Category Archives: World News

Russia-Ukraine war live: six die in missile strike on Lviv; US to send cluster munitions to Kyiv

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Cluster munitions banned by most of world under treaty US, Russia and Ukraine did not sign

On his recent visit to the US, Boris Johnson “reminded” Donald Trump he “actually played an important role” in supporting and arming Ukraine against its Russian invaders, the former British prime minister said, adding that British aid to Kyiv was “enabled” by Trump’s example.

Johnson made the claim about the notoriously pro-Russian former president – and brushed off mention of Trump’s impeachment for blocking military aid to Ukraine – in an interview on One Decision, a podcast hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove, a former chief of the British intelligence service MI6, and the journalist Julia Macfarlane.

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Wagner boss Prigozhin has returned to Russia, Lukashenko says

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Belarus president says head of mercenary group behind failed mutiny is in St Petersburg

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end Wagner’s armed mutiny, has said the head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has returned to Russia.

“As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Lukashenko told reporters. “Where is Prigozhin this morning? Maybe he left for Moscow.”

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Germany did not listen to warnings about Russia, says Annalena Baerbock

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Foreign minister says Ukraine war has changed country’s mindset about ‘chequebook diplomacy’

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed how Germany views security and made Berlin realise it failed to listen to eastern European allies who warned of threats from Moscow, Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has written in the Guardian.

In a frank admission about the flaws in postwar German foreign policy, she said countries in eastern Europe had been right to warn Germany that hoping for the best in dealing with the threats from an autocratic Russia was not an adequate response. For too long, she said, Germany had resorted to “chequebook diplomacy”, or a belief that political and economic interaction would lead Russia to a democratic path.

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Boris Johnson claims he ‘reminded’ Trump about key role in Ukraine aid

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Former British prime minister says in interview that Trump ‘played an important role’ in arming Ukraine and set an example

On his recent visit to the US, Boris Johnson “reminded” Donald Trump he “actually played an important role” in supporting and arming Ukraine against its Russian invaders, the former British prime minister said, adding that British aid to Kyiv was “enabled” by Trump’s example.

Johnson made the claim about the notoriously pro-Russian former president – and brushed off mention of Trump’s impeachment for blocking military aid to Ukraine – in an interview on One Decision, a podcast hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove, a former chief of the British intelligence service MI6, and the journalist Julia Macfarlane. The episode was released on Thursday.

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South Korea: doctors desert paediatrics as low birth rate sparks fears for future

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Shortage of children’s doctors has led to long waiting lists, clinic closures and even prompted prospective parents to think again

A shortage of paediatricians in South Korea is leaving hospitals unable to fill posts while raising risks for children’s health, doctors have said, claiming that the shortage is both a result of the world’s lowest birthrate and increasingly a factor behind it.

The number of paediatric clinics and hospitals in the capital, Seoul, has fallen by 12.5% over the five years to 2022, to just 456. Over the same period, the number of psychiatry clinics increased by 76.8%, while anaesthesiology centres saw a 41.2% rise, according to the Seoul Institute, a public administration thinktank.

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Johannesburg gas leak: at least 16 dead on outskirts of South African city

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Leak in informal settlement in Boksburg on outskirts of city may be linked to illegal mining, authorities say, as search continues for more casualites

At least 16 people, including three children, died when toxic gas leaked from a cylinder near Johannesburg, South African police have said. Emergency services said the leak appeared to be linked to illegal mining activities.

Emergency services initially announced that as many as 24 people might be dead in the Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg, a city on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg. But police and Gauteng Province premier Panyaza Lesufi later said the number of deaths had been confirmed as 16 after a recount of the bodies. Police said the three children killed were aged one, six and 15. Two people were taken to the hospital for treatment, police said.

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China accused of scores of abuses linked to ‘green mineral’ mining

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Watchdog identifies 102 violations over past two years as country extracts ‘transition minerals’ for green-energy technology

A new report into China’s dominance in the green-energy market has identified more than a hundred allegations of environmental and human rights violations linked to its overseas transition mineral investments over the past two years.

China dominates the processing and refining of lithium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, zinc, chromium, aluminium and rare-earth elements – and the manufacturing of technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and batteries for electric vehicles (EV), which require so-called transition minerals.

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Spanish minister proposes €20,000 ‘universal inheritance’ from age of 18

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Yolanda Díaz says money for study, training or starting a business would ensure ‘equality of opportunity’

Spain’s leftwing labour minister, Yolanda Díaz, has proposed a scheme to tackle social inequality by giving every young person in the country €20,000 (£17,000) to be spent on study, training or setting up a business once they reach the age of 18.

According to Díaz’s Sumar platform, which announced the policy before Spain’s snap general election on 23 July, the initiative would cost €10bn, which would be raised by taxing the rich.

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Missing Israeli-Russian academic being held in Iraq by militia group

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Elizabeth Tsurkov went to Iraq to do research for Princeton University, office of Israeli prime minister says

An Israeli-Russian academic who went missing for months in Iraq is alive and being held in the country by an Iraqi Shia militia group, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Tsurkov was captured by Kata’ib Hezbollah in March, the office said. She holds Israeli and Russian passports and entered Iraq using her Russian passport, according to the Israeli government.

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Macron accused of authoritarianism after threat to cut off social media

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Élysée insists French president not advocating general blackout as ministers say rioters using platforms to organise violence

Emmanuel Macron is facing a backlash after threatening to cut off social media networks as a means of stopping the spread of violence during periods of unrest.

Élysée officials and government ministers responded on Wednesday by insisting the president was not threatening a “general blackout” but instead the “occasional and temporary” suspension of platforms.

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‘It’s just like the intifada’: Palestinians reel from Israel’s raid on Jenin

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Clean-up begins after three-day operation, the largest attack on occupied West Bank in two decades

On the second floor of the Shibli family home in the Jenin refugee camp, three small boys knelt on the tile floor, picking up hundreds of spent bullet casings left by Israeli snipers who had used their kitchen as a firing position. The cartridges clinked and chimed gently as the children cleared up and their glum parents surveyed the extent of the damage inflicted on their property.

The 50 members of the extended family, who all live in flats in the same large building, returned to their homes on Wednesday morning after Israeli forces withdrew the night before. The three-day operation, codenamed Home and Garden, was the largest Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank in two decades, involving airstrikes and up to 2,000 ground troops.

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Italian men hid father’s body so they could claim his pension, police believe

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Body of Bruno Delnegro was found in a cave in Abruzzo last year, with three sons and girlfriend of one now under investigation

Italian police believe that the body of man found by walkers in a remote spot in the Abruzzo region a year ago had been left there by his sons who continued to pocket his pension.

The body of Bruno Delnegro, who died of natural causes, was found by two Canadian walkers last July in a cave about 215 miles (350km) from his home in Trani, in the southern Puglia region.

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Meta delays EU launch of Twitter rival Threads amid uncertainty over personal data use

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New app developed by Facebook and WhatsApp owner is due to launch in the UK and US on Thursday

Mark Zuckerberg’s rival to Twitter will not launch in the EU on Thursday amid regulatory uncertainty about the service’s use of personal data.

Sources at Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said regulations were behind the postponement of an EU launch, amid a series of clashes between the social media group and the bloc.

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SAS must be named in inquiry into alleged unlawful killings, says Afghan families’ lawyer

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MoD acknowledged at preliminary hearing that ‘UK special forces’ were present in Afghanistan

A partial admission by the defence secretary that UK special forces were present in Afghanistan risks discrediting a public inquiry investigating allegations of unlawful killings by the SAS, according to a lawyer representing victims’ families.

Richard Hermer KC said Ben Wallace had made only “a semi-concession” in a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, when the minister made a rare acknowledgment that “UK special forces” were present in Afghanistan.

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Kremlin denies China’s president urged Putin not to use nuclear arms in Ukraine

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Xi Jining reportedly warned Russian counterpart against using nuclear weapons on visit to Moscow in March

The Kremlin has denied a report that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, had personally warned his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“No, I can’t confirm it,” Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Wednesday when asked about a Financial Times report that said Xi delivered the message when he visited Moscow in March.

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Iranian envoy tells UK to stick to terms of nuclear deal and lift missile sanctions

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Diplomat says accord could collapse if European signatories retain restrictions on weapon development

The UK, France and Germany should stick to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal and lift sanctions on Iranian missile development, Tehran’s chargé d’affaires to London has said.

Speaking on the eve of a UN security council debate on Iran, Mehdi Hosseini Matin said on Wednesday that such a breach would lead to the collapse of the deal, known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA). It would, he added, also affect the atmosphere around recent bilateral talks in Oman between Iran and the US to secure a separate mini-agreement covering the release of US prisoners, maintaining aspects of the nuclear deal and the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad.

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Republican party tweets Independence Day well-wishes with flag of Liberia

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Official GOP account deletes tweet featuring Liberian flag, which has single white star where Stars and Stripes has 50

The Republican party was embarrassed when a tweet from its official account celebrating Independence Day featured the wrong flag.

The tweet read: “247 years ago, our forefathers told Ol’ King George to get lost! Happy Independence Day from the GOP!”

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China floods: Xi Jinping urges action as rains kill 15 and displace thousands

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Scientists have warned the country to expect ‘multiple natural disasters’ this month including typhoons and high temperatures

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has called for stronger efforts to protect lives and property from severe flooding, as the country’s scientists warned July will bring more misery from extreme weather.

Fifteen people died and four were missing after torrential rain lashed the metropolis of Chongqing and swathes of southwestern China, local officials and state media said on Wednesday.

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Industrial Revolution iron method ‘was taken from Jamaica by Briton’

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Wrought iron process that drove UK success was appropriated from black metallurgists, records suggest

An innovation that propelled Britain to become the world’s leading iron exporter during the Industrial Revolution was appropriated from an 18th-century Jamaican foundry, historical records suggest.

The Cort process, which allowed wrought iron to be mass-produced from scrap iron for the first time, has long been attributed to the British financier turned ironmaster Henry Cort. It helped launch Britain as an economic superpower and transformed the face of the country with “iron palaces”, including Crystal Palace, Kew Gardens’ Temperate House and the arches at St Pancras train station.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zaporizhzhia situation ‘tense’ as both sides accuse each other of planning attack on nuclear plant – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more about the war in Ukraine here

Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that overnight residential buildings and a medical facility were damaged by a rocket attack on Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region.

The claims have not been independently verified.

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