Category Archives: World News

Twitter accused of helping Saudi Arabia commit human rights abuses

Posted on by

Lawsuit says network discloses user data at request of Saudi authorities at much higher rate than for US, UK and Canada

The social media company formerly known as Twitter has been accused in a revised civil US lawsuit of helping Saudi Arabia commit grave human rights abuses against its users, including by disclosing confidential user data at the request of Saudi authorities at a much higher rate than it has for the US, UK, or Canada.

The lawsuit was brought last May against X, as Twitter is now known, by Areej al-Sadhan, the sister of a Saudi aid worker who was forcibly disappeared and then later sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Continue reading...

Woody Allen in Venice: #MeToo has been good for women, but cancel culture can be ‘silly’

Posted on by

Director attacks ‘extremes’ of movement while promoting Coup de Chance, his 50th film, at Venice film festival, as well as addressing persistent interest in historic allegations against him

Woody Allen has voiced his support for the #MeToo movement while promoting his new film, adding that he sometimes finds cancel culture “silly”.

The director’s career has lately been mired by a recent refocusing in social media on an allegation made against him in 1993, when his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, said he had sexually assaulted her in an attic at the time of the custody battle between Allen and Dylan’s adoptive mother, Mia Farrow.

Continue reading...

No sign of Black Sea grain breakthrough after Erdoğan-Putin talks

Posted on by

Turkish and Russian leaders hold talks as Moscow continues to attack Ukrainian grain-exporting ports

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has concluded face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin by claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived.

But there was no evidence of a breakthrough as the Russian leader again accused the west of reneging on promises.

Continue reading...

How will the US cope next summer when it could be even hotter?

Posted on by

This year’s heatwaves have been a huge challenge – and scientists predict 2024 will likely break records again

It’s been a record-breaking summer of heatwaves across large parts of the US and the world, and trying to stay cool and safe has been an unprecedented challenge.

There has been a rise in heat-related fatalities; companies and organizations have been under greater pressures to protect workers; and officials from small towns to the White House have been scrambling to respond.

Continue reading...

‘Rat tours’ boom in rodent-infested New York

Posted on by

Rat tourism become latest must-experience trend in city besieged by infestations that affect residents’ quality of life

The Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty. Central Park. Times Square. A horde of rats sprinting between an underground nest and a restaurant, squeaking and squealing as a group of tourists cheer them on.

New York has never lacked for attractions, but that last one on the list is one of its most unexpected.

Continue reading...

‘This is psychological warfare’: Starbucks workers allege anti-union firings

Posted on by

The National Labor Relations Board has reinstated 28 of the more than 200 pro-union workers fired since late 2021

Alicia Flores had worked at Starbucks in Portland, Oregon, for seven years until June, when she received a voicemail from a manager – filling in for her usual boss, who was taking a leave of absence – who informed her she was being fired.

Flores is far from alone.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: looking back as summer ends in northern hemisphere

Posted on by

The season was a mixed bag in Britain, but Japan has had its hottest summer on record

Entering September brings the arrival of meteorological autumn in the northern hemisphere, officially drawing the summer of 2023 to a close.

In the UK, the summer was a mixed bag. We started with a fairly pleasant June before entering into a wet and windy July caused by multiple consecutive weekend low pressure synoptic situations. A relatively unusual August followed in which we had two named storms, Antoni and Betty, before a pleasant warm spell.

Continue reading...

Country Garden shares jump after Chinese developer strikes debt deal

Posted on by

European stocks hit three-week high as China’s government tries to prop up ailing economy

The share price of the ailing Chinese developer Country Garden has jumped by as much as a fifth after its creditors agreed a delay on debt repayments, offering some respite from the country’s crisis-hit property market.

The company agreed over the weekend to extend the payment dates on a 3.9bn yuan (£430m) private bond, to the relief of investors who had thought it would default on payments due on Saturday. Country Garden will instead have three years to repay the debt, after it won a narrow vote with the backing of 56% of its creditors, Reuters reported.

Continue reading...

French actor Mathieu Kassovitz ‘seriously injured’ in motorbike accident

Posted on by

Actor famous for Amélie, The Bureau and La Haine, which he also wrote and directed, reportedly in a ‘worrying’ condition

The French actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz is in a “worrying” condition after a motorbike accident in greater Paris on Sunday, authorities say.

The 56-year-old, who is best known for his 1995 film La Haine and his role in the 2001 film Amélie, was on a motorcycle training course at the time, a police source told Agence France-Presse.

Continue reading...

‘A big shock’: the Israeli startup helping ultra-Orthodox Jews enter world of hi-tech work

Posted on by

Entrepreneurs want Haredi men, many of whom live in poverty, to have access to the opportunities of Tel Aviv

Entering Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood just a few kilometres away from the gleaming towers that testify to Tel Aviv’s prowess as a global hi-tech hub, feels like stepping into a different world.

Despite the startups and advanced technology initiatives on their doorstep, much of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, population still shuns modern inventions such as television and smartphones, which are viewed as a threat to their way of life.

Continue reading...

‘A psychological weapon’: inside a Ukrainian factory making decoy kit

Posted on by

Plastic, wood, foam and metal are skilfully shaped into copies of weapons to fool Russian attackers

In a dusty workshop, a unique group of Ukrainian weapons experts race to produce artillery guns that will never be fired, radar trucks that cannot detect anything, and missiles without explosives.

The pieces are decoys that aim to draw Russian fire, wasting enemy ammunition, missiles and drones while protecting real equipment and the soldiers manning it.

Continue reading...

Algeria says its coastguard fired warning shots before killing jetski riders

Posted on by

Defence ministry releases its version of events five days after two dual French-Moroccan men were shot dead on entering Algerian waters

Algeria’s defence ministry has said its coastguard fired warning shots before firing directly at a man on a jetski who entered Algerian waters, in an incident that a survivor said left two dead.

The incident took place on Tuesday after five men strayed into Algerian waters on jetskis near the Moroccan coastal resort of Saïdia on Algeria’s border, according to Mohamed Kissi, who said he survived the shooting.

Continue reading...

Top Democrat says ‘powerful argument’ 14th amendment disqualifies Trump

Posted on by

Tim Kaine says clause on ‘insurrection against the constitution’ could preclude ex-president from running in next year’s election

Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said that he believes there is a “powerful argument” to be made that Donald Trump can be disqualified from running in the 2024 presidential elections under the 14th amendment.

“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power of as is laid out in the constitution,” he said in an interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “So I think there is a powerful argument to be made.”

Continue reading...

Owners of 100,000 properties held by foreign shell companies unknown despite new UK laws

Posted on by

Loopholes are used to obscure ownership of two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies

More than two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies do not report the identity of their owners, according to analysis that found significant flaws in laws meant to prevent oligarchs from hiding their wealth.

The UK government hurriedly introduced a register of overseas entities in August 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year, in an attempt to “flush out corrupt elites laundering money through UK property”. However, critics said there were severe flaws in the rules from the start.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy discusses grain corridor and security in Odesa with Macron – as it happened

Posted on by

Phone call between leaders of Ukraine and France comes on eve of summit between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Black Sea grain deal

The prosecutor general’s office reported that Russian forces shelled the city of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy, northern Ukraine, on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others, the Kyiv Independent reports.

These claims have not yet been independently verified.

Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope of provoking a food crisis and famine in the world.

Continue reading...

Officials investigate death at Burning Man as thousands stranded by floods

Posted on by

Sheriff’s office offers few details but says death occurred during festival in Nevada desert, where storms turned ground to mud

Over 70,000 attendees of the annual Burning Man festival in the Black Rock desert of Nevada are stranded as the festival comes to a close on Monday due to heavy rains that have cut off access to the site.

Attendees have been ordered to shelter in place and to conserve food, water, and fuel, although no shortages have been reported. A death that occurred at the festival is currently under investigation, but no details have been released, including the identity of the deceased or the suspected cause of death.

Continue reading...

Native tribe to get back land 160 years after largest mass hanging in US history

Posted on by

Upper Sioux Agency state park in Minnesota, where bodies of those killed after US-Dakota war are buried, to be transferred

Golden prairies and winding rivers of a Minnesota state park also hold the secret burial sites of Dakota people who died as the United States failed to fulfill treaties with Native Americans more than a century ago. Now their descendants are getting the land back.

The state is taking the rare step of transferring the park with a fraught history back to a Dakota tribe, trying to make amends for events that led to a war and the largest mass hanging in US history.

Continue reading...

Queensland company accused of bribery in Nauru says charge should be dropped as fair trial ‘impossible’

Posted on by

Exclusive: Lawyers for Getax Australia say ‘unjustified and inexplicable delays’ from the prosecution mean evidence has been lost and essential witnesses have died

A Queensland exporter accused of systematically bribing Nauruan politicians for favourable mining deals on the Pacific island has applied to have a charge of foreign bribery permanently stayed, arguing “a fair trial is impossible” and accusing Australian authorities of mishandling the investigation and losing key evidence.

Court documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that lawyers for Getax Australia Pty Ltd have applied for a permanent stay. If successful, it would effectively permanently halt the company’s prosecution.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bavaria leader declines to dismiss deputy over antisemitic leaflet

Posted on by

Markus Söder stands by Hubert Aiwanger after he apologies for flyer found in his school satchel in the 1980s

The leader of Germany’s powerful state of Bavaria has said he will not dismiss his deputy despite a row over an antisemitic leaflet which he admitted having carried in his school satchel as a teenager.

Markus Söder said it would not be proportionate to sack Hubert Aiwanger, a move that would have upended the ruling coalition in the southern state six weeks before a regional election.

Continue reading...

A UK trade deal with India was promised by last October. Why is it still not ready?

Posted on by

Successive prime ministers have failed to achieve what they see as one of the great dividends offered by Brexit

Liz Truss bowled into Downing Street last summer with a promise to rip up much of what her predecessor Boris Johnson had done. However, one goal remained: she insisted, as Johnson had done, she could deliver a free trade deal with India by Diwali in October.

Whitehall officials were dismayed, therefore, when they received the latest set of demands from Indian negotiators. It was not that New Delhi was asking too much, rather they were not saying what they were asking at all.

Continue reading...