Category Archives: World News

Free speech groups criticise German ban on Russian journalists’ book

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Russian businessman claims book defamed him, while authors say aim is to destroy their reputation

A Russian businessman has successfully taken legal action to ban a book in Germany about the Kremlin and its spy agencies, in a case that freedom of speech groups have described as an alarming attack on public interest reporting.

Two London-based Russian journalists, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, say they interviewed the businessman, Alexey Kozlov, for their 2019 book The Compatriots because of his family’s historical connections to Soviet intelligence. He has now won a court injunction against the book’s publisher.

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Greek PM criticises Rishi Sunak for cancelling planned meeting at No 10

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Tory source says ‘it became impossible for meeting to go ahead’ after Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged return of Parthenon marbles to Athens

Greece’s prime minister has criticised the decision of his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to cancel planned talks at which he had hoped to raise the issue of the Parthenon marbles, as disagreements over the antiquities erupted with renewed vigour.

As aides described Sunak’s move as “wrong and undignified”, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is visiting London, voiced irritation at the scheduled Downing Street meeting being called off at the 11th hour.

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Biden condemns shooting of Palestinian students in Vermont

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President says ‘there is no place for violence or hate in America’ after suspect arrested on Sunday

Joe Biden has expressed horror at the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont and, amid heightened tensions with the crisis in Israel and Gaza reverberating in the US, reiterated on Monday that “there is no place for violence or hate in America”.

A suspect was arrested on Sunday after the shootings the night before that wounded the men, police said, adding that contrary to media reports the shooter did not speak before firing.

Edward Helmore and Chris Stein contributed reporting

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Aid agencies welcome extension of Gaza truce but fear its end

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Concern voiced over deeper humanitarian crisis that may follow if Israel resumes attack on Hamas

Aid agencies have welcomed the two-day extension of the truce in Gaza but voiced concern that the anticipated resumption of Israel’s attack on Hamas would lead to an even deeper humanitarian crisis among Palestinians.

Save the Children said it would try to continue to provide what it described as basic relief aid – bottled water, food and essential medicines – some of which it had been able to help deliver during the first four days of the truce.

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Deal agreed to extend Gaza ceasefire for two days, say Hamas and Qatar

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Palestinian group says it has agreed to continuation of truce with same conditions, but Israel has not commented

A deal to extend the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by two days has been agreed after a frantic dash by mediators with just over 12 hours remaining before hostilities in Gaza were due to resume.

Hamas said it had agreed to the extension of the four-day truce by 48 hours after the intervention of Qatar and Egypt, the principal mediators for the initial agreement, and with the same conditions.

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London surgeon says he saw ‘massacre unfold’ while working in Gaza hospitals

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Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah claims destruction of Palestinian health system was an Israeli objective

A London surgeon has described witnessing a “massacre unfold” during 43 days spent under bombardment in Gaza, saying the destruction of the Palestinian health system was a military objective of the war.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who will later give evidence to Scotland Yard, told of horrific scenes at al-Ahli Arab and Dar al-Shifa hospitals as they ceased to function and said he witnessed the use of white phosphorus munitions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied using such weapons.

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Gucci design staff strike in protest at plan to relocate to Milan

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About 50 workers take part in action, claiming move from Rome would be tantamount to collective dismissal

About 50 Gucci employees in Italy have gone on strike in protest against plans to relocate a significant part of its design studio team from Rome to Milan in what they claim is a “mass redundancy in disguise”.

Gucci, which is owned by the French-based luxury goods group Kering, announced in October it would move 153 of its 219 design employees from the Italian capital to Milan, 380 miles away in Lombardy.

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Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oil

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Climate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand

Saudi Arabia is driving a huge global investment plan to create demand for its oil and gas in developing countries, an undercover investigation has revealed. Critics said the plan was designed to get countries “hooked on its harmful products”.

Little was known about the oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP) but the investigation obtained detailed information on plans to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, as rich countries increasingly switch to clean energy.

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Tesla sues Sweden’s transport agency in escalation of strike row

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US carmaker claims ‘discriminatory attack’ after industrial action stops new cars receiving Swedish plates

Tesla is suing the Swedish transport agency, accusing it of a “discriminatory attack” on the US electric carmaker, after strike action prevented its new vehicles from getting licence plates in Sweden.

The lawsuit is an escalation in a row that started between the car company and the union representing Swedish Telsa workers, who are calling for collective bargaining rights and have been on strike for five weeks.

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Elon Musk visits scene of kibbutz massacre with Benjamin Netanyahu

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Pair speak about Gaza conflict but not online antisemitism nor controversial post made by X owner this month

Elon Musk has joined the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in visiting a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas on 7 October, after criticism of his endorsement of an antisemitic post on X.

The owner of X, the site formerly known as Twitter, has been criticised for supporting a post on his platform that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. High-profile advertisers have also suspended spending on the site after a report that ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi content.

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‘I don’t know if she’s dead or alive’: prisoner releases leave Palestinian girl’s family in limbo

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Nofuz Hammad, 16, was on the list of those to be freed, but when her father went to meet her, she did not emerge

Palestinian families, as well as Israelis, have been celebrating reunions, as loved ones held in Israeli prisons return home under the ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But for the Hammad family, from occupied East Jerusalem, this week has brought more questions than answers – and more worry than joy.

Their daughter, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, was on the list of imprisoned women and children to be released on Saturday, the second day of an agreed four-day truce. Only one member of each family was allowed to go to collect the detainees, some of whom, including Nofuz, were supposed to be released at the notorious West Jerusalem detention and interrogation facility known as the Russian Compound.

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Liz Truss backs Trump with call for Republican presidential victory

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Short-lived PM does not mention frontrunner for nomination by name but says ‘I hope a Republican will be returned in 2024’

Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, who was memorably shown to have a shorter shelf life than a lettuce, has in effect backed Donald Trump in next year’s US presidential election.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Truss – who spent just 49 days in No 10 Downing Street before being turfed out by her own Conservative party in large part for pitching the UK economy into crisis – said she wished for a Republican president next.

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Geert Wilders: effort to form Netherlands coalition not off to ‘dream start’

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Blow to far-right leader as man chosen to oversee coalition talks quits over fraud claims

The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has admitted that he was not off to a “dream start” in his attempts to form a government, after a man he appointed to oversee coalition talks quit over fraud allegations before getting started in the role.

Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV) look to have won almost a quarter of seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament in last Wednesday’s elections, about 10 seats more than predicted.

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Ukraine to change conscription policies in drive to sustain fighting capacity

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Changes to include use of commercial recruitment firms to carry out more targeted conscription, say officials

The Ukrainian government is planning to change its conscription practices as it seeks to sustain fighting capacity after nearly two years of full-fledged war with Russia.

The changes, expected to be announced this week, will include the use of commercial recruitment companies to carry out more targeted conscription and to reassure conscripts they will be deployed in roles that match their skills and not simply sent to the front, according to one senior official.

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North Korea moves heavy weapons to border with South

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Seoul condemns ‘provocative acts’ as tensions rise after launch of spy satellite in defiance of UN sanctions

North Korea has started rebuilding guard posts and stationing heavy weapons along its border with South Korea, the defence ministry in Seoul has said, after the countries’ withdrawal from a key confidence-building agreement designed to prevent a war.

Media reports cited the South Korean military as saying it had detected troops from the North repairing camouflaged guard posts that the regime had destroyed as part of a comprehensive military agreement in 2018 designed to lower the risk of a confrontation along the heavily armed demilitarised zone (DMZ).

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Israel-Hamas war: 57 journalists killed in conflict, Committee to Protect Journalists says – as it happened

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Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from Khan Younis inside Gaza, says that people there consider it “an incomplete and unfair truce” as they are being forbidden from travelling from the south back to their homes and families in the north.

He says Palestinians are “taking this opportunity to secure necessities such as food and water. It’s also an opportunity to grieve properly and to hold proper funerals”.

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India tunnel collapse: rescuers attempt vertical drilling after safer options hit trouble

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Dozens of labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeks

The fate of 41 Indian workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel hung in the balance on Monday as rescuers began a “risky” attempt to drill vertically down to try to pull them out.

The labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeks after a landslide caused the entrance of the tunnel to collapse and become blocked with a wall of concrete rubble, debris and metal.

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US warship rescues Israeli-linked tanker Central Park after attack in Gulf of Aden

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Ship boarded by gunmen – who fled and then surrendered when USS Mason arrived – in latest incident in region

A US warship rescued an Israeli-linked tanker that had been attacked by “armed individuals” in the Gulf of Aden, the US military has said, in the latest such incident to underscore the heightened risk to shipping in the region.

The USS Mason responded to a distress call by the Central Park tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday and demanded the ship’s release, US Central Command said.

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Israel and Hamas exchange more hostages and prisoners as US hopeful of truce extension

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Israel frees more prisoners in exchange but insists its military campaign in Gaza is far from over

The third exchange of hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel has taken place as the US expressed hope that a fragile four-day truce in Gaza would be extended beyond Monday, while Israel indicated its campaign was far from over.

Israel said 17 hostages were released by Hamas, including a Russian national and three Thai nationals. The Israelis were all women or children. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners, also women and children, were freed from Israeli jails, authorities said.

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