Kyiv defended itself against eighth consecutive nightly drone attack; Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territory being forced to assume Russian citizenship, study finds
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Niger: US and UK evacuate embassy staff as coup leaders double down
Staffing levels reduced as US says White House is committed to restoring president after last week’s coup
The US and UK have ordered the evacuation of some staff from their embassies in Niger after last week’s coup, as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the White House was committed to restoring the stricken country’s government.
Niger is a key western ally in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the region. Foreign powers have condemned the takeover, fearing it could allow the militants to gain ground.
Continue reading...UK Brexit checks on fresh food from EU delayed for fifth time, reports say
Government source reportedly says there are concerns extra red tape could fuel further inflation
Brexit checks on fresh farm produce coming to the UK from the EU have been delayed for the fifth time, according to reports.
The decision to suspend plans to enforce the controls, which have been applied in the other direction to British exports to the EU since January 2021, is due to be announced imminently, according to the Financial Times.
Continue reading...Ken Elliott: kidnapped Australian surgeon says he had scurvy and was close to death during seven years in Africa
The missionary, who was taken by an al-Qaida-linked group in Burkina Faso in 2016, tells how God and meditating on scripture sustained him
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An Australian surgeon who was held captive by militants in Africa for more than seven years has spoken publicly about the toll of the ordeal, saying he became so malnourished he got scurvy and was close to death.
Ken Elliott and his wife, Jocelyn, were in their 80s when they were kidnapped by an al-Qaida-linked group in Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the Sahel region that is experiencing increasing unrest.
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Continue reading...Meta, Google and YouTube ‘profiting’ off posts for bogus women’s health cures in Kenya
Tech firms permit ads for potentially harmful products including vaginal ‘cleanse’ balls and useless herbs for infertility, according to an investigation
Meta, YouTube and Google are profiting from posts promoting harmful and useless health products to women in Kenya, according to an investigation.
Researchers from the media collective Fumbua have accused big tech firms of amplifying content that promises unproven cures for infertility and herbs that can stave off cancers on their networks.
Continue reading...Tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah in border region
Lebanese militant group appears to be trying new tactics to test Israel’s resolve
Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are at their highest level in years after a series of inflammatory incidents on the UN-controlled boundary between the two countries.
Seventeen years after the Iran-backed movement’s last devastating war with Israel, Hezbollah appears to be trying new tactics in the volatile border region to test Israel’s resolve. Such brinkmanship is not unknown, but the increasing frequency of the border skirmishes is raising the likelihood of miscalculation – and escalation.
Continue reading...Body caught in Rio Grande floating barrier, says Mexico
Texas government installed barrier to deter migrants – Mexican and US governments want it removed as dangerous and illegal
A body has been found stuck in a floating barrier installed by Texas authorities in the Rio Grande river on the US border, Mexico’s foreign ministry has said
Authorities were working to identify the body found in the river and determine the cause of death, said Mexico’s foreign ministry, as it reiterated safety concerns.
Continue reading...Russia ‘systematically’ forcing Ukrainians to accept citizenship, US report finds
Ukrainians in occupied territories who refuse Russian passports face threats, intimidation and possible detention or deportation, Yale study says
Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, a new US report has said.
Yale University researchers found that residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.
Continue reading...Trump lawyer hints defense will focus on free speech; ex-president will not have mugshot taken – live
John Lauro claims four criminal charges over efforts to overturn 2020 election ‘absurd’; US officials say Trump will have fingerprints taken but no photo
- Can Trump still run in 2024 – and can he pardon himself?
- 45 pages that skewer Trump’s bid to destroy American democracy
It’s just gone 8 am in Washington DC.
I’m going to hand over now to the US politics live blogger, Chris Stein, who will guide you through the rest of the day.
Continue reading...Military intervention in Niger is ‘last resort’, says west African bloc
Defence chiefs demand reinstatement of president after coup, which triggered exodus of foreign nationals
Defence heads from west Africa’s regional political and security bloc have said a military intervention in junta-ruled Niger was “the last resort”, as European countries continued to evacuate foreign nationals after last week’s coup against its democratically elected president.
The 15-nation regional bloc Ecowas – the Economic Community of West African States – has threatened to use force to put down the coup in Niger after giving an ultimatum to those behind it to restore Mohamed Bazoum as president and reinstate the constitution and democratic institutions.
Continue reading...UK aid budget cuts are ‘death sentence’ for world’s most vulnerable children
Save the Children and Oxfam urge government to restore aid budget back to 0.7% of national income
UK aid cuts are a “death sentence” for children in the world’s most dangerous places, aid charities have warned after an internal government report revealed the impact of budget reductions on the most vulnerable.
The government faced calls from NGOs including Save the Children and Oxfam to restore the aid budget back to 0.7% of national income, after the potential effects of cuts were outlined in grim detail by an assessment produced by civil servants.
Continue reading...Nose-picking healthcare workers more likely to catch Covid, data suggests
Rhinotillexis may be underestimated cause of transmission between staff, say researchers
Nose-picking should be given greater consideration as a potential health hazard, researchers have said, after finding healthcare workers who engaged in rhinotillexis were more likely to catch Covid than those who refrained.
Scientists in the Netherlands say research has previously found healthcare workers who had direct contact with Covid patients were more likely to catch Covid than those who did not.
Continue reading...Brazil: at least 45 killed in string of police operations in three states
Ten people were killed in Rio favela and 19 people reportedly died in state of Bahia, while death toll rose to 16 in São Paulo region
At least 45 people have been killed in a string of police operations across three Brazilian states, in a particularly bloody week even for Brazil – a country notorious for its police violence.
Ten people were killed during an operation by civil and military police against drug traffickers into the Complexo da Penha favela in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday morning, with residents saying that heavy gunfire began at 3am.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Russian strikes cause fire at grain store in Odesa after drones shot down over Kyiv – as it happened
Tis live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here
Reuters has a quick snap that a Russian drone strike caused “serious” damage at Ukraine’s Danube port of Izmail.
Ukraine’s emergency services have issued some photographs showing overnight damage to buildings in Kyiv region.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau announce separation
Canadian PM’s office says in statement that pair ‘remain a close family’ and have signed a legal agreement
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, are separating, the couple have announced on Instagram, with a statement that appeared to mark the end of their 18-year marriage.
Trudeau, 51, and Grégoire Trudeau, 48, were married in late May 2005.
Continue reading...Amazon deforestation falls over 60% compared with last July, says Brazilian minister
Marina Silva welcomes progress but says climate crisis means upcoming regional summit needs to produce real action
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by at least 60% in July compared to the same month last year, the environment minister, Marina Silva, has told the Guardian.
The good news comes ahead of a regional summit that aims to prevent South America’s largest biome from hitting a calamitous tipping point.
Continue reading...Chinese firefighter ‘dies heroic death’ as Beijing reports heaviest rain in 140 years
Extreme weather comes as China’s foreign ministry denies reports that it obstructed discussions on climate crisis at G20 meetings
China’s government awarded martyr status to a firefighter who died as he tried to rescue people trapped by heavy flooding that has pummelled Beijing and surrounding areas in the heaviest rain in at least 140 years.
Feng Zhen, a firefighter in Beijing’s Haidian district, was washed away by flood waters as he tried to rescue three people from a school building on Monday. The people escaped the area safely, but after receiving medical treatment Feng “died a heroic death”, according to state media.
Continue reading...Ireland’s far-right party in crisis amid claims of stolen gold
Confusion over whether Justin Barrett remains leader of National party after his allegations of theft
It has the ingredients of a Frederick Forsyth thriller: stolen gold bullion, political intrigue, betrayal and a sprinkling of Adolf Hitler.
The saga of Ireland’s far-right National party and its vault of gold bars, however, has played out more like an Armando Iannucci farce.
Continue reading...Aftermath of Typhoon Doksuri brought Beijing floods, meteorologists explain
Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate crisis are also said to be causing China’s extreme weather
Summers in China are often wet, sometimes very wet, but nothing like the drenching that has engulfed Beijing and its neighbouring provinces this week.
As Beijing authorities lifted the flood alert on Wednesday morning, after the city’s heaviest rainfall for 140 years, 21 people across the region were confirmed dead. Dozens more were missing.
Continue reading...Aung San Suu Kyi’s partial ‘pardon’ still means 27-year sentence
Human rights groups say Myanmar military’s move to drop five of ousted leader’s convictions is meaningless
Even with a partial pardon announced this week by Myanmar’s military junta, Aung San Suu Kyi still faces the prospect of being kept in detention until she is more than 100 years old, if she lives that long.
She has been held by the military since it seized power in a coup on 1 February 2021, and has been convicted of 19 offences – from sedition and illegal possession of walkie-talkies, to breaking pandemic rules and electoral fraud.
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