Category Archives: World News

Israeli troops kill three Palestinian gunmen in West Bank, says military

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Israel’s military says soldiers responded after coming under fire

Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on troops in the occupied West Bank, the military said, adding that another gunman turned himself in and was arrested.

The Palestinian health ministry confirmed three people were killed near the city of Nablus on Sunday. It did not immediately disclose their identities. The deaths bring to 80 the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the year, as Israel has stepped up arrest raids in the West Bank. Palestinian attacks have killed 14 people in 2023.

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Peru: Six dead as powerful cyclone causes major flooding

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Government declares state of emergency after major damage and disruptions in northern regions

At least six people have died in Peru as a powerful cyclone unleashed torrential rains, battering hundreds of homes and causing major disruptions in northern areas.

The government has declared a state of emergency as it seeks to bring relief to regions including Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes hit by the cyclone known as Yaku.

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‘Farmgate’: Cyril Ramaphosa inquiry ‘clears’ South African president but police still investigating

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ANC leader was accused of failing to report theft of foreign cash hidden in sofas at his ranch

South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog has reportedly cleared president Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in a preliminary report on a cover-up scandal known as “farmgate”, involving between $580,000 and $5m of foreign currency hidden at his private game farm.

The Public Protector said it had notified implicated parties of the preliminary findings of its probe over the theft of the cash from Ramaphosa’s luxury farmhouse – something the president is accused of having attempted to conceal.

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Sunak heads to US to unveil latest news on Australian nuclear sub deal

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Latest phase of Aukus scheme comes amid concerns about growing threat from China

Rishi Sunak will fly to San Diego on Sunday to unveil plans for supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus scheme amid concerns about the growing threat from China.

A major announcement 18 months in the making is expected when the UK prime minister meets his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and US president Joe Biden.

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Fury in Germany as Hamburg shooting brings ‘lax’ gun laws into focus

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Gunman was given a firearms permit despite several psychological red flags

Gun laws in Germany, where weapon ownership is among the highest in Europe, could be further tightened after last week’s mass shooting in which seven people, including an unborn child, were killed in a Jehovah’s Witness hall in Hamburg.

The attack has thrown up the perennial question of whether the various parts of the country’s federal system are working together, and strengthened the hand of those in the governing coalition who are seeking stronger gun controls.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Bakhmut ‘killing zone’ hampering Wagner – as it happened

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UK Ministry of Defence says capture of city has become ‘highly challenging’ for the mercenary group

Russian forces have made progress in the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s months-long campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in many casualties, the Associated Press reported.

Their assault , however, will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, UK military officials said in an assessment on Saturday.

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How a trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery turned deadly for US quartet

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Deaths of two of four Americans kidnapped in Matamoros place spotlight on cartels’ impunity – and on medical tourism

Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee had scheduled an abdominal operation that many mothers have, and she chose to have the operation done in Mexico, where medical costs are cheaper – and where she had previously gone for other cosmetic procedures.

A cousin and a couple of friends joined her to share the 1,400-mile drive from her home town of Lake City, South Carolina, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, just south of the US-Mexico frontier.

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Hong Kong court jails Tiananmen anniversary vigil organisers

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Prosecutors said Chow Hang-Tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were under foreign influence but refused to say who it was

A Hong Kong court has jailed three former members of a group that organised annual vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.

Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by a magistrate’s court. The two others were Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong.

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Li Qiang: Xi Jinping, China’s president, names next premier

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Nomination at annual meeting of National People’s Congress confirms replacement of Li Keqiang

‘A defeated person’: sidelined by Xi, Li Keqiang bows out as premier

Xi Jinping has nominated Li Qiang, 63, to become premier during the continuing annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

Li Qiang will replace Li Keqiang, who became premier in 2013 amid high hopes he would usher in liberal reforms. But his power was curbed by Xi, who increasingly sidelined Li Keqiang and placed allies in key strategic positions over him.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Wagner head says Russian forces facing ammunition shortages

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Yevgeny Prigozhin thanks Kremlin for ‘heroic’ production increase but says concerns about shortages remain

Suspilne’s morning news bulletin has been published on its official Telegram channel. Ukraine’s state broadcaster reports:

At night, Russian troops hit the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region with rockets and artillery. As a result of one of the hits, there was significant destruction of the energy facility, three settlements were left without electricity. There are no victims.

Heat supply continues to be restored in Kyiv after yesterday’s shelling: as of this morning, 30% of houses remain without heating, the local authority reported.

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Corsican language ban stirs protest on French island

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Court cites France’s constitution in ruling that only French is allowed in exercise of public office on Corsica

A court in Corsica has prompted outrage by banning the use of the Corsican language in the island’s local parliament.

The court in the city of Bastia cited France’s constitution it its ruling on Thursday that French was the only language allowed in the exercise of public office.

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Silicon Valley Bank fails in largest bank collapse since 2008 crisis

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US regulators seize SVB’s assets after a run on the bank, as global institutions monitor situation closely

US regulators rushed to seize the assets of top tech lender Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after a run on the bank, marking the largest failure of such an institution since the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the nation’s 16th largest bank, failed after depositors – mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies – hurried to withdraw their money this week as anxiety over the bank’s situation spread.

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Canada: inquiry into police unit accused of excessive force against green activists

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Officers with C-IRG accused of ripping off protesters’ masks and pepper-spraying them during protest in British Columbia

Canada’s federal police force has opened an investigation into a controversial unit tasked with overseeing environmental protests, following hundreds of complaints that officers used excessive force, disregarded court orders and violated protesters’ rights.

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, a watchdog arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said on Thursday it would examine the activities of the community-industry response group, or C-IRG, based in British Columbia.

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UK to help fund immigration detention centre in France, says Rishi Sunak

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PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris

Britain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.

After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones.

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Hamburg police were tipped off about gunman but did not take his weapon

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Officers were told of concerns about mental health of man who went on to shoot dead four men, two women and an unborn baby

A tipoff was received two months ago by the authorities in Hamburg about the gunman who went on to kill seven people including an unborn baby in a Jehovah’s Witness hall, but he had persuaded officials not to take away his gun.

An anonymous letter was received by the weapons control authority in January raising concerns about a man named by German police as Philipp F, 35, saying that he appeared angry with his former fellow church members, but officers had found no reason for concern when they visited him last month.

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Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties after China-brokered talks

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Embassies to reopen in move that could have wide implications for Iran nuclear deal and Yemen war

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two great oil-producing rivals of the Middle East, have agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after relations were severed.

The agreement came after Chinese-brokered talks held in Beijing. “As a result of the talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies … within two months,” Iran’s state news agency Irna reported, citing a joint statement.

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Outgoing president of Micronesia accuses China of bribery, threats and interference

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In his letter, Panuelo openly canvassed the country switching its diplomatic recognition from Beijing to Taipei

China is engaged in “political warfare” in the Pacific, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia has alleged in an excoriating letter, accusing Beijing officials of bribing elected officials in Micronesia, and even “direct threats against my personal safety”.

Two months before his term as president expires, David Panuelo’s letter alleged China was preparing for conflict over the island of Taiwan, and that its goal in interfering in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was to render the country neutral in any potential Pacific war.

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Giving the middle finger is a ‘God-given right’, Canadian judge rules

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Gesture may not be civil or polite but ‘it is not a crime’ and is protected under Canada’s constitution, judgment says

Giving your neighbour the middle finger may not be polite but is protected as part of a person’s right to freedom of expression under the Canadian constitution, a judge has ruled.

In a 26-page decision, Dennis Galiatsatos dismissed a case against a man accused of harassing his neighbour in a Montreal suburb.

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