Category Archives: World News

Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll rises above 9,500 as Erdoğan plans visit

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Turkish president will travel to epicentre amid mounting criticism of authorities’ response

The official death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria has risen to more than 9,500, with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announcing plans to travel to the epicentre.

Amid mounting criticism of the authorities’ response to Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake and calls for the government to send more help to the disaster zone, Erdoğan was due to travel to town of Pazarcık and the worst-hit province of Hatay.

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Brexit Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, supreme court rules

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Judges reject legal challenge to UK-EU trade arrangements by group of unionist leaders

The Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, the supreme court has ruled, rejecting a legal challenge to the Brexit arrangements by a group of unionist leaders including the former first ministers the late David Trimble and Arlene Foster.

Five law lords presiding in the highest court in the UK unanimously dismissed the appeal on all three grounds including the claims that the Brexit trading arrangements breached the 1800 Act of Union and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy to visit UK for first time since Russian invasion

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Ukraine president to meet King Charles and address parliament, as Sunak reveals training for Ukrainian jet pilots

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will make his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion, with Rishi Sunak promising additional military support.

The UK prime minister announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots, paving the way for them to fly sophisticated Nato-standard jets, a request from Zelenskiy.

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‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt

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Republican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon

Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.

“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.

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Separatists fighters in Papua hold New Zealand pilot hostage

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Police and military sent to Nduga area after Susi Air plane was stormed and then burned by separatists opposed to Indonesian rule

Separatist fighters in Indonesia’s Papua region have taken a New Zealand pilot hostage after setting a small commercial plane alight when it landed in a remote highland area on Tuesday, a pro-independence group said in a statement.

A police spokesperson in Papua province, Ignatius Benny Adi Prabowo, said police and military personnel were sent to the area to locate the pilot and five passengers.

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Newborn baby pulled alive from Syria earthquake rubble while mother dies

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Relatives find baby girl tied by umbilical cord to mother who died in Monday’s massive earthquake

A newborn baby girl has been pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after relatives found her still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother, who died in Monday’s massive earthquake.

The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindayris, said relative Khalil al-Suwadi.

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Former Andalucían bar confirmed as lost medieval synagogue

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City of Utrera’s mayor heralds ‘extraordinary’ proof that building is part of legacy of Spain’s exiled Jews

Archaeologists in the Andalucían city of Utrera have rediscovered a staggeringly rare Spanish medieval synagogue, which was later used over the course of seven centuries as everything from a hospital and a home for abandoned children to a restaurant and disco-pub.

The find, announced on Tuesday, makes the 14th-century building one of a precious handful of medieval synagogues to have survived the aftermath of the expulsion of Spain’s Jews in 1492.

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High-profile lawsuit against Meta can be heard in Kenya, Nairobi court rules

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Decision on case of ex-Facebook moderator, who claims the work left him with PTSD, hailed as win for accountability of big tech in Africa

A Kenyan court has ruled that a case brought against Facebook by a former content moderator can go ahead.

Daniel Motaung, who was hired as a Facebook content moderator by the tech firm’s subcontractor Sama in 2019, filed a suit against the two companies last year, alleging that he had been exposed to graphic and traumatic content at work, without adequate prior knowledge or proper psychosocial support – which he says left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Biden set to highlight economic gains in State of the Union address – live

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How Republicans are responding to the State of the Union address will offer a preview into what message the party will sell to voters in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans are already making media appearances on their chosen conservative news networks.

Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference chair and rising GOP star from New York state whose staunch defense of Donald Trump helped her get a House seat, set up over 300 House Republican interviews with local media outlets, according to this morning’s Politico Playbook.

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Canada announces plans to protect vast marine zone with Great Bear Sea project

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Political and Indigenous leaders hope to replicate success of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest conservation area

Nearly a decade ago, Canadian political leaders, environmental activists and Indigenous nations came together to shelter a sprawling 6.4 million-hectare area of trees, sea wolves, salmon and grizzly bears – a project that was named, with some branding acumen, the Great Bear Rainforest.

The plan has since been hailed as a triumph for protecting swathes of old-growth cedar and spruce and drawing global attention to an area of pristine forest the size of Ireland.

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Ukraine releases video appearing to show Russian troops beating own wounded officer

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Footage thought to show Wagner group fighters beating commander with what appear to be shovels

Warning: video contains footage that some viewers may find distressing

Ukraine has released extraordinary video footage that appears to show Russian fighters dragging their badly wounded commander away from the battlefield, and then beating him violently with what appear to be shovels.

A Ukrainian drone captured the incident near the eastern city of Bakhmut, where intense fighting has been raging for months. Four soldiers from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group carry their colleague through a landscape of ruined houses, holding his arms and legs.

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Third day of strikes and protests in France over Macron pension plans

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Hundreds of thousands expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across country

France is facing a third day of strikes and mass street demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age to 64, after the government faced shouting and booing in parliament as lawmakers began debating the bill.

Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across France on Tuesday, from cities to small towns. Trains and urban transport will be severely disrupted, and one in five flights at Paris’s Orly airport will be cancelled. Some schools will close as teachers strike. Students are also blocking several university buildings across France.

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South Sudan ‘failed’ by international aid system as food crisis intensifies

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Catholic charity Cafod says local NGOs are best placed to respond on the frontline but are being cut out of the process

South Sudan is facing the world’s most severe food insecurity crisis, yet the local groups most effective at delivering aid are not being directly funded, according to a new report.

Only 0.4% of humanitarian funding meant for food is directly channelled towards South Sudanese NGOs, despite them being the most effective at tackling hunger, according to the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod).

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EU institutions in row over leaking of details of potential Zelenskiy visit

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Ukraine president reported to be planning trip to Brussels this week to meet EU leaders in person

Recriminations have broken out among EU officials after a possible visit by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to Brussels was leaked, raising concerns over his security.

Zelenskiy was reported to be planning a trip to Brussels this Thursday to meet EU leaders in person at a summit and address the European parliament in an extraordinary session.

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Syria accused of playing politics with aid in aftermath of earthquake

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Dispute with Damascus over who controls aid hinders efforts to get supplies into rebel-held north

Syria was accused of playing politics with aid after the Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh, said his country should be responsible for the delivery of all aid into Syria, including those areas not under Syrian government control.

The dispute over the control of the aid – along with the weather, destroyed roads and closed crossing points – is hampering aid efforts into northern Syria, which is held by rebel groups.

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Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll passes 7,800 as rescue efforts falter

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Aftershocks and freezing weather hamper efforts of rescue teams searching for survivors after 7.8-magnitude quake

Aftershocks, freezing temperatures and damaged roads are hampering efforts to tackle the enormous humanitarian emergency triggered by Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria, with 7,800 people now confirmed dead and 380,000 others seeking refuge in Turkey alone.

As the scale of the devastation from the initial quake – and a second tremor – became clearer, the Turkish authorities declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces and the World Health Organization warned that the number of fatalities could exceed 20,000.

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UK to send aid to Turkey and Syria despite budget ‘strain’, says minister

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More than 70 rescue specialists and sniffer dogs to help with efforts after thousands killed in earthquake-hit region

UK aid will be sent to Turkey and Syria despite “very considerable strain” on the development budget, the cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell has said, after earthquakes killed thousands in the region.

Mitchell, who as a backbench MP opposed cuts to the aid budget, said there were specific funds allocated for major humanitarian disasters.

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Syria earthquake aftermath: why is situation so bad in war-ravaged country?

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Beset by crumbling infrastructure and food shortages, Syria’s war-ravaged population was unprepared for the deadly quake

Syria bears the scars of 12 years of brutal war, the effects of which are likely to hamper aid efforts in the areas worst hit by the quake. Beset by conflict, food shortages, economic collapse and a recent cholera outbreak, the country’s national infrastructure has been at crisis point for years, barely able to support its war-weary population.

And that was before the worst earthquake to hit the region in decades struck.

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Protests in Solomon Islands as key China critic politician is ousted in no confidence vote

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Daniel Suidani, premier of Malaita province, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Pacific country’s relationship with China

The premier of one of Solomon Islands’ most populous provinces and one of the most vocal critics of the country’s relationship with China has been ousted in a vote of no confidence.

The move led to protests in Auki, Malaita province on Tuesday. Police confirmed to the Guardian that they had used teargas to disperse protesters and said one police officer had been injured, but said the situation was now under control.

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Gangs, cholera and political turmoil leave half Haiti’s children relying on aid

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Triple threat sees Caribbean country in worst crisis since 2010 earthquake, with young people bearing the brunt, warns Unicef

An escalation of gang violence, political instability and a deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti has left half its children relying on humanitarian aid to survive, Unicef says.

At least 2.6 million are expected to need immediate lifesaving assistance this year as the overlapping crises leave Haiti’s children in the worst position since the earthquake of 2010, Unicef’s Haiti representative, Bruno Maes, told the Guardian.

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