North Korean troops in Russian uniforms heading to Kursk, says US

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Lloyd Austin says deployment near Ukraine border is a dangerous and destabilising development

North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who described the deployment as a dangerous and destabilising development.

Austin was speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with the South Korean defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 11,000 troops to Russia. The US and South Korea said some of the North Korean troops are heading to Kursk, on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.

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Iran likely to try to contact Americans directly in influence campaign, sources say – NBC News

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  1. Iran likely to try to contact Americans directly in influence campaign, sources say  NBC News
  2. Russian disinformation network with ties to notorious ‘troll factory’ is taking aim at the US election, analysis finds  CNN
  3. How Russia, China and Iran Are Interfering in the Presidential Election  The New York Times
  4. The U.S. Spies Who Sound the Alarm About Election Interference  The New Yorker
  5. The Covert War for American Minds  Foreign Affairs Magazine
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Russia fined Google more money than the entire world’s GDP – Quartzy

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  1. Russia fined Google more money than the entire world's GDP  Quartzy
  2. Russia fines Google $20 decillion, more than the world's GDP  NBC News
  3. Russia fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000  ABC7 Chicago
  4. Russia Fines Google $2.5 Decillion Over YouTube Bans – RBC  The Moscow Times
  5. A Russian court hit Google with a fine larger than the world's GDP, stretching credulity  Business Insider
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UN rules forcible sterilizations of women in Peru ‘crime against humanity’

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Country ordered to compensate victims of programme that affected more than 300,000 women in 1990s

A UN committee has urged Peru to compensate women who were forcibly sterilised in the 1990s, ruling that the state policy could constitute a “crime against humanity”.

Forced sterilisation was part of a programme implemented by Peru’s then president Alberto Fujimori during the final four years before he left office in 2000 after a decade in power.

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The budget: Labour returns to tax and spend – Politics Weekly UK

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Rachel Reeves has finally laid out Labour’s spending plans in the party’s first budget in almost 15 years. The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by political editor Pippa Crerar and political correspondent Kiran Stacey to discuss the fallout

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Reeves accused of betraying small family firms with inheritance tax rises

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Chancellor also criticised for letting the very rich off the hook with a lower than expected rise in capital gains tax

Tax rises aimed at inherited wealth are at risk of backfiring, after the chancellor was accused of betraying small family businesses while letting private equity bosses off the hook.

Labour’s first budget in 14 years included measures to close inheritance tax (IHT) loopholes and press ahead with scrapping the controversial non-dom tax status, as well as levying higher taxes on private jet flights.

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OBR says budget unlikely to lift economic growth over next five years

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Forecaster says extra spending revealed by Rachel Reeves will give only a short-term lift to economy

Labour has embarked on a “large, sustained increase in spending, tax and borrowing”, according to the government’s economic forecaster, as it judged that Labour’s first budget for 15 years is unlikely to increase economic growth over the next five years.

Assessing Rachel Reeves’s policies, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the economy would expand at the same rate as predicted in March by the end of the parliament, despite a £70bn-a-year rise in spending.

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Labour wants to reverse decline – but with a big budget comes a big risk

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The government knows cynical voters will need to see tangible change in public services and to feel better off

At the final political cabinet before Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week, ministers were presented with internal party research on what the public was expecting.

In the months since the general election, they had been fed a regular diet of gloomy warnings about the state of the economic inheritance and, more recently, high levels of pre-budget news coverage, so it was firmly on their horizon.

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Russia fines Google $20.5 decillion — more than the entire world’s GDP — for allegedly blocking Kremlin propaganda – New York Post

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  1. Russia fines Google $20.5 decillion — more than the entire world’s GDP — for allegedly blocking Kremlin propaganda  New York Post
  2. Russia Fines Google $2.5 Decillion Over YouTube Bans – RBC  The Moscow Times
  3. A Russian court hit Google with a fine larger than the world's GDP, stretching credulity  Business Insider
  4. Russia fines Google more than the world’s total GDP over YouTube bans  Euronews
  5. A Russian court fined Google more money than the world's GDP  Quartzy
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Taliban prohibits Afghan women from speaking to each other: ‘System of gender apartheid’ – New York Post

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  1. Taliban prohibits Afghan women from speaking to each other: ‘System of gender apartheid’  New York Post
  2. Taliban bans women 'hearing other women's voices' in latest decree  Fox News
  3. Taliban further restricts women's voices with ban on praying aloud in front of other women  ABC News
  4. Taliban bans women from ‘hearing other women’s voices’  The Telegraph
  5. Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?  The Week
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Chancellor announces £22.6bn cash injection for NHS in England

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Rachel Reeves hails biggest increase ‘outside of Covid’ since 2010 but health experts say patients may not feel impact

The NHS in England is to receive a £22.6bn cash injection over two years, the chancellor has announced, in what she called the biggest spending increase outside Covid since 2010. But health experts said patients may not feel the impact as much of the increase would be absorbed by pay rises and higher care costs.

Announcing the “down payment” on the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, due in spring 2025, Rachel Reeves said the NHS was the nation’s “most cherished public service” and that the extra funding would help the government cut waiting lists.

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US identified 500 cases where its weapons harmed Gaza civilians but hasn’t taken action

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Some the incidents might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources

US state department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel’s military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, according to three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter.

The incidents – some of which may have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources – have been recorded since 7 October 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the state department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG), a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

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Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments gaffe hastens Harris’s slow-mo breakup with president

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Harris faces conundrum of showing deference to president while distancing herself after his ‘garbage’ comments

The delicate dance by Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to simultaneously show deference to Joe Biden, separate herself from his presidency and thwart his ambition to campaign for her has reached a critical juncture as the 2024 election approaches its climax.

The steps of the dance, which has been ongoing since Harris assumed the Democratic party nomination in August and involves efforts to shield the 81-year-old president’s ego and feelings, became even more leaden overnight on Tuesday after Biden appeared to call supporters of Donald Trump “garbage”.

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Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides of the Republic of Cyprus – The White House

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  1. Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides of the Republic of Cyprus  The White House
  2. Lebanon ceasefire possible within weeks, Cypriot president says after Biden talks  Reuters
  3. Biden, Cyprus president discuss administration push to win cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon  The Associated Press
  4. White House releases statement ahead of Biden-Christodoulides meeting  Kathimerini English Edition
  5. Ceasefire in Lebanon could be reached in next 1-2 weeks, Cypriot president says  The Jerusalem Post
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