Category Archives: World News

Chuck Schumer says he is ‘disturbed’ by Bob Menendez bribery charges

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Senate majority leader says fellow Democrat has fallen ‘way short’ of senatorial standards but stops short of calling for resignation

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on Wednesday he was “disturbed” by the fraud indictment against his fellow Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez, and that the New Jersey lawmaker has fallen “way short” of senatorial standards.

Menendez pleaded not guilty earlier in the day to charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, as calls for his resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

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US soldier who fled to North Korea in July lands at Texas military base

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Travis King arrived on US military flight and will undergo medical review and reintegration process

Travis King, the American soldier who fled across the border from South Korea to North Korea in July, has landed at a US military base in Texas after being taken back into US custody.

CNN reported that King arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston on a US military flight in the early hours of Thursday morning.

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Revealed: Europe’s role in the making of Russia killer drones

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Exclusive: Kyiv says Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine have various European components

Iranian kamikaze drones used in the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities are filled with European components, according to a secret document sent by Kyiv to its western allies in which it appeals for long-range missiles to attack production sites in Russia, Iran and Syria.

In a 47-page document submitted by Ukraine’s government to the G7 governments in August, it is claimed there were more than 600 raids on cities using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) containing western technology in the previous three months.

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Russia-Ukraine war: ‘killed’ Russian Black Sea fleet commander seen on video again – as it happened

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

Germany has welcomed a decision by Switzerland to open the way to sell back some of its German-made Leopard II tanks to help rebuild stocks depleted by aid to Ukraine.

Germany had asked Switzerland in February to sell back some of the 96 Leopard II tanks it has in storage to manufacturer Rheinmetall, Reuters reports.

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Champs-Élysées to be given makeover before Paris Olympic Games

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‘World’s most beautiful avenue’ in French capital will undergo urgent cosmetic changes after years of decline

On paper and in urban legend, the Champs-Élysées is the most beautiful avenue in the world. For the last 30 years, however, Parisians have lamented the slow decline of the capital’s famous street.

The pavements flanking what is now an eight-lane highway used by an average 3,000 vehicles an hour have become an obstacle course of uneven paving stones and electricity cables and a hotchpotch of restaurant, bar, cafe and brasserie terraces of all shapes, sizes and colours.

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French equality watchdog finds 90% of online pornography abuses women

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Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers

As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found.

France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed.

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Republicans pushing for government shutdown ‘stuck on stupid’, says party moderate

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Mike Lawler, New York Republican, says ‘colleagues refuse to do what we were elected to do’ as shutdown looms

Republicans pushing for a federal government shutdown are “stuck on stupid”, a party moderate said shortly before one rightwinger reported that the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, would not hold a vote on a bipartisan Senate plan advanced as a way to keep the government open.

“The American people elected a House Republican majority to serve as a check and balance and be able to govern,” Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, a heavily Democratic state, told CNN.

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Palestinian negotiators sceptical over potential Israel-Saudi deal

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Despite outward positivity, sources say normalisation deal unlikely to happen any time soon

A potential normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is being treated with scepticism by Palestinian negotiators, despite outwardly positive signals from Palestinian officials, several sources with knowledge of the talks have said.

Unofficial relations between Israel and the powerful Gulf petrostate have been growing for years. The possibility of a formal diplomatic agreement, however, has come to the fore since the two countries, along with the US, signalled progress on the matter during the UN general assembly in New York last week.

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Solomon Islands prime minister says US must respect Pacific leaders

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Manasseh Sogavare hits out at US after skipping Biden summit as $200m in funding for Pacific nations draws criticism for ‘trying to play catch up’

The prime minister of Solomon Islands has criticised Washington, saying the US must respect Pacific leaders, after Joe Biden pledged $200m for the region in an effort widely seen as a push against China’s growing presence.

Biden hosted a group of Pacific leaders at a summit in Washington this week, after a similar meeting a year earlier.

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Brazilians push to make dream of Black woman on supreme court a reality

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Women make up 51% of the population, and Afro-Brazilians 56%, but no Black woman has ever sat on the highest court

A young Black Brazilian girl dreams of being a pop star, a writer or a world champion in gymnastics, dressing up like the Afro-Brazilian women who have achieved that before her.

But when her mother suggests that she aspire to become a judge on the supreme court, the girl looks incredulous and asks: “Like who?”

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Chair of China’s Evergrande reportedly put under police surveillance

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Another missed bond payment raises doubts over future of world’s most indebted property developer

The chair of China’s Evergrande Group has reportedly been put under police surveillance as another missed bond payment casts further doubt over the future of the world’s most indebted property developer.

Hui Ka Yan, who founded Evergrande in 1996, was taken away earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location, according to Bloomberg.

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Woman shields son from black bear eating birthday picnic in Mexico

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Silvia Macías was celebrating 15th birthday of son Santiago when bear appeared and gulped down tacos

A woman in Mexico shielded her son after a bear leaped on to a picnic table, inches from his face, and devoured the tacos and enchiladas meant for his birthday dinner.

Silvia Macías of Mexico City had travelled to the Chipinque Park on the outskirts of the northern city of Monterrey to celebrate the 15th birthday of her son, Santiago, who has Down’s syndrome.

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Senate votes to advance stopgap funding bill to avoid shutdown – as it happened

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The 79-page stopgap spending bill would not include any border security measures, a major sticking point for House Republicans

In a major blow to Bob Menendez’s support, Cory Booker, his fellow Democratic senator from New Jersey, says he should resign following his indictment on corruption charges last week.

“I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving,” said Booker, who supported Menendez when he previously faced corruption charges in 2015.

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More than 100 people killed after fire breaks out at Iraq wedding

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Blaze started after fireworks lit during celebration in Nineveh province, according to local media

More than 100 people have been killed and 150 others injured in a fire at a wedding reception in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, attracting global messages of sympathy.

Survivors said the fire, which swept through the hall in a matter of seconds, was triggered by fireworks that had been set off inside the hall before the bride and groom’s slow dance.

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Key details behind Nord Stream pipeline blasts revealed by scientists

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Researchers in Norway reveal further analysis of 2022 explosions as well as a detailed timeline of events

Scientists investigating the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have revealed key new details of explosions linked to the event, which remains unsolved on its first anniversary.

Researchers in Norway shared with the Guardian seismic evidence of the four explosions, becoming the first national body to publicly confirm the second two detonations, as well as revealing a detailed timeline of events.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: dozens feared dead and hundreds injured after fuel depot blast

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Medical centres in Stepanakert at capacity after explosion, the cause of which remains unknown

Dozens of people are feared dead and hundreds more injured after a powerful explosion at a fuel storage depot in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as thousands of ethnic Armenians streamed out of the breakaway territory after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of it in a lightning offensive last week.

Most of those wounded were in a “severe or extremely severe” condition after the blast at the facility near the regional capital of Stepanakert on Monday evening, according to the Armenian health ministry. The death toll from the blast is expected to rise significantly, with more than 100 still listed as missing.

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Donatella Versace hits out at Italian government’s anti-gay policies

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LGBTQ groups laud fashion designer for speech in which she said ‘minority voices’ were under attack

Gay rights groups in Italy have praised Donatella Versace for speaking out against the government’s anti-gay policies in a heartfelt and personal speech while receiving a fashion award.

“Our government is trying to take away people’s rights to live as they wish,” Versace said on Sunday night, citing in particular a government policy that allows only the biological parent in same-sex couples to be officially recognised as the parent. “They are restricting our freedoms,” she said.

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Canada parliament speaker resigns after calling Ukrainian Nazi veteran a ‘hero’

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Anthony Rota steps down after meeting with party leaders in Ottawa having invited Yaroslav Hunka to special session

The speaker of Canada’s parliament has resigned after inviting a Ukrainian Nazi veteran to attend a special session of parliament, and then calling the man a “hero” amid two standing ovations.

Anthony Rota stepped down as speaker on Tuesday after meeting with party leaders in Ottawa amid growing cross-party calls for his resignation.

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Everton owner received £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies, documents suggest

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Exclusive: Questions mount over ties between Farhad Moshiri and tycoon, before he was put under sanctions

The Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, received more than £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies in the run-up to the Russian billionaire being placed under sanctions, documents suggest, raising fresh questions about the financial ties between the two men.

Records seen by the Guardian appear to show that Moshiri borrowed £145m from a company wholly owned by the Russian-Uzbek tycoon from about 2020.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia releases video of Black Sea commander Ukraine claims to have killed – as it happened

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Viktor Sokolov shown in footage released by defence ministry, day after Ukraine said he had been killed in missile strike

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has rather sarcastically castigated US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller for deflecting a question about the appearance of a Ukrainian veteran of a Nazi unit in the Canadian parliament. Miller had said that he was attending the UN on Friday.

Zakharova has posted to her Telegram channel to say:

Everyone was at the UN on Friday, Matthew. And everyone saw how nazism triumphed in Canada. The UN has a lot of problems, but the internet works great there.

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