Category Archives: World News

Cuban officials warn of increased blackouts due to fuel shortages

Posted on by

Citizens of the island nation were told that power outages of up to 10 hours a day could be expected outside Havana

Cuban officials have warned that blackouts on the island will increase significantly due to a lack of fuel, potentially worsening the country’s plight as it deals with food and medicine shortages.

Local governments have already begun announcing restrictions on power usage at state-run companies and other entities, including moves to postpone sporting events and university classes.

Continue reading...

Suspect arrested after manhunt over killing of young Baltimore tech chief

Posted on by

Jason Billingsley charged with first-degree murder after Pava LaPere, 26, found dead in apartment complex on Monday

A suspect has been arrested over the murder of a Baltimore tech chief executive, following a citywide manhunt.

Jason Billingsley, 32, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder on Wednesday by Baltimore police over the killing of 26-year-old Pava LaPere. Billingsley was reportedly apprehended at a Maryland train station, ending a day-long manhunt for the suspect.

Continue reading...

Fears rise of volcanic eruption near Naples after strongest earthquake in 40 years

Posted on by

Evacuation plans being drafted after activity on Campi Flegrei field, which experts warned earlier in 2023 was in a dangerous state

Concern is mounting over the risk of an eruption on a sprawling volcanic area close to Naples after the area was struck by the strongest earthquake in 40 years.

Seismic activity on Campi Flegrei, a constellation of ancient volcanic craters, has intensified over the past year and especially in recent months, with more than 80 events occurring in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the biggest being a 4.2 magnitude quake.

Continue reading...

Pakistan welcomes fast-fashion brand Boohoo despite poor staff safety claims

Posted on by

Call to set up role comes as report alleges retailer uses factories that violate minimum-wage requirements and workers’ rights

Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, has reportedly asked the British fast-fashion brand Boohoo to increase its presence in the country, despite claims that it has failed to tackle poor conditions at its suppliers’ factories there.

In a meeting with Kakar this week, Mahmud Kamani, chairman of Boohoo Group, expressed an interest in establishing long-term buying linkages with Pakistan, according to Radio Pakistan.

Kakar pointed out Pakistan’s pro-investment policies and facilities, and invited Boohoo to open franchises in the country, which is in economic turmoil, with a record inflation rate of 36.4%.

Continue reading...

‘I had to drink my own urine to survive’: Africans tell of being forced into the desert at Tunisia border

Posted on by

As EU prepares to send money as part of €1bn deal, people trying to reach north African country detail border ‘pushbacks’

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have spoken of their horror at being forcibly returned to remote desert regions where some have died of thirst as they attempt to cross the border into Tunisia.

As the European Union prepares to send money to Tunisia under a €1bn (£870m) migration deal, human rights groups are urging Brussels to take a tougher line on allegations that Tunisian authorities have been pushing people back to deserted border areas, often with fatal results.

Continue reading...

‘It’s a torment’: refugee tells how his family died in desert on quest for a future in Europe

Posted on by

Pato Crepin’s wife and six-year-old daughter were repeatedly pushed back by authorities in Tunisia, which has signed a €1bn deal with the EU

Pato Crepin had walked for three days through the desert and could not take it any more. Twice, he and his family tried to cross the border from Libya into Tunisia; twice, they had been pushed back. Crepin, who was recovering from an infection and had not had a drink for 24 hours, found he could not get up. In the blistering heat of the mid-July desert, his legs had given up.

His wife and six-year-old daughter, however, seemed stronger. Crepin, an asylum seeker from Cameroon, believed that if they left him behind they might yet make it to Tunisia and, from there, perhaps, on to Europe. He did not want to slow them down. “Go,” he told them. “I’ll catch up with you in Tunisia.”

Continue reading...

Trump real estate empire under threat after fraud ruling; Senate leader urges House to pass funding bill – US politics live

Posted on by

Even a short shutdown would jeopardize the work of potentially thousands of air traffic controllers and other key employees, secretary Buttigieg says

US soldier Travis King, who fled to North Korea in July, is in American custody after being expelled by Pyongyang into China, according to US officials.

North Korea’s KCNA state news agency said King had been expelled after he confessed to illegally entering the country. It said the soldier harboured ill feelings over inhumane treatment and racial discrimination within the US army.

This is genuinely new – I don’t think it’s ever happened before, a president on a picket line. Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Champs-Élysées to be given makeover before Paris Olympic Games

Posted on by

‘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.

Continue reading...

French equality watchdog finds 90% of online pornography abuses women

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Palestinian negotiators sceptical over potential Israel-Saudi deal

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Solomon Islands prime minister says US must respect Pacific leaders

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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?”

Continue reading...

Chair of China’s Evergrande reportedly put under police surveillance

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Woman shields son from black bear eating birthday picnic in Mexico

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...