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Stock market today: Global shares decline ahead of reports
Stock market today: Global shares decline ahead of reports
Global shares are mostly lower as investors take a wait-and-see view on the week ahead, including stubbornly high inflation across the economy
2023-05-09 16:46
State Department renews ban on use of US passports for travel to North Korea
State Department renews ban on use of US passports for travel to North Korea
The Biden administration is extending for another year a ban on the use of U.S. passports for travel to North Korea
2023-08-23 01:17
Putin could restart banned nuclear tests as Russian parliament ordered to review treaty
Putin could restart banned nuclear tests as Russian parliament ordered to review treaty
Vladimir Putin has given Russian lawmakers 10 days to find how best to revoke Moscow’s ratification of a critical nuclear treaty which bans Russia from testing atomic weapons shortly after he suggested the possibility of resuming such testing. The chair of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin and other parliament heads laid out a deadline for Russian lawmakers to study the de-ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) option until 18 October, a statement from the Duma read. Mr Volodin said revoking the ratification on testing nuclear weapons will be in Russia’s national interest as he discussed the matter with parliamentary leaders on Monday. If revoked, Russia will signal a warning to the US that Moscow can fundamentally change the assumptions of post-Cold War nuclear planning. This comes just four days after Mr Putin said that Russia’s nuclear doctrine – which determines the conditions in which he would press the nuclear button – did not need updating. But he added that Russia could look at revoking ratification of the significant nuclear treaty to bring it into line with the United States, which has signed but not ratified the pact. The US has previously said Russia’s pulling out from the treaty will endanger "the global norm" against nuclear test blasts. In a U-turn from Mr Putin’s remarks on Friday, his envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Moscow would revoke its ratification of the pact. Western security analysts have said such a step from Moscow will be a reminder that it still possesses the world’s largest nuclear arsenal at a time when it is locked in a standoff with the West over Ukraine. If Russia goes ahead with a nuclear test, it could encourage others such as the US or China to retaliate in a similar test and renew a fresh wave of nuclear arms race between the global superpowers. These nations have not carried out nuclear tests after the Soviet Union collapse in 1991. Russia’s actions have sparked concern, said Robert Floyd, head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization. He added that he is in touch with senior Russian officials to make the case for continued ratification, something he said was in the interest of humanity as a whole. Mr Floyd had requested a meeting with "key leaders" in Moscow as soon as possible, he said. "The CTBTO operates a global monitoring system which can detect a nuclear test explosion anytime, anywhere," he said in a statement. "Banning nuclear testing remains essential to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and to safeguarding current and future generations from the harmful effects of explosive nuclear testing." The de-ratification move can take “Russia and the world backward to a dangerous era of tit-for-tat nuclear threats”, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: It is in Russia’s interests to inflame war in the Middle East, says Zelensky Russia reports coolant leak in backup line at space station and says crew not in danger Ukraine advances in east and south with more ‘partial success’ even as rain muddies battlefield Ukraine repels Russian attacks on five fronts as Putin resorts to old weaponry and reserves Satellite images show spike in border activity as North Korea ‘supplies weapons to Russia’ for Ukraine war
2023-10-10 14:19
Who is Martin Scorsese calls Michael J Fox a 'guiding light' for supporting wife Helen Morris through battle with Parkinson's
Who is Martin Scorsese calls Michael J Fox a 'guiding light' for supporting wife Helen Morris through battle with Parkinson's
Martin Scorsese opened up about the personal impact that Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s advocacy has had on his own life
2023-06-08 16:17
US will regulate nursing home staffing for first time, but proposal lower than many advocates hoped
US will regulate nursing home staffing for first time, but proposal lower than many advocates hoped
An association that lobbies for health care facilities says President Joe Biden’s decision to require nursing homes to comply with federal rules on staffing levels will cost them billions of dollars
2023-09-01 23:51
China doesn’t want a trade war with the US but will retaliate against further curbs, ambassador says
China doesn’t want a trade war with the US but will retaliate against further curbs, ambassador says
China's ambassador to the United States says it does not want a trade war but will retaliate against any further U.S. restrictions on technology and trade
2023-07-20 18:16
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives in China on first visit since the beginning of war in Syria
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives in China on first visit since the beginning of war in Syria
Chinese state media says Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived in China on his first visit to the country since the start of Syria’s 12-year conflict
2023-09-21 13:58
Harris, DeSantis and Giuliani are among politicians marking Sept. 11 terror attacks at ground zero
Harris, DeSantis and Giuliani are among politicians marking Sept. 11 terror attacks at ground zero
Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined New York politicians and mourners at a 9/11 memorial ceremony at ground zero Monday
2023-09-12 05:56
Obama agreed to $2.1 trillion in spending cuts to end 2011 debt ceiling crisis. Here's what happened next.
Obama agreed to $2.1 trillion in spending cuts to end 2011 debt ceiling crisis. Here's what happened next.
The nation is days away from defaulting on its obligations. The Republican House speaker, pushed by conservatives in his party, demands deep spending cuts. The president, a Democrat, works on negotiating a package to avert a fiscal calamity.
2023-05-30 21:23
Khalid Latif: Cricketer sentenced over Dutch MP Geert Wilders murder threat
Khalid Latif: Cricketer sentenced over Dutch MP Geert Wilders murder threat
It is thought unlikely ex-Pakistan international Khalid Latif will serve any time in jail.
2023-09-11 22:28
Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ removed from post – having not been seen in public since Wagner mutiny
Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ removed from post – having not been seen in public since Wagner mutiny
A military commander dubbed “General Armageddon” for his brutality during Syria’s civil war has been removed as the head of Russia’s air force, having not been seen in public since the mutiny by Wagner mercenaries against Moscow at the end of June. Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia’s troops in Ukraine who was previously awarded his nation’s top military honour, has not been publicly sacked – but state media has published sources confirming the move. He was given his moniker in recognition of the brutal tactics he deployed in Syria’s civil war, and was regarded as one of Russia’s most effective commanders. General Surovikin – who is believed to have close ties to Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin – was the most senior military figure to lose his position over the attempted uprising, which took place over a 24-hour period from 23 to 24 June. Russian president Vladimir Putin reacted with fury to the mutiny, which saw Mr Prigrozhin’s forces attempt to march on Moscow in protest at the way in which Moscow’s military top brass were handling the invasion of Ukraine. President Putin said that the revolt – the most significant threat to his leadership in years – could have tipped Russia into civil war. The march on Moscow was eventually halted about 125 miles outside the capital after a deal was brokered between Mr Prigozhin and the Kremlin via Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. The terms of the arrangement allowed for the Wagner founder and some of his troops to decamp to Belarus and leave combat operations in Ukraine, where they had been involved in some of the fiercest fighting seen in the war so far. Mr Prigozhin has been photographed in St Petersburg and Belarus in recent weeks, and posted a video on Monday that he suggested had been shot in Africa, one of Wagner’s other theatres of combat. The two men Mr Prigozhin had wanted to topple – defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff – remain in their posts. General Surovikin’s last public appearance was on 24 June, when he appeared in what looked like a carefully stage-managed video. Visibly strained and without insignia, he urged Mr Prigozhin to abandon his march on Moscow. Since that day, speculation has been rampant about General Surovikin’s fate. Some Russian news outlets and sources have said that the general, who was often publicly praised by Mr Prigozhin in the run-up to the revolt, was being questioned over possible complicity, and that he was potentially being held under house arrest. General Surovikin’s daughter told the Russian social media channel Baza in late June that her father had not been arrested. US officials have previously told American media that General Surovikin was supportive of Mr Prigozhin, but that Western intelligence did not know with certainty whether he had helped the rebellion in any way. Of the latest move, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing an anonymous source, reported that General Surovikin had been replaced as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces by Colonel General Viktor Afzalov, who heads the main staff of the air force. The agency frequently represents the official position of the Kremlin, through reports citing anonymous officials in Russia’s defence and security establishment. The RBC newspaper reported a defence personnel source saying: “Army General Sergei Surovikin has been relieved of his position in connection with his transfer to a different role ... He is currently on a short holiday.” The television personality Ksenia Sobchak, who is the daughter of a politician with links to Mr Putin, suggested that General Surovikin had not been in touch with his relatives. “They say that he was relieved of his post on 18 August by way of closed decree. The family still has had no contact with him,” she wrote on Telegram. General Surovikin was placed in charge of Russian military operations in Ukraine last October, but in January that role was handed to General Gerasimov while General Surovikin was made a deputy. News of the dismissal of General Surovikin came as another drone attack targeted Moscow, believed to be the sixth such assault in a week. The Ukrainian intelligence agency also claimed it had destroyed a key S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system in Russian-occupied Crimea. Such a loss would be another embarrassing blow for the Kremlin, as Ukraine increasingly targets Russia’s assets far behind the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine. Speaking about the drone attack on the Russian capital, Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that one drone had smashed into a building under construction in Moscow City, a prestigious business complex that has been hit by drones twice before. Several windows were broken in two buildings nearby, and emergency services responded to the incident. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have downed all of the drones in Moscow and the surrounding area. Earlier, a three-hour night-time drone attack by Russia in Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa overnight on Tuesday caused a blaze at grain facilities, according to the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper. Elsewhere, a Russian drone attack on the city of Romny in northeastern Ukraine struck a local school, killing the principal, his deputy, a secretary and the school librarian, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Three people were also killed in the Belgorod region of Russia on the Ukrainian border during the repeated shelling of a sanatorium, according to the region’s governor. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dies in plane crash’ Russia's 'General Armageddon' reportedly dismissed after vanishing in wake of Wagner uprising Wagner chief Prigozhin reappears in first video after mutiny - and he’s recruiting
2023-08-24 01:19
First on CNN: Biden wades into GOP primary with $25 million ad blitz, starting with economy focus
First on CNN: Biden wades into GOP primary with $25 million ad blitz, starting with economy focus
President Joe Biden is preparing to blanket the airwaves with a $25 million television and digital ad campaign in battleground states this month, campaign officials told CNN, as Republicans are set to face off in their first presidential primary debate.
2023-08-20 19:19