Category Archives: World News

Sunak ‘risks full-scale trade war’ with Brussels by scrapping EU laws

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Leading European politicians have warned that the prime minister’s plan to ditch EU legislation will trigger retaliatory countermeasures, including imposing tariffs on goods

Rishi Sunak’s plan to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of this year risks triggering a full-scale trade war between the UK and Brussels, senior figures in the European Union have warned.

Letters from leading EU politicians, seen by the Observer, reveal deep concern that the UK is about to lower standards in areas such as environmental protection and workers’ rights – breaching “level playing field” provisions that were at the heart of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement (TCA).

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Teenage girl killed in suspected shark attack in Perth’s Swan River

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Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby

A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.

The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.

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Japanese prime minister fires aide over anti-LGBTQ+ remarks

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Fumio Kishida says official’s comments ‘outrageous and completely incompatible with policies’

The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has sacked an aide who said he would not want to live next to LGBTQ+ couples and that people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage was permitted.

In remarks reported by local media, Masayoshi Arai, an economy and trade official who joined Kishida’s staff as a secretary in October, said he did not even want to look at same-sex couples.

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China calls for calm amid growing row with US over suspected spy balloons

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Beijing says it will ‘not accept any groundless conjecture’ after balloons spotted over US and Latin America

China has called for calm amid a growing diplomatic row with the US over suspected spy balloons.

It comes after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, indefinitely postponed a planned visit to Beijing after a large balloon was spotted in US airspace.

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‘My forefathers did something horribly wrong’: British slave owners’ family to apologise and pay reparations

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The Trevelyans were shocked to see their name in a slavery database and a journey to Grenada confirmed the continuing impact of their grim history

An aristocratic British family is to make history by travelling to the Caribbean and publicly apologising for its ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved Africans. The Trevelyan family, which has many notable ancestors, is also paying reparations to the people of Grenada, where it owned six sugar plantations.

Last weekend, the family met online and agreed to sign a letter of apology for its enslavement of captive Africans. Forty-two members of the family have so far signed and more signatures are expected.

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Bodies of two Britons killed in Ukraine recovered as part of prisoner swap

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Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw died in Soledar area while helping to evacuate people from frontline

The bodies of two British volunteers killed in Ukraine while carrying out a humanitarian evacuation have been recovered, a Ukrainian official has said.

Chris Parry, 28, and his colleague Andrew Bagshaw, 47, who held dual UK and New Zealand citizenship, had been trying to evacuate an elderly woman from Soledar when their car was hit by an artillery shell.

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Pope urges churches in South Sudan to raise voices against injustice

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Pontiff says on peace mission that religious leaders ‘cannot remain neutral’ amid abuses of power

Pope Francis has said churches in South Sudan “cannot remain neutral” but must raise their voices against injustice and abuse of power, as he and two other Christian leaders conducted a peace mission to the world’s newest country.

On his first full day in South Sudan, Francis addressed Catholic bishops, priests and nuns in St Theresa Cathedral in the capital, Juba, as the archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the Church of Scotland held services elsewhere.

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Scientist who edited babies’ genes says he acted ‘too quickly’

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Exclusive: He Jiankui stops short of apologising for procedure that shocked the world of science in 2018

The scientist at the heart of the scandal involving the world’s first gene-edited babies has said he moved “too quickly” by pressing ahead with the procedure.

He Jiankui sent shock waves across the world of science when he announced in 2018 that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before birth. He was subsequently sacked by his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was broadly condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved.

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Portuguese pooch crowned world’s oldest dog

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Thirty-year-old Bobi snatched title from US pup in upset; longevity credited to human food and ‘calm, peaceful environment’

It’s a dog’s life for one small US pup this weekend after a European rival essentially stole his bone.

Two weeks ago, Spike, an Ohio-based chihuahua mix rescue dog, was crowned the world’s oldest dog. But two days ago Bobi, a dog that guards livestock in Portugal, grabbed the title faster than a string of sausages, CNN reported.

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Pathaan and the king of cinema blast Bollywood out of the doldrums

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Millions flock to see return of actor Shah Rukh Khan, despite rightwing calls for a boycott

For Ganesh Lokhande, an usher at the Regal Cinema in Mumbai’s southern tip of Colaba, it’s been a quiet few years in the job. That was, until last week.

Pathaan, a new Bollywood action thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan – an actor whose superstardom has elevated him to be known in India as “the king” – has been released in cinemas, triggering excitement across the country. Long queues formed outside theatres as millions flocked to catch a glimpse of Khan’s return to the screen after four years away, now aged 57 but still playing the ravishing muscular hero.

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Prosecutors likened Trump to mob boss and had to prove he wasn’t insane – book

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Mark Pomerantz, who was on New York team investigating tax affairs, reportedly compares ex-president to John Gotti

New York prosecutors building a case against Donald Trump for allegedly lying about his wealth for tax purposes had to show the former president was “not legally insane”, one of those prosecutors reportedly writes in an eagerly awaited new book.

The lawyer, Mark Pomerantz, also reportedly compares Trump, the only confirmed candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, to famous figures in the world of organised crime including John Gotti, the “Teflon Don” who died in prison in 2002.

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‘Honour’ killing of YouTube star sparks outrage in Iraq

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Politicians and human rights groups demand justice for Tiba al-Ali after father’s confession

The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, as so-called “honour” killings continue in the conservative country.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on 31 January in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday.

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Russian shelling kills US medical volunteer in Ukraine

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The 34-year-old veteran was in the country working as a medic when his vehicle was hit in the east of the country

An American medic has been killed while working on the frontlines in Ukraine, just weeks after arriving in the country.

Pete Reed, 34, was killed on Thursday while he was helping evacuate civilians when his vehicle was reportedly hit by a missile in Bakhmut, the eastern city which has become a focus of fierce fighting.

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Trump campaign promised to ‘fan the flame’ of 2020 election lie, audio reveals – as it happened

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Senior state officials have commented on the postponement of Blinken’s trip to China after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered over the US yesterday, noting that conditions were no longer right for Blinken’s travel.

From Reuters’ reporter Hümeyra Pamuk:

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Chile widens state of emergency as raging wildfires leave at least 13 dead

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President Gabriel Boric cuts short vacation as heatwave fuels nearly 40 blazes across southern and central regions

Chile’s government has declared a widened state of emergency amid wildfires that have killed at least 13 people and consumed about 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres), as the South American country endures a summer heatwave across southern and central swaths of the country.

The interior minister, Carolina Toha, said on Friday morning the government had declared a catastrophe in the region of Biobío, joining its neighbouring region Ñuble, which President Gabriel Boric announced on Thursday evening, allowing the deployment of soldiers and additional resources.

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Ontario says ‘colonization’ costs mean it does not owe First Nations billions

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Canadian province argues in court it is not responsible for compensating Indigenous people over broken treaty obligations

Ontario has claimed that it does not need to pay billions of dollars owed to First Nations over broken treaty obligations, arguing that it has already spent the sum on the historical costs of resource extraction and the infrastructure of “colonization”.

Canada’s federal government and the province have spent the last week in a Sudbury court arguing neither is responsible for compensating Indigenous nations for more than 150 years of lost revenues.

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Baby among nine dead from cold and thirst on boat in Mediterranean

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Survivors tell Italian authorities vessel carrying about 50 people lost its way trying to cross from Tunisia

A baby was among nine people including his mother and a pregnant woman who died of cold and thirst on a boat carrying about 50 migrants across the central Mediterranean, Italian authorities have said.

Survivors who landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa after being rescued late on Thursday told investigators the four-month-old baby slipped out of the boat after his mother, who was holding him, collapsed and died from exposure.

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New proposal sets limits on sugar in US school meals for first time

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Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly lower sodium in meals as part of fresh nutrition standards plan

US agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on limiting sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.

The plan announced by the agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, also seeks to significantly decrease sodium, making for less salty meals served to the nation’s school kids by 2029, while making the rules for foods made with whole grains more flexible.

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Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi released on bail after hunger strike

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Award-winning director, who was arrested in July, is released from Evin prison in Tehran

The acclaimed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi has been released on bail after starting a hunger strike to protest against his almost seven-month detention, a rights group and supporters said on Friday.

Panahi has been released from Evin prison in Tehran “two days after starting his hunger strike for freedom”, the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on Twitter. Iran’s Shargh newspaper posted an image of Panahi jubilantly embracing a supporter.

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