Category Archives: World News

Canada-China detention feud reopened after claims of ‘unwitting’ espionage

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Freed detainee Michael Spavor says he unknowingly passed intelligence to Michael Kovrig, who then told Canadian officials

A simmering diplomatic feud prompted by China’s detention of two Canadian citizens has been reopened after one of the men claimed he was arrested for unknowingly passing on intelligence to Canada and its allies.

The Globe and Mail reported Michael Spavor is seeking a multi-million dollar settlement from Canada’s federal government, alleging he “unwittingly” provided intelligence on North Korea to fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, who then shared that information with Canada and Five Eyes allies.

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UK white paper raises concerns over China’s growing foreign aid role

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Government paper says Britain must act robustly if interests challenged by the Chinese development model

China’s growing role in international development marks a systemic global shift that will require robust challenge by Britain if its interests are threatened, a UK government white paper on aid has warned.

With David Cameron starting as foreign secretary and under scrutiny for his previous business links with China, the document does not hold back in challenging the Chinese development model or its growing influence.

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Trump and Bolsonaro salute Javier Milei as far right rejoice around the world

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‘El Loco’ wins landslide victory in Argentina that experts say shows scale of frustration with Peronist status quo

Luminaries of the global far right are in raptures over Javier Milei’s thumping election victory in Argentina which experts predict will turn Buenos Aires into a new stomping ground for the populist radical right.

Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro led the merrymaking after their Argentinian ally trounced his rival, the Peronist finance minister Sergio Massa, by nearly 3 million votes in Sunday’s presidential election. The former US president predicted Milei would “truly make Argentina great again” while Brazil’s ex-president applauded a victory for “honesty, progress and freedom”. Bolsonarista and Mileísta activists predicted Milei’s win would be the first in a trio of rightwing conquests that would see Trump and Bolsonaro reclaim power in 2024 and 2026.

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Would Javier Milei’s dollar plan for Argentina be an economic experiment too far?

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President-elect’s idea is a gamble that is likely to crash an economy paying the price for mistakes of his predecessor

Javier Milei’s bigger-than-expected victory in the Argentinan presidential election suggests voters in South America’s second biggest country have willingly opted for shock treatment to sort out the country’s deep economic malaise.

It is perhaps not hard to see why 56% of the electorate backed the rightwing libertarian: Argentina may have the world’s best football team but its economy has performed disastrously in recent years. Inflation is running at 140% and a three-year drought has led to a sharp fall in agricultural production. Two out of five people live in poverty and the currency has lost 90% of its value in four years.

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Hamas has delivered truce response to Qatari officials – as it happened

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In an update on the 31 premature babies evacuated from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, health officials say they are in “extremely critical condition”.

The newborns had dehydration, hypothermia and sepsis in some cases, said Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals.

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Not possible to return asylum seekers who arrived from Russia, Finnish president says – Europe live

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Sauli Niinistö calls for close cooperation on border security during visit to Poland

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has congratulated Javier Milei and invited the new Argentinian far-right libertarian president to visit Israel to open an embassy in Jerusalem.

Milei has previously said he would move the location of Argentina’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “I don’t care if I’ll be criticized by world leaders. I truly believe that’s the right thing to do,” he said in a recent interview with the Times of Israel.

It’s obvious that Argentina needs a change. It was unacceptable that one of the most prosperous countries in the world should keep falling year after year into the same thing.

I wish the new government every success and I want them to know that they can count on Madrid, where we’ve worked to defend freedom from day one and where we’ve looked after so many Argentinians who have fled, terrified, from Peronism …

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Biden celebrates birthday as polls show struggles against Trump

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Voters concerned that Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, is too old for second term while Trump, 77, makes headway among key groups

As he turned 81 on Monday, Joe Biden was presented with unwelcome gifts: more polling showing him struggling against Donald Trump, his likely opponent next year who is just three and a half years younger but whom many fewer Americans think is too old to be president.

In its US Election Watch Report for November, the Morning Consult polling organisation said Trump is gaining ground among key voter segments including Black, Hispanic and young Americans. “Throughout 2023, Trump has made up ground with Joe Biden in our head-to-head tracking by improving his margins” among such groups, also including independents, it said.

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Albania opposition starts fire in parliament during anti-government protest

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MPs set off smoke bombs in middle of chamber in failed attempt to stop vote on 2024 budget

Albania’s opposition has set off smoke bombs and started a small fire in the middle of parliament in a failed attempt to stop the chamber from voting on the 2024 budget.

MPs involved in the protest on Monday piled chairs in the centre of the chamber and red, green and purple smoke filled the air as security kept protesters back from the seat of the prime minister, Edi Rama.

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More than 200 mobsters convicted in Italian mafia ‘maxi trial’

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Specially built courtroom in Calabria heard evidence of ruthless tactics of ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate

An Italian court has convicted and sentenced more than 200 people of crimes including criminal association, extortion and bribery in what has been described as Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades.

The verdicts mark the end of a three-year “maxi trial” held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious ’Ndrangheta.

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Pieter Omtzigt: the Netherlands outsider whose politics is firmly in the centre

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A much-admired MP who launched his own party in the summer is hoping for electoral success

• Europe live – latest updates

Usually in European elections the insurgent candidates come from the outer reaches of the political spectrum: the far left or, more often of late, the far right. This one comes solidly from the centre. He could hardly be less fringe if he tried.

Days after Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch Christian Democrat MP for 18 years, announced in August he was founding a new party to “do politics differently”, it was topping the polls. Two days from the vote, it is vying for the lead in the parliamentary election.

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Shakira strikes deal with Spanish prosecutors to avoid €14.5m tax fraud trial

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Colombian singer to pay €7.3m fine instead of risking prison sentence in deal that ends Barcelona trial

The Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a settlement with prosecutors to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she failed to pay €14.5m (£12.7m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.

As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of 50% of the amount owed, more than €7.3m.

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels seize cargo ship in Red Sea, calling Israeli vessels ‘legitimate targets’

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Israel says Galaxy Leader is British-owned and describes seizure as an ‘escalation in Iran’s belligerence’

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they have seized what they called an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea, and warned that all vessels linked to Israel “will become a legitimate target for armed forces”.

Houthi forces would “continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes … against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop”, said a spokesperson for the group, Yahya Saree, in a statement on X.

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India tunnel workers may be trapped for another four or five days, says official

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The 41 workers have spent almost 200 hours inside the tunnel as fears for their health and safety mount

Indian officials have warned that 41 construction workers who have been stuck inside a collapsed tunnel for over a week could be trapped for several more days, as various rescue efforts have failed so far.

Fears for the health and wellbeing of the workers continued to mount, having spent almost 200 hours confined inside the dark tunnel cavity in the state of Uttarakhand.

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Families criticise UK government’s repatriation guidance in Gaza conflict

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Relative ‘shocked’ by advice for family members who crossed into Egypt to split temporarily and apply for reunification from Britain

Relatives of British citizens recently evacuated from Gaza and those waiting to return to the UK have criticised the government’s repatriation guidance, as UK officials continue to support nationals crossing into Egypt.

Ahmad Abou-Foul’s family safely crossed from Gaza into Egypt on 3 November. He said they were “shocked” after arriving in Cairo when UK immigration officers advised the individuals with British passports to return to the UK with their children, and once there, start a reunification process for their Palestinian spouses.

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Three more journalists killed in Gaza over weekend, relatives say – as it happened

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Some protests aimed at MPs have “crossed the line from protest to intimidation”, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said, also speaking to Sky’s Trevor Phillips programme.

Asked about recent protests outside MPs’ offices calling for a ceasefire, PA Media reports she said:

I believe in the right to protest, I don’t believe in the right to intimidate.

Some of those protests, I believe, over the last few days have crossed the line from protest to intimidation. Protesting outside people’s homes, putting pressure on them in that way, I think it’s totally unacceptable.

We recognise, and I’m afraid this morning’s news confirms, that there is an absolutely tragic loss of life on both the Palestinian and the Israeli side. But I think it is important to remember this started with horrific murders on October 7, and if Hamas are hiding in these hospitals then Israel has to do something about it. I think we can all just hope this situation resolves itself as quickly as possible.

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Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter and former first lady, dies aged 96

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Carter, who was diagnosed with dementia in May, was fiercely loyal ally throughout husband’s long political career

Rosalynn Carter, wife of the 39th president Jimmy Carter, has died at the couple’s Georgia home aged 96.

Carter, who became one of the nation’s leading mental health advocates during and after her husband’s time in the White House, was diagnosed with dementia in May.

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Argentina presidential election: far-right libertarian Javier Milei wins after rival concedes

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Victory for TV celebrity-turned politician catapults South America’s second-largest economy into an unpredictable future

Javier Milei, a volatile far-right libertarian who has vowed to “exterminate” inflation and take a chainsaw to the state, has been elected president of Argentina, catapulting South America’s second largest economy into an unpredictable and potentially turbulent future.

With nearly 99% of votes counted, the Mick Jagger impersonating TV celebrity-turned politician, who is often compared to Donald Trump, had secured 55.7% of the vote compared to Massa’s 44.2%.

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Gaza protests targeting MPs ‘cross line into intimidation’, says Rachel Reeves

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Hundreds march through Keir Starmer’s constituency to protest against failure to back ceasefire

Some protests targeting MPs over their stance on the war in Gaza have “crossed the line from protest to intimidation”, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said.

Other MPs already voiced concern about their safety and that of staff ahead of a weekend on which more than 100 pro-Palestine events were planned across the UK as campaigners sought to put pressure on parliamentarians who failed to vote for a Scottish National party motion last week calling for a ceasefire.

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MP Bob Stewart to stand down after racial abuse conviction

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Stewart, a Tory MP at the time, told activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to ‘go back to Bahrain’ during row last year

A former Tory MP has said he will step down at the next general election after being found guilty of racially abusing an activist.

Bob Stewart, who surrendered the Tory whip and now sits as an independent in Beckenham, south London, was found guilty of telling Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to “go back to Bahrain” during a confrontation in central London in December last year.

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