Category Archives: World News

US strikes will have disastrous consequences for region, warns Iraq

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Attacks on Friday also described as ‘a strategic mistake’ by Iran, which insisted no Revolutionary Guards were present in areas hit

The US reprisal strikes in Syria and Iraq will have disastrous consequences for the region, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has warned. Maj Gen Yahya Rasool’s response was one of many from inside the Iraqi government that furiously condemned a violation of its sovereignty.

The US military launched airstrikes on Friday against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops. Iraq’s Anbar Operations Command reported 16 fatalities and 25 injuries, but no official death toll has been issued.

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Russia-Ukraine war: fire at major Russian oil refinery after drone attack – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Poland’s president Duda sought to defuse the row over his statement on Ukraine, saying in a post on X that his “actions and position on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine have been and are clear from day one”.

He added:

Russia’s attack on Ukraine and occupation of internationally recognised territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, is a crime... We all stand shoulder to shoulder for a free, sovereign and independent Ukraine against aggression and brutal imperialism!

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Three people wounded in Paris knife attack at railway station

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Police arrest man who was reportedly tackled by passengers after leaving three victims with non-life-threatening injuries

A man has been arrested after three people were stabbed at a busy railway station in Paris.

Reports suggested the alleged attacker was first tackled by passengers and a security agent at the Gare de Lyon just before 8am on Saturday, before officers arrived at the scene. Police said early indications suggested the attack was not terrorism-related.

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Houthis face ‘further consequences’, Austin says after latest strikes – as it happened

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This blog is closed. You can find all our Middle East coverage here

At least 13 Iranian-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

The airstrikes destroyed 17 positions sheltering Iranian militias in Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bokamal near the border between Syria and Iraq, in addition to airstrikes targeting positions near Deir ez-Zor city, it said.

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US retaliatory airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria will not be the last

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The carefully planned raids were the largest yet against Iran’s proxies and are likely to continue until threats to US personnel are neutralised

US retaliation, when it came, was broad and deep, and telegraphed five days in advance.

The White House, the Pentagon and state department had spent the best part of a week talking about the response to Sunday’s drone attack on a US base in northern Jordan, which killed three Americans and wounded more than 30.

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Argentina’s lower house votes for Javier Milei’s sweeping reform package

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Far-right president’s measures aimed at tackling the country’s severe economic problems passed easily despite public protests

Argentina’s lower chamber of deputies has given overall approval to libertarian president Javier Milei’s sweeping “omnibus” reform bill in a vote on Friday after days of debate, paving the way for a decisive vote in the Senate.

The controversial reform package was approved on a vote of 144 votes in favour and 109 against.

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Fani Willis criticizes ‘wild and reckless’ speculation in conflict of interest claims by former Trump staffer – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report and explainer below:

Joe Biden has welcomed another month of strong job creation, pointing out that the US has added almost 15m jobs since he was sworn in.

Responding to today’s strong non-farm payroll report, showing 353,000 new jobs were created in January, he says:

America’s economy is the strongest in the world.

Today, we saw more proof, with another month of strong wage gains and employment gains of over 350,000 in January, continuing the strong growth from last year. Our economy has created 14.8m jobs since I took office, unemployment has been under 4% for two full years now, and inflation has been at the pre-pandemic level of 2% over the last half year. It’s great news for working families that wages, wealth, and jobs are higher now than before the pandemic, and I won’t stop fighting to lower costs and build an economy from the middle out and bottom up. I’ll continue to stand in the way of efforts by congressional Republicans to enact massive tax giveaways for the wealthy and big corporations; cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; and raise costs for American families.

It’s looking like early to mid-February, as a rough estimate, and subject to modifications. But that’s the working plan now.

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Italian minister investigated over alleged art theft quits

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Vittorio Sgarbi, who denies allegations over painting, cites separate antitrust investigation in resignation

An Italian art critic who was recently placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago has resigned as a junior culture minister.

“I am resigning with immediate effect as undersecretary of the government and will inform [the prime minister, Giorgia] Meloni in the next few hours,” Vittorio Sgarbi said on the sidelines of a conference in Milan.

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What does Biden’s order against Israeli settlers mean and why did he do it now?

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Some see the US president’s executive order imposing sanctions on settlers who violently attack Palestinians as a bid to win support

Was Joe Biden’s announcement of unprecedented US sanctions against Israeli settlers in occupied Palestine a sign of political weakness at home, or of a newly found willingness to assert American influence over Israel?

The president signed the executive order imposing financial and travel sanctions on settlers who violently attack Palestinians shortly before a campaign rally in the swing state of Michigan, where the largest Arab American population in the country has rounded on Biden over his largely blanket support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.

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Dying man tells police he was on Japan’s most wanted list for 50 years

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Now deceased man said he was Satoshi Kirishima who was allegedly member of radical group in 1970s that bombed Japanese firms

A dying man in a Japanese hospital told police that he was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives and had been on the run for nearly 50 years for being part of a radical group that carried out bombings in the 1970s, police have said.

After receiving a tip, police went to the hospital near Tokyo last week to question the 70-year-old man. He told them he had terminal cancer and wanted to die under his real name, Satoshi Kirishima, instead of his alias, and disclosed previously unknown details about the bombings, police said.

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Judge throws out case against Greta Thunberg and other London protesters

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Court rules not enough evidence provided to prove defendants failed to comply with section 14 order at anti-fossil fuel rally

Greta Thunberg and four others charged with public order offences over a protest in London have been cleared after a judge ruled that they had no case to answer.

Thunberg was charged alongside Christofer Kebbon, Joshua James Unwin, Jeff Rice and Peter Barker with “failing to comply with a condition imposed under section 14 of the Public Order Act”.

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Raccoon plunges parts of Toronto into darkness after mishap at power utility

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Mammal ‘made contact with equipment’, disrupting a subway line and shutting off water in latest escapade of city’s ‘trash pandas’

A lone Toronto raccoon was able to cut power to nearly 7,000 people in the city’s downtown core on Thursday night, highlighting the fraught coexistence between residents of Canada’s largest urban centre and the divisive “trash pandas”.

Hydro One, Ontario’s power utility, said a raccoon “made contact with equipment” at a downtown station on Thursday night, plunging swaths of the city in darkness. The loss of power also temporarily disrupted service on a key subway line and shut off water. Toronto’s fire service said the power outage also left residents trapped inside elevators.

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Nigerian traditional monarch shot dead and wife kidnapped from palace

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Police launch investigation after attack on home of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state

Gunmen killed a Nigerian traditional monarch and kidnapped his wife after raiding his palace, police said, as outrage grows over a spate of abductions across the country.

Attackers stormed the palace of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state, shot him dead and abducted his wife and another person on Thursday.

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Mafia boss who escaped prison using bedsheets recaptured in France

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Marco Raduano broke out of high-security wing of a prison in Sardinia in February 2023

A notorious mafia boss who escaped from a high-security prison in Italy last year using bedsheets has been recaptured in France, according to authorities in both countries.

Marco Raduano, recognized as dangerous on Europol’s list of most wanted criminals, was captured in Bastia on the French island of Corsica, authorities said on Friday.

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DRC’s worst floods in decades leave tens of thousands in temporary shelter

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People in affected areas say they are still waiting for government help after more than 300 deaths and widespread devastation

Tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are living in temporary accommodation and waiting for government help after the country experienced its worst flooding in six decades.

More than 300 people have died and 280,000 households in more than half the country have been forced to leave their homes since heavy rains started at the end of November. More than 1,500 schools, 267 health centres, 211 markets and 146 roads have been damaged.

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Russia finds ‘errors’ in paperwork of candidate hoping to stand against Putin

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Election commission finding could disqualify anti-war Boris Nadezhdin from running

Russia’s elections commission has said it found “dead souls” among the more than 100,000 signatures of support submitted by Boris Nadezhdin, the sole anti-war candidate in next month’s presidential election, in a sign that he could be disqualified from a carefully managed ballot meant to deliver victory for Vladimir Putin.

Nadezhdin, a veteran politician who has associated with Kremlin insiders and the opposition to Putin, has been waging a last-minute campaign to get on the ballot for the election, with thousands of Russians standing for hours in the freezing cold to add their signature in his support.

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Paris residents set to vote on plan to triple parking charges for SUVs

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Green campaigners hope to win landmark vote, which is being watched closely by other cities such as London

Green activists in Paris are making a final push to win a landmark vote tripling parking charges for SUVs in a move aimed at tackling air pollution that is being closely watched by other cities such as London.

Paris residents will be asked to vote on Sunday for or against a special parking tariff for heavy, large and polluting SUVs parked by non-residents, as the French capital aims to target rich, out-of-town drivers entering the city in order to tackle climate breakdown and air pollution.

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Israel and Hamas closer to ceasefire deal amid warning over Gaza children

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Qatar says Hamas ‘received proposal positively’, while Unicef says 17,000 Gaza children left unaccompanied

Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer towards a deal for a ceasefire and a release of some of the hostages still being held by the militant group in Gaza, while the UN children’s agency has warned that 17,000 children have been left without families or been separated from them by the conflict.

Qatar, which has been mediating between Israel and Hamas, indicated that the militant group had given its initial support for a deal after weeks of delicate and secretive negotiations.

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Middle East crisis: UN agency calls Rafah a ‘pressure cooker of despair’ as Israel says offensive will move into city – as it happened

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Defence minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement comes despite presence of more than 1 million civilians in city

Saudi Arabia would be willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding, in a bid to get a defence pact with Washington approved before the US presidential election, three sources have told Reuters. The news agency reports:

Months of US-led diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel and recognise the country for the first time were shelved by Riyadh in October in the face of mounting Arab anger over the war in Gaza.

But Saudi Arabia is increasingly keen to shore up its security and ward off threats from rival Iran so the kingdom can forge ahead with its ambitious plan to transform its economy and attract huge foreign investment, two regional sources said.

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Farmers face ‘lasagne of different measures’, Belgian leader says after protests block border crossings – as it happened

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Prime minister says blockades by protesting farmers at Dutch-Belgian border ‘have been stopped’

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo arrived in Place du Luxembourg just as a bronze statue that was felled in the protests yesterday was being taken away.

The statue, which weighed 200kg, was taken into a van by half a dozen men, as the clean-up in the square continues.

I think, by now, all governments have basically seen them, the Flemish government, the federal government – yesterday also the president of the [European] Commission.

We’ve shown that we’re able to come up with steps in the right direction. For some measures, we need more time to elaborate. And there’s a real willingness to go forward.

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