Category Archives: World News

Three sections of Roman wall in City of London given protected status

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Remains of once vast riverside structure granted legal protection against unauthorised change

Three sections of a huge but little-known Roman wall, discovered under the City of London, have been given protected status as scheduled national monuments.

The riverside wall was a once vast stone structure that formed part of the defences of Roman London. Built in the third century AD along the Thames, it connected to the city’s landward fortifications, large sections of which still exist.

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California college town Davis on edge after spate of stabbings leaves two dead

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Police chief denounces ‘violent and brazen attacks’ as student, 20, and unhoused 50-year-old man killed

A northern California university town is on edge after a series of “violent and brazen” attacks in which three people were stabbed within a week – two fatally.

Authorities said they could not reveal whether they are searching for one or multiple suspects in the attacks, which began late last week. One of the victims who died was unhoused, and the other who died was a college student. In the most recent attack, an unhoused woman was injured after reportedly being knifed several times through her tent.

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Dominican investigative journalist targeted with NSO spyware, report says

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Nuria Piera, known for her investigations into corruption, was targeted three times, Amnesty International says

One of the Dominican Republic’s most prominent investigative journalists was targeted using spyware made by NSO Group, according to a new report released by Amnesty International.

Nuria Piera, who is well known for her investigations into corruption, was hacked three times between 2020 and 2021, according to Amnesty’s forensic analysis of her mobile phone. The revelation marks the first confirmation that NSO’s military-grade spyware, Pegasus, has been used to target journalists in the Dominican Republic, making it the third Latin American country – after Mexico and El Salvador – where such abuse has been discovered.

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Final UK evacuation flight from Sudan expected to leave on Wednesday

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James Cleverly urges British nationals still wanting to leave the war-torn nation to make their way to Port Sudan

The final UK evacuation flight is expected to take off from Sudan on Wednesday, the foreign secretary has announced.

James Cleverly urged British nationals still wanting to leave the war-torn nation to make their way to Port Sudan.

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Tucker Carlson: leaked video reveals fired host’s crude off-camera remarks

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Ex-Fox News anchor shown referring to fans as ‘post-menopausal’ and unnamed woman as ‘yummy’ in clips released on Tuesday

Leaked video published on Tuesday showed the fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson describing an unnamed woman as “yummy”, referring to his fans as “post-menopausal” and attempting to discuss sexual technique with British journalist Piers Morgan.

The first two remarks were previously reported by the New York Times. The clips were released by Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog that on Monday released other video in which Carlson derided the Fox Nation streaming service.

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Amnesty International criticised for using AI-generated images

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Group has removed AI images used to promote their reports on social media, including fake photos of Colombia’s 2021 protests

While the systemic brutality used by Colombian police to quell national protests in 2021 was real and is well documented, photos recently used by Amnesty International to highlight the issue were not.

The international human rights advocacy group has come under fire for posting images generated by artificial intelligence in order to promote their reports on social media – and has since removed them.

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French minister’s steamy novel turns up heat on Macron

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Sex scene in Bruno Le Maire’s book provokes ridicule and anger among opposition politicians

An explicit sex scene in a newly published novel by the French economy minister has left the government facing fresh accusations it is not listening to the concerns of the country just as it tries to contain anger over the unpopular rise in the pension age.

The toe-curling sexual descriptions in the novel, Fugue Américaine, written by the economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, have angered opposition politicians and inspired anti-government slogans and graffiti at street demonstrations as the government struggles to contain the political crisis over Emmanuel Macron raising the minimum pension age to 64.

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Russian regions scrap Victory Day parades amid fear of Ukraine strikes

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Governor of region 400 miles from border latest to cancel over ‘safety concerns’ in glaring admission of vulnerability

At least six Russian regions have scrapped 9 May Victory Day parades that mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany amid fears over Ukrainian strikes, with a region 400 miles from the border being the latest to cancel.

The governor of Saratov announced the parade there would not go ahead because of “safety concerns”, adding to a string of cancellations that are a glaring admission of the country’s military vulnerability more than 14 months into the war.

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China revises military conscription laws in space warfare push

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Modernisation of People’s Liberation Army continues with focus on cyberwarfare while retirees are now allowed to re-enlist

China’s government has revised its conscription laws, allowing retired service people to re-enlist and increasing recruitment focused on expertise in space and cyberwarfare.

The amended regulations, approved by the state council and the central military commission, came into force on Monday, and covered all aspects of China’s military recruitment and personnel deployment processes, for domestic emergencies and wartime.

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Khartoum hospitals being hit as Sudan fighting intensifies

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Several people killed outside East Nile hospital as civilian groups step in to help people caught in conflict

Fierce street fighting, including the use of heavy weaponry and artillery fire, has consumed central Khartoum as worsening violence tests a deteriorating ceasefire.

Volleys of airstrikes and sounds of gunfire were audible in Khartoum’s twin city, Omdurman, overnight as clashes raged throughout the capital, and were particularly heavy in areas around major government and military infrastructure in the city centre.

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Uganda’s parliament passes mostly unchanged anti-LGBTQ bill

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Bill retains harshest measures of legislation adopted in March, including death penalty for certain same-sex acts

Uganda’s parliament has passed a mostly unchanged version of one of the world’s strictest anti-LGBTQ+ bills after President Yoweri Museveni asked that certain provisions from the original legislation be toned down.

Despite four amendments, the bill retains most of the harshest measures of the legislation adopted in March. Those include the death penalty for certain same-sex acts and a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality, which activists say could criminalise any advocacy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer citizens.

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China ‘barring thousands of citizens and foreigners from leaving country’

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Analysis of Chinese court records shows eightfold increase in cases mentioning exit bans between 2016 and 2022

China is increasingly barring people, including foreign executives, from leaving the country, according to a report and research.

Scores of Chinese nationals and foreigners have been ensnared by exit bans, according to the report from the rights group Safeguard Defenders, while a Reuters analysis has found an apparent surge in court cases involving such bans in recent years.

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Ukraine vows not to give up on defending Bakhmut as it prepares for counteroffensive – as it happened

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Commander of Ukraine ground forces underlines importance Kyiv attaches to holding Bakhmut as preparations continue for a counterattack. This live blog is closed

Reuters has a quick snap to say that all parties in the Black Sea grain initiative will meet for talks on Wednesday, according to a senior Ukrainian source.

The deal is, according to Russia’s timetable, due to expire on 18 May. The Kremlin has been lukewarm about the prospect of it being extended, arguing that restrictions on Russia’s banking and insurance sector have damaged the country’s own agricultural exports.

Our state has already proven that it can win. We have proven that we can liberate our land from the occupier. All those who ensure the de-occupation have proven that, together with the blue and yellow flag, normal life returns for every person and every family. Our goal is to return this life to the whole of Ukraine, to all those areas that are still temporarily under occupation.

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Another Hollywood writers’ strike is going ahead. Here’s what you need to know

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The Writers Guild of America have announced a strike will begin tomorrow, after talks broke down with major studios and streamers

Hollywood’s writers are going out on strike for the first time in more than 15 years.

The Writers Guild of America announced on Monday night that its 11,500 members will stop working on Tuesday afternoon, after negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a group representing most major studios and streaming services, broke down.

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Hollywood film and TV writers begin rare strike: ‘The dream should pay a living wage’

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Writers Guild of America calls first work stoppage in 15 years as industry grapples with streaming boom

Hollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and television writers went on strike following the breakdown of last-minute pay talks with major studios.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on higher pay, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old-guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

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Pneumonia vaccine delays kill thousands needlessly in Africa

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Access to PCV jabs in South Sudan, Somalia, Guinea and Chad ‘could save 40,000 children a year’

Delays in rolling out a vaccine against childhood pneumonia in four of the world’s poorest countries have been blamed for thousands of unnecessary deaths.

South Sudan, Somalia, Guinea and Chad are four of the last African nations without the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), one of the most powerful tools against pneumonia in children.

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Many Europeans want climate action – but less so if it changes their lifestyle, shows poll

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Exclusive: YouGov survey in seven countries tested backing for government and individual action on crisis

Many Europeans are alarmed by the climate crisis and would willingly take personal steps and back government policies to help combat it, a survey suggests – but the more a measure would change their lifestyle, the less they support it.

The seven-country YouGov survey tested backing for state-level climate action, such as banning single-use plastics and scrapping fossil-fuel cars, and individual initiatives including buying only secondhand clothes and giving up meat and dairy products.

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Europe warily eyes security implications of a protracted conflict in Sudan

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Long dispute creates unwanted uncertainties as increased migration and outside actors enter the conflict

Fears remain that Sudan – riven by fighting between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – could plunge into a protracted crisis, prompting a humanitarian disaster with broad geopolitical implications.

A string of failed or divided states already exist on Europe’s peripheries, a crescent of instability that stretches from the African Sahel, Libya, through to Yemen, Syria, and north into Ukraine, three countries where extended wars have been raging.

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‘They don’t know how they are viewed here’: Russians in Georgia revive old tension

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Russians in Tbilisi often arrive unaware of historical sensitivities and simmering hostility

As midnight approached on a recent Saturday evening in Tbilisi, the animated chatter and joyous shouting on the city’s central Rustaveli Avenue was almost all taking place in Russian.

A married couple from Rostov-on-Don headed home from dinner; passing them, a group of friends from St Petersburg were off for a late drink with some acquaintances from Moscow.

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2023 Met Gala: pearls, pregnancy reveals and a giant cat celebrate Karl Lagerfeld – as it happened

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All the coverage from fashion’s biggest night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This year’s theme was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. This blog is now closed

And Anna Wintor – Met Gala mastermind – has arrived, arm-in-arm with British actor Bill Nighy (not the science guy).

Speaking of Lagerfeld’s cat …

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