Category Archives: World News

Arizona to remove wall of shipping containers on Mexico border

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State to dismantle wall following lawsuit filed by US government alleging it was illegally built on federal lands

Arizona will remove a wall of shipping containers along the state’s 370-mile border with Mexico following a lawsuit filed by the US government against the state that claimed that the makeshift wall is being illegally built on federal lands.

According to an agreement reached late Wednesday between federal and state authorities, Arizona will dismantle the wall, along with all related equipment by the beginning of next year.

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Israel’s LGBTQ+ community fear for future under far-right government

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Elements of Netanyahu-led coalition have been openly hostile and rolling back of some gay laws is on agenda

The prospect of the far right joining government after Israel’s recent election has left the country’s LGBTQ+ community fearing for the future.

Elements of the incoming coalition led by the prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu have not hidden the fact that they are hostile to Palestinians and LGBTQ+ people.

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Putin vows to ‘knock down’ US Patriot missiles supplied to Ukraine

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Russian president dismisses weapon as ‘outdated’ as he implies Kyiv will have to cede territory for peace

The Kremlin says US supplies of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, agreed upon during Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s trip to Washington, will not stop it achieving its military goals.

Vladimir Putin dismissed the weapon as old and said Russia’s missile systems would be able to shoot it down. “The Patriot air defence is outdated. An antidote will always be found … Russia will knock down the Patriot system,” he declared on Thursday.

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‘God not on mafia’s side’: mobsters who hijacked religious procession jailed

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Thirty-nine people imprisoned for forcing a procession in Sicily to pay homage to crime boss Francesco La Rocca in 2016

A judge in Sicily has handed down jail sentences totalling 80 years to 39 people for diverting a Good Friday religious procession to the house of a mafia family and paying homage to an imprisoned crime boss.

People were carrying a statue of Jesus Christ through the Sicilian village of San Michele Di Ganzaria at Easter in 2016 when a group stopped the cortege, moved it away from the agreed itinerary and forced it to pass in front of the house of the mafia godfather Francesco La Rocca.

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Haiti receives its first batch of cholera vaccines to tackle deadly outbreak

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Campaign to stem the spread of the disease takes place against a backdrop of political chaos, gang violence and fuel shortages

Haiti has received its first shipment of cholera vaccines since an outbreak was declared more than two months ago.

The first of the 1.1m doses, delivered last week, will be distributed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas in the hope of stemming the spread of the disease, which has been aided by political instability and lawlessness.

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Fiji deploys military for ‘law and order’ as power hangs in balance after election

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Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister, is yet to concede defeat, while opposition parties claim enough seats to form government

Fiji’s military will assist police in maintaining “security and stability” after last week’s election delivered a hung parliament, the country’s police commissioner has said – an alarming development in a country where there have been four military coups in the past 35 years.

The Pacific country is waiting for its president to recall parliament so lawmakers can vote for a new prime minister after a national election showed no party received a clear majority.

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Ethics row rages after South Sudan leader wets himself on live TV

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Critics say President Salva Kiir is unfit to lead long-suffering nation while others decry mocking of ‘an elder’

Footage of the South Sudanese president Salva Kiir apparently urinating on himself at an official event has sparked an online debate across Africa about his ability to lead the country, and the ethics of sharing the incident on social media.

Standing for the national anthem while opening a new road last week, Kiir, 71, seemed at first unaware of what was happening. After a pool formed at his feet, some of his entourage noticed and the film crew that was broadcasting the event live abruptly pointed the camera away from the ceremony.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy to address US Congress on first foreign visit since outbreak of conflict

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Zelenskiy to speak at US Congress in person ahead of vote on bill for billions in US aid to Ukraine

If you’re just joining us, we’re waiting to hear from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his first foreign visit since Russia’s devastating war on Ukraine started in March.

My name is Helen Sullivan, and I’ll be bringing you the latest. You can find me on Twitter here – ask a question and I’ll do my best to answer it.

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Israel moves sharply to right as Netanyahu forms new coalition

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Weeks of negotiations conclude with what will be the most rightwing and anti-Arab government in country’s history

Benjamin Netanyahu has informed Israel’s president that he has succeeded in forming a coalition, paving the way for the swearing in of the most rightwing and anti-Arab government in the country’s history.

“I have managed [to form a government],” Netanyahu said on Twitter, minutes before a midnight deadline set by the Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.

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Three-quarters of UK firms say Brexit deal has not boosted business

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British Chamber of Commerce present government with urgent recommendations as members report struggling to sell into EU

More than three-quarters of firms say the government’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU has not helped them to expand their business in the last two years despite promises that it was an “oven-ready” deal.

A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has prompted the business lobby group to present the government with five urgent recommendations for enhancing the agreement, which has left many exporters struggling to sell into the EU under the current terms.

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From Liz Cheney to Donald Trump: winners and losers from the January 6 hearings

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As the House January 6 committee is set to publish its report, here are some of the key standouts

The House January 6 committee is set to publish its report on the attack on the Capitol that shocked both America and the world . After a year of dramatic hearings and bombshell testimony, here are some of the key winners and losers to emerge from its work.

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits US to shore up support for war effort

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Ukrainian president makes first known foreign trip since invasion before vote on package worth $45bn

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made his first known foreign trip since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 300 days ago, travelling to the US on a high-stakes visit to secure support for his war effort well into next year.

The Ukrainian president was filmed travelling with cars outside Przemyśl railway station in Poland.

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Mexico media say president’s attacks on journalists are ‘invitation to violence’

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Open letter calls on Andrés Manuel López Obrador to rein in rhetoric or risk ‘even bloodier era’ of deadly violence against press

Mexico could be plunged into “an even bloodier” era of deadly violence against the press unless its populist leader stops harassing the media, scores of top journalists have warned after an apparent attempt to assassinate one of Mexico’s best-known news anchors shocked the nation.

In an open letter, the signatories – who include professionals from major outlets including El Universal, Excélsior, Milenio and Reforma – issued a rebuke to Mexico’s media-bashing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

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Italy to let hunters loose against ‘invasion’ of wild boars

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Farmers’ lobby welcomes move by Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, claiming animals are getting ‘ever closer’ to homes

Italy’s ruling right-wing coalition is set to loosen hunting rules to deal with what the country’s farming lobby has called an “invasion” of wild boars.

The boars are common in the countryside, but have recently also been spotted in central parts of Rome, attracted by the Eternal City’s chronically overflowing rubbish skips.

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Sam Bankman-Fried expected back in US after agreeing to extradition

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FTX founder set to be charged with eight criminal counts, including fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering offenses

Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of the collapsed crypto-currency exchange FTX, is expected to fly back to the US on Wednesday to face criminal charges after waiving his right to contest extradition from the Bahamas.

After several days of conflicting signals from Bankman-Fried’s US and Bahamian legal teams, the disgraced crypto-king appeared in court in Nassau to inform a magistrate judge of his decision.

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Vladimir Putin promises army anything it asks for, as invasion enters 11th month

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Russia is expected to dramatically increase military spending over next two years, as it signals it is preparing for a long war

Vladimir Putin has pledged to give his army anything it asks for in a meeting with Russia’s top military officials as the war in Ukraine enters its 11th month.

Speaking in Moscow at the closing session of the expanded board of the ministry of defence, Putin said there were no “funding restrictions” for the military. “The country, the government will give everything that the army asks for. Everything,” the Russian president added.

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Nepal to release ‘The Serpent’ serial killer Charles Sobhraj

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Nepalese supreme court orders release on account of old age of man jailed for murders of two tourists

The Nepalese supreme court has ordered the release of the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, known as “the Serpent”, who preyed on western tourists travelling on the hippy trail in south Asia in the 1970s and was jailed for life for the murder of an American woman.

Sobhraj, who has French citizenship and is of Indian and Vietnamese descent, has been linked to the killings of 20 foreign tourists across Thailand, Nepal and India. He is said to have lured them in before drugging, robbing and murdering them.

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UAE to deport Egyptian-American activist who called for Cop27 protests

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Arrest of Sherif Osman while visiting family in Dubai raises fears for activists at Cop28 climate conference

The United Arab Emirates is preparing to deport an Egyptian-American citizen detained in Dubai who called for protests during the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, sparking fears about the treatment of civil society during next year’s Cop28 in the Emirates.

Sherif Osman, a former Egyptian army officer who has lived in the US for decades, was detained at a restaurant in Dubai, where he had travelled with his fiancee to see family.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘We are staying with Ukraine’, Biden tells Zelenskiy at joint press conference

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Ukrainian president is meeting with president Joe Biden and Congressional leaders on Wednesday evening

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has undertaken a surprise trip to Beijing and held talks with the Chinese president Xi Jinping during which he said they discussed the Ukraine conflict.

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, posted a video on his Telegram channel showing him meeting Xi, smiling for photos and a meeting between Chinese and Russian officials.

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