70 to 29, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation in the chamber. Nearly all Democrats and 22 Republicans approved the bill, which exposed deep divisions within the GOP over America’s responsibility to its allies and its role on the world stage.

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Samba school puts Rio’s long-silenced legacy of slavery at center of carnival

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In the 1800s, Luiz Gama defied fate to become Brazil’s first Black lawyer. Nearly a century and a half later, Portela’s parade puts his struggle center stage

Born in 1830 to a trafficked African woman who escaped enslavement and led uprisings, Luiz Gama defied fate and the Brazilian empire to become the country’s first Black lawyer and a leading abolitionist.

When he was 10 his father, a Portuguese nobleman, illegally sold him into slavery to pay off gambling debts. Gama regained his freedom as a young adult and having learnt to read, became a writer, intellectual and self-taught lawyer. He founded newspapers defending abolition and used the law to help free more than 500 enslaved people before Brazil finally abolished slavery in 1888, six years after he died.

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Post-Brexit watchdog ‘ready’ to investigate flood of cheaper Chinese electric cars

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Remarks by head of trade authority come amid fears UK firms could be undercut ‘to extinction’

The head of Britain’s post-Brexit trade watchdog has said it is ready to follow Brussels in launching an investigation into Chinese companies flooding the market for electric cars, but the government has not asked it to do so.

Oliver Griffiths, the chief executive of the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which advises the government on trade defence, said it was keeping lines of communication open with ministers and had been in close contact with the car industry. “We’ll be ready to go if anyone does come to us,” he told the Guardian in an interview.

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Al Jazeera reporter and camera operator seriously hurt in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

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Correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and photojournalist Ahmad Matar allegedly targeted by IDF

An Al Jazeera correspondent and a photojournalist working with him have been seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike that allegedly targeted the pair while they were working in Gaza.

According to the Doha-based news network, Ismail Abu Omar, one of its correspondents as well as his camera operator, Ahmad Matar, were in northern Rafah where they were documenting the living conditions of displaced Palestinian families when they were directly targeted by a missile fired by a drone.

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