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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 07:00:49 GMT |
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People living near Kasungu national park say they are living in fear after translocation of 263 elephants by International Fund for Animal Welfare People living on the edge of a protected area in Malawi are taking legal action against an NGO that moved more than 250 elephants into the area, which they say have killed at least 10 people. Villagers near Kasungu national park, which is Malawi’s second largest and crosses the Zambian border, say they are living in fear for their livelihoods and safety after 263 elephants were introduced in July 2022, causing a sharp spike in human-wildlife conflict. Ten people claiming to be affected by the translocation from Liwonde national park have begun legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), demanding that the conservation NGO construct adequate fencing to protect the 167 villages around the park and compensate local people for the damage caused by the elephants. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 23:41:02 GMT |
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Duke of Sussex and co-founder of Sentebale step down as patrons amid infighting in the organisation The Duke of Sussex has resigned from an African charity he set up 20 years ago after infighting in the organisation, saying he is “in shock” and “truly heartbroken”. Prince Harry and the co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho both stepped down as patrons on Tuesday until further notice after trustees quit over a dispute with the chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, a lawyer who was appointed in 2023. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:22:25 GMT |
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Vast majority unaware how many people were enslaved and for how long, although poll finds support for reparations is rising Britons are widely ignorant of the scale and legacy of Britain’s involvement in slavery and colonialism, a survey has found, with the vast majority unaware how many people were enslaved, how long the trade went on for, or for how long UK taxpayers were paying off a government loan to “compensate” enslavers after abolition. The poll, released to coincide with Tuesday’s UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was commissioned by the Repair Campaign, which is working with Caricom to secure reparatory justice for member states through health, education and infrastructure projects. Continue reading...
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Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:15:17 GMT |
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Ebrahim Rasool, declared persona non grata by Washington, was surrounded by crowds at Cape Town airport The South African ambassador who was expelled from the US and declared persona non grata by the Trump administration was welcomed home on Sunday by hundreds of supporters who sang songs praising him. Crowds at Cape Town International airport surrounded Ebrahim Rasool and his wife Rosieda as they emerged in the arrivals terminal in their home town, and they needed a police escort to help them navigate their way through the building. Continue reading...
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Fri, 21 Mar 2025 13:45:23 GMT |
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Compound was last bastion in the capital, Khartoum, held by rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces The Sudanese army has recaptured the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum, in a highly symbolic battlefield victory over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the country’s catastrophic civil war. Videos posted on social media showed soldiers carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers inside the partly ruined building. An officer wearing a captain’s epaulettes announced the takeover of the palace in a video and confirmed that troops were inside the compound. Continue reading...
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Fri, 21 Mar 2025 12:27:20 GMT |
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Tigray’s interim leader flees as rival faction seizes control, while Ethiopian tanks and troops move to border of Eritrea Aregawi was building a tour-guiding business when war struck Ethiopia’s Tigray region in 2020. He spent the next two years fighting on the frontline. Now he is among those who fear Tigray is on the brink of conflict once more. “We don’t want to become a battleground, but it seems like war is near, maybe even inevitable,” he said. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 10:15:53 GMT |
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As White House takes aim at medical missions, SVG says it gave US proof that workers aren’t human-trafficking victims The prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) said his government has provided evidence to the US that Cuban health workers in the country are not victims of human trafficking, as the Trump administration takes aim at the medical missions. Speaking in advance of US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to the Caribbean on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he was confident that the information he provided would settle US concerns about the deal under which Cuban medical professionals work in SVG. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 09:00:53 GMT |
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Under a $6m US deal, hundreds of migrants from Colombia and Ecuador were deported back to their home countries Outside the Lajas Blancas migrant camp in southern Panama, wooden shops are boarded up. A bed of cold ash lies in an iron drum barbecue which once served meat skewers to hungry migrants. Six months ago, hundreds of people would pass through the camp every day, emerging from the jungles of the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama to receive humanitarian aid, before continuing their journey north towards the US. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 21:33:35 GMT |
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Signal blunder likely to put strain on Five Eyes as it weighs how Trump administration handles classified information Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has said the inadvertent leak of classified military plans by senior US officials means that allied nations must increasingly “look out for ourselves” as trust frays with a once-close ally. Speaking a day after it was revealed that a journalist was accidentally included in a group chat discussing airstrikes against Yemeni rebels, Carney said the intelligence blunder was a “serious, serious issue and all lessons must be taken”. He said it would be critical to see “how people react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up”. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:09:09 GMT |
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Justice department avoids providing US judge information on expulsions of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador The Trump administration invoked the “state secrets” privilege to avoid providing more information to a federal judge regarding this month’s highly contentious immigrant expulsions to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. The administration’s invocation of the privilege is a further escalation in Donald Trump’s immigration-related battle against the federal judiciary. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 13:55:58 GMT |
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- Miller Gardner died in sleep on Friday morning
- Authorities awaiting analysis of toxicology testing
A former New York Yankees player and his wife say they have “many questions” and “few answers” after their youngest son fell ill and died during a family vacation. Miller Gardner – the son of Brett and Jessica Gardner – was 14. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 06:57:35 GMT |
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In today’s newsletter: With elbows up on both sides, two very different political operators – Mark Carney and the Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre – attempt to fend off threats from the south Good morning. When Justin Trudeau announced he would be resigning as Canada’s prime minister in January, he did so amid surging support for the Conservative opposition and a sense that its Trump-adjacent leader, Pierre Poilievre, might be the right candidate for a new political era. The Liberals’ near-decade in power appeared to be close to an end. Now, Trudeau’s successor, the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, has called a snap general election against a dramatically different political backdrop. With Donald Trump’s tariff war and musings about Canada’s future as a 51st state the inescapable mood music, many voters who had given up on the Liberals appear ready to give them another hearing – and Poilievre is trying to distance himself from the president whose methods he was once so happy to adopt. Trump administration | A catastrophic security leak triggered outrage in US politics after senior Trump administration officials accidentally broadcast highly sensitive military plans through a Signal group chat with a journalist reading along. The stunning breach implicates key figures in the Trump administration including the vice-president, JD Vance. Domestic violence | Domestic abusers are driving their victims to suicide, police have warned, as they admitted to past mistakes and pledged to investigate more “hidden” cases of violence against women. The concession came as deaths by suicide among victims of domestic abuse surpassed the number of people killed by an intimate partner for a second year in a row. UK economy | Rachel Reeves will put £2bn into affordable housing in a bid to “sweeten the pill” of the spending cuts being announced at this week’s spring statement. The chancellor will set out one of the tightest budget buffers on record, with the Office for Budget Responsibility expected to put the government about £5bn in the red. Turkey | Turkish authorities have arrested more than 1,100 people including journalists, while bombarding the social media platform X with requests to block hundreds of accounts after tens of thousands took to the streets in the largest anti-government demonstrations in years. Archaeology | One of the biggest and most important iron age hoards ever found in the UK has been revealed, potentially altering our understanding of life in Britain 2,000 years ago. More than 800 objects were unearthed in a field near the village of Melsonby, North Yorkshire dating back to the first century. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 04:47:58 GMT |
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A 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple is among buildings destroyed after dry and windy weather saw mostly contained blazes spread again Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever are ravaging southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday. Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s prime minister and acting president, said five days of fires had caused “unprecedented damage” and asked agencies tackling the disaster to “assume the worst-case scenario and respond accordingly”, according to Yonhap news agency. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:41:31 GMT |
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Ted Hui received letter offering reward for information about his family after China accused Australia of interfering with its internal affairs The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has described another threatening letter sent to an exiled Hong Kong dissident in Australia as “reprehensible”, a “threat to our national sovereignty” and “the safety and security of Australians”. The anonymous letter, mailed from Hong Kong and sent to Ted Hui’s Adelaide office, offered his colleagues $203,000 for information on his whereabouts and his family. It arrived just days after China’s foreign ministry accused the Albanese government of interfering with its internal affairs. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 23:34:43 GMT |
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Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong says ‘hard strategic decisions’ need to be made Australia will redirect more than $100m in foreign aid toward the Indo-Pacific region to urgently plug funding gaps after Donald Trump announced the US would cancel around $US54bn worth in overseas development assistance programs. The official development assistance budget for 2025-26 will reach $5.1bn, an increase of $135.9m from 2024-25, but $119m will be reprioritised to support economic, health, humanitarian and climate responses in the neighbouring regions. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 17:20:21 GMT |
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Annual report says Beijing making ‘steady but uneven’ progress on capabilities to capture Taiwan China remains the United States’ top military and cyber threat, according to a new report by US intelligence agencies that said Beijing was making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan. China has the ability to hit the United States with conventional weapons, compromise US infrastructure through cyber-attacks, and target its assets in space, as well as seeking to displace the US as the top AI power by 2030, the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community said. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:20:48 GMT |
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Head of tech giant’s consumer electronics and mobile devices division passed away at a hospital on Tuesday South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that its co-chief executive officer Han Jong-hee has died due to cardiac arrest. Han was 63. Han was in charge of Samsung’s consumer electronics and mobile devices division, while co-CEO Jun Young-hyun oversees the chip business of South Korea’s biggest company. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:12:42 GMT |
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Report reveals scale of abuse faced by women in politics from countries such as Australia, India, Laos and Mongolia Sexism, harassment and violence against women are rife in parliaments across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a damning report published on Tuesday that lays bare the scale of abuse faced by women in politics. Based on interviews with 150 female MPs and parliamentary staff across 33 countries across the region – including Australia, Mongolia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Fiji and Micronesia – the study found that 76% of MPs and 63% of staff had experienced psychological gender-based violence, with 60% of MPs saying they had been targeted online by hate speech, disinformation and image-based abuse. An equal number of women were interviewed from each country. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:30:42 GMT |
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Critics say industry threatens the endangered Maugean skate and laws were rushed through with ’no proper process’ Controversial legislation to protect the Tasmanian salmon industry has passed parliament after the government guillotined debate to bring on a vote in the Senate on Wednesday night. Government and Coalition senators voted in favour of the bill, which was designed to bring an end to a formal reconsideration by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, into whether an expansion of fish farming in Macquarie harbour in 2012 was properly approved. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 10:19:03 GMT |
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- Three-match series will be first since 2003
- Bramley-Moore Dock, Wembley and Headingley to host
Australia will tour England for the first time since 2003 this autumn, with Everton’s new stadium to stage one of the three Tests. The Kangaroos will take on Shaun Wane’s side in three matches at Wembley, Bramley-Moore Dock and Headingley on 25 October, 1 November and 8 November, respectively. England have not faced Australia since the 2017 World Cup final, which the Kangaroos won 6-0, with Samoa shocking the hosts in the semi-finals in 2022 at the Emirates Stadium. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 09:19:35 GMT |
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Sylvester Terzini was employed at multiple restaurants owned by his father, has denied the untested allegations and no charges have been laid Famed restaurateur Maurice Terzini has resigned as director of his most prominent venue, Bondi’s Icebergs Dining Room and Bar. His resignation comes after multiple untested sexual assault allegations against his son, Sylvester Terzini, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age last week. Sylvester Terzini reportedly did not respond to detailed questions about specific allegations made by the SMH but vigorously denied the allegations. No charges have been laid. His lawyer said he had “no criminal history for violence or sexual misconduct”, according to the SMH report. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 08:05:17 GMT |
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Former NSW Liberal MP appears at Downing Centre district court after pleading not guilty to allegations A former Liberal MP shaved 10 years off his age when he used a gay hook-up app to meet a 13-year-old boy who he then sexually abused, prosecutors have alleged. Roderick “Rory” Amon, 35, is accused of sexually assaulting the 13-year-old boy he knew on Sydney’s northern beaches in 2017. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 07:52:04 GMT |
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Some creators had flights, hotels and other travel expenses to Canberra covered by the Labor party, according to people invited Social media content creators invited to cover the Labor government’s budget have hit back at “dismissive” comments by politicians and media organisations at their inclusion in the lockup, saying new media platforms have a role to play in explaining politics and economics to wider audiences. Around a dozen content creators – many with more than 100,000 followers, most with pages catering to financial advice or young people – were invited by Labor to travel to Canberra, join the budget lockup and interview senior ministers, including Anthony Albanese, Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher and Tanya Plibersek. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) organisation covered flights, hotels and other travel expenses for some of the creators, several of those invited told Guardian Australia. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 07:15:12 GMT |
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State attorney general says the report does not take into account the new government’s ‘positive agenda on victims’ rights’ Queensland’s state government has rejected recommendations that would have required victims of crime to be treated with respect, and protected rights to adequate housing and the right to be free from gender-based violence. The recommendations were contained in a review of the state’s Human Rights Act, led by eminent human rights lawyer Susan Harris-Rimmer. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:50:49 GMT |
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Ukrainian president says latest attacks send ‘clear signal to whole world’ about Russian intentions Meanwhile, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson has confirmed the country plans to increase the country’s defence spending to a provisional target of 3.5% of GDP by 2030 in the largest push since the end of cold war. Sweden was expected to spend 2.14% in 2024, with projections reaching 2.4% this year, and 2.6% in 2028. Let’s not forget that Russia is and remains the most significant and dark threat to our alliance. Let’s not forget that Russia is moving into a wartime economy. And that will have a huge impact on their capacity and capability to build their armed forces. When it comes to the defence of Poland and the general defence of Nato territory, if anyone were to miscalculate and think they can get away with an attack on Poland or on any other ally, they will be met with the full force of this fierce alliance. Our reaction will be devastating. This has to be very clear to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and anyone else who … wants to attack us. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:44:35 GMT |
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Ukraine’s president said drone attacks just hours after ceasefire talks were ‘a clear signal to the whole world’ Ukraine’s president has accused Russia of being insincere about moving towards peace as he reported an attack by 117 drones, just a day after both countries had agreed to a maritime ceasefire subject to Moscow obtaining agricultural sanctions relief. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that launching nationwide strikes after the peace negotiations was proof of Russia’s true intentions, though the Kremlin insisted the US-brokered talks were proceeding constructively. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:17:20 GMT |
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Film assistant says actor groped her several times in three incidents while filming Les Volets Verts A woman accusing Gérard Depardieu of sexual assault has told a landmark trial in Paris that the actor groped her buttocks and her breasts several times in three separate incidents on a film set.
Depardieu, 76, is accused of groping a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). He denies any sexual assault.
The third day of the Paris trial focused on the testimony of the younger plaintiff, who said Depardieu had first groped her bottom when she was alone with him for a brief moment between the backstage area and the film set.
“Out of the blue, he put his hand on my butt,” she told the court on Wednesday, adding she was in shock, “petrified” and said nothing.
In a second incident, she alleged, Depardieu had suddenly put both his hands on her breasts. “I said no; I was scared,” she said. She also said she had told Depardieu “no” during a third similar incident.
The plaintiff said she reported the issue to her direct manager, who then alerted others in charge of the film production, prompting anger from the actor.
Depardieu repeatedly denied the allegations on Wednesday in court, saying: “I’m not like that.”
“I think that maybe, I don’t know, she was wary because of my reputation of being vulgar, crude, rude,” Depardieu said. “But I’m not only that. I still respect people.”
The actor also told the court he was almost always accompanied by aides on the film set, including his bodyguard, and suggested that he would rarely find himself alone with a film worker.
On Tuesday, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualised language with the set dresser who has accused him of sexual assault. He said he grabbed her hips during an argument, but denied that his behaviour was sexual and that he only did so to stop himself slipping.
The four-day trial is to continue on Thursday, with the verdict expected at a later date.
The actor faces up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£63,000) if convicted. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:59:29 GMT |
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Politician says idea would be ‘compensation for centuries-old injustice’ of children being assigned father’s name An Italian politician has proposed a law that would make it automatic for babies to be assigned their mother’s surname at birth, a step that would mark a rupture with a centuries-old tradition and has sparked a fiery debate. Dario Franceschini, a former culture minister from the centre-left Democratic party, argues that such legislation would “right a historic wrong”. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 05:00:47 GMT |
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News of protests has been preserve of a few newspapers and channels outside well funded pro-government networks At the same time as the sound of clanging pots and pans rang out through the streets of opposition strongholds in Istanbul on a recent evening, marking another mass anti-government demonstration, a different reality was being broadcast to viewers of Turkish pro-government channels. Public television showed the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking to a gilded conference room after an iftar dinner. He boasted of his government’s achievements, of hiring new teachers and attracting youth to an aerospace and technology conference. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 20:34:57 GMT |
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US vice-president says he will join unsolicited visit to Arctic island, which Mette Frederiksen says is ‘not what Greenland needs or wants’ Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, has accused the US of putting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland – which she has vowed to resist – before an unsolicited visit to the Arctic island by members of the Trump administration. Later, just hours after her comments, the White House sprang a fresh surprise, as the US vice-president, JD Vance, announced he would join his wife on a trip to the territory this week. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 21:13:44 GMT |
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Demonstrators shout ‘Hamas out’ and carry banners saying ‘we want to live in peace’ Hundreds of Palestinians have joined protests in northern Gaza, shouting anti-Hamas slogans and calling for an end to the war with Israel, in what has been described as the largest protest against the militant group inside the territory since the 7 October attacks. Videos and photos shared on social media late on Tuesday showed hundreds of people, mostly men, chanting “Hamas out” and “Hamas terrorists” in Beit Lahiya, where the crowd had gathered a week after the Israeli army resumed its intense bombing of Gaza after nearly two months of a truce. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 15:50:54 GMT |
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This blog is now closed, you can read our full story here At least 50,144 Palestinian people have been killed and 113,704 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Gaza’s health ministry has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 15:14:59 GMT |
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President says national security adviser Mike Waltz, suspected of adding journalist to chat, ‘has learned a lesson’ Donald Trump defended his embattled national security adviser on Tuesday and said the leak of highly classified military plans was “the only glitch in two months”, as scrutiny intensified into how top US officials shared operational details for bombing Yemen in a group chat. In an interview with NBC, the president said, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” as Democrats called for an investigation into the sharing of the plans for this month’s major airstrikes in Yemen on the Signal app. Later on Tuesday, during a meeting with ambassadors, Trump said his administration would investigate the incident but claimed “there was no classified information” shared on Signal. Continue reading...
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Tue, 25 Mar 2025 08:39:36 GMT |
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Director of No Other Land attacked by armed settlers in West Bank and handed to Israeli military, witnesses say A Palestinian director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land has been arrested by the Israeli army after masked settlers attacked his house. According to five Jewish American activists who witnessed the attack, Hamdan Ballal, one of the four directors of the the film that documented the destruction of villages in the West Bank, was surrounded and attacked by a group of about 15 armed settlers in Susya in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron. Continue reading...
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Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:48:55 GMT |
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Death toll includes women, children and journalists, nearly a week after Israel broke ceasefire Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 65 people in Gaza in the past 24 hours, including women, children and two journalists, the Palestinian health authority said on Monday, nearly a week after Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel launched its new offensive in the territory, which started on Tuesday last week with a wave of airstrikes that killed about 700 people, mostly civilians, ending two months of relative calm, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the territory run by Hamas. Continue reading...
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Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:22:29 GMT |
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Ismail Barhoum and medics die in attack, which Israel says was based on extensive intelligence An Israeli airstrike on Sunday night hit the largest hospital in southern Gaza, killing five people, including a Hamas political leader. The Gaza health ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimise harm at the site. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 04:53:52 GMT |
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Award-winning film set in fictional town has already made its debut at Cannes but censors have refused to approve it for domestic release Indian film censors have blocked the release of critically acclaimed film Santosh over concerns about its portrayal of misogyny, Islamophobia and violence in the Indian police force. Santosh, written and directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, is set in north India and has won international plaudits for its portrayal of a young widow who joins the police force and investigates the murder of a young Dalit girl. Santosh is currently on release in UK cinemas Continue reading...
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Mon, 24 Mar 2025 13:02:55 GMT |
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Shiv Sena party supporters tore apart the Habitat comedy club after Kunal Kamra’s satirical song about a top minister A mob violently ransacked a Mumbai comedy club and its building has been partly demolished after one of India’s most prominent comedians performed a satirical song about a local ruling politician during a performance there. Kunal Kamra has a reputation for his acerbic comedy which often pokes fun at political figures. Few comedians in India dare to make political jokes for risk of a backlash. Continue reading...
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Mon, 24 Mar 2025 05:00:41 GMT |
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Group received emails about Ahsan Mansur, the central bank official investigating money laundering allegations British MPs believe they may have been targeted by a “disinformation” campaign aimed at discrediting the man leading efforts to trace funds allegedly laundered from Bangladesh into the UK. MPs raised the alarm after receiving emails about Ahsan Mansur, who was installed as the central bank governor of Bangladesh last year, after a student-led revolution swept away the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina. Continue reading...
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Fri, 21 Mar 2025 06:00:50 GMT |
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Muhammad Arshad, from Pakistan, was a foreman building Aramco Stadium in Al Khobar, one of 11 new venues for 2034 A migrant worker has died while working on a new stadium being built for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, the Guardian can reveal. Muhammad Arshad, from Pakistan, fell to his death from an upper level during the construction of the Aramco Stadium in the eastern city of Al Khobar on 12 March, according to sources with knowledge of the incident. Continue reading...
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Thu, 20 Mar 2025 21:12:07 GMT |
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Elon Musk’s company is arguing against the government’s expanded powers to allow easier removal of online content India’s IT ministry has unlawfully expanded censorship powers to allow the easier removal of online content and empowered “countless” government officials to execute such orders, Elon Musk’s X has alleged in a new lawsuit against New Delhi. The lawsuit and the allegations mark an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between X and the government of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, over how New Delhi orders content to be taken down. It also comes as Musk is getting closer to launching his other key ventures, Starlink and Tesla, in India. Continue reading...
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Wed, 19 Mar 2025 19:48:51 GMT |
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Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife, Barbie, 75, expected to appear in Kabul on Thursday after detention last month A British couple in their 70s imprisoned by the Taliban are due in court in Kabul on Thursday but have not been informed of the charges, their family has said. Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:56:04 GMT |
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Families forecast to lose an average of £1,720 a year, according to official government analysis More than 3 million people will lose out as a result of the government’s sweeping cuts to welfare, according to the official government analysis, with families losing an average of £1,720 a year. The official assessment of the impact of the benefits cuts – including a sharper-than-expected cut to universal credit payments – shows those eligible for disability payments will be hit the hardest. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:54:42 GMT |
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Chancellor OBR forecasts for UK growth halved in 2025 but up in the remaining years of this parliament Rachel Reeves will not be raising taxes in the spring statement today, even though there are many people on the left who would prefer taxes to rise as an alternative to public spending being cut. Reeves came into office promising only one budget-type event a year, and that is one reason why she is not hiking taxes today. But mainly it’s because she thinks Britons are relatively highly taxed already, because Labour was elected on a manifesto ruling out most of the obvious possible tax rises and because she’s not convinced a sweeping wealth tax would work. But that has not stopped campaigners calling for a wealth tax, and yesterday about 300 people attended a ‘Tax the Super-Rich’ rally outside the Treasury. It was organised by charities and social justice campaign groups, but one of the speakers was Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green party, which is in favour of a wealth tax. Across the country, inequality is soaring and people are being left behind, struggling to make ends meet and dealing with broken public services, all while the very richest get richer. Choosing to make cut after cut to the poorest and most marginalised, while leaving the vast resource of the extreme wealth of the super rich untouched, is immoral, harmful, and will not deliver for our communities or the economy. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:44:11 GMT |
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Research suggests those who push themselves when working out perceive time to move more slowly If your sessions at the gym seem to drag on for hours, you are in good company. People who push themselves when working out report a form of time warp, making it feel as if they have been exercising for longer than they have, researchers say. Adults who took part in 4km cycling trials on exercise bikes perceived time to have slowed down, scientists said, with the cyclists underestimating how long they had been peddling for by about 10%. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:26:42 GMT |
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Chancellor reveals halving of forecast UK growth this year and extra defence spending Rachel Reeves has confirmed deep cuts to welfare and public services offset by billions of pounds in long-term investment to grow the economy, as she delivered a spring statement to ensure her fiscal targets are still being met. In a statement to the Commons which revealed the UK growth forecasts for this year had been halved, the chancellor said her measures would ensure a predicted £4.1bn hole in the public finances within five years would be turned back into a £9.9bn surplus. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:11:07 GMT |
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Maeve Bradley, who worked for Citibank in Belfast, lost out on expected promotion after having a baby A former Citibank employee has received £215,000 in a discrimination settlement after she lost out on an expected promotion when she returned from having a baby. Maeve Bradley, who had worked at the American bank’s offices in Belfast as an assistant vice-president of derivatives since March 2021, took maternity leave in 2023 and said she was devastated to be offered a different role on her return. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:38:32 GMT |
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Rachel Reeves is delivering her economic update – here are the main points, with political analysis Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:59:49 GMT |
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Mike Waltz claims new details – including US bombings, drone launches and target info – don’t constitute war plans because as he says ‘No locations. No sources & methods’ Under pressure from his rightwing base to challenge judges who have ruled against Donald Trump, speaker of the House Mike Johnson suggested on Tuesday that Congress could consider eliminating certain federal courts. It forms part of a broader assault on the judiciary, spurred by court decisions that have blocked several Trump administration actions, NBC News reports. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:41:36 GMT |
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Approved refugees reportedly affected by freeze on processing after Trump demands more aggressive vetting The Trump administration has paused the processing of certain green card applications as the US government continues to implement a hardline immigration agenda. CBS News reported that approved refugees are part of the processing freeze, as the White House enacts an effort to more aggressively vet immigrants to the US. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:34:09 GMT |
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The Atlantic releases more text from chat after Trump officials claimed none of it was ‘classified information’ The Atlantic magazine has published fresh messages from the Signal chat group including from top US officials discussing operational details of plans to bomb Yemen. The initial revelations by the magazine and its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the chat, have created a huge scandal in the US, and the Trump administration has faced withering attacks over the disastrous leak of sensitive information. However, the magazine did not include specific details of the attack, saying it did not want to jeopardise national security. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:29:26 GMT |
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Judge rules that law banning school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts had been applied unconstitutionally A lawsuit brought by publishers and authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult has led to a portion of a law banning Iowa school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts being halted. On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the measure, writing that it had been applied unconstitutionally in many schools and that books of “undeniable political, artistic, literary, and/or scientific value” had been caught up in it, including Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:00:56 GMT |
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Ride-share drivers held demonstrations from San Francisco to San Diego amid ongoing negotiations affecting 250,000 Ride-share drivers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego held demonstrations in front of city hall buildings on Wednesday as California state attorney General Rob Bonta, city attorneys and attorneys representing ride-share drivers continue negotiations next week with Uber and Lyft to settle thousands of claims of wage theft for drivers. At least 250,000 individual ride-share drivers in California who drove for the apps between 2016 and 2020 are estimated to be eligible for the settlement for wage theft claims of tens of billions of dollars, according to Rideshare Drivers United in California. Continue reading...
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Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:44:14 GMT |
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