Category Archives: World News

Nine killed as ethnic clashes continue in India’s Manipur state

Posted on by

Gunmen stormed a village close to the capital of the remote north-eastern state on Tuesday

At least nine people have been shot dead in the remote north-eastern Indian state of Manipur in the latest incident in weeks of violence that has claimed more than 100 lives.

Clashes between members of the Kuki ethnic group, who mostly live in the hills, and Meiteis, the dominant community in the lowlands, erupted on 3 May, sparked by resentment over economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education reserved for hill people.

Continue reading...

Israel’s Knesset vote to be delayed as judicial overhaul row continues

Posted on by

Fresh protests expected against proposals as opposition members threaten to quit compromise talks

A key vote in Israel’s Knesset related to the government’s bitterly contested judicial overhaul is set to be delayed at the behest of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a move that could torpedo negotiations with the opposition and galvanise the anti-legislation protest movement.

Parliamentarians were due on Wednesday to elect two political representatives to the country’s nine-member judicial selection committee, the composition of which is one of the most important issues in the now six-month-old political crisis.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump indictment: Merrick Garland defends special prosecutor Jack Smith in first comments on charges – live

Posted on by

US attorney general praises Smith’s independence and accountability; Republican senators step up threats over Trump charges

Joe Biden has refused to publicly comment on the federal charges leveled against his predecessor Donald Trump over allegedly hoarding government documents from his time in the White House, and Politico reports the president has also instructed Democratic party offices to do the same.

While many top Democratic lawmakers have condemned the allegations against Trump, neither Biden nor top officials at the White House or his re-election campaign have spoken out about the indictment and his arraignment in Miami yesterday. Politico reports that some Democrats – none of whom would allow their names to be used – believe the strategy is a missed opportunity to cast Trump as reckless and boost Biden’s re-election chances.

Biden has privately told aides that he is disgusted by Trump’s behavior but is adhering to his promise that the Department of Justice would have independence from the White House. The DNC, meanwhile, has advised members of Congress seeking guidance on what to say that they should not comment on the Trump probes if they are speaking publicly in their role as Biden campaign surrogates.

While Biden has framed his stance as in line with longstanding tradition, it is not uncommon for presidents to occasionally weigh in on ongoing criminal investigations. Biden has at times done so himself – including weighing in before the verdict was announced in the 2021 trial of the white Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine taking significant casualties and making slow progress towards Russian defence, say western officials – as it happened

Posted on by

Counteroffensive is still ‘going in the right direction’ says officials, in one of west’s first assessments of Ukrainian action launched on 4 June

Dmitry Medvedev, long-term ally of Vladimir Putin and currently deputy chair of the security council of Russia, has said on Telegram that Russia needs to put in a demilitarised zone as far west as Ukraine’s Lviv, which he referred to by its Russian name Lvov and German name Lemberg.

He went on to say that, as a result of the Nord Stream sabotage, for which he cited “western complicity”, that Russia should have “no restrictions left to refrain from destroying the cable communications of our enemies, laid along the ocean floor”.

Continue reading...

At least 78 people drown as refugee boat sinks off Greece

Posted on by

Hundreds more feared missing from overcrowded fishing vessel that reportedly sailed from Libya for Italy

At least 78 people have died and hundreds more are feared missing in the deadliest refugee shipwreck off Greece this year.

The victims, nearly all of them men from Afghanistan and Pakistan, drowned when the large trawler they were travelling in capsized off the southern Peloponnese.

Continue reading...

Japan military shooting: two soldiers killed and one hurt after fellow recruit opens fire

Posted on by

Suspect charged with attempted murder after incident at military training ground

An 18-year-old military recruit has been detained after he shot and killed two fellow soldiers and wounded a third at a training range in central Japan.

“During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Force candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Germany coalition staves off implosion with 11th-hour heating law amendment

Posted on by

Environmental groups criticise revision of law that would have banned installation of gas and oil systems

The German government has staved off a power battle that threatened to cause the ruling coalition to implode after finally agreeing an 11th-hour amendment to a controversial new heating law.

Negotiations over the legislation have dominated the headlines for weeks, with the economy minister, Robert Habeck, of the Greens clashing with the pro-liberal Free Democratic party (FDP) over how much consumers should be burdened with the costs of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with cleaner, climate-neutral energy.

Continue reading...

EU regulator orders Google to sell part of ad-tech business

Posted on by

Competition commission accuses firm of favouring its own services to detriment of rivals

The EU has ordered Google to sell part of its advertising business, as the bloc’s competition regulator steps up its enforcement of big tech’s monopolies.

The competition commission said it had taken issue “with Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers”.

Continue reading...

Ukraine’s failed Mala Tokmachka assault lays bare counteroffensive challenges

Posted on by

Russia has had 12 months to prepare defensive positions supported by superior air power

The footage that began circulating on Russian social media channels last week depicted what was portrayed as a significant military setback for Ukraine at the beginning of its counteroffensive.

In a flat, open area south of Zaporizhzhia – bisected by hedges and a wide muddy track – about 12 Ukrainian armoured vehicles had become pinned down, bunched too close together near a minefield.

Continue reading...

Discrimination is a bigger AI risk than human extinction – EU commissioner

Posted on by

Commissioner says existential threat unlikely, but ‘guardrails’ needed for decisions affecting livelihoods

Discrimination is a bigger threat posed by artificial intelligence than possible extinction of the human race, according to the EU’s competition commissioner.

Margrethe Vestager said although the existential risk from advances in AI may be a concern, it was unlikely, whereas discrimination from the technology was a real problem.

Continue reading...

Pyrex and Instant Pot maker files for bankruptcy protection in US

Posted on by

Instant Brands, which blames rising interest rates for financial problems, will continue to serve retailers

The maker of Pyrex kitchenware and the Instant Pot pressure cooker has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming rising interest rates for its financial difficulties.

Instant Brands, controlled by the private equity investor Cornell Capital, said late on Tuesday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas, as it tries to restructure liabilities of as much as $1bn (£790m).

Continue reading...

Anguish as rape survivors in Sudan unable to access vital medication

Posted on by

Emergency contraception, HIV-prevention and abortion drugs are locked in a warehouse in Khartoum – leaving women to turn to desperate measures

Rape survivors in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are struggling to get hold of emergency contraception and abortion medication.

Access to a warehouse where 47,000 medical post-rape kits are stored has been cut off since the conflict began in April. Women are using social media to share information about where to find drugs to prevent pregnancies and infections – or are using herbal remedies.

Continue reading...

Trump to speak to supporters at golf club after pleading not guilty to criminal charges – live

Posted on by

Former US president arrives in New Jersey after indictment hearing in Miami over classified documents

Meanwhile in Washington, Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are vowing to do all they can to help him fight Jack Smith’s prosecution.

Here’s the judiciary committee’s Republican chair Jim Jordan hinting to CNN that he may demand testimony from Smith, the special counsel appointed by attorney general Merrick Garland specifically to handle the investigations into Trump:

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 476 of the invasion

Posted on by

Volodmyr Zelenskiy meets head of UN nuclear watchdog; US House of Representatives votes unanimously to call for return of detained US journalist

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has met President Volodomyr Zelenskiy to discuss risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ahead of a planned visit to the facility on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy has praised Ukrainian troops in his nighttime address and singled out units operating near Bakhmut, saying “there is forward movement in various areas”.

Putin has claimed Ukrainian losses during the conflict are near “catastrophic” and that the counterattack had not been successful in any area. The Russian president made the claim during televised meetings with war correspondents and military bloggers. “This is a massive counteroffensive, using strategic reserves that were prepared for this task,” Putin said. “They lost over 160, we lost 54 tanks, and some of them are subject to restoration and repair.”

The US House of Representatives has voted unanimously on a resolution calling for Russia to immediately release imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich.

Moscow has also flagged it may withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, after Putin says he has been cheated by the west who have failed to deliver on a promise to help bring Russian agricultural goods to world markets.

A Russian missile strike on an apartment in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine has killed 11 and injured more than 30 people, according to an updated casualty list provided by Volodymr Zelenskiy on Tuesday.

The US government has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $325m which includes artillery rounds, anti-aircraft systems and 15 new Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a $115m air defence package for Ukraine. Latvia has allocated another $460,000 in aid to Ukraine following the Kakhova Dam disaster.

Ukrainian forces have been confirmed to have liberated the village of Neskuchne on Tuesday after Reuters journalists were able to reach the area. Russia has yet acknowledge any gains.

Continue reading...

Nobel laureate Maria Ressa says research by Oxford institute can be used against reporters

Posted on by

Exclusive: methodology used by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism risks undermining media in global south, says Ressa

Nobel peace laureate Maria Ressa has claimed Oxford University’s leading journalism institute is publishing flawed research that puts journalists and independent outlets at risk, particularly in the global south.

One of the world’s most prominent and respected journalists, Ressa said she resigned last year from the advisory board of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), because of deep concerns about how it compiles an annual Digital News Report.

Continue reading...

‘I’m a prisoner in my own home,’ asthma sufferer, 15, tells landmark US climate trial

Posted on by

Montana teen Mica is one of 16 plaintiffs in historic trial, alleging state has violated residents’ right to healthy environment

Mica, aged 15, learned about climate change when he was just four, when his parents showed him the documentary Chasing Ice.

“I understood it more than my parents thought I would,” he testified in a groundbreaking trial on Tuesday. “I just knew something bad was happening, but I didn’t know exactly what it was.”

Continue reading...

Rescued children pay tribute to sniffer dog still missing in Colombian jungle

Posted on by

Wilson the Belgian shepherd featured prominently in drawings by Indigenous children as they recover in Bogotá hospital

The four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Colombian Amazon are continuing their recovery in Bogotá’s military hospital, and the oldest two have been well enough to pick up crayons.

In their first pictures released by Colombia’s armed forces, a four-legged figure jumps from the page: Wilson, the Belgian shepherd dog who helped lead rescuers to their location – and who remains missing in the jungle.

Continue reading...

Putin denies Zelenskiy’s claims of counteroffensive success for Ukraine

Posted on by

President admits Russia has lost 54 tanks in the opening assaults but insists Ukraine’s losses are greater

Vladimir Putin has denied Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s claims of early success in Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive, which has seen Kyiv’s troops regain some territory, while admitting that Russia had lost 54 tanks in the opening assaults.

In a televised meeting with military bloggers, Russia’s president conceded that his forces had taken losses but insisted that Ukraine had lost 25% to 30% of its foreign-supplied military vehicles including 160 tanks.

Continue reading...

French engineer goes on trial accused of killing three women over job losses

Posted on by

Gabriel Fortin, 48, is alleged to have killed two HR directors and a jobs centre worker and wounded a fourth person in 2021 attacks

An unemployed French engineer has gone on trial accused of shooting dead three women he blamed for his failure to find a job.

Gabriel Fortin, 48, allegedly killed two human resources directors and a jobs centre employee, and attempted to kill another worker, after a string of dismissals.

Continue reading...

Kenya cult death toll passes 300, with more exhumations planned

Posted on by

More than 600 people still missing, authorities say, amid reports pastor ordered followers to starve themselves


The death toll linked to a Kenyan pastor accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus has passed 300, with the figure expected to increase as more exhumations are planned.

Authorities say the dead were members of the Good News international church, led by Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven before the end of the world.

Continue reading...