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Twenty-nine-metre tall fir destined to be chopped down and transported to St Peter’s Square in the VaticanEnvironmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a...

Ukraine-born Nadezhda Buyanova was accused of referring to young patient’s late soldier father as ‘legitimate target’A Russian court has sentenced an elderly Moscow paediatrician to five and a half years in prison after the mother of one of her patients publicly denounced her for comments she allegedly made about Russian soldiers in Ukraine during a private consultation.Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, was accused in January by...

Man detained after incident on Monday night in Zhuhai, in which 35 people were killed and 43 injuredA driver killed 35 people and severely injured another 43 when he rammed his car into people exercising at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, police said on Tuesday.Police had detained a 62-year-old man at the sports centre in Zhuhai after the ramming...

Tehran cites 1888 charts in effort to prove ownership of islands near strait of Hormuz that are also claimed by UAEMaps drawn up more than 130 years ago on the instruction of the Marquess of Salisbury, the then British foreign secretary, have been cited by Iran in its deepening dispute with the Gulf states over the ownership of three strategic islands at the entrance...

Spirit Airlines flight heading from Florida to Port-au-Prince diverted to Dominican Republic after flight attendant was grazed by bullet, amid broader violence in Haiti’s capitalHaiti’s international airport shut down on Monday after gangs opened fire at a commercial flight landing in Port-Au-Prince, prompting some airlines to suspend operations as the country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.The Spirit...

It is estimated that Trump played hundreds of rounds of golf during his first term as president of the United StatesSouth Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is practising golf – for the first time in eight years – in preparation for future meetings with US president-elect Donald Trump, Yoon’s office has confirmed.South Korean media said Yoon had visited a golf course on Saturday for...

Tropical Storm Usagi is days away from making landfall, after Typhoon Toraji, Severe Tropical Storm Trami, Typhoon Yinxing and Super Typhoon Kong-reyThe Philippines issued new weather warnings on Tuesday as the fifth major storm in three weeks bore down on the archipelago, days after thousands were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Toraji.Now a weakened tropical storm, Toraji blew out to sea overnight after causing relatively...

Historic apology by PM Christopher Luxon comes after landmark report that exposed decades of abuse in state and faith-based care institutionsNew Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has formally apologised to the more than 200,000 children and adults who suffered “horrific” and “heartbreaking” abuse and neglect while in state and faith-based institutions.The historic apology follows a harrowing landmark report, released in July, which laid bare...

Ishiba’s governing coalition lost majority and needs to find new partner or get consent from opposition to enact policyJapan’s parliament re-elected the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, on Monday after his governing coalition suffered the worst election loss in more than a decade.Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its junior partner, Komeito, together lost their majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful...

President-elect completes clean sweep of seven battleground states; Republican representative defeats former Navajo Nation president for House seatThe Associated Press (AP) reports that three other US House races in Arizona were too early to call on Saturday, most notably the first and sixth congressional districts. Republican David Schweikert is seeking an eighth term in the affluent first congressional district that includes north Phoenix, Scottsdale,...

Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick is planning to stack the incoming White House staff with Trump loyalistsScrambling to construct an administration in the wake of his shock victory eight years ago, Donald Trump looked far beyond his inner circle, and those who ardently embraced his agenda. Not this time.The president-elect has charged Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend, and one of the few high-profile figures...

Director sets out to unmask the secret underwater agent known as Hvaldimir in new documentary When a white whale, mysteriously kitted out with covert surveillance equipment, was first spotted in icy waters around Norway five years ago it seemed like an improbable chapter from a spy thriller. But working out the true identity and secret objectives of this beluga, nicknamed Hvaldimir by the Norwegians,...

Calls for UK to work more closely with the EU on everything from defence and trade to immigration grow following Trump’s re-electionKeir Starmer’s government is coming under fire for having failed over more than four months to appoint new MPs and peers to a key EU-UK inter-parliamentary forum, as pressure grows for closer co-operation with the European Union after Donald’s Trump re-election to the...

Prince and Princess of Wales will join the king and senior politicians to remember those who have died in conflictKing Charles will lay wreaths at the Cenotaph and lead the nation in a two-minute silence at 11am to remember the dead who gave their lives in two world wars as well as those who have died in other conflicts involving British and Commonwealth forces.The...

A proposal to protect part of rural Wales has sparked a furious debate over who the countryside is forPlans to create a new Welsh national park stretching from the dunes of north-east Wales to the wild Berwyn mountains and the peaceful, wooded slopes of Lake Vyrnwy further south have captured the imagination of many ramblers, cyclists and other outdoor lovers.But the Welsh government’s proposals...

The region’s president responds to criticisms that he was slow to act by attacking the prime ministerThe sun still hadn’t risen on Tuesday 29 October when the mayor of Utiel, Ricardo Gabaldón, took another look at the warnings from Spain’s state meteorological office and ordered all the schools in the small Valencian town to close.“The warning early that morning – at 5am or 6am...

Businessman, who has mostly lived in US and only entered politics last year, left after party congress refused to consider his leadership candidacyStefanos Kasselakis, the Greek American shipping investor and former banker who burst into Greek politics over a year ago, has said he is leaving leftwing Syriza, the country’s main opposition party he had led, and forming his own.Kasselakis announced he was leaving...

Terra Verde’s contract demonstrates the ‘huge competitive interest’ from global construction companies, Jacinta Allan saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian government’s contentious Suburban Rail Loop “cannot be stopped” as a cloud hangs over the rollout of its new public transport ticket system.Global consortium Terra Verde has been awarded a $1.7bn...

Donald Trump now has what is expected to be a final total of 312 electoral college votes, with Kamala Harris securing 226Donald Trump has won the presidential election in Arizona, the Associated Press declared on Saturday, completing a clean sweep of all seven battleground states and locking in a decisive electoral college victory over the Democratic vice-president, Kamala Harris.Trump, who had secured the 270...

Premier says ‘misinformation’ and ‘fake news’ should not interfere with efforts to improve society, after opposition MP suggests talks being held in ‘secret’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has warned against “American-style division” surrounding the state’s nation-leading Indigenous treaty, ahead of negotiations beginning this month.The First Peoples’...

Sydney has a high chance of thunderstorms this week, while Melbourne can look forward to 30C weather on SaturdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe heatwave baking northern Australia with temperatures of up to 43C is expected to continue into next week, with southern parts of the country facing warm weather and...

New support service managed 339 cases of workplace wrongdoing in its first nine months, report showsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe health minister, Mark Butler, says Parliament House is still “an unsafe place to work” after figures revealed there were at least 30 instances of serious wrongdoing – including sexual assault...

With votes still being counted from general election, a win would be critical for Trump to advance agendaUS elections 2024 – live updatesRepublicans on Saturday appeared close to clinching control of the US House of Representatives, a critical element for Donald Trump to advance his agenda when the president-elect returns to the White House in January.With votes still being counted from the 5 November...

Thousands of people take to streets to protest threats to reproductive rights and pledges of mass deportationsProtests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election.Thousands of people in major cities including New York City and Seattle demonstrated against the former president and now president-elect amid his threats against reproductive...