Category Archives: World News

Greek PM hails ‘tough but fair’ migration policy on election trail

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis says on visit to Lesbos he has kept his promise to protect land and sea borders

Less than 10 days before Greeks go to the polls, the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has sought to emphasise the impact of his centre-right government’s “tough but fair” migration policy.

In a campaign trip to Lesbos, the Aegean island bearing the brunt of Europe-bound migratory flows, the leader claimed he had kept his promise to protect land and sea borders, with the arrival of asylum seekers radically reduced.

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Canada: extreme ‘heat dome’ temperatures set to worsen wildfires

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System – extremely rare for this time of year – likely to fuel fires that have already displaced tens of thousands of residents

Western Canada is bracing for a “heat dome” weather system that will push temperatures to new records over the weekend, and is likely to worsen wildfires that have already displaced tens of thousands of residents.

Seventy-five active wildfires burned in Alberta on Thursday, with 23 listed as out of control. In some areas, oil and gas production, which typically resists weather-induced shutdowns, was briefly shuttered.

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Israel and Gaza militants trade heavy fire as hopes of truce fade

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Outbreak of violence – now in its fourth day – has killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian

Israel and Gaza militants have traded heavy fire as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting during which dozens have been killed, all but one of them Palestinian.

There have been international calls for de-escalation, with the EU pushing for an “immediate comprehensive ceasefire”.

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Imran Khan given bail in corruption case and assurance he will not be rearrested

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Judges’ decision comes amid rising tensions as former Pakistan PM faces claims over illegal land transfers

A court has granted bail to Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan for two weeks in a corruption case and ordered his protection from arrest on any charges until Monday, amid concerns that he would be immediately rearrested on his release.

Security was tight as Khan appeared at a hearing at Islamabad high court on Friday seeking bail in multiple cases. He had been in police custody since Tuesday after being arrested on the premises of the court by almost 100 paramilitary officers.

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Iran expected to execute three protesters over killing of police officers

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Videos released of Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi and Saleh Mirhashemi confessing, which families say were torture-induced

A recent spate of executions in Iran looks set to continue after authorities released videos of three protesters confessing to the killing of three security officers in the so-called Isfahan House case.

The men have already been found guilty of the murder and have no further grounds for appeal. More than 60 people have been executed in Iran since late April, some for drug offences and many from the region of Balochistan, where the protests have been most intense.

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EU tells ministers they must ‘recalibrate’ China policy over support for Russia

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Josep Borrell says relations will worsen if Xi Jinping does not push Putin to withdraw from Ukraine

A Russian defeat in Ukraine will not derail China’s rise, while relations between Beijing and the EU will be “critically affected” if Xi Jinping does not push Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces, European ministers have been told.

The message comes in a paper drawn up by the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who is meeting the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Friday in Stockholm to discuss how the bloc should “recalibrate” its policy towards Beijing.

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South Africa summons US ambassador over his claims it is arming Russia

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Foreign ministry says there is ‘no record of approved arms sale’ after allegations by Reuben Brigety

South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Amid the diplomatic fallout, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, would also speak with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement posted on Twitter.

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Chinese activist sentenced to eight years on subversion charges

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Yang Maodong called it a ‘score-settling’ punishment for his two decades of rights advocacy

A Chinese court has sentenced a prominent rights activist to eight years in jail on subversion charges in what he said was a “score-settling” punishment for his two decades of rights advocacy.

Yang Maodong, who goes by the pen name Guo Feixiong, was sentenced on Thursday by the Guangzhou intermediate people’s court for “inciting subversion of state power,” his brother Yang Maoquan wrote on social media. Repeated phone calls to the court went unanswered on Friday.

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Israel treats Palestinian territories like colonies, says UN rapporteur

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Francesca Albanese says Israel is maintaining occupation to get as much land as possible for Jewish people

Israel treats the Palestinian territories as its colonies, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories has said on her first visit to London since her appointment last year.

Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer and human rights academic, has faced calls to resign by Israeli government ministers, such as Amichai Chikli, who accused her of “spewing hatred and antisemitism”, and Zionist groups have described her as biased.

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Weather tracker: flash floods and landslides hit parts of east Africa

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Many reported dead in Rwanda and Uganda, as heavy rain also devastates western regions of continent

May is the end of the rainy season for many parts of east Africa. However, this does not mean the devastation has ended.

Last week heavy rainfall, which started in the late afternoon on 2 May, led to flash flooding in parts of Rwanda and Uganda. These heavy downpours continued through to 4 May, with further wet weather following later in the week.

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Diabetics fleeing Sudan struggle to keep their insulin safe in 40C heat

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With makeshift coolbags and an endless quest for ice, refugees are desperately struggling to protect their precious medication – if they can access any at all

Bags of ice and wet towels have become the emergency lifelines for Sudanese diabetics struggling to keep their insulin cool while waiting in extreme heat as they try to escape the recent violence.

A vital medication for many diabetics, insulin must be kept cool to remain effective, But since fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last month, hospitals and pharmacies have forced to close and there has been damage to cold-storage facilities.

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Communal violence and civilian deaths in Sudan fuel fears of widening conflict

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Fighting reported in far south and communal clashes in Darfur, amid power struggle between generals

The deaths of dozens of civilians in fighting in the far south of Sudan and an outbreak of communal violence in the restive Darfur region have fuelled fears that communities across the frontier regions of Africa’s third biggest country are being drawn into the bloody contest between two rival generals.

Fighting in the southern state of North Kordofan between militias aligned with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group and local brigades of the Sudanese army has centred on the strategically important state capital, El Obeid.

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Hosting Ukraine’s Eurovision party – podcast

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Hannah Moore reports from Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena where Britain is preparing to host the Eurovision song contest on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine

On the eve of the Eurovision song contest finals, Hannah Moore travels to Liverpool to watch the rehearsals and hear from Ukrainians running stalls in ‘Eurovision Village’.

Chris West, the author of Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest explains politics always plays a big part in the event but this year is particularly poignant.

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Sorry, Swifties: BTS revealed as authors of mystery book that intrigued the internet

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Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS will be out on 9 July, ending feverish speculation that the previously untitled book was a Taylor Swift memoir

The guessing game began this week when a mysteriously untitled book, scheduled for publication in July and known only as “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023”, appeared. It quickly became a bestseller when Taylor Swift fans began feverishly speculating that it was her surprise memoir.

But the mystery has been solved, with publishing house Flatiron Books bringing forward their announcement by a month to reveal the book is actually by another musical powerhouse: the K-pop boyband BTS.

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US and China hold ‘constructive’ talks in effort to move beyond spy balloon incident

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High-level meeting in Vienna was ‘candid’, says White House, amid signs tensions could be easing

The White House national security adviser met with China’s top diplomat in Vienna as both sides recognised the need to move beyond the spy balloon incident that caused a rupture in relations between the superpowers, a senior US official has said.

The meeting between Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi was not publicised by Washington or Beijing ahead of the talks on Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital. The White House described the wide-ranging discussions, in which the two leaders spent more than eight hours together, as “candid” and “constructive”.

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Ex-marine to be charged in subway chokehold killing of Jordan Neely

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Daniel Penny, 24, faces second-degree manslaughter charges that could carry up to 15 years in jail, according to Manhattan DA’s office

Authorities in New York said they will bring criminal charges against a former marine who put fellow subway passenger Jordan Neely in a chokehold that killed him.

Daniel Penny, 24, is expected to be arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, which could carry a jail term of up to 15 years.

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Eurovision organisers rebuff Zelenskiy request to give video speech at final

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European Broadcasting Union, which oversees song contest, says appearance by Ukrainian president could politicise the event

The owners of the Eurovision song contest have turned down a request from Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a video appearance during the final on Saturday in Liverpool.

The Ukrainian president had hoped to appeal to the global audience of about 160 million people to continue their support for his country in the war with Russia.

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US authorities ‘seeing large numbers of migrants at border’ before Title 42 expiration – as it happened

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Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warns people against crossing border illegally in White House briefing

We’re a few minutes away from the daily White House press briefing, where homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear ahead of the midnight expiration of Title 42, the rule put in place under Donald Trump that has allowed US authorities to turn away most asylum seekers over the past three years.

Immigration authorities and some communities at the border are bracing for a potential surge of new migrants once the measure expires, and Mayorkas is likely to use his appearance to warn people against trying to cross into the US illegally, and outline steps Washington will take to stem the flow. He may also be asked about the possibility Republicans will follow through on their threats to impeach him over the situation at the border.

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Russian woman given suspended sentence for ‘insulting’ note on Putin’s parents’ grave

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Case comes amid Kremlin’s growing crackdown on dissent over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

A Russian court has given a two-year suspended sentence to a St Petersburg woman who left a note on the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents saying they had “raised a freak and a killer”.

The court found Irina Tsybaneva, 60, guilty of desecrating burial places motivated by political hatred. Her lawyer said she didn’t plead guilty because she hadn’t desecrated the grave physically or sought publicity for her action.

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‘Man of 1,000 faces’ wins Deutsche Börse photography prize

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Samuel Fosso scoops £30,000 award for performative self-portraits of historical figures including Angela Davis and Mao Zedong

One of Africa’s most important living photographers and contemporary artists, who photographs himself in the style of leading historical figures including Martin Luther King and Angela Davis, has won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation prize 2023.

The Cameroonian-born Nigerian photographer Samuel Fosso was awarded the £30,000 prize – one of the most prestigious in the industry – at the Photographers’ Gallery in London on Thursday.

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