Category Archives: World News

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu comeback brings despair for leftwing parties

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Outgoing coalition suffers poor election result as some parties of the left lose voice in Knesset altogether

Israel’s leftwing and pro-Arab-rights parties have been left licking their wounds in the aftermath of this week’s election. When vote-counting finished on Thursday, the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right partners had won by a comfortable majority.

Last summer a broad coalition succeeded in their mutual desire to kick Netanyahu, leader of Likud, out of office. He is currently standing trial on corruption charges.

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UN nuclear inspectors shut down Russian ‘dirty bomb’ claim against Ukraine

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy says findings are ‘clear and irrefutable’ after IAEA finds no evidence of undeclared nuclear activities and materials

The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity after inspecting three sites at Ukraine’s request in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of planning to use such a bomb – a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive material – and said institutes linked to the nuclear industry were involved in preparations, without presenting evidence. Ukraine’s government denies the accusation.

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Beauty queens Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina marry in a secret ceremony

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Fabiola Valentín and Mariana Varela posted a video highlighting their two years together and their courthouse wedding

The former pageant queens Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina have revealed a romantic secret: not only have they been in a relationship, but last weekend they tied the knot.

After two years together, Fabiola Valentín of Puerto Rico and Mariana Varela of Argentina posted an Instagram reel celebrating their romance.

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Chuck Schumer insists Democrats can hold or expand Senate majority – as it happened

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In Pennsylvania, Chris McGreal reports that a major pro-Israel group is facing criticism for backing Republicans who denied the 2020 election, but not a Democratic candidate who would make history if elected:

More than 240 Jewish American voters in Pittsburgh have signed a letter denouncing the US’s largest pro-Israel group for backing extremist Republican election candidates while spending millions of dollars to oppose a Democrat who would be Pennsylvania’s first Black female member of Congress.

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Russian ambassador claims UK involved in drone attack on Black Sea fleet

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Andrei Kelin says Britain ‘too deep in this conflict’ as speculation grows over Russian withdrawal from Kherson region

The Russian ambassador to the UK has claimed UK special forces were involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.

Andrei Kelin told Sky News: “We perfectly know about [the] participation of British specialists in [the] training, preparation and execution of violence against the Russian infrastructure and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. We know that it has been done.”

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow says UK ‘too deep’ in war and claims special forces involved in drone attack

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Russian ambassador to UK accuses Britain of being over-involved in war

Reuters reports that the British ambassador arrived at the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday morning, according to local reports. Deborah Bronnert was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

Electricity supply has been restored to everybody in the Kyiv region after Monday’s Russian bombardment of energy facilities, according to the region’s governor, Oleksiy Kuleba.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me on martin.belam@theguardian.com

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Nuclear attack on US or allies would end Kim regime, says defense secretary

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Lloyd Austin makes remark while Kim Jong-un’s government in Pyongyang has in recent days mounted a number of missile tests

The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on Thursday any nuclear attack on the US or its allies by North Korea would “result in the end of the Kim regime”.

Kim Jong-un’s government in Pyongyang has in recent days mounted a number of missile tests. The South Korean military said a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday may have ended in failure. Japan called the launch “outrageous and absolutely intolerable”.

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Imran Khan shooting is latest incident in Pakistan’s violent political history

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From the assassination of its first PM in 1951, the country has suffered waves of brutal sectarian conflict and murders

Last month, Pakistan summoned the US ambassador in Islamabad for a dressing down after President Joe Biden described the south Asian country as “one of the most dangerous nations in the world”. Biden was apparently referring to Pakistan’s combination of nuclear weapons and apparent instability. He might have been talking about the threat faced by the country’s own politicians instead.

On Thursday, the former prime minister Imran Khan was shot when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country, in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt. The 70-year-old did not appear to be seriously injured but the incident underlines once again how politics in Pakistan is inseparable from violence.

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Israel’s Yair Lapid congratulates Benjamin Netanyahu on election victory

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Longest serving prime minister, who is still facing corruption charges, is expected to lead far-right coalition

Israel’s prime minister, Yair Lapid, has called Benjamin Netanyahu to offer his congratulations on the opposition leader’s election win following the conclusion of vote counting in this week’s election.

Netanyahu, the chair of the conservative Likud party and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is expected to begin an unprecedented third term as PM after holding coalition negotiations with his religious and far-right allies on forming a government.

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‘Get ready’: Trump’s third White House run appears a matter of when not if

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Flurry of reports suggests former president will move swiftly after midterms, as soon as 14 November – but who will challenge him?

As the midterm elections loom and Republican hopes of retaking Congress rise, it appears to be a matter of when, not if, Donald Trump will announce his third White House run.

The former president has trailed another campaign ever since his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden, a contest Trump refused to concede, pursuing the lie about electoral fraud which fueled the deadly attack on Congress and his second impeachment.

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Spanish minister urges Sunak to commit to climate crisis fight

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Teresa Ribera says she was ‘hugely surprised’ and saddened by PM’s initial refusal to go to Cop27 summit

The Spanish government has urged Rishi Sunak to demonstrate a clear commitment to fighting the climate emergency, describing the British government’s flip-flopping over the prime minister’s attendance of the forthcoming Cop27 summit as “sad” and “surprising”, given the UK’s global reputation and its current presidency of the conference.

Spain’s environment minister, Teresa Ribera, also said the “absurd”, heel-dragging political debate over climate change in the UK was “surprising and disappointing”.

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Sebastian Kalinowski: couple jailed for murdering teenage son

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Agnieszka Kalinowska and Andrzej Latoszewski sentenced to 39 years for torturing boy to death

A woman and her partner have each been sentenced to 39 years in prison for the “horrific” murder of 15-year-old Sebastian Kalinowski.

Agnieszka Kalinowska, 36, and Andrzej Latoszewski, 38, were convicted at Leeds crown court in July of murdering Kalinowska’s son at their home in Huddersfield in a prolonged campaign of physical abuse amounting to torture.

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Photos permitted as evidence of parking offences, Bavarian court rules

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Ansbach court rules in favour of two cycling activists who had been fined €100 for breaching data protection regulation

People who notify the police of parked cars blocking pavements and bike paths will in future be able to submit photographs as evidence of offences, a court in Bavaria has ruled.

An administrative court in Ansbach has ruled in favour of two cycling activists who had been fined €100 (£87) each for breaching data protection regulation for photographing apparently illegally parked cars and emailing the images to the police.

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Two November hurricanes pose rare threat at end of 2022 Atlantic season

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Hurricane Lisa, which has battered Belize, formed at same time as Martin, now over Atlantic, for only third time since records began

Two November hurricanes have simultaneously formed in the Atlantic Ocean for only the third time since records began.

Hurricanes Lisa and Martin have brought an unusual amount of activity for this time of year, when hurricane season is usually nearly over. A third system in the Caribbean is also developing, reports the Washington Post.

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Row over Germany’s public transport ticket jumping from €9 to €49

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Charities warn increase in monthly local travel pass will freeze out millions struggling with living costs

Germany plans to replace its successful €9-a-month local public transport pass with a €49 version, a move that is drawing criticism from charities and social care groups who say the new price tag will freeze out millions of Germans suffering under the cost of living crisis.

The €9 pass (equating to about £7.80) was introduced as an experiment over the summer in an effort to entice people to use public transport and help counter rising inflation.

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Canada orders China to divest from country’s mining companies

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Move comes after ‘multi-step’ review by Canada’s national security and intelligence agencies

Canada has ordered China to immediately sell its holdings in three Canadian mining companies, as the need for investments in the extraction of critical minerals clashes with growing concerns over national security.

On Wednesday Canada’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said three Chinese companies would be required to divest from junior mining companies.

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Tory-linked lobbying firm agreed to help swing DRC election, leak suggests

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Exclusive: CT Group, co-owned by Lynton Crosby, planned secretive African campaign on behalf of Canadian mining giant

A lobbying firm with deep ties to the Conservative party planned a secretive campaign to influence elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in exchange for millions of pounds from a mining company.

Leaked documents suggest the influential firm co-owned by the veteran Tory strategist Sir Lynton Crosby agreed to help the mining company swing a presidential election in the central African country.

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Imran Khan wounded in ‘assassination attempt’ in Pakistan

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Former prime minister shot when his convoy came under fire in eastern Punjab province, party officials and police have said

Protesters have taken to the streets of Pakistan after a gunman opened fire on a convoy carrying the former prime minister Imran Khan, wounding him and killing a supporter as he led a march on Islamabad to demand snap elections.

A party aide said Khan, 70, had been wounded in his lower leg and was stable after an incident described by his supporters as an assassination attempt. “A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” said Asad Umar shortly after the shooting.

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Rishi Sunak scraps plans to move embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

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Palestinian mission in UK welcomes statement, which appears to put end to review ordered by Liz Truss

Rishi Sunak has abandoned moves initiated by Liz Truss to relocate Britain’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Downing Street has confirmed.

Truss, when she was prime minister, ordered a review into whether the UK should follow the Trump administration in moving the embassy from Tel Aviv.

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Bahraini death row prisoner pleads with pope to aid his release

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Exclusive: Mohammed Ramadhan, who alleges he was tortured into confessing to deadly bombing, urges pontiff to act on visit to Gulf state

A former airport security guard who is on death row in Bahrain for a crime he alleges he was tortured into confessing to has urged Pope Francis to call for his release during the pontiff’s visit to the Gulf state.

In a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian through the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), Mohammed Ramadhan, who has been in prison for nine years, asked the pontiff to “ask the king of Bahrain to release me and reunite me with my family and children”.

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