Category Archives: World News

UN says agency in Gaza ‘practically out of business’ – as it happened

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On Friday afternoon, the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, is to make a highly anticipated speech. The head of the influential Iran-backed Shia militant group will break weeks of silence with a broadcast from Beirut, which comes in the wake of a rise in violence on Israel’s northern border.

Hezbollah said on Thursday it had simultaneously attacked 19 positions in Israel on Thursday evening. The clashes have so far been mostly contained to the frontier, and Hezbollah has used only a fraction of the firepower that Nasrallah has been threatening with Israel for years.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy ‘weighing up presidential elections in spring’ – as it happened

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Russian shelling in Kherson has interrupted water and electricity supply in parts of the city, Suspilne reports. It cites the head of the city administration, saying: “Repair crews are working, electricity is planned to be restored during the day.”

Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks early on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.

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Democrats grow nervous over Israel’s conduct in Gaza as Senate leader vows not to consider House security bill – as it happened

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One minute after the House approved an Israel aid package that excluded providing similar assistance to Ukraine, the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, tweeted this:

This what some would call a “subtweet”: McConnell does not mention the House proposal at all nor its architect, Republican speaker Mike Johnson, but he is clearly referring to the just-passed bill. While some Republicans are ready to cut off aid to Kyiv, McConnell remains a steadfast backer of the country’s defense against Russia.

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Climate crisis talks resume on ‘loss and damage’ funding for poorest countries

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World leaders will reconvene in Abu Dhabi before UAE’s Cop28 after talks broke down two weeks ago

Governments will meet this weekend for a last-ditch attempt to bridge deep divisions between rich and poor countries over how to get money to vulnerable people afflicted by climate disaster.

Talks over funds for “loss and damage”, which refers to the rescue and rehabilitation of countries and communities experiencing the effects of extreme weather, started in March but broke down in rancour two weeks ago.

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Israeli forces attack Hamas targets in Gaza City as ground war intensifies

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IDF spokesperson says military ‘powerfully deployed’ north of Gaza and civilians still urged to move south

Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City and are attacking Hamas infrastructure and destroying tunnels used by militants to launch attacks, the Israeli military said.

Airstrikes continued alongside the intensifying ground offensive in what Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described as the second stage of the war.

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First of 100-strong group of Britons cross Gaza border into Egypt

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Scotland first minister’s parents-in-law among those evacuated, amid concerns for those stuck in northern Gaza

The first people in a group of about 100 Britons due to leave Gaza on Friday have made the crossing into Egypt, amid concerns about whether individuals in the north of the Palestinian territory will be able to make it to the southern Rafah crossing.

By Friday, there were 127 people on the UK list to be evacuated into Egypt since the crossing opened on Wednesday, more than three weeks after the conflict began in which thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed. Among those able to leave Gaza were the parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, who described the last four weeks as a “living nightmare” for the family of his wife, Nadia El-Nakla.

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‘You are our enemies’: Noel Edmonds in spat with council after move to New Zealand

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Entertainer has reportedly bought up 12 properties in rural Ngātīmoti and objected to a cycle trail proposal

He has wowed millions of TV viewers in the UK, taken on a big bank and loves working out in the dark. Now Noel Edmonds has brought his positive energy to a tiny town in New Zealand, where he has reportedly bought up NZ$30m (£14.5m) worth of property and is making his mark on the community.

Edmonds, 74, who found fame presenting shows such as Noel’s House Party, Top of the Pops and Deal Or No Deal, moved to New Zealand in 2019 – first to Matakana, north of Auckland, and then to the South Island in 2022.

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Democrats voted not to expel Santos because it would set dangerous precedent, lawmaker says

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Jamie Raskin says it was ‘an easy call’ because Santos hasn’t been convicted of a crime, though he faces 23 federal criminal charges

Thirty-one Democrats voted not to expel the Republican lawmaker George Santos from the US House of Representatives because he has not been convicted of any crime and to eject him would set a dangerous precedent for Republicans to expel their ideological opponents, a leading congressman said.

“For me this was an easy call,” said Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a law professor and influential progressive who sat on the January 6 committee and was lead manager in Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the attack on Congress.

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Storm Ciarán kills at least 15 across western Europe as floods strike Italy

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Tuscany is in a state of emergency and three people died when their sailing boat capsized off Portugal

At least six people have died in severe flooding in Tuscany, central Italy and three in Portugal, bringing to 15 the provisional death toll across western Europe from the torrential rain and record winds brought by Storm Ciarán.

Eugenio Giani, the president of Tuscany, announced a state of emergency on Friday, describing the situation as “really very serious”. It had been “a long and complex night for the entire regional civil protection system”, he said.

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Ukraine troops defend vital foothold on Russian-controlled Dnipro River

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Beachhead established on occupied side of river could allow Kyiv forces to reclaim more of Kherson region

A handful of Ukrainian troops who have reached the occupied side of the Dnipro River are clinging to a foothold in Russian-controlled territory in the south of the country despite a fierce bombardment.

The marines have secured a beachhead that could allow Ukraine to reclaim more of the Kherson region that lies between Ukrainian territory and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014, a fillip for a counter-offensive showing few gains elsewhere, but only if they can find a way to bring armoured vehicles and heavy weapons across the wide river separating the two militaries.

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Blinken to urge Israel to show restraint in campaign to destroy Hamas

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US secretary of state in Tel Aviv to call for pauses in fighting to allow more aid to enter Gaza

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has arrived in Tel Aviv to meet Israel’s war cabinet and urge it to show greater restraint in its campaign to destroy Hamas, starting by allowing more aid to enter Gaza and implementing humanitarian pauses.

Israel says it has Hamas surrounded in Gaza City and has shown no willingness to back a break in the fighting advocated by the US president, Joe Biden, let alone agree a ceasefire.

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Maersk to cut 10,000 jobs as shipping demand drops

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Danish company has axed 6,500 of those roles already, with global economic slowdown taking toll

One of the world’s largest shipping companies, Møller-Maersk, is cutting 10,000 jobs because of a drop in demand triggered by the global economic slowdown.

The Danish company said it had already started cutting staff but was planning on “intensifying” cost-saving measures in order to safeguard its financial performance as price forecasts worsened.

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Dozens killed in blaze at drug rehab centre in Iran

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Investigation under way after 32 people reported to have died in fire in Langarud, north of Tehran

Local media in Iran say 32 people have died in a fire at a drug rehabilitation centre in the north of the country, up from an earlier count of 27.

The death toll from the blaze at the centre in Langarud, a city in the northern Gilan province, was reported by the local ISNA news agency, quoting the province’s deputy governor, Mohammad Jalai.

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Delhi air pollution spikes to 100 times WHO health limit

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Season of smog begins with air quality index near worst possible level of 500 and little apparent progress in controlling annual poisonous blight on life

Air quality in Delhi hit severe levels on Friday and a thick toxic smog cloaked the city, marking the beginning of a pollution season that has become an annual catastrophe for India’s capital.

Schools were shut and non-essential construction was banned around Delhi as the air quality index in the city hit 500 – the highest the measurement will go and 100 times the limit deemed to be healthy by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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‘Failed to be a critical friend’: UK accused of taking eye off Israel-Palestine crisis

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Critics say government shies away from standing up to Netanyahu in tilt to Indo-Pacific and pursuit of Middle East trade deals

Concerns that the UK Foreign Office has neglected the Israel-Palestine conflict in its tilt to the Indo-Pacific and the pursuit of trade deals across the Middle East is to be investigated by the foreign affairs select committee.

Alicia Kearns, the chair of the committee, which will start holding evidence sessions on the issue in November, has been one of the most prominent MPs warning that a crisis was brewing that required greater attention and a more robust approach from the UK towards Israel’s new government.

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Taylor Swift fans have reportedly lined up for five months ahead of Argentina shows

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Pitchfork reports that hundreds of fans are sharing tents on a meticulously planned schedule to ensure they get the best spot when doors open next week

After a whirlwind excursion around the US that has generated billions of dollars in income and broken records for crowd size and seismic activity, Taylor Swift is taking her Eras tour to South America – and fans have reportedly been lining up for five months.

In Buenos Aires, a cadre of Swifties has been sleeping in tents outside River Plate Stadium, where Swift is set to open her Latin American leg with three shows from 9-11 November.

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US House passes $14.3bn aid package for Israel despite Democratic opposition

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Led by House speaker Mike Johnson, Republican plan passes Thursday 226-196 as Biden threatens veto

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3bn in aid to Israel as it fights Hamas, despite Democrats’ insistence it has no future in the Senate and the White House’s promise of a veto.

The measure passed 226-196, largely along party lines, with most Republicans supporting the bill and most Democrats objecting.

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Breonna Taylor neighbor tells of horror as police bullets flew past sleeping son

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Chelsey Napper tells court she was ‘scared to death’ on night Taylor, 26, was shot dead by Louisville police in botched raid

Breonna Taylor’s neighbor recalled her horror as police bullets flew into her apartment near her sleeping son as a federal trial for the former Louisville officer who fired those shots began Thursday.

Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison fired 10 shots during the botched raid in March 2020 that left Taylor dead, though it was another officer who fatally shot the 26-year-old Black woman. Hankison, 47, is charged with two federal civil rights violations for endangering Taylor, her boyfriend and Taylor’s neighbors, who shared a wall with her apartment. None of Hankison’s shots hit anyone.

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