Kallas Says Russia Must Face Same Military Restrictions It Demands From Ukraine – Kyiv Post

  1. Kallas Says Russia Must Face Same Military Restrictions It Demands From Ukraine  Kyiv Post
  2. Russia on the back foot with dynamics of war shifting in Ukraine’s favour, EU says – as it happened  The Guardian
  3. EU countries insist on unity to avoid falling into Russia's special envoy 'trap'  Euronews.com
  4. Before Europe Anoints Someone to Talk to Putin, It Debates What to Talk About  The New York Times
  5. EU ministers to discuss Russia strategy as Kyiv pushes for European role  Reuters
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Swinney rejects call for Holyrood inquiry into Murrell – BBC

  1. Swinney rejects call for Holyrood inquiry into Murrell  BBC
  2. Sturgeon says she was deceived, betrayed and lied to over Murrell embezzlement  BBC
  3. Inside Peter Murrell’s mind: what drives wealthy embezzlers?  The Times
  4. Sturgeon says 'deceived' and 'betrayed' by former husband over SNP funds scandal  RTE.ie
  5. Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling party funds  BBC
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Update 352 – IAEA Director General Statement on Ukraine – International Atomic Energy Agency

  1. Update 352 – IAEA Director General Statement on Ukraine  International Atomic Energy Agency
  2. IAEA reports longest communications outage at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant  Українська правда
  3. IAEA reports fire at electrical substation due to military activity  Reuters
  4. Main  Odessa Journal
  5. The Zaporizhzhia NPP lost external power supply for the sixteenth time at night  Бабель
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EU fines Temu for failing to stop sale of illegal and dangerous products

European Commission finds shoppers on Chinese website very likely to find unsafe items and imposes €200m penalty

EU regulators have fined the Chinese shopping website Temu €200m (£173m) for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products.

The European Commission imposed the penalty after a 19-month investigation that found consumers were very likely to encounter illegal or unsafe products including baby toys and electronics on the firm’s website.

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Argentina’s ‘European’ self-image under renewed scrutiny after racist incidents in Brazil

Case involving seven-year-old boy is latest flashpoint in debate over race relations in Latin America

‘Argentina needs to end its fantasy of being a European country’: Lucrecia Martel on the story of a killing

A woman celebrating her 32nd birthday on a train journey in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was horrified when a fellow passenger alerted her that an unknown man had been secretly filming her seven-year-old son.

When confronted, the man – an Argentinian tourist – initially refused to show his phone. But after being pressed by other travellers, the man admitted he had sent the images to a WhatsApp contact.

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US abortion restrictions are hindering access to miscarriage care, study finds

States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standards

Abortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.

The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it’s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions.

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The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producer

Jamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.

Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024.

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Pressure Grows on Spain’s Leader After Police Search His Party Office – The New York Times

  1. Pressure Grows on Spain’s Leader After Police Search His Party Office  The New York Times
  2. Spain's Sanchez running out of road as corruption probes stack up  Reuters
  3. Scandal after scandal lands Spain’s Sánchez on the ropes  politico.eu
  4. Spanish police raid HQ of governing Socialists as corruption probe escalates  BBC
  5. Factbox-The Court Cases Plaguing Spain's Ruling Socialist Party  U.S. News & World Report
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Dormitory fire at Kenyan girls’ school kills at least 16 students

Parents face anxious wait for updates after blaze tears through Utumishi girls academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county

A fire has ripped through a dormitory at a girls’ school in Kenya’s Rift valley, killing at least 16 students.

The fire broke out just after midnight at Utumishi girls academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county, about 76 miles north-west of Nairobi, police said.

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Blond Bangladeshi buffalo nicknamed ‘Donald Trump’ saved from Eid sacrifice

Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal

A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official.

The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival.

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‘I felt my humanity was bastardised’: Cynthia Erivo says reaction to Ariana Grande red carpet incident rooted in racism

Wicked co-star said reactions to the incident, which included suggestions she was Grande’s ‘bodyguard’, reflect an insidious view of Black women

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has said that reactions to the incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good, in which she stepped in to fend off a red-carpet invader who grabbed co-star Ariana Grande, revealed “the insidious nature of how we view Black women” and put her off campaigning for Oscars.

In an interview with Variety, Erivo said that she and Grande were “terrified” when Johnson Wen jumped a barrier at Universal Studios Singapore and rushed towards them. “Nobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ … And what people couldn’t see is that he wouldn’t let go [of Grande]. He wouldn’t let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.”

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Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ US ally Oman if it does not ‘behave’ over strait of Hormuz | First Thing

President makes comments after reports Iran and Oman have discussed jointly charging a toll for ships. Plus, how ‘balcony solar’ could help fight rising energy costs

Good morning.

In a casual aside during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” Oman, a US ally, if it failed to “behave” over the reopening the strait of Hormuz.

What is the latest on a deal to end the war? Negotiations are continuing but the US earlier this week struck Iranian targets, reportedly killing four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which prompted an apparent Iranian retaliatory attack on an American airbase in Kuwait.

What is happening inside Iran? Internet restrictions were partially lifted this week, revealing increasing anger from Iranians over rapid food price inflation.

What is the humanitarian toll of the war? More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the latest round of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which began in March. At least 3,213 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The office of Israel’s prime minister reported that 23 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor had been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians had been killed in northern Israel.

What is life like inside Israel’s “yellow line”? The Guardian’s William Christou, in Kfarchouba, Lebanon, spoke to the villagers living in fear of nightly raids and daytime bombings from the Israeli military occupying their land.

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“Vast fortune” belonging to legendary Mafia boss seized by police in Italy – CBS News

  1. "Vast fortune" belonging to legendary Mafia boss seized by police in Italy  CBS News
  2. Villas, cars and cash: Italy seizes dead Mafia mobster's millions  BBC
  3. Italy seizes gold, luxury villas and cash tied to Sicilian Mafia drug-trafficking gains  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  4. Italy busts money-laundering ring tied to mafia boss Messina Denaro  Reuters
  5. Italy seizes $232m in Mafia assets tied to Cosa Nostra  Al Jazeera
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Russia signs $16.5 billion deal to build first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan – Reuters

  1. Russia signs $16.5 billion deal to build first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan  Reuters
  2. Putin lands $16.5B nuclear win on Russia’s doorstep in massive Kazakhstan pact: reports  Fox News
  3. Russia and Kazakhstan sign nuclear power plant agreement  World Nuclear News
  4. Putin's motorcade in Kazakhstan accompanied by armoured vehicle with electronic warfare system – photos, video  Українська правда
  5. Putin’s Panic Over Russia’s Fading Grip  Kyiv Post
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Feeding the future of France: Rollout of €1 meals an attempt to help struggling students

It’s a thumbs up from the country’s 3 million students, who can now buy cheap meals up to twice a day

Where in France can you get a nutritious and balanced three-course meal for €1?

If you are one of the country’s estimated 3 million students in higher education, the answer is: the university restaurant or cafe.

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Soldier killed in Hezbollah drone attack as Israel widens strikes on terror group – The Times of Israel

  1. Soldier killed in Hezbollah drone attack as Israel widens strikes on terror group  The Times of Israel
  2. Learning from Ukraine, Hezbollah is now using fibre-optic drones to hit Israel  BBC
  3. IDF Sergeant Rotem Yanai, 20, was killed after she fell during an operational activity in northern Israel  i24NEWS
  4. Israeli army turns to US after Hezbollah drones strike military sites: Report  Anadolu Ajansı
  5. Israel's Elbit developing hardware to combat Hezbollah drones, CEO says  Reuters
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Three tankers reportedly attacked by drones in Black Sea, shipping agency says – Reuters

  1. Three tankers reportedly attacked by drones in Black Sea, shipping agency says  Reuters
  2. Ukraine says Russian drones attacked three foreign-flagged vessels  Reuters
  3. Oil Tankers Suffer Drone Attacks Off Turkey’s Black Sea Coast  Bloomberg.com
  4. Turkey issues warning to Putin after Russian drone hits cargo ship in the Black Sea  The Independent
  5. Russians strike Turkish vessel near Odesa Oblast: fire breaks out, crew members injured – photos  Українська правда
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Wild weather unleashes thunderstorms across south-east Australia, triggering flash flooding

Wet weather batters parts of Queensland, NSW and Tasmania amid warnings of heavy falls on Friday

Wild weather more typical of summer than the last days of autumn has caused chaos in south-eastern Australia, unleashing a string of severe thunderstorms.

Heavy rainfall accompanied by 500,000 lightning strikes across Queensland and New South Wales triggered widespread flash flooding, road closures and travel disruptions.

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Ethiopia: The unravelling of Abiy Ahmed, from peace prize to prosperity gospel – The Africa Report

  1. Ethiopia: The unravelling of Abiy Ahmed, from peace prize to prosperity gospel  The Africa Report
  2. The imperial vision of Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed  The Economist
  3. A visual guide to Ethiopia’s ethnic groups and conflict areas  Al Jazeera
  4. Crises in Amhara, Tigray cloud Ethiopia's election 2026  DW.com
  5. Ethiopian leader Abiy's party set to dominate elections despite insecurity  Reuters
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Will A Desperate Putin Expand The Ukraine War To Other Countries? – Forbes

  1. Will A Desperate Putin Expand The Ukraine War To Other Countries?  Forbes
  2. Europe Is Starting to Think Putin Will Expand the War Beyond Ukraine  WSJ
  3. Greg Afinogenov · Slavdom: What Russians Want  London Review of Books
  4. Suddenly NATO’s Baltic Allies Are the Center of Attention  National Review
  5. EU Seeks to Fix Baltic Defense Gaps After Drone Incursions  Bloomberg.com
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