Category Archives: World News

‘Big mistake’: Biden condemns Putin’s withdrawal from nuclear treaty

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‘You’re the frontlines of our collective defense,’ Biden tells Bucharest Nine group of eastern European countries on last day of trip

Joe Biden on Wednesday night condemned as a “big mistake” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend his country’s participation in the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty.

The comment came as the US president closed out his wartime visit to Europe, working to shore up partnerships with allies on Nato’s perilous eastern flank – even as Putin was drawing closer to China for help as his invasion of Ukraine neared the year mark.

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PNG hostage freed but Australian professor and two local researchers still held captive

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Papua New Guinea police warn against circulation of fake news as negotiations continue with gunmen

A woman who was taken hostage in Papua New Guinea has been released while an Australian professor and two local researchers are still held captive by an armed group in the country’s remote highlands.

The remaining three captives are believed to be in reasonable health, despite being held in difficult terrain.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Biden promises US will defend ‘every inch of Nato’; China will play ‘constructive role’ in crisis, says diplomat

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Joe Biden speaks with leaders of Nato’s eastern European members in Poland after Vladimir Putin meets Wang Yi in Moscow

The UN general assembly meets today, two days ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Kyiv and its allies hoping to garner broad support for a resolution calling for a “just and lasting peace.”

The draft resolution, sponsored by 60 countries, is to be voted on after the close of debate – not expected until at least Thursday.

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Huge winter storm closes US highways and prompts rare southern California blizzard warning

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Hundreds of thousands lose power and thousands of flights canceled as weather takes toll across northern and western states

A brutal winter storm closed interstate highways from Arizona to Wyoming on Wednesday, trapped drivers in cars, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and prompted the first blizzard warning in southern California in decades – and the worst won’t be over for several days.

Meanwhile, pockets of the south-east will be cooking, with record-breaking warmth expected to stretch into the mid-Atlantic spiking temperatures more than 40F warmer than normal and creating weather that feels more “like June than February”, according to the National Weather Service.

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Malcolm X’s family to sue FBI, NYPD and other agencies over assassination

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One of Malcolm X’s daughters says new details show federal and state agencies covered up crucial evidence

The family of Malcolm X has filed notice that they plan to sue the FBI, New York police and other agencies over his death.

The civil rights leader was 39 when he was assassinated on 21 February 1965, at an auditorium in the Washington Heights neighbourhood.

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Pupil arrested after teacher stabbed to death at school in France

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Woman attacked in classroom at Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin school near Bordeaux

Police have arrested a 16-year-old pupil after a teacher was stabbed to death at a secondary school in south-west France.

The attack at the Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, a Catholic private school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near Bayonne, happened in a classroom when a teenager allegedly pulled a knife from his bag at about 10am on Wednesday and stabbed the 52-year-old woman once.

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Remains of anti-Franco activist who died in 1973 recovered in Catalonia

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Forensics identify remains of Cipriano Martos, an antifascist forced to drink sulphuric acid during a police interrogation

Forensic experts in Catalonia have recovered and identified the remains of a young anti-Franco activist, communist and trade unionist who died in 1973 after being forced to drink sulphuric acid during a police interrogation.

Cipriano Martos, who was born to a family of farmworkers in Granada in 1942, was a member of both the Spanish communist party and the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (Frap), a far-left group committed to overthrowing the Franco regime that went on to murder six Spanish policemen in the mid-1970s.

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New York Times reporters criticise union for backing trans coverage protest

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High-profile reporters say in letter ‘We are journalists, not activists’ after contributors protest coverage of trans issues

A dispute at the New York Times over its coverage of transgender issues deepened with news of a letter signed by high-profile reporters, criticising the Times’ union president for her own letter on the issue, in which she said staff who protested the paper’s trans coverage were concerned about “a hostile working environment”.

“Factual, accurate journalism that is written, edited and published in accordance with Times standards does not create a hostile workplace,” read the new letter, signed by the chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker, political correspondent Lisa Lerer and other senior figures and reported by Vanity Fair.

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EU states urge crackdown on Russia over sanctions-evading arms ploy

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Moscow accused of attempting to source weapons parts through front companies in neighbouring states

A group of 10 EU member states have called for a crackdown on Russia’s attempts to source military parts through front companies in neighbouring countries, thereby evading western sanctions.

The 10 countries, which include France, Germany, Italy and the Baltic states, write that “2023 must be the year of success in countering circumvention”, warning that public support and international legitimacy of sanctions could wane if they are deemed ineffective.

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China and Russia reaffirm close ties as Putin meets top diplomat

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On eve of Ukraine invasion anniversary Russian leader says China relations ‘proceeding as planned’

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as China and Russia reaffirm their close bilateral relationship just days before the first anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war.

In brief televised remarks Wang said China and Russia were ready to deepen their strategic cooperation. Earlier on Wednesday, Wang met Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, where he said he expected to reach a “new consensus” on advancing the relationship between the two allies.

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China instructs state firms to phase out big four auditors

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Firms urged to allow contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC to expire

The Chinese government has reportedly instructed state-owned companies to phase out contracts with the big four accounting including KPMG and EY, as authorities try to address security concerns and curb the influence of western-linked auditors.

China’s finance ministry is among the government entities that have issued informal guidance last month, urging state-owned corporations to let contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC expire, according to Bloomberg News.

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China and Japan meet for formal security talks to stabilise tensions

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Officials meet in Tokyo to discuss concerns at China’s cooperation with Russia and Japan’s military buildup

Chinese and Japanese officials met in Tokyo on Wednesday for formal security talks for the first time in four years, in a meeting aimed at stabilising increasingly strained relations.

In Japan’s national security strategy, released in December, China was described as “the greatest strategic challenge” to Japan’s peace and security.

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Israeli troops kill 11 in West Bank raid

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Palestinians decry ‘massacre’ after daytime operation in Nablus that Israel says targeted three militants

Israeli troops killed 11 Palestinians, including a teenager, and wounded dozens more, in a raid on a city in the occupied West Bank city that threatens further bloodshed.

The daytime operation targeted three militants who were near the centre of the old city of Nablus, the Israeli military said. All three wanted men were killed along with seven others, including a 72-year-old man. Palestinian officials said at least 103 people were injured, with many of them sustaining gunshot wounds.

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Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of British citizenship

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Special immigration appeals commission decides revocation of her citizenship was lawful

Shamima Begum, who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State (IS), has lost an appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship.

Describing it as a case of “great concern and difficulty”, the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) ruled that although there was “credible suspicion” that Begum was trafficked for sexual exploitation, the decision was ultimately one for the home secretary.

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Tens of thousands of refugees flee from Somaliland clashes

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Somalis arrive in Ethiopia from disputed town of Las Anod, where at least 82 people have died in fighting

More than 60,000 Somali refugees have fled to Ethiopia after an escalation in fighting in the town of Las Anod, in the Sool region, where tensions between local people and the governing Somaliland authorities have been building for weeks.

The UN said the refugees had arrived in part of Ethiopia that had been badly hit by drought after five consecutive failed rains, and that many people were sleeping in the open, or sheltering in schools and other public buildings.

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Mexico’s former drugs tsar Genaro Garcia Luna convicted for aiding El Chapo cartel

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Garcia Luna took millions in bribes from Sinaloa gang, Brooklyn corruption trial told

A former Mexican law enforcement official once in charge of the fight against drug traffickers has been convicted at a US corruption trial over his ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Genaro Garcia Luna accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the cartel once run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in exchange for protection from arrest, safe passage for cocaine shipments and tipoffs about forthcoming law enforcement operations.

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War in Ukraine defining new world order, says thinktank

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Poll reveals west more united but gulf growing with countries such as India that do not subscribe to post-cold war view

Almost a year after Russia’s war against Ukraine started, it has united the west, according to a 15-country survey – but exposed a widening gulf with the rest of the world that is defining the contours of a future global order.

The study, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank, surveyed opinions in nine EU member states, including France, Germany and Poland, and in Britain and the US, as well as China, Russia, India and Turkey.

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Biden pledges more Moscow sanctions: ‘Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia’ – as it happened

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Speaking before a crowd of thousands in the gardens of Warsaw’s Royal Castle, Joe Biden hailed the resilience of Ukraine’s people and the benevolence of Poland and other western allies in helping fend off the Russian invasion.

“Autocrats only understand one word: no.” Biden said. “No, you will not take my country. No, you will not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future. I’ll repeat tonight what I said last year at the same place. A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never be able to ease the people’s love of liberties. Brutality will never grind down the will of the free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never.”

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Tax raids on BBC offices in India ‘deeply worrying’, says Labour

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Ministers say they have raised New Delhi and Mumbai raids with their Indian counterparts

Labour has condemned raids by Indian tax authorities on BBC offices in Mumbai and New Delhi as “deeply worrying”, as ministers say they have raised the issue with their Indian counterparts.

In the first significant intervention by a main British party since last week’s raids, the shadow foreign minister Fabian Hamilton criticised the Indian authorities and expressed concern that BBC staff had been held overnight for questioning.

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