Category Archives: World News

Indian troops ordered to ‘shoot on sight’ amid violence in Manipur

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Thousands evacuated to army camps as authorities struggle to bring inter-ethnic tensions under control

Indian troops have been deployed to the north-eastern state of Manipur with orders to “shoot on sight” and enforce a curfew as deadly clashes between tribal and non-tribal groups continue for the third day.

The violence and arson has forced about 9,000 people to flee their homes in the remote state, which borders Myanmar. The state government has not given the number of deaths but the chief minister, N Biren Singh, said that “precious lives have been lost” and at least 20 people were reportedly injured, including two local politicians.

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Met police investigate more organ trafficking cases in UK

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Modern slavery team reveals further allegations of people being trafficked to London for body parts

The Metropolitan police is investigating more cases of organ trafficking in the UK after new victims came forward following the first conviction for the offence under modern slavery laws.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s modern slavery and child exploitation team have said they are investigating more allegations of people being trafficked for their body parts to London and other areas of the UK.

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Nigerian politician jailed for nine years in UK over organ trafficking plot

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Judge says Ike Ekweremadu was ‘driving force’ in scheme to take kidney for his sick daughter from man brought to London

A senior Nigerian politician has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in the UK for being the “driving force” in a plot to harvest a kidney for his sick daughter from a young man he had trafficked to London.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March in the first organ trafficking conviction under the Modern Slavery Act.

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Two women rescued nine years after Chibok schoolgirls abduction

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Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, both now 26, were among 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria

Two Nigerian women abducted as schoolgirls by a jihadi militant group nine years ago have been rescued, the west African nation’s military has said. One had a one-year-old baby, while the second gave birth to her second child days after being freed.

Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, both 26, were among 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants in April 2014 from the government girls’ secondary school in the village of Chibok.

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Filipino activists appeal to British banks over region devastated by oil spill

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Environmentalists from the Philippines urge investors to avoid LNG projects which they say threaten the Verde Island Passage

Campaigners from the Philippines have urged British banks not to fund the expansion of fossil fuel use in their country. It follows a huge oil spill that threatened a globally important marine biodiversity hotspot.

Filipino environmentalists have travelled to the UK to meet representatives from Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC as part of efforts to stop the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants and terminals in and around the Verde Island Passage, a global marine biodiversity hotspot known for its whale sharks, corals, turtles and rich fisheries, which was badly affected by the oil spill this year.

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US-Mexico migration deal raises fears for struggling border cities

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Agreement designed to curb increase of people arriving into US marks dramatic precedent for two countries, experts say

An agreement between the United States and Mexico designed to curb the surge of migrants arriving at the US doorstep marks a dramatic new precedent in relations between the two countries, analysts said, warning that the deal could further overwhelm border cities already struggling to cope.

Under the agreement announced in a joint statement on Tuesday, Mexico will continue accepting migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua who are turned away from the US.

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Sudan’s neighbours have little to offer refugees, warns UN

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Thousands of Sudanese are crossing borders into countries already severely stressed by drought, conflicts and food insecurity, say UN officials

The UN is in a race against time to get food supplies to Sudanese refugees crossing the border into Chad before the rainy season begins, as neighbouring countries struggle to cope with the numbers of people fleeing the civil war.

More than 110,000 people are now estimated to have crossed into other countries as patchy ceasefires fail to stop deadly clashes between Sudanese army troops and a paramilitary rival that have killed hundreds and forced more than 330,000 from their homes.

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Wagner head says forces to leave Bakhmut next week – as it happened

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has a history of dramatic statements, says troops will leave fiercely contested city on 10 May. This live blog is closed

The UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update that “a recent uptick in Russian rail accidents in areas bordering Ukraine, attributed to sabotage committed by unknown actors, has almost certainly caused short-term localised disruption to Russian military rail movements”.

It adds: “Although its Railway Troop Brigades are capable of restoring lines quickly, these incidents will increase pressure on Russia’s internal security forces, who will highly likely remain unable to fully protect Russia’s vast and vulnerable rail networks from attack.”

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Wagner chief rages at Russia’s generals and threatens Bakhmut pullout

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In extraordinary video tirade, Yevgeny Prigozhin attacks defence minister and chief of armed forces

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group has brought escalating tensions with the Kremlin military leadership dramatically into the open after he recorded an expletive-ridden video in a field littered with corpses and blamed Russia’s top defence chiefs for the losses.

“These are Wagner lads who died today. The blood is still fresh,” Yevgeny Prigozhin says in the extraordinary clip, pointing to roughly three-dozen bodies that he says are those of the Wagner fighters. “They came here as volunteers and are dying so you can sit like fat cats in your luxury offices.”

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Focus organizing drives on workers without college degrees, US unions told

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Experts say union upsurge for journalists and graduate students is pleasing but blue-collar workers require assistance too

Union supporters have had plenty to applaud with regard to organizing college- educated workers, notching up dozens of unionization victories involving graduate students, adjunct professors, journalists, nurses and workers at museums, non-profits and video-game companies.

But some labor supporters who laud these victories are warning that something is awry, that there isn’t nearly enough unionization of non-college-educated, lower-paid workers, whether factory workers or fast-food workers.

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Weather tracker: An unusually chilly start to May in India and eastern US

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Record minimum temperatures observed in northern India, as clashing conditions bring thunderstorms in US

It has been a historically chilly start to May in India, thanks to an unusually strong low-pressure system that moved in from the west, sweeping humid air from the Arabian Sea across the subcontinent. The resulting overcast skies reduced the heating effect from the sun, which combined with the brisk winds and abnormally high rainfall to lower temperatures significantly.

May is considered the final month of the Indian summer, before the monsoon season begins in June, and is the hottest time of the year for many parts of India. However, in the past week large parts of the country have been about 10C colder than normal, with many weather stations in northern India observing record minimum temperatures for the month.

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Serbia: man arrested after eight die in second mass shooting in days

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Arrest follows hunt for shooter who fired automatic weapon from moving vehicle in town south of Belgrade

A suspect has been arrested after at least eight people were killed and 13 injured in a second mass shooting in Serbia in as many days.

The man – who has been identified only by his initials UB – was detained near the city of Kragujevac, the interior ministry said.

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Students occupy schools and universities across Europe in climate protest

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Twenty-two institutions have been shut down as part of proposed month-long campaign

A wave of student occupations has shut down schools and universities across Europe as part of a renewed youth protest campaign against inaction on climate breakdown. Twenty-two schools and universities across the continent have been occupied as part of a proposed month-long campaign.

In Germany, universities were occupied in Wolfenbüttel, Magdeburg, Münster, Bielefeld, Regensburg, Bremen and Berlin. In Spain, students in occupation at the Autonomous University of Barcelona organised teach-outs on the climate crisis. In Belgium, 40 students occupied the University of Ghent. In the Czech Republic, about 100 students camped outside the ministry of trade and industry. In the UK occupations were under way at the universities of Leeds, Exeter and Falmouth.

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BA owner raises profit forecast as travel demand rebounds

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IAG expects to fly almost the same passenger numbers this year as before Covid pandemic

The owner of British Airways has upgraded its full-year profit expectations thanks to strong demand for holiday travel, as the airline group said it expected to fly almost the same number of passengers this year as it did before the coronavirus pandemic.

International Airlines Group (IAG) reported a first-quarter profit for the first time since 2019, before the travel industry was plunged into chaos by Covid lockdowns. It made an operating profit of €9m (£7.9m) in the first three months of the year.

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Jordan Neely: man killed by rider’s chokehold was talented dancer

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Neely, 30, whose subway death was ruled a homicide by New York’s medical examiner, remembered as kind and loving

Jordan Neely had a fan club.

The 30-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator had amassed a following within New York City and beyond, with thousands online admiring the young man’s aptitude for dance and creating a Facebook group to share his performances.

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Child marriage in decline – but will take 300 years to eliminate

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UN children’s agency welcomes drop in number of underage brides, but warns 12 million girls still getting married each year

The number of child marriages is declining worldwide, but at too slow a pace for any hope of eliminating the practice this century, Unicef, the UN children’s agency, has said.

In a new report, Unicef tentatively welcomed the reduction but warned that it was nowhere close to meeting its sustainable development goal of ridding the world of the practice by 2030.

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UK ministers urged to unseal files on Falklands attack that killed 56

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Calls follow release of account by captain who said he strongly warned against ‘folly’ of attempted landing in June 1982

The release of a witness account detailing the “folly” of an operation in which 56 service personnel died on ships off the Falkland islands – the deadliest day for the British military since 1945 – has prompted fresh calls for the government to unseal all files relating to the tragedy.

Attacks by Argentinian Skyhawk planes against the landing ships Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad killed dozens of service personnel on 8 June 1982 and left more than 150 injured, including Simon Weston, the Welsh guard whose disfigured face became a defining image of the conflict.

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‘Not safe for us’: Sudanese in north Africa warn fleeing relatives of danger

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People who sought route to Europe before fighting erupted in Khartoum speak of police brutality, torture and homelessness

Ever since fighting erupted in his home town of Nyala, the state capital of South Darfur in Sudan, in mid-April, Khaled’s mobile phone has not stopped ringing. Family members, friends and acquaintances want to know how to reach north Africa and which country is best for departing for Europe.

The 17-year-old, currently living in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, wishes he could tell them that the journey is simple and that countries like Tunisia and Libya are welcoming and safe.

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Ukraine shoots down its own drone over Kyiv after device ‘lost control’

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Onlookers cheered as drone, initially believed to be Russian, was taken down by air defence over the capital

The Ukrainian air force said it downed its own drone that lost control over Kyiv on Thursday, after a series of explosions shook the capital.

Andriy Yermak, Ukraine presidential chief of staff, initially said an enemy drone that had been shot down. But the air force later said it was Ukrainian and had been destroyed to avoid “undesirable circumstances”. No casualties were reported from the incident.

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Canada summons Chinese ambassador after MP and his family harassed

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Foreign affairs minister says Cong Peiwu was summoned to express frustration over attempts to meddle in Canadian politics

Canada has summoned China’s ambassador as Justin Trudeau’s government considers expelling a Chinese diplomat accused of involvement in a harassment campaign against a MP lawmaker and his family in retaliation for the lawmaker’s criticisms of Beijing.

The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, told a parliamentary committee on Thursday that her office had summoned Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu to express frustration over attempts to meddle in Canada’s domestic politics.

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