Category Archives: World News

Joe Biden says Russian forces in disarray after year of war in Ukraine

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US president issues rallying cry in Warsaw but warns of ‘very bitter days’ ahead in defence of democracy

Joe Biden has claimed Vladimir Putin’s year of war against Ukraine has left behind “burned-out tanks and Russian forces in disarray” but he also warned of “very bitter days” ahead in the defence of democracy in eastern Europe.

Biden issued a rallying cry in a speech to mark the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion, addressing a crowd of 30,000, mostly Poles and Ukrainians, in front of the arches below Warsaw’s royal castleon Tuesday evening.

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Patients dying as Nigerian cash crisis hits health services before election

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Many pregnant and critically ill people unable to pay for health services after botched attempt to replace currency

Several people have died and the lives of pregnant women and critically ill patients have been put at risk after a botched attempt to replace Nigeria’s currency in the buildup to Saturday’s general election left countless people unable to pay for treatment.

Health bosses have warned of a “dire” situation for those who cannot access care in the country, where riots sparked by severe cash shortages have spread in recent weeks.

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Scientist convicted of editing babies’ genes has Hong Kong visa revoked over ‘false statement’

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Local media report inquiry launched over application by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose work sparked ethics storm

Hong Kong has reportedly revoked a visa for the controversial gene therapy scientist He Jiankui less than a day after it was revealed he’d been granted one, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices.

Hong Kong immigration officials said his visa was rescinded and a criminal investigation launched into allegations He had lied on his application form, the South China Morning Post reported.

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Death toll from latest earthquakes in Turkey reaches eight

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Casualties relatively low since few remain in region devastated by twin earthquakes two weeks ago

The toll from two earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday – two weeks after powerful quakes killed more than 47,000 people – has risen to eight, with up to 300 recovering from injuries and up to a dozen buildings toppling on both sides of the border.

The widespread anxiety and panic sparked by the latest tremors has rattled a region that is still coming to terms with the devastation caused earlier this month.

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Putin thought enemies would ‘roll over’ but he was wrong, says Joe Biden in major speech in Poland – as it happened

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US president delivers speech in Poland on anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine after Putin says he will suspend participation in New Start treaty. This live blog is now closed

There have been at least 18,955 civilian casualties since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The OHCHR released the report citing the number of casualties as being 7,199 killed and 11,756 injured, but believes the actual figures are considerably higher.

From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 12 February 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 18,955 civilian casualties in the country: 7,199 killed and 11,756 injured.”

The situation is not easy. I have said more than once: every man – and not only a man – should be able to at least handle weapons.

At least in order to protect his family, if needed, his home, his own piece of land and – if necessary – his country.”

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Putin says Russia will halt participation in New Start nuclear arms treaty

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Russian president airs grievances against west in speech devoted to first anniversary of Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will halt its participation in New Start, the last major remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US, in a speech devoted to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and claim our nuclear facilities,” the Russian president said during a speech characterised by grievances against the west. “In this regard, I am forced to state that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty.”

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Spanish transport secretary resigns after new trains too big for tunnels

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Head of state rail company, Renfe, also quits as anger rises over fact trains built in £227.5m contract are too wide

Spain’s secretary of state for transport and the head of the state rail company have resigned amid continuing public and political anger after it emerged that dozens of new trains ordered for two northern Spanish regions were too big to fit through some tunnels.

Three years ago, the state rail operator, Renfe, announced plans to modernise the rolling stock on narrow-gauge commuter trains and medium-distance trains in Asturias and Cantabria.

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Italian PM Meloni in Kyiv amid tensions over war within her coalition

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PM to reassert support for Ukraine after coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi blamed Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has arrived in Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and reiterate Italy’s support for the war-torn country, as she navigates tensions on the issue within her rightwing alliance and divided public opinion.

Tuesday’s trip is seen as one of the most significant made by Meloni since she came to power in October and comes a week after her coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi, the Forza Italia leader, blamed Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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China foreign minister warns against ‘fuelling the fire’ over Ukraine conflict

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Qin Gang ‘deeply concerned’ about war spiralling out of control and appears to hit back at US for ‘shifting blame to China’

China’s new foreign minister has accused the US of shifting blame for the Ukraine war on to China, in an apparent pushback against warnings from Washington that China is considering supplying weapons to Russia.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, at the launch of a Chinese government paper on its global security initiative, Qin Gang said China was “deeply concerned” about the war in Ukraine escalating and possibly “spiralling out of control”.

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Stolen trove of Angkor crown jewels returned to Cambodia after resurfacing in London

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Family of British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, who died in 2020 while awaiting trial for art trafficking, returns 77 Khmer artefacts

Dozens of pieces of Angkorian crown jewellery stolen from Cambodia, many never seen by the public, have been returned after resurfacing in London, the Cambodian culture ministry said on Monday.

The trove includes crowns, necklaces, amulets and other treasures from the Angkor period, which ran from the ninth to the 14th century AD, when the Khmer empire was a dominant force in south-east Asia.

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Turkey hit by two more powerful earthquakes two weeks after disaster

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Three killed and 213 injured, government says, after quakes of 6.4 and 5.8 magnitude shake southern province of Hatay

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake and a second measuring 5.8 have hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by twin earthquakes two weeks ago.

Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said that at least three people were killed and 213 wounded by the latest quakes, after a large government hospital in the city of İskenderun in the north of Hatay province declared it was evacuating patients.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv ‘unprecedented in modern times’, says US – live

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First time a US president visited a ‘country at war where US military does not control critical infrastructure’, says national security adviser

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has tweeted to thank Estonia for a proposal for “joint direct procurement of arms and ammunition” for Ukraine, and to express his regrets that he is not attending the EU’s foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels later today in person.

The meeting in Brussels, chaired by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has on its agenda to “exchange views on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, after a first informal exchange with the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine”. It will later also discuss Moldova, where the pro-western government has recently changed, in part, according to president Maia Sandu, because of tensions over Russia.

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Brazil: flooding and landslides kill dozens in São Paulo state

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Cities cancel carnival festivities as rescue workers search for victims and clear roads

At least 36 people have died and dozens are missing after torrential rain brought flooding and landslides to coastal areas of south-east Brazil over the weekend as the country geared up for its annual carnival celebrations.

Rescue efforts continued in São Paulo state on Monday as more than 500 workers searched for victims, cleared roads and tried to reconnect isolated communities.

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Joe Biden’s train ride to Kyiv may not put him on track for a second term

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Visit to Ukraine is a defining moment for the US president but foreign policy does not necessarily win elections

John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had their speeches in Berlin. Joe Biden now has Kyiv, a moment to define his presidency and its era.

There was no one phrase in Biden’s remarks in Kyiv to match Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” in 1963 or Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” in 1987, but the trip itself was the statement. As the White House underlined repeatedly on Monday, there was no precedent in modern times. Visits to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were different, as the US military ran security in those countries.

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Robert Mugabe’s son charged in Zimbabwe for damaging cars at party

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Son of late authoritarian ruler arrested over damage worth £10,000

The eldest son of Robert Mugabe, the late authoritarian ruler of Zimbabwe, has been arrested for allegedly causing damage worth $12,000 (£10,000) to cars and other property at a party in an upmarket neighbourhood of Harare over the weekend.

Robert Mugabe Jr, 31, spent a night in a local police station and then briefly appeared at a court in Harare, the capital, on Monday.

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Biden’s Ukraine trip undercuts Kremlin narrative of waning support in the west

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Visit is unwelcome twist for Vladimir Putin as he prepares state of the nation address to mark invasion’s anniversary

The Kremlin has met Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine with official silence, as analysts and pundits suggested the US leader’s historic trip was an unwelcome twist ahead of a speech by Vladimir Putin and other state events set to mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

Biden’s surprise trip to Ukraine has undercut the Kremlin narrative that the west’s support for Ukraine is waning, with promises of another $500m (£415m) in military aid and fresh sanctions set to be imposed before the end of the week.

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US protesters turn ire on wind farms to explain whale deaths – but where’s the evidence?

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Controversy stirs in New Jersey along political lines as some scientists say wind turbine theory is ‘cynical disinformation’

Thousands gathered at New Jersey’s Point Pleasant beach on Sunday with a united mission: to pause offshore wind projects in response to recent whale deaths along the New York-New Jersey coast.

The gathering unfolded even as officials dispute the notion that the projects may be to blame for the dead whales, a controversy that – like many – is breaking along political party lines.

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Benjamin Netanyahu accuses protesters of ‘trampling democracy’

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PM vows to press ahead with legislation to restrict judicial powers as upwards of 100,000 protesters take to streets

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has accused protesters of “trampling democracy”, vowing that his far-right coalition will move ahead with controversial legislation to restrict the power of the judiciary.

Upwards of 100,000 people gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday in protest against an initial plenum vote on bills that would give politicians control over appointments to Israel’s supreme court, and limit its ability to overturn laws. Protesters blocked major roads across the country, and prevented some politicians from leaving their homes.

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US informed Russia of Joe Biden’s Kyiv visit hours before departure

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Details emerge of how White House planned ‘unprecedented’ visit and meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy

The White House notified the Kremlin of Joe Biden’s intention to visit Kyiv hours before he departed for Ukraine, it has been revealed, as the details began to emerge of how the US president pulled off his high-profile diplomatic coup.

Meticulously planned over several months by a tight circle of key advisers, Biden’s visit was described as “unprecedented in modern times” by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on the grounds that it was the first time a US president had visited “the capital of the country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”.

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