List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

India’s highest value banknote will be withdrawn in less than a week — and there’s still almost 240

President Emmanuel Macron said French troops will leave Niger by year’s end, bowing to the demands of a

Russia has weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation in Ukraine, a war crimes dossier is set to allege. Working alongside Ukraine’s public prosecutor, leading human rights lawyers are preparing a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The dossier will document examples of hunger being used as a “weapon” over the course of the 18 month war, with the evidence aiming to encourage the ICC to launch a prosecution that could see Vladimir Putin indicted. Amongst the incidents include the killing of 20 civilians in Chernihiv on 16 March 2022. Russian fragmentation bombs detonated outside a supermarket whilst Ukrainian locals queued for food, with the lawyers similarly focusing on the siege of Mariupol in which food supplies to the city were cut off. Humanitarian corridors were also suspended, making it increasingly difficult for relief to be distributed among starving survivors. In May 2018, the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed a unanimous resolution condemning the use of food insecurity and starvation as a war tactic. The resolution asked all parties in war to leave food stocks, farms, markets and other food distribution mechanisms intact, stating that “using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare may constitute a war crime.” Yousuf Khan, a senior lawyer with law firm Global Rights Compliance, told The Guardian “the weaponisation of food has taken place in three phases,” beginning with the initial invasion in February 2022 where supplies were cut across Ukrainian cities. Mr Khan said such attacks symbolise “not crimes of result but crimes of intent” as “if you are taking out objects that civilians need, like energy infrastructure in the dead of winter, there is a foreseeability to your actions.” Russia has also restricted the exports of Ukrainian food, with a further 270,000 tonnes destroyed between late July and early August. In September 2022, the UN food chief warned that the world is facing a “global emergency of unprecedented magnitude” over the impact of the war in Ukraine on food supplies, with up to 345 million people pushed towards starvation and 70 million pushed closer to it. David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council at the time: “What was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger.” Read More A Kremlin critic was transferred to a Siberian prison and placed in a 'punishment cell,' lawyer says Ukraine-Russia war - live: Kyiv launches second attack on Crimean city as Zelensky warned by Polish PM Russian airstrikes kill 2 and wound 3 in southern Ukraine as war enters 20th month The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Wales fans are elated as the team hammer Australia to march into the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

Mexico’s southern region is leading the country’s growth, at double the pace of the national level and fueled

Representative Matt Gaetz, a key Republican holdout on a stopgap spending measure, said he’s ready for a multiday

Senator Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat indicted on federal corruption charges, was urged to resign by Representative

Iowa has long been a proving ground for US presidential candidates. As Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis square

A man has died after being gored during a running of the bulls in eastern Spain, authorities said. The festival, organised in the town of Pobla de Farnals in the Valencia region on Saturday, attracts huge crowds and has seen a number of incidents involving spectators and participants being badly injured in recent years. The victim, whose identity has not been revealed, was gored in his side by a bull called Cocinero during the festival on Saturday and sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to the hospital but died soon after, officials said. This was the second injury reported during the festival this week alone. Earlier another man was also gored in the leg by the same bull. However, he survived the incident and was in a stable condition in hospital, officials said. The festival, where bulls are released into the streets and runners dash ahead of them, remains a controversial topic in Spain with activists saying it amounts to animal cruelty aside from the clear dangers to people involved. Festivals involving running of the bulls are nonetheless still widespread in Spain, with a survey by rights groups AnimaNaturalis and CAS International finding that more than 1,820 events take place across all Spanish municipalities every year. The most famous is held in the northern city of Pamplona in July. Despite the risks, the traditional runs remain popular with both locals and tourists and attract huge crowds. However, accidents are also frequent. Last year two men, aged 50 and 46, died after being violently struck by bulls in Valencia while a French tourist in his 60s sustained serious injuries. In 2015 two US citizens and a Briton were gored and eight others injured during a bull run during the San Fermin festival. Read More Fresh outrage in Spain as ‘wolf pack’ rapist’s sentence is reduced under botched law: ‘It’s a joke’ Woman claims she accidentally stabbed baby while aiming for dog who ate her chicken sandwich From an old-style Afghan camera, a new view of life under the Taliban emerges With temporary status for Venezuelans, the Biden administration turns to a familiar tool Spain women's coach set to speak on eve of Sweden game amid month-long crisis at Spanish federation Cave art dating back 24,000 years discovered in Spain

The United Auto Workers and Detroit’s Big Three can all notch wins in contract negotiations, with workers securing

The British government confirmed Sunday it may scrap a big chunk of an overdue and over-budget high-speed rail line once touted as a way to attract jobs and investment to northern England. British media reported that an announcement is expected this week that the line will end in Birmingham – 100 miles (160 kilometers) from London -- rather than further north in Manchester. The Conservative government insists no final decision has been made about the embattled High Speed 2 project. But Cabinet minister Grant Shapps said it was “proper and responsible” to reconsider a project whose costs have ballooned because of high inflation driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. “We’ve seen very, very high global inflation in a way that no government could have predicted,” said Shapps, a former transportation secretary who now serves as the U.K.'s defense minister. “It would be irresponsible to simply spend money, carry on as if nothing had changed,” he told the BBC. The projected cost of the line, once billed as Europe’s largest infrastructure project, was estimated at 33 billion pounds in 2011 and has soared to more than 100 billion pounds ($122 billion) by some estimates. HS2 is the U.K.’s second high-speed rail line, after the HS1 route that links London and the Channel Tunnel connecting England to France. With trains traveling at a top speed of around 250 m.p.h. (400 kph), the new railway was intended to slash journey times and increase capacity between London, the central England city of Birmingham and the northern cities of Manchester and Leeds. Though it drew opposition from environmentalists and lawmakers representing districts along the route, the project was touted as a way to strengthen the north’s creaky, overcrowded and unreliable train network. The government hailed it as a key plank in its plan to “level up” prosperity across the country. The north of England, which used to be Britain’s economic engine, saw industries such as coal, cotton and shipbuilding disappear in the last decades of the 20th century, as London and the south grew richer in an economy dominated by finance and services. The government canceled the Birmingham-to-Leeds leg of HS2 in 2021 but kept the plan to lay tracks on the 160 miles (260 km) between London and Manchester. Former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a longtime champion of the project, said cutting it back even further “makes no sense at all.” “It is no wonder that Chinese universities teach the constant cancellation of U..K infrastructure as an example of what is wrong with democracy,” Johnson said. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said people in northern England were “always treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transport.” “If they leave a situation where the southern half of the country is connected by modern high-speed lines, and the north of England is left with Victorian infrastructure, that is a recipe for the north-south divide to become a north-south chasm over the rest of this century,” Burnham, a member of the opposition Labour Party, told British TV channel Sky News. The government has also delayed work on bringing the line all the way to Euston station in central London. When it opens, some time between 2029 and 2033, trains will start and finish at Old Oak Common station in the city’s western suburbs. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that would create “a ridiculous situation where a ‘high speed’ journey between Birmingham and central London could take as long as the existing route, if not longer.” “The government’s approach to HS2 risks squandering the huge economic opportunity that it presents and turning it instead into a colossal waste of public money,” Khan said in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Shapps says HS2 cannot have ‘open-ended cheque’ as Sunak set to wield axe It would be ‘irresponsible’ to keep spending money on HS2, cabinet minister says How the timeline for banning petrol and diesel cars has shifted over the years

A popular rapper in France known as MHD has been given a 12-year jail term for the murder of a young man in Paris in 2018. The 29-year-old, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was found guilty of involvement in the gang-related murder of Loic K, 23, by a court in the capital. The rapper was charged with voluntary manslaughter in 2019 after the victim was knocked down by MHD’s Mercedes, then beaten and stabbed to death by a crowd of about 12 people. MHD was arrested on 15 January 2019 and two days later indicted and charged with second-degree murder. The rapper continued to plead his innocence up to and including on the day of his sentencing, according to the AFP news agency. “From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence in this case and I will continue to maintain my innocence,” he reportedly said. He was tried alongside eight co-defendants, out of which three were acquitted, while five others received sentences ranging from 10 to 18 years, according to The Guardian. MHD said he was never at the scene of the murder, arguing that the case against him was based on rumours. However, a video shot by a local resident showed a car during the incident which was later identified as belonging to MHD. Other witnesses identified him by his haircut and a jumper. The incident was earlier reported as a fight between two rival street gangs. Arguing his innocence, his lawyer cited his “lack of a judicial record” and affirmed he has “never been involved in fights between street gangs”. It was not immediately clear whether the rapper or others sentenced will challenge the decision. MHD is known for blending trap music with the music of West Africa in a genre he coined “Afro Trap”. He started his career at the age of 18 and soon rose to fame with his music videos on YouTube. Read More French activists protest racism and police brutality while officers are on guard for key events Security guard stabbed rapper to death at party attended by hundreds, jury hears Fans believe they’ve unearthed proof of Kim Kardashian’s Drake crush in new video Six young activists devote years to climate fight with 32 governments. Now comes their day in court Lots of dignitaries but no real fireworks as the Asian Games open French activists protest racism and police brutality while officers are on guard for key events