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Little indication of a change of Kremlin personnel but Ukrainian president moves against personal protection head after assassination plotRussian forces tried to break through the border into Ukraine with sabotage groups as they stepped up shelling of Vovchansk town in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Kharkiv’s governor said on Friday.Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app that the attempts were repelled and Ukrainian forces...

The president is under pressure from Republicans and progressives as humanitarian crisis builds and immigration remains a key voter issueThe Biden administration has said its proposed changes to asylum standards, unveiled on Thursday, that would fast-track some deportation will enhance security and speed up a backlog of cases amid record numbers of arrivals at the US-Mexico border.The changes will also, by Biden’s own admission,...

Agency chief says compound has suffered a number of attacks with the lives of UN staff ‘at a serious risk’The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has temporarily closed its East Jerusalem headquarters after “Israeli extremists” set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks.“This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the Unrwa headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem,” the head...

Deep concern displaced people will return to rubble of former homes without ‘basic essentials necessary for life’Biden Israel weapons comments – latest updatesMore than 100,000 people have fled Rafah after Israel intensified its bombardment, UN officials have said, in the largest movement of population in Gaza for many months.Humanitarian officials are tracking the number of people fleeing Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, where...

Court says irregularities in Colombian singer’s 2018 tax return did not indicate intent to defraud A Spanish court has shelved an investigation into an alleged tax fraud by the Colombian pop star Shakira, putting an end to her legal woes in the country where she once lived.Prosecutors had opened the case in July, alleging she had used a network of companies, some in tax...

Victory Day event commemorating second world war highlights drain of Ukraine war on Russia’s militaryA solitary, symbolic tank has featured in Russia’s annual 9 May military parade for the second year in a row as the country was forced to pare down its normal display of military might during a full-scale war in which it has suffered unprecedented losses over the last two years.The...

In a crisis of her own making, Qu Jing also threatened Baidu staff who dared to question her management styleThe head of public relations at China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, has apologised after creating her own PR crisis with a series of videos glorifying the country’s work-till-you-drop culture.Qu Jing, who is also vice-president at the company, said she would not take responsibility for her...

Vladimir Putin marks second world war Victory Day as relations with west spiral towards crisisSouth Korea’s position remains it will not supply lethal weapons to any country, president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, when asked if Seoul was prepared to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.Yoon also said his government intended to continue managing relations with Moscow to “pursue economic cooperation and mutual...

Gabrielius Landsbergis also backs David Cameron and Emmanuel Macron on standing up to Putin Lithuania’s foreign minister has raised the prospect of an ad hoc coalition of western countries sending military training personnel into Ukraine backed by ground-based air defence, days after Russia took an increasingly strident tone against what it sees as the threat of deeper western involvement in the war.Speaking to the...

Patients said to have been moved on donkey carts from evacuated hospital, in situation described as ‘catastrophic’ Hospitals in Rafah risk being overwhelmed by a wave of sick and injured people if the fighting there intensifies and routes into Gaza remain impassible, doctors and medical officials in the city say.Medics and patients hastily evacuated the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, one of the few remaining...

As El Fasher stands on the ‘precipice of a massacre’, rights groups call for sanctions after new testimony describes atrocities carried out by RSF paramilitaries in SudanGruesome new testimony details one of the worst atrocities of the year-long Sudanese civil war – the large-scale massacre of civilians as they desperately tried to flee an ethnic rampage in Darfur last summer.Witnesses describe children, still alive,...

Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was at home in apartment when officers burst into wrong unit and shot him dead, family saysDeputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black US air force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man’s...

US president publicly warns that his administration will not provide the weapons for an offensive on RafahIsrael-Gaza war – live updatesJoe Biden has issued a blunt warning to Israel that his administration will stop supplying bombs and artillery shells if its military pushes ahead with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in what could mark the start of a turning point...

Far-right congresswoman booed on House floor before chamber votes 359-43 to kill proposal to remove Johnson from postThe House easily quashed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resolution to oust the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, on Wednesday, as members of both parties came together in a rare moment of bipartisanship to keep the chamber open for business.The vote on the motion to table Greene’s resolution was...

Five-day encampment in university grounds that caused the college major loss of income ended in victory for campaignersStudents at Trinity College Dublin have ended a five-day encampment after the university pledged to cut ties with Israeli companies.Student leaders claimed victory on Wednesday night for a US-style campaign that had disrupted the campus and blocked access to the Book of Kells. Continue reading...

Critics said proposal to build canal linking Atlantic and Pacific would endanger environment and rural communitiesNearly a decade after it broke ground on a controversial plan to build a canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific, Nicaragua has canceled a concession granted to a Chinese businessman to complete the project which critics said would endanger the environment and displace rural communities.Despite a symbolic “ground-breaking”...

The decision to place a weapons shipment on hold sends a message to Netanyahu that the US dog is beginning to regain control of its tailIn placing a hold on a shipment of US-made bombs to Israel, and warning there could be more restrictions to come, Joe Biden is sending a message to Benjamin Netanyahu that his administration is no longer prepared to be...

Activists call move ‘absurd’, as Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of President Museveni, is accused of torture and abusing criticsSenior British government officials have congratulated the newly appointed head of the Ugandan army, a man accused of torture, in a move that has been called “absurd” and “disappointing”.Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s new chief of defence forces and son of President Yoweri Museveni, received a congratulatory...

Urgent funding needed to help people return home as humanitarian crisis reaches critical levels, according to migration organisationThe number of African migrants stranded in Yemen, many of whom endure “horrifying and brutal” violence while trapped there, is reaching critical levels, according to international NGOs and civil society organisations based in the Arab state.The International Organization for Migration (IOM) put out a warning this week...

Climate chaos is threatening food production, trade and lives, says World Meteorological OrganizationHunger and disease are rising in Latin America after a year of record heat, floods and drought, a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has shown.The continent, which is trapped between the freakishly hot Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, probably suffered tens of thousands of climate-related deaths in 2023, at least $21bn...

Devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul state have about left 90 dead with survivors seeking food and shelterBrazil flooding death toll rises to 90Heavy rains that began last week have caused rivers to flood, inundating whole towns and destroying roads and bridges across the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.The local civil defence agency said the death toll had risen to...

Increase in cases reflects changing mood across continent towards Chinese threats, say expertsAs China’s president, Xi Jinping, arrived in Serbia for the second leg of his European tour, authorities across the continent were grappling with a wave of allegations about Chinese spying.On Tuesday, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, revealed that a “malign actor” had compromised British military payroll records, with reports pointing the...

Beijing joins France in urging Israel against Rafah offensive in latest effort to make its diplomatic markXi Jinping, sensing a diplomatic opening, is stepping up China’s intervention in the Middle East crisis, issuing a joint statement with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to urge Israel not to go ahead with an offensive in Rafah.The rare moment of Sino-European synergy is the latest effort by...

Many European diplomats avoid lavish ceremony amid war in Ukraine and his disputed landslide electionVladimir Putin has been sworn in for a new six-year presidential term. He is now making his inaugural address. There are a few colourful charecters at the ceremony, including American actor Steven Seagal.Alexander Zaldostanov also known as “Khirurg” (The Surgeon), a leader of the Night Wolves bikers’ club, is also...