Category Archives: World News

More than 1m march in France amid strikes over plan to raise retirement age

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Arrests at biggest march in Paris while train services halted and many primary schools close for the day

More than 1 million people have taken part in demonstrations across France as transport, schools and refineries were hit by strikes in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.

The interior ministry said 1.12 million people protested nationwide on Thursday, with 80,000 taking part in the biggest rally in Paris. Trade unions said the figure was even higher.

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Head of Indian wrestling federation accused of sexual harassment

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Wrestlers including Olympic medallists stage sit-in demanding federation is disbanded

Two Olympic medal-winning wrestlers in India have accused the head of their sport’s governing body and its coaches of sexually harassing female players and have vowed to protest until the federation is disbanded and its leader investigated.

Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who have Olympic bronzes, Vinesh Phogat, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and other athletes began a sit-in protest in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday.

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US hits borrowing limit, kicking off fight between Republicans and Democrats – live

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Urban Institute economist Len Burman has a reality check for those in Congress flirting with not raising the debt ceiling.

A default could undermine the America’s pre-eminence in global markets, where the dollar is used as many countries’ dominant reserve currency. But more immediately, it would actually force Washington to spend even more, because a default would drive up interest rates, forcing the government to shell out more money to owners of its trillions of dollars in debt:

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv opens investigation into helicopter crash; as British, Polish and baltic defence ministers to meet over tanks

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Ben Wallace makes statement at meeting of defence ministers in Estonia

Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne is reporting that eleven people are still considered missing after Saturday’s attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.

Yesterday it reported that, according to deputy mayor of Dnipro, Mykhailo Lysenko, “municipal workers are still finding remains of bodies while sorting through the debris”, and the remains are being handed over to forensic experts for DNA testing.

How can you escalate against a guy who is doing all out war against a civilian population?

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Gina Lollobrigida fans gather at funeral to say goodbye to ‘Queen of Rome’

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Coffin is accompanied into church by estranged son, grandson and ex-husband who are embroiled in inheritance feud

Fans of the Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida shouted “goodbye, Queen of Rome” as they gathered for her funeral in the city while defending her against relatives embroiled in a bitter inheritance feud.

Lollobrigida, one of the most glamorous actors of Hollywood’s golden age, died on Monday at the age of 95.

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Former Swedish intelligence officer jailed for life for spying for Russia

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Judge says Peyman Kia abused trust placed in him, and also sentences younger brother to 10 years

A court in Stockholm has sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life imprisonment and his younger brother to 10 years after finding both guilty of spying for Russia’s military intelligence service for more than a decade.

Peyman Kia, 42, served in the Swedish security and counter-intelligence service, Sapo, and in armed forces intelligence agencies, including the foreign intelligence agency (Must) and KSI, a top-secret unit dealing with Swedish spies abroad.

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George Santos denies reports that he competed as drag queen in Brazil

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New York Republican under pressure over fabrications about his career, past and alleged criminal behaviour

George Santos on Thursday tweeted an angry denial that he competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants 15 years ago, claims made by acquaintances that have highlighted the contrast between the Republican congressman’s past actions and now staunchly conservative views.

The New Yorker, who says he is gay, dismissed the story as an “obsession” by the media, which he insisted, without irony, “continues to make outrageous claims about my life”.

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Peru: growing outrage over protest deaths as president urged to resign

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Thousands of protesters descend on Lima to call for resignation of Dina Boluarte following weeks of turmoil that has left dozens dead

Peru’s capital city is bracing for further unrest as thousands of protesters from across the country pour into Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, after nearly six weeks of turmoil that has claimed close to 50 lives.

Two more people were killed late on Wednesday and another seriously injured in Macusani, a city in the southern region of Puno. After the deaths, protesters torched a police station, forcing officers to flee in a helicopter. In Lima, police fired teargas after clashes broke out with protesters.

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San Francisco man arrested after spraying homeless woman with hose

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Art gallery owner Collier Gwin, 71, faces potential jail term after video showed woman being hosed with water

A California man seen in a viral video spraying a homeless woman with a garden hose has been arrested on a charge of battery, authorities in San Francisco said.

Collier Gwin, 71, an art gallery owner, was captured in the video, taken on 9 January, leaning on a railing with his legs crossed as he directed a jet of water at the woman in an effort to get her to move on.

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UK energy bills to fall to about £2,200 from July as wholesale gas costs drop

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Mild weather in Europe reduces gas demand but bills will remain higher than 2021 energy price cap

Annual energy bills are expected to fall to about £2,200 from July in a fillip for the government and households struggling with ballooning costs.

The energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has predicted that, excluding government subsidies, typical annual household energy bills will have fallen from £4,279 now to £3,208 from April, and then will ease to roughly £2,200 for the remainder of the year.

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MEPs call for blacklisting of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

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Ministers under pressure to pass ban but some fear it could lead to collapse of nuclear talks

The European parliament has called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to be blacklisted in Europe, a move some western politicians fear could provoke Iran to walk out of talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

The parliament has only an advisory role, but EU foreign ministers are due to meet on Monday to discuss further sanctions, and the Iranian diaspora is making the proscription of the IRGC its key demand.

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‘An inspiring leader’: world reacts to Jacinda Ardern’s resignation as New Zealand PM

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‘The difference you have made is immeasurable,’ says Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau

The US president, together with the prime ministers of Canada and Australia, have paid tribute to their New Zealand counterpart, who shocked the world by announcing she would be resigning as her country’s leader.

Joe Biden applauded Ardern’s “stewardship in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific” and credited her leadership for making the US-New Zealand partnership “stronger than ever”.

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Three children among six killed during Indian kite-flying festival

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Victims reportedly bled to death when glass-coated strings were entangled around their necks

Six people, including three children, have died after their throats were cut by glass-coated kite strings during an annual kite-flying festival in India.

Hundreds flocked to terraces and rooftops to unfurl their kites towards the sky at the Uttarayan festival in the western Indian state of Gujarat over the weekend.

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‘Obi understands’: young Nigerians swell support of presidential hopeful

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The popularity of Peter Obi’s message of change with younger voters fed up with the status quo makes him a real contender

At a recent campaign stop, Peter Obi responded to a regular criticism. Bola Tinubu, a rival candidate in next month’s presidential elections in Nigeria, had called him stingy. Obi told a crowd of supporters that yes, he has been stingy with public funds, and that made him a better fit for the country’s top job.

Nigerians go to the polls on 25 February to choose a replacement for Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight-year rule has been sharply criticised for failing to get to grips with rampant insecurity and a cost of living crisis.

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Hiker missing in California named as British actor Julian Sands

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Actor, known for roles in Leaving Las Vegas and Warlock, was reported missing on Friday evening

A hiker reported as missing in southern California has been named as the British actor Julian Sands.

The 65-year-old was reported missing in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel mountains on Friday evening, with searches by local authorities continuing over the weekend.

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Jacinda Ardern resigns as prime minister of New Zealand

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Labour leader to stand down no later than 7 February, saying she ‘no longer had enough in the tank’ to do the job

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said she is resigning, in an unexpected announcement that came as she confirmed a national election for October.

At the party’s first caucus meeting of the year on Thursday, Ardern said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “It’s time,” she added.

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Mental health racial bias in England and Wales is ‘inexcusable’, says report

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MPs and peers say draft mental health bill must go further to strengthen patients’ choices

Ministers must use legislation to address an “unacceptable and inexcusable” failure to address racial disparity in the use of the Mental Health Act, MPs and peers have said.

The joint committee on the draft mental health bill says the bill does not go far enough to tackle failures that were identified in a landmark independent review five years ago, but which still persist and may even be getting worse.

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‘Medieval institution’: Commonwealth Guardian readers on Prince Harry’s Spare

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Comments range from ‘the monarchy is valuable’ to ‘Harry and Meghan are having their cake and eating it’

Last week, the tell-all autobiography by Prince Harry, Spare, was released and sold a combined 1,430,000 copies on its first day on sale in the US, Canada and the UK.

Here, readers from Commonwealth countries share their thoughts on Prince Harry, his new book and whether the controversies surrounding the royal family have changed their views towards the monarchy.

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Trump pleads with Meta to restore Facebook account

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Former president’s lawyers petition company to allow access following ban from platform in wake of 2021 Capitol attack

Donald Trump has petitioned Meta to restore his access to Facebook, as he reportedly looks to shift his 2024 presidential campaign into a higher gear.

The former president was banned from Facebook more than two years ago, after his followers attacked the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

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