Beijing is already preparing to retaliate in a second Trump era – The Washington Post

  1. Beijing is already preparing to retaliate in a second Trump era  The Washington Post
  2. China to Retaliate If Trump Boosts Tariff, Says Ex-PBOC Official  Bloomberg
  3. Donald Trump’s Trade War Would Upend the Global Economy  Barron's
  4. Experts say Trump's threatened China tariffs could actually help Beijing weather an economic storm  CBS News
  5. Opinion | Donald Trump Changed the Game With China. Now He Could Win It.  The New York Times
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Māori lawmakers in New Zealand interrupt vote on controversial bill with Haka – ABC News

  1. Māori lawmakers in New Zealand interrupt vote on controversial bill with Haka  ABC News
  2. Video: New Zealand MPs disrupt parliament with haka  CNN
  3. New Zealand Parliament Suspended as Maori Lawmakers Perform Haka to Protest Bill  The New York Times
  4. Maori protesters march on New Zealand capital over contentious bill  NBC News
  5. New Zealanders are marching, performing haka to protest divisive bill  The Washington Post
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Pelicot trial: young vineyard worker proposed drugging and raping his own mother

Video showed Charly A, one of 51 men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot, discussing plan with Dominique Pelicot

A young vineyard worker accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot on six occasions over four years when she had been drugged by her husband also proposed drugging and raping his own mother, a court has heard.

Charly A, 30, is one of 51 men on trial over the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, whose then husband, Dominique Pelicot, crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020 in the village of Mazan in Provence. Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges, telling the court: “I am a rapist.”

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Fears grow that Milei will withdraw Argentina from Paris climate accord

Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump

There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.

Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.

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Trump skips FBI background checks for controversial cabinet picks – report

Bypassing the standard procedure comes as president-elect’s choices of RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz send shockwaves

Donald Trump’s transition team has bypassed standard background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on some of his controversial cabinet nominees, it has been reported, minimising the chances of them being rejected for Senate confirmation based on any past transgressions or conflicts of interest.

Such background checks – a longstanding tradition for incoming presidential nominations dating back decades to the early cold war – have instead been outsourced to private investigators.

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Middle East crisis: Hamas ‘ready’ for Gaza ceasefire, says senior official – as it happened

Senior official Bassem Naim says militant group ‘ready for ceasefire’ and urges Donald Trump to ‘pressure’ 'Israel to ‘end the aggression’

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, is reporting that two Palestinian people were killed in an Israeli artillery attack in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Three other Palestinians were killed in a separate Israeli airstrike near the general security junction in western Gaza City, according to Wafa. A renewed Israeli assault was launched on the northern part of the Gaza Strip last month, with the Israeli military claiming it was to stop Hamas fighters regrouping there. The blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, however, have led to accusations that Israel is committing the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population. The entirety of northern Gaza has been under Israeli evacuation orders but it is unclear how many people remain.

We have some comments coming through from Ali Larijani, the senior advisor to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. He has been speaking with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, in Beiurt.

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Trump names Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary – live

Leavitt was Trump campaign’s national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.

Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, where one of their first jobs will be to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. Should they object to the president-elect’s picks, he has threatened to make use of recess appointments, an archaic tactic that would allow him to circumvent the chamber and its objectors. Here’s more on how that would work, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve:

Several Republican senators expressed shock on Wednesday when Donald Trump announced he would nominate Matt Gaetz, the hard-right congressman known for instigating fights with members of his own party, as attorney general.

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Donald Trump taps his criminal defense lawyers for top DoJ roles

Administration picks Todd Blanche and Emil Bove defended president-elect in New York hush-money case

Donald Trump has tapped three of his personal criminal defense lawyers for top roles at the Department of Justice, underscoring how the president-elect is shaping the nation’s top law enforcement agency to serve his interests.

Trump announced on Thursday he was nominating Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, to be the US deputy attorney general and the principal associate deputy attorney general respectively. Bove will serve as the acting deputy attorney general while Blanche is awaiting confirmation to the second-highest role in the justice department.

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Reeves tells City regulator to encourage more risk-taking in financial sector

New remit given to FCA by chancellor raises fears of a weakening of rules meant to avert another financial crisis

The financial regulator has been ordered to encourage more risk-taking across the City, raising concerns that the Labour government is in danger of watering down rules meant to avoid another financial crisis.

In an official “remit” letter addressed to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) boss, Nikhil Rathi, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said regulations meant to protect consumers should not stand in the way of “sensible risk-taking” by investors and the wider financial sector, which includes banks, asset managers and insurers.

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1st female airman awarded Silver Star for shootdown of Iranian drones – ABC News

  1. 1st female airman awarded Silver Star for shootdown of Iranian drones  ABC News
  2. American fighter pilots explain how they fought an overwhelming Iranian drone swarm in total darkness  CNN
  3. F-15E Pilot Recounts Having To Switch To Guns After Missiles Ran Dry During Iranian Drone Barrage  Yahoo! Voices
  4. Silver Star Airpower: Inside an F-15 Mission to Block an Attack on Israel  Air & Space Forces Magazine
  5. Air Force Silver Star recipients among those honored for repulsing Iranian missile and drone attack  Stars and Stripes
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Political turmoil rocks the Netherlands after Amsterdam violence

Ruling coalition in crisis amid claims of racist remarks and speculation government may collapse

The violence that erupted on Amsterdam’s streets last week has triggered a political crisis in the Netherlands, with the ruling coalition in turmoil over alleged racist remarks made by government officials during a closed-door meeting to discuss the events.

Nora Achahbar, the Moroccan-born secretary for benefits from the centre-right New Social Contract (NSC) party, part of the ruling coalition, is expected to announce her resignation over allegedly inflammatory and racist remarks by colleagues about Dutch citizens from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Other NSC members are also considering resigning in protest, the Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported.

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The Gruffalo’s illustrator launches book to help UK pupils learn German

Axel Scheffler says he hopes Wuschel auf der Erde will encourage more children to learn his first language

Axel Scheffler, the illustrator behind the international children’s bestseller The Gruffalo, has launched a book to help primary school pupils learn German.

Wuschel auf der Erde: A New Adventure in Learning German tells the story of a friendly alien called Wuschel arriving on Earth from a distant planet with a mission to learn German. Through Scheffler’s distinctive illustrations, children are introduced to their first German words, such as die Maus (mouse) and der Spielplatz (playground), in a fun and interactive way.

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Protesters storm Abkhazia parliament over Russian investment deal

Black Sea separatist region is backed by Moscow but recognised as part of Georgia by most of the world

Protesters have stormed the regional parliament in Abkhazia, forcing the government to halt an investment deal with Russia that some fear will spoil the breakaway Georgian region’s natural beauty.

The Black Sea separatist region is backed by Moscow but recognised as part of Georgia by most of the world. It has been thrust into turmoil over concerns that a proposed investment deal with Russia could lead to apartment complexes mushrooming in a region known for its natural beauty and beaches.

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Schools in England could be judged on scale of colours in Ofsted proposals

Inspectorate aims to replace single headline grade such as outstanding with assessment of 10 key areas

Schools could be judged on a five-step scale of colours or descriptions across 10 separate areas, such as inclusion and belonging, according to proposals by England’s schools inspectorate.

The proposals by Ofsted aim to replace inspection reports that culminate in a single headline grade such as outstanding, which Labour pledged to scrap after a coroner’s report said Ofsted’s inspection had contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry last year.

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Scholz’s call with Putin will open ‘Pandora’s box’, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian president says talk between German and Russian leaders on war will reduce Putin’s isolation

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that a telephone conversation between Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin will open a “Pandora’s box”, after the German chancellor and the Russian leader discussed the war in Ukraine in a rare call on Friday.

Scholz urged his Russian counterpart to withdraw troops from Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv to achieve a just and lasting peace, in the first call between a major western leader and Putin since December 2022.

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AP PHOTOS: An AP photographer captures a bomb falling on a building in his childhood neighborhood – The Associated Press

  1. AP PHOTOS: An AP photographer captures a bomb falling on a building in his childhood neighborhood  The Associated Press
  2. Israel drops massive bomb in Beirut strike, as Lebanon mulls cease-fire  The Washington Post
  3. LIVE: WHO chief slams Israel’s killing of 12 paramedics in Lebanon strike  Al Jazeera English
  4. Photographer captures moment building in Beirut Hezbollah stronghold hit in Israeli airstrike  The Times of Israel
  5. Israel Pounds Area Near Beirut Amid Signs of a Widening Offensive  The New York Times
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Green signal given for first UK co-operatively owned railway service

Regulator approves bid by open-access operator Go-op to run trains in south-west England from late next year

The UK’s first co-operatively owned railway service could begin running trains in the south-west of England late next year.

The Office of Road and Rail (ORR) has approved a bid from open-access operator Go-op to run several new services between Swindon, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare, and compete with Great Western Railway on the line.

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Shadow chancellor warns Reeves over EU ties after Bank chief says Brexit harming economy – as it happened

Mel Stride said there must be no suggestion of the UK going back into the EU single market or customs union

In news that will disappoint those of you who enjoy a Liberal Democrat stunt, PA has just reported that Ed Davey will not, as was planned, be taking a bus-driving lesson at a depot in Oxfordshire, due to logistical issues. Instead he will be visiting high-street businesses.

It is part of a campaign by the Liberal Democrats to get Labour to keep the bus fare price cap at £2 in England when it extends the scheme into next year.

The fare cap increase is like a bus tax for people across the country, impacting bus users and commuters already struggling to make ends meet. MPs must be given a say on this bus fare hike on behalf of their constituents.

Our communities have already paid too high a price for years of Conservative neglect and incompetence. This bus fare hike will hit cherished local businesses and high streets, many of which are already struggling.

Uncertainty around Labour’s first budget and high interest rates played their part, but [the GDP figures are] still a blow for Rachel Reeves, as [it] underlines difficulty of reaching her ambitious growth target.

Some in Labour want to recalibrate economic focus away from growth and towards cost of living ie “will people feel better off by time of next election?”

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