Decision of only G7 nation to join project reportedly communicated to Beijing three days ago
Italy has formally notified China of its withdrawal from Beijing’s ambitious belt and road infrastructure initiative (BRI), a significant trade and infrastructure project, according to two government sources.
The decision, which had been expected for some time, was reportedly communicated to Beijing three days ago, although no official communication has been released by either side.
Continue reading...A Guardian investigation has revealed hacking, radioactive leaks and toxic workplace culture at Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site
Nuclear Leaks, a year-long Guardian investigation, has uncovered problems with cyber hacking, radioactive leaks and toxic workplace culture at Sellafield, the UK’s most hazardous nuclear site.
It has also revealed how a small corner of the UK has an outsized influence on its special relationship with the US, with the countries bound by the shared history of nuclear weapons development. Britain’s neighbours in Europe, particularly Norway and Ireland, also keep a sharp eye on the site, from where previous pollution incidents and radioactivity as a result of a fire have made it to their shores.
Continue reading...Israel says comments by Unicef chief were insufficient and came only as a result of international pressure
Israel has criticised the head of the United Nations children’s agency after she condemned acts of sexual violence committed against women during Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on 7 October, as attention has focused on rapes and other atrocities in recent days.
Israel said the comments by Catherine Russell, the executive director of Unicef, were insufficient and were issued only as a result of international pressure.
Continue reading...Russian president visits United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for talks. This live blog is closed
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians on Wednesday that Kyiv would defeat Russia and win a fair peace “against all odds” as the future of vital US military and financial aid hung in the balance.
Zelenskiy delivered his defiant message in an unusual early-morning video that showed him walking through Kyiv on his way to pay his respects to fallen soldiers on what Ukraine marks as Armed Forces Day, Reuters reported.
Continue reading...Simon Stiell says’ ‘we need highest ambition, not point scoring or lowest common denominator politics’. This live blog is closed
Countries negotiating at Cop28 must not fall into the trap of point-scoring and “lowest common denominator politics”, Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, has said.
Stiell, who is executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, the structure under the auspices of which the climate summit is held, spoke at a press conference in Dubai as Cop28 reached its midpoint. He said:
All governments must give their negotiators clear marching orders. We need highest ambition, not point scoring or lowest common denominator politics.
We have a starting text on the table … but it’s a grab bag of wishlists and heavy on posturing. The key now is to sort the wheat from the chaff.
For all intents and purposes, moving towards the phase-out of fossil fuel combustion is necessary to keep the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement within reach.
Scenarios consistent with this goal require a complete phase-out of coal by 2050 and rapid phase-down of oil and gas (halved every decade). After 2050 the world needs to rapidly move into net negative emissions, particularly after a number of decades of 1.5C overshoot.
Continue reading...Critics of Robert Fico fear aim is to halt investigations into individuals connected to ruling Smer party
Slovakia’s populist new prime minister, Robert Fico, has been accused of promoting a “poisonous” plan to undercut prosecutors working on sensitive corruption cases.
Fico, a controversial figure known for railing against independent media and criticising military aid to Ukraine, has announced plans to scrap the special prosecutor’s office, an institution that deals with cases of high-level corruption and organised crime.
Continue reading...Donald Trump claims he told his son not to testify since ‘His young life has already been unfairly disturbed and disrupted enough’
Eric Trump will not testify at his father’s fraud trial against the Trump Organization Wednesday despite being scheduled to take the stand for over a week.
“I told my wonderful son, Eric, not to testify tomorrow at the RIGGED TRIAL,” Donald Trump wrote late on Tuesday night in a rant against the trial. Trump said that his son “already testified PERFECTLY”.
Continue reading...Former Ireland leader issues firm response in row over comments made to her by Cop28 president
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, has called for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, in a diplomatic but firm response to the row over comments made to her by the Cop28 president, which were revealed by the Guardian this week.
In a live online event, Sultan Al Jaber had told Robinson there was “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”, a view strongly rejected by many scientists. As well as running the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, Al Jaber is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc.
Continue reading...Biden’s rhetoric toward the Netanyahu government is toughening. But critics say his words aren’t backed up by the threat of action
A soaring civilian death toll and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has jolted the Biden administration into a stark change of rhetoric towards the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Out has gone cavalier White House disavowals against “drawing red lines” for Israel in Gaza; in have come blunt invocations of international law and the need to limit civilian casualties to a minimum.
Continue reading...Research says funding cuts and poor organisation stop Canadians from accessing healthcare – and 20% have no doctor at all
Funding cuts, fewer generalists and inefficient organisation are preventing more and more Canadians from accessing public primary healthcare, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) which compares Canadian healthcare unfavourably with public systems in nine Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
About 20% of Canadians have no family doctor at all, and many more have irregular access to clinicians – a reality likely to worsen if not properly addressed now, said Dr Tara Kiran, a family physician in Toronto and one of the authors of the study.
Continue reading...PMQs clash comes as Suella Braverman expected to heavily criticise government’s immigration plans
Rishi Sunak’s government has been accused by Keir Starmer of giving Rwanda “hundreds of millions of pounds for nothing in return” following the signing of a deportation treaty.
In a clash at prime minister’s questions, the Labour leader mocked the treaty, signed on Tuesday, saying the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame had seen the prime minister coming “a mile off”.
Continue reading...Gaza’s second biggest urban concentration now being depicted as Hamas’s ‘centre of gravity’
At the start of Israel’s now more than 60-day offensive in Gaza, its focus was on the north of the territory: Hamas’s leader in Gaza was portrayed as being hunkered down in a bunker disconnected from the world, while its key command centre was said at other times to be located under Dar al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, illustrated by mocked-up graphics in Israeli briefings.
Now, amid a rolling Israeli campaign of huge destruction, the southern city of Khan Younis, the territory’s second biggest urban concentration, is being depicted as Hamas’s stronghold as Israeli tanks move in on an area already overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Gaza’s north.
Continue reading...Salah Jama said vulnerable countries face ‘bureaucratic bottlenecks’ in receiving loss and damage funds and are often forced to take them on as debt
Funding to support vulnerable countries to repair the irreversible damage caused by the climate crisis needs to be fast tracked and easy to access, Somalia’s deputy prime minister has said.
Salah Jama said a deal on a loss and damage fund made on the first day of Cop28 last week was “welcome news for frontline states like Somalia” but, he said: “Implementation needs to be fast tracked. Bureaucratic bottlenecks in accessing the financing have to be fixed.”
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: James Cleverly has signed a treaty aimed at fixing its deportation plan, but there are questions whether its safeguards will change the supreme court’s mind
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Good morning. Whoever it was that bequeathed the Conservative government its current dog’s dinner of a policy on immigration and asylum, be in no doubt: the people in charge now are going to do things differently! After setting out draconian new limits on legal migration on Monday, home secretary James Cleverly yesterday turned to irregular migration and the small boats crisis.
In Kigali, he signed a new treaty with the Rwandan government that is supposed to help overcome the supreme court’s recent decision that the existing Rwanda deportation plans are unlawful. Next, the government will proceed with the second part of its plan to fix the Rwanda scheme: legislation that could prevent new court challenges. As he finalises plans that could be published tomorrow, Rishi Sunak must decide whether he wants to infuriate his party’s moderate MPs or those rallying around Suella Braverman on the right.
Israel-Hamas war | The UN’s top aid official has said the Israeli military campaign in southern Gaza has been just as devastating as in the north, creating “apocalyptic” conditions and ending any possibility of meaningful humanitarian operations. Meanwhile, the UN heard accounts of sexual violence during the 7 October attacks by Hamas in a meeting where speakers accused women’s rights activists and UN officials of not doing enough to address the crimes.
Climate | Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned. Five important natural thresholds already risk being crossed, according to the Global Tipping Points report, and three more may be reached in the 2030s if the world heats 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.
Nuclear leaks | Sellafield, Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site, has a worsening leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste that could pose a risk to the public, the Guardian revealed. Concerns over safety at the crumbling building have caused diplomatic tensions with countries including the US, Norway and Ireland.
Covid inquiry | The mystery of Boris Johnson’s Covid-era WhatsApp messages has taken another twist before the former prime minister begins his evidence to the inquiry today, after it was reported that nearly six months of messages could not be retrieved. A spokesperson for Johnson blamed a “technical issue”.
NHS | Thousands of junior doctors are to stage new strike action in England after failing to reach a deal with the government in talks over pay. They will walk out for 72 hours from 7am on 20 December, and again for six days from 3 January.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch warns bar on women means unqualified men now teach boys, fewer subjects are taught and beatings are routine
The Taliban is causing “irreversible damage” to Afghanistan’s education system through the reintroduction of corporal punishment, curriculum changes and the use of unqualified teachers to replace women, most of whom have been barred from schools, Human Rights Watch has warned.
After taking power in 2021, the Taliban banned girls from secondary schools. A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), published on Wednesday, warns that boys’ education has also suffered under the Taliban, although this has gone largely unreported.
Continue reading...Order from president Nicolás Maduro comes after referendum on whether Venezuela should claim sovereignty over the region
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has ordered the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own.
The announcement came a day after Maduro declared victory in a weekend referendum on whether to claim sovereignty over the region.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president had been expected to join Zoom call but ‘something came up at the last minute’
Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.
Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.
Continue reading...Speakers also attacked women’s rights activists and UN officials for not doing more to investigate or condemn crimes
The United Nations has heard accounts of sexual violence during the 7 October attacks by Hamas, in a meeting where speakers also attacked women’s rights activists and UN officials for not doing more to investigate or condemn these crimes.
Israeli officials and frontline workers, senior US politicians and activists from both countries spoke at the meeting on Monday, organised in part by former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg. She told those gathered that “silence is complicity”.
Continue reading...Some reportedly called on the Israeli prime minister to resign at meeting on Tuesday
Recently released hostages and relatives of Israelis still held by Hamas in Gaza have confronted Benjamin Netanyahu at an angry meeting in which some of those present reportedly called on the Israeli prime minister to resign.
The meeting on Tuesday was addressed by relatives of those still in captivity and by recently returned hostages, some of whom reportedly described mental and physical abuse at the hands of their captors.
Continue reading...‘We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more,’ Antony Blinken says during announcement
In a rare punitive move against Israel, the US has announced it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in recent attacks on Palestinians in theWest Bank.
The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, announced the decision on Tuesday after warning Israel last week that Joe Biden’s administration would be taking action over the attacks. Blinken did not announce individual visa bans, but officials said those would be coming this week and could affect dozens of settlers and their families.
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