Category Archives: World News

Russian missile strikes on Odesa kill one person and damage cathedral

Posted on by

Ukrainian authorities say children among 22 injured in new wave of attacks on Black Sea port city

A new wave of Russian strikes on Odesa have killed one person and damaged a historic cathedral, as missiles again rained down on the southern Ukrainian city.

Authorities said 22 people were injured in the attacks in the early hours of Sunday, including a number of children. One strike hit the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was built in the late 18th century, destroyed under Joseph Stalin and then rebuilt in the early 2000s.

Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu fitted with pacemaker as protests in Israel intensify

Posted on by

Israel PM’s health scare comes during crisis over controversial judicial reform plans as tens of thousands protest on streets

Benjamin Netanyahu has been taken to hospital and fitted with a pacemaker, raising new questions about the Israeli prime minister’s health, while protests against his government’s judicial overhaul reached fever pitch ahead of a crucial vote in the Knesset.

The 73-year-old was admitted to the Sheba medical centre on Saturday night after a heart monitoring device implanted last week showed anomalies, and he underwent the emergency procedure early on Sunday. The operation went smoothly and he is expected to be discharged later in the day, according to doctors.

Continue reading...

Spain poised for shift to the right as polls open in snap election

Posted on by

Polls suggest conservative PP will need the support of far-right Vox party to form a government

Spaniards are heading to the polls to vote in a bitterly contested general election that could see the far right play a key role in government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco’s death five decades ago.

The vote, called two months ago by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) suffered a drubbing in May’s regional and municipal elections, offers people a stark choice between the left and right blocs.

Continue reading...

Villagers say 14 killed as Myanmar violence flares

Posted on by

Fighting increases in border states while junta continues to delay elections

Fighting between the Myanmar army and anti-junta rebels has flared up in recent days, with local people in one village saying on Saturday that 14 people were killed in a single raid.

Deadly violence has engulfed Myanmar since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021 and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead.

Continue reading...

Canada’s heaviest rains in 40 years block roads and cut power for thousands

Posted on by

Twenty-five centimetres of rain fall on Nova Scotia in a day and state of emergency declared, but risk of dam breach recedes

The heaviest rains in more than 40 years badly damaged a city in Canada’s Atlantic region on Saturday but authorities are no longer concerned a dam may breach, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said.

Police reported that four people were missing, including two children.

Continue reading...

Inside Mykolaiv, the Ukrainian city where the Russians destroyed the water supply

Posted on by

A key pipeline to the southern Ukrainian port city was hit by a missile early in the invasion, but for now people are managing to keep vital services running

  • Photographs by Kasia Strek for the Observer

Ludmyla Osadchuk put her foot to the pedal and the rickety red-and-white tram edged forward, exiting the depot with a crunching of wheels and a rattle of the old, loosely fitting doors. On board were three blue canisters, each holding 1,000 litres of water.

With a “Special route” sign attached to the front window, the tram trundled to the first of four stops in different parts of Mykolaiv. The only passenger was former tram driver Serhiy Vytstyna, who hopped out at the stop and connected a set of pumps to the canisters.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: arrest of Russian pro-war blogger likely to trigger fury in military, says UK – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed. To read our latest news on Ukraine, click here

Road traffic on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula has been temporarily blocked, an official Telegram channel has said.

“Those on the bridge and in the inspection area are asked to remain calm and follow the instructions of transportation security officers,” it said.

A preliminary assessment in Odesa has revealed damage to several museums inside the world heritage property, including the Odesa Archaeological Museum, the Odesa Maritime Museum and the Odesa Literature Museum. They had all been marked by Unesco and local authorities with the Blue Shield, the distinctive emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention.

Continue reading...

More than 1,000 people forced to flee wildfires on Greek island of Rhodes

Posted on by

Britons among those evacuated from hotels and homes as strong winds sweep blaze towards coast

More than 1,000 people were forced to flee homes and hotels on Rhodes after an uncontrolled wildfire swept across the Greek island on Saturday.

The fire had been burning for most of the past week but had been confined to the island’s mountainous interior until strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions swept the blaze towards the coast on the island’s central-eastern side.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of Israelis march as vote on judicial curbs nears

Posted on by

Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to free parliament from supreme court legal oversight has led to widespread protests

Tens of thousands of Israelis opposed to a judicial overhaul sought by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, marched to Jerusalem on Saturday as pressure mounts on his rightwing government to scrap a bill that would curtail the supreme court’s powers.

Carrying Israeli flags, a long column of protesters hiked up the winding highway to Jerusalem under a scorching summer sun, to the sounds of beating drums and anti-government chants and cheers.

Continue reading...

Video of women attacked in Manipur breaks silence on systematic gang rapes in India

Posted on by

Indians were shocked when social media exposed a mob abusing minority Kuki women. But similar incidents have been happening with impunity for months

As footage emerged last week of two women in the state of Manipur being forcibly stripped, paraded naked, publicly molested and allegedly gang raped, everyone from prime minister Narendra Modi to the chief justice of India publicly expressed their shock and disgust.

Breaking his long silence on the conflict that has been raging in Manipur for months, Modi declared that “what happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven” and that “the entire country has been shamed” by the attack.

Continue reading...

Ukrainian drone strike in Crimea ‘closed road and prompted evacuation’

Posted on by

Russian-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, reports explosion at ammunition depot but no casualties

A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea has prompted authorities to evacuate everyone within a 3-mile (5km) radius and briefly suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, the Moscow-installed regional governor has said.

Sergei Aksyonov said on Saturday there was an explosion at the depot in Krasnohvardiiske in central Crimea, but he reported no damage or casualties. Footage shared by state media showed a thick cloud of grey smoke at the site.

Continue reading...

‘No more cover-up’: Nazi concentration camps on Channel Island finally to be officially investigated

Posted on by

Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Alderney than previously thought

The full horrors of the only Nazi concentration camps to exist on British soil will finally be investigated in an official government inquiry, the Observer can reveal.

Eighty years on from one of the darkest episodes in British history, the government is to carry out a review into the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis on Alderney, the tiny Channel Island and British crown dependency.

Continue reading...

Barbie release delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over ‘objectionable content’

Posted on by

Film being reviewed to ensure it is not violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values

The launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over “objectionable content”.

Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values.

Continue reading...

Tennessee toughens voting rules for people with felony convictions

Posted on by

State condemned as ‘the bottom of the barrel on rights restoration’ after change by state’s division of elections

Tennessee, already one of the strictest and most complicated states in the country for voting rights restoration, has enacted a new policy that makes it nearly impossible for people with felony convictions to regain their right to vote.

Tennessee has one of the highest rates of disenfranchisement in the United States. More than 9% of the voting age population, or around 471,600 Tennesseans, can’t vote because of a felony conviction, according to a 2022 estimate by the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice non-profit. More than 21% of Black adults are disenfranchised.

Continue reading...

‘Bargaining for our very existence’: why the battle over AI is being fought in Hollywood

Posted on by

The ramifications of artificial intelligence are of concern to the actors and writers on strike – from big stars to bit players

To get her start in Hollywood, Chivonne Michelle studied acting at New York University. But what helped her break into the industry and gave her the key training she needed was working on set as a background actor.

Today, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology threatens to put those “entry level and working class” Hollywood jobs at risk, Michelle and other striking actors say.

Continue reading...

Malaysia bans the 1975 after Matty Healy defies anti-LGBTQ+ laws with stage kiss

Posted on by

Singer’s protest kiss with bandmate and criticism of anti-homosexuality law leads to ban and festival cancellation

The English band the 1975 have been banned from performing in Malaysia after their lead singer criticised the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws on stage.

The group, fronted by Matty Healy, were playing at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Continue reading...

Avian flu may have killed millions of birds globally as outbreak ravages South America

Posted on by

Virus has spread around the world, with 200,000 wild birds dead in Peru alone and concerns Australia could be next

Millions of wild birds may have died from bird flu globally in the latest outbreak, researchers have said, as the viral disease ravages South America, with 200,000 deaths recorded in Peru alone.

The highly infectious variant of H5N1, which gained momentum in the winter of 2021, caused Europe’s worst bird flu outbreak before spreading globally. The disease reached South America in November 2022, and has now been reported on every continent except Oceania and Antarctica.

Continue reading...

US-China cultural exchange at low point after tensions and Covid, data shows

Posted on by

Tourism, academia and literature all exhibit signs that trend of closer ties has gone into reverse

Cultural ties between the US and China are at a low point after several years of decline, according to Guardian analysis of official figures.

The Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, coupled with the continuing trade war between the two countries, is diluting cultural exchanges, with visitor numbers, students and even the world of literature all affected.

Continue reading...

Seattle activists occupy old cedar tree to stop it being cut down for housing

Posted on by

Protest on private lot the latest episode highlighting tensions as climate crisis diminishes Seattle’s urban canopy

With ropes, a harness, a hammock and a bucket pulley system, masked activists in Seattle have taken residence in the branches of an old, thick cedar tree to prevent it from being cut down to make way for new homes.

The protest on a private lot is the latest episode highlighting tensions behind tree policy in Seattle as the climate crisis increases temperatures and urban canopy decreases.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris condemns Florida over curriculum claim of slavery ‘benefit’

Posted on by

Vice-president decries ‘extremist so-called leaders’ and says new teaching standards will rob children of knowing true US history

Kamala Harris went to Florida on Friday to address the state board of education’s controversial new standards for Black history, which include the contention that some Black people benefited from being enslaved.

In an impassioned afternoon speech, the vice-president predicted the standards would rob children of knowing true US history that the rest of the world has been taught.

Continue reading...