Category Archives: World News

Russia carries out more mass strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

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Power outages reported after barrage of rockets fired at several regions in second such attack in days

A second wave of mass strikes in days has been launched by Russia across Ukraine, with 76 rockets fired at several regions on Friday morning in what appeared to be a continuation of the Kremlin’s attempt to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo said energy consumption had fallen by 50% as a result of the attacks and that it would take longer to restore the electricity supply than after previous attacks. Russia had hit thermal power plants, hydroelectric plants and substations of main networks, Ukrenergo said.

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Japan approves biggest military buildup since second world war amid China fears

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US welcomes doubling of military spending but critics express unease over abandoning seven decades of pacifism

Japan has approved its biggest military buildup since the second world war, warning that China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” and outlining plans to develop a counterstrike capability funded by record defence spending.

The plans, announced by the government on Friday, reflect growing alarm over a more assertive Chinese military and a North Korean regime that continues to improve its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

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Danish government plans to scrap bank holiday to increase defence spending

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New coalition’s proposal to remove Great Prayer Day from calendar met with criticism by church and business owners

Denmark’s new government, the country’s first left-right coalition since the 1970s, has got off to an unpopular start with the announcement that one of its earliest policy proposals is to scrap a bank holiday.

The Social Democrat prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, appointed right-leaning political rivals as key ministers in her new reform-oriented government on Thursday, after close-run parliamentary elections last month.

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Apartment fire in Lyon kills 10 including five children

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French prosecutors investigating source of blaze at seven-storey residential building in suburb of city

French prosecutors are investigating the source of a pre-dawn blaze that killed 10 people, including five children, in a dilapidated seven-storey block of flats in a Lyon suburb.

The country’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said at the scene of the fire on an estate in Vaulx-en-Velin that it was too early to draw conclusions about the cause, but acknowledged the building housed a squat and was a known drug dealers’ hangout.

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Colombia revokes amnesty it granted to alleged IRA bomb-making trio

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Men were pardoned in April 2020, but after reviewing evidence the court concluded they had not come clean about their trip

Colombia’s peace tribunal has revoked a controversial amnesty it granted to three alleged IRA members accused of training Colombia’s largest guerrilla group in bomb-making.

Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) had pardoned the trio in April 2020 providing they fully divulge the truth about a trip they made to Colombia in 2001 at the height of the country’s six decades of conflict.

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Tunisia election set to deliver male-dominated parliament and erosion of women’s rights

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As the country goes to the polls, reforms introduced by hardline president Kais Saied have led to the exclusion of female candidates

Tunisians will vote on Saturday in an election that will lead to a weakened parliament “almost exclusively dominated by men”, as activists warn of a stark deterioration of women’s rights under an increasingly authoritarian president.

The controversial elections, boycotted by all the main parties, mark the final piece of the constitutional jigsaw President Kais Saied began assembling in July 2021, when he suspended the legislature in what critics called a power grab.

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Nobel prize winner criticises western ‘neglect’ and urges action over DRC violence

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Denis Mukwege has demanded sanctions be imposed on Rwanda to ease the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The west must ditch its “double standards” and act decisively against the violence worsening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Dr Denis Mukwege, the Nobel prize-winning surgeon, has said.

In a stinging criticism of the international community’s “negligence”, Mukwege urged Britain and its allies to impose sanctions on neighbouring Rwanda to help ease the growing crisis in the east of the country.

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European MPs seek to publicise plight of jailed Iranian protesters

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Politicians particularly in Germany taking responsibility for lobbying for the safety of individual prisoners

Politicians from Europe have begun sponsoring jailed Iranian protesters in the hope that by highlighting individual cases of injustice, the authorities will be forced to step back from handing down lengthy jail sentences or carrying out executions.

The executions of two demonstrators and threats to kill others suggest Tehran is set on the use of repression and fear to quell the protests.

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New Zealand set to cancel Jacinda Ardern’s Waitangi Day BBQ amid security concerns

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The annual event likely won’t be going ahead in 2023 amid growing concerns that radical fringe groups are transforming the country’s security environment

Jacinda Ardern’s much-loved Waitangi Day ritual of hosting a barbecue breakfast for the public will likely be off the menu in 2023 due to security concerns, as New Zealand deals with increased threats and harassment of politicians.

Since 2018, Ardern, her family and government ministers have donned aprons and wielded tongs to cook a free barbecue for all who brave the early wake-up for a dawn service on the country’s national founding holiday, at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Paihia.

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Former Peru president ordered to remain in custody for 18 months as protest death toll rises

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Country’s human rights office calls for armed forces to cease the use of firearms and teargas

Judges in Peru have ruled that former president Pedro Castillo be held in preventive detention for 18 months pending trial on charges of rebellion and conspiracy for his attempt to shutter congress and rule by decree, as the death toll from a week of violent protests sparked by his ousting rose to at least 15.

A judicial panel in the supreme court ordered the extended period of pre-trial detention for Castillo as prosecutors continued an investigation into criminal charges against him. The decision did not touch on the merits of accusations faced by Castillo but the panel cited the risk of flight by the deposed president.

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Jacinda Ardern auctions off ‘arrogant prick’ comment to raise money for prostate cancer charity

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New Zealand PM was caught on hot mic earlier this week with a candid comment about Act party leader David Seymour

An official signed copy of the transcript of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern calling a political opponent an “arrogant prick” will be auctioned off to raise money for a prostate cancer charity.

Bidding on the copy of the parliamentary record, signed by both Ardern and David Seymour, leader of the libertarian right Act party, had reached $50,000 by Friday. The auction, titled “Ardern, Seymour join forces for pricks everywhere”, ends on 22 December.

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Nancy Pelosi tells of ‘proud’ record as speaker in likely final press conference – live

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Nancy Pelosi has given what she suggests will be her final press conference as House speaker, telling reporters this is “maybe the last time I see you in this way”.

She’s been reflecting on some of the successes of her tenure, and paying tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama for most of them, from the passing of the Affordable Care Act to this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.

He has been a remarkable president. He has a record that is so outstanding, and for such a short period of time as well.

People compare him to Lyndon Johnson, to Franklin Roosevelt, but I’d remind you all that Roosevelt had 319 Democrats in the House, President Biden 222, whatever it is, and even fewer now.

Passing the American rescue plan, getting vaccines at arms, money in pockets, children back to school and people safely back to work, the bipartisan infrastructure law, building roads, bridges, ports and water systems…

Bringing people together, not projects that divide communities but bringing people together, and this such a source of pride, putting justice and equity front and center.

We won’t relent until the job is done, until we can have background checks, and have banned assault weapons.

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MoD to revive Belfast shipbuilding with contract for three naval vessels

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Rishi Sunak announces £1.6bn contract led by shipyard Harland and Wolff that will create 900 jobs in Belfast

Shipbuilding is to be revived in Belfast after 20 years as part of a £1.6bn Ministry of Defence contract for three new naval vessels, Rishi Sunak has announced.

A consortium led by the shipyard Harland and Wolff has secured the preferred bidder status which will create 1,200 jobs across three companies, 900 of which will be in Belfast.

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Unilever settles Israel dispute with Ben & Jerry’s board

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Unilever sold business in June to local licensee but Ben & Jerry’s tried to block sale, saying it did not want to sell products in occupied West Bank

Unilever said on Thursday that its litigation with the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s over the sale of its Israeli ice cream business has “been resolved”.

The company did not provide details of how the litigation had been resolved.

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Ukraine army chief warns Moscow preparing for new Kyiv attack as Putin seeks new economic ties – as it happened

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Valeriy Zaluzhny warns Putin’s forces regrouping before renewed attack in 2023; Russia looking to overcome impact of sanctions. This live blog is closed

European Union member states failed to agree on a ninth package of Russia sanctions in talks late on Wednesday, diplomats said as EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for their last summit of the year.

Countries moved closer to a deal in Wednesday’s negotiations but Poland and some other countries still have objections, one EU diplomat told Reuters, adding a new draft was expected to be circulated on Thursday evening.

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Linz to rename Porsche Street after investigating Nazi past of car creator

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Austrian city also intends to rename three other thoroughfares bearing ‘tainted’ names after commission’s report

The Austrian city of Linz has announced plans to rename a street honouring the founder of the luxury carmaker Porsche after a commission investigating controversial names found his Nazi past “problematic”.

The renaming of streets and other public places is still a hotly debated issue in Austria – Adolf Hitler’s birthplace – which Nazi Germany annexed in 1938 and which long cast itself as a victim.

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Reparations panel deliberates on compensation for Black Californians

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Taskforce to consider suggestions, including $350,000 proposal for descendants of enslaved Black people, and eligibility requirement

After more than a year delving into history and studies to make its case for reparations to California descendants of enslaved Black people, a first-in-the-nation taskforce began deliberations on Wednesday to quantify how financial compensation might be calculated and what might be required to prove eligibility.

Conversations for how to determine payments are in the early stages, with taskforce members acknowledging they have more questions than answers. Economists hired by the taskforce are seeking guidance in five harms experienced by Black people: government taking of property, devaluation of Black-owned businesses, housing discrimination and homelessness, mass incarceration and over-policing, and health.

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Poland’s police chief wounded after gift from Ukraine official explodes

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Warsaw seeking explanation from Kyiv after Jarosław Szymczyk taken to hospital with minor injuries

Poland’s police chief, Jarosław Szymczyk, has been taken to hospital with minor injuries after a gift he received from a senior Ukrainian official exploded, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

“Yesterday at 7.50am there was an explosion in a room next to the office of the police chief,” a statement said. “One of the presents the police chief received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11 and 12 exploded.”

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European parliament may ban Qatari officials from premises

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President Roberta Metsola promises wide-ranging reforms aimed at tackling ‘cash for influence’ scandal

The European parliament will consider banning Qatari officials from its premises in response to a “cash for influence” investigation that has become the biggest scandal in the institution’s history.

The parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, said the assembly’s senior leaders would discuss a possible ban and that a “wide-ranging reform” package would be implemented in response to a Belgian police investigation that has led to four people being charged with money laundering and corruption, including a serving MEP.

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King of Thailand’s eldest daughter hospitalised due to heart problem

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Princess Bajrakitiyabha’s condition is now stable to a certain level, the royal palace has said

The eldest child of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been hospitalised due to a heart problem and her condition has stabilised to a certain level, the royal palace said.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha, 44, was taken ill after losing consciousness early on Wednesday in north-eastern Nakhon Ratchasima province and was treated at a local hospital.

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