Category Archives: World News

US judge approves Rust assistant director’s plea deal over fatal shooting

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Dave Halls given six-month suspended sentence after pleading no contest to gun charge as part of agreement with prosecutors

A Santa Fe judge on Friday accepted a plea deal, bringing the first conviction for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the western movie Rust in New Mexico.

Dave Halls, first assistant director on Rust, pleaded no contest as part of an agreement with prosecutors to the misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in Hutchins’ death.

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Italy’s privacy watchdog bans ChatGPT over data breach concerns

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Measure is in place ‘until ChatGPT respects privacy’, says Italian Data Protection Authority

Italy’s privacy watchdog has banned ChatGPT, after raising concerns about a recent data breach and the legal basis for using personal data to train the popular chatbot.

The Italian Data Protection Authority described the move as atemporary measure “until ChatGPT respects privacy”. The watchdog said it was imposing an “immediate temporary limitation on the processing of Italian users’ data” by ChatGPT’s owner, the San Francisco-based OpenAI.

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Canada’s approval of major telecoms takeover condemned as ‘dark day’

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Anti-monopoly consumer groups slam multibillion-takeover of Shaw by Rogers that will create a media and sports behemoth

Canada has approved a major telecoms takeover that would create a media and sports behemoth in an already concentrated media landscape, in a landmark deal that anti-monopoly consumer groups slammed as “a dark day” for competition in Canada.

On Friday the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said he had approved a multibillion-dollar takeover of Shaw by Rogers.

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Italian man, 80, owes €4,000 in fines after dodging motorway tolls

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‘Nonno Sprint’ avoided paying by nipping in behind prepaid Telepass customers before barrier descended

An 80-year-old Italian man nicknamed “Nonno Sprint” (Granddad Sprint) risks going on trial after he brazenly dodged paying €4,000 (£3,514) worth of motorway tolls using a technique more frequently reserved for metro fare hoppers.

In his Fiat Punto, the man, whose real name is Mario, “travelled far and wide” on Italy’s motorways for two years without paying a single euro, arguing that the charges were too pricey and not worth it for the poor service, according to Corriere della Sera.

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Oscar Pistorius denied parole over killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

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Former Paralympic and Olympic star was automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half his sentence

The South African former athlete Oscar Pistorius has been denied parole over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp 10 years ago.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, when he fired four times through the bathroom door of his high-security house in February 2013. The parole board’s decision was taken at a hearing at the correctional facility on the outskirts of the capital, Pretoria, where the 36-year-old is being held.

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Spain’s PM urges Beijing to discuss peace plan with Zelenskiy

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Pedro Sánchez encourages dialogue between Xi Jinping and Ukrainian president during China visit

Spain’s prime minister has said he conveyed concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Xi Jinping, urging Beijing to discuss peace plans with Kyiv directly, during a visit to China aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters on Friday from the Spanish embassy in Beijing, Pedro Sánchez said the talks with the Chinese president had “transmitted our concern at the illegal invasion of Ukraine”, as well as “encouraged Xi to talk to President Zelenskiy” to learn first-hand about the peace plan proposed by Kyiv.

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Recycling rubble can help rebuild Syria faster, scientists show

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Tests show recycled concrete could safely be used in new buildings in war- and quake-stricken country

Concrete rubble from destroyed buildings in Syria can be safely recycled into new concrete, scientists have shown, which will make the rebuilding of the war-hit country faster, cheaper and greener.

Syria, which was also hit by a huge earthquake in February, has a vast amount of concrete rubble, estimated at 40m tonnes. The key barrier to recycling this waste is ensuring that the new concrete is as strong and safe as conventional concrete.

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Kemi Badenoch casts doubt on growth projections for Asia-Pacific trade deal

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Comments threaten to worsen already tense relationship between senior ministers and civil servants

Kemi Badenoch has cast doubt on her department’s projections for how much the Asia-Pacific trade deal the UK government has signed will help economic growth.

The government announced overnight it had joined the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTTP), which includes Australia and Japan, after two years of negotiations.

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Thirty-six dead after floor of Indian temple collapses

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Worshippers in Indore fell into communal water source as they gathered to mark Ram Navami

At least 36 people have died after the floor of a Hindu temple collapsed in Indore, central India, plunging them into a well.

It has emerged that the floor which covered the stepwell – a stair-lined communal water source – consisted only of tiles laid over a metal grille.

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Donald Trump indicted by grand jury over hush money payment to Stormy Daniels

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Ex-president is expected to appear for his arraignment on Tuesday where he will be fingerprinted, photographed and processed for arrest

A grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump in New York over a hush money payment made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.

No former US president has ever been criminally indicted. The news is set to shake the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, in which Trump leads most polls.

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Abusive working conditions endemic in Spain’s strawberry farms, report claims

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UK supermarkets heavily reliant on strawberries from southern Spain, where workers allege they are regularly underpaid, have passports withheld and are forced to live in unsanitary shacks

Abusive conditions are endemic in parts of Spain’s fruit sector, a new report alleges, with workers telling the Guardian they have been regularly underpaid and forced to live in dilapidated shacks.

During the winter, at least 60% of strawberries eaten in the UK are likely to be from vast farms across the south-west Spanish province of Huelva. In 2020, the UK imported €310m (£272m) worth of the fruit from the Andalucia region, of which 91% is believed to be grown in Huelva.

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Finland’s way into Nato clears as hold-out Turkey votes in favour

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Parliament in Ankara passes bill allowing membership after second-to-last objector, Hungary, voted in favour

Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato, clearing the way for Helsinki to join the western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine.

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership, after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill this week.

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Brazilian meat firm’s A- sustainability rating has campaigners up in arms

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Environmentalists question high grade given to JBS and accuse it of deforestation in the Amazon and under-reporting emissions

The award of an A-minus sustainability grade to the world’s biggest meat company has raised eyebrows and kicked off a debate about the rating system for environmental and social governance.

Brazilian meat company JBS has previously been linked to deforestation in the Amazon, where its slaughterhouses process beef from ranches carved out of the Amazon, Cerrado and other biomes. But in the latest Climate Change Report by the influential rating organisation CDP, the multinational got a grade of A- for its efforts to tackle climate change – up from B in the previous assessment – and was given a “leadership” status award.

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Diehard Bolsonaro fans greet far-right ex-president on return to Brazil

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Son says Jair Bolsonaro will lead opposition after return from self-imposed exile in US

Three months after he left Brazil to avoid passing the presidential sash to his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the former president Jair Bolsonaro has flown back to the South American country hoping to prove his political career is far from over.

The far-right radical flew to the US on the eve of Lula’s 1 January inauguration and watched the historic transition of power from a rented villa near Disney World in Florida. It was from Florida, too, that Bolsonaro watched the 8 January assault on Brazil’s democratic institutions perpetrated by hardcore supporters seemingly bent on overthrowing Lula’s new government.

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Pope Francis could be discharged from hospital ‘in next few days’

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Doctors say 86-year-old has shown marked improvement and has been treated for bronchitis

Pope Francis has had a marked improvement in his health and could be discharged from hospital “in the next few days”, doctors treating the 86-year-old said on Thursday.

The pontiff was taken to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Wednesday afternoon after complaining of breathing difficulties and chest pain in recent days.

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Brazil may sue VW amid claims firm used ‘slave labour’ under military rule

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Prosecutors seek compensation for workers kept on cattle ranch owned by German carmaker during dictatorship from 1973 to 1987

Brazil is threatening to take the German carmaker Volkswagen to court over allegations that it used slave labour on a vast ranch in the Amazon, after talks on compensating workers ended without agreement.

Public prosecutors in Brazil are seeking compensation for men who they say were forced to work in “humiliating and degrading” conditions, with no clean water or sanitation, on the Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino cattle ranch, which was owned by the company in the northern Pará state, between 1973 and 1987.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to bribery charges

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Bankman-Fried, 31, has already pleaded not guilty to eight counts over collapse of cryptocurrency exchange last year

The FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.

Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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Tunisian morgue overflows as more people attempt risky sea crossing

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Migrant crackdown is prompting increasing number of people from sub-Saharan Africa to board boats

On a recent afternoon in the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax, as shoppers hurried around a market buying food and drink for that evening’s iftar meal, a small group of men from sub-Saharan Africa gathered near a stall selling phone accessories.

One of them, Joseph, had made a two-week journey to the city from Cameroon eight months ago. His plan, like thousands before him fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life, had been to board a boat from near Sfax and cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

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Europe must reassess its relations with China, says EU chief

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Ursula von der Leyen calls for ‘clear-eyed picture’ of risks as she prepares for Beijing trip

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called on Europe to reassess its diplomatic and economic relations with China before a visit to Beijing next week with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Europe needed to have “a clear-eyed picture on what the risks are”, she said in a wide-ranging speech in Brussels, noting that EU-China relations had become “more distant and more difficult” in recent years as China moved into “a new era of security and control” and ramped up “policies of disinformation and economic and trade coercion”.

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