~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (3326)

This live blog is closedSee all our Middle East coverageWe’ve launched video footage of the blasts and light flashes in Tehran early today and Iran’s air defences appearing to be at work. See here:Meanwhile in Gaza, many believe Israel’s new offensive in the north – along with a tightening of its siege – is following a blueprint for removing the remaining population. Continue reading...

At Kalamazoo event, former first lady and vice-president argue Trump has no credibility on women’s issues Michelle Obama laced into Donald Trump in a searing speech in Michigan on Saturday, accusing the former president of “gross incompetence” and having an “amoral character” while challenging hesitant Americans to choose Kamala Harris for US president.“By every measure, she has demonstrated that she’s ready,” the former first...

Obama urges crowd to ‘turn the page on the ugliness’ as Michigan voters pledge support for Trump because ‘he promised to end war’. This blog is now closed.At his rally in Novi, Donald Trump was joined on stage by leaders of the state’s Arab and Muslim communities.“We as Muslims stand with President Trump because he promises peace. He promises peace, not war. We are...

Heir to the throne responds to criticism about his Homewards programme in two-part ITV documentaryPrince William has said criticism about his privileged lifestyle and many residences drives him to try to end homelessness in Britain.The heir to the throne was challenged to respond to jibes about his three homes and 135,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall estate for a two-part ITV documentary airing this week. Continue...

Royal visits to resume in spring subject to doctors’ approval, official says as trip to Australia and Samoa concludesKing Charles will return to regular overseas trips next year after the hiatus from official foreign duties he has taken since his cancer diagnosis, a palace official said.Charles will fly abroad during the spring and autumn, the traditional periods for official overseas royal visits, provided that...

British capital may be second only to New York in the number of at-risk languages spoken, says Ross PerlinLife in London has been mapped according to its health, wealth, land ownership, politics and transport at key points in its long history. But it is now hoped it can be charted in a way that tells a different story: the story of language itself.Ross Perlin,...

Shigeru Ishiba may struggle to win majority, undermining his position as Liberal Democratic party leaderCitizens of Japan will be voting in the country’s tightest election in years on Sunday, with new prime minister Shigeru Ishiba and his juggernaut Liberal Democratic party (LDP) facing potentially their worst result since 2009.Opinion polls suggest the conservative LDP and its junior coalition partner may fall short of a...

Group commits to unspecified measures to enforce price cap on Russian exports in response to Ukraine warFinance ministers of the G7 nations vowed on Saturday to step up efforts to prevent Russia from evading sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.“We remain committed to taking further initiatives in response to oil price cap violations,” the group said in a statement after a meeting in...

Unidentified member of team who returned in SpaceX capsule from ISS had been kept for observationA Nasa astronaut who was briefly hospitalised after returning from space has been released, the space agency said Saturday.Nasa’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin, were flown to the hospital for additional medical checks on Friday after parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off...

Trump came across as old and unintelligent, but he was politically unscathed by a softball interviewIn an interview in which Donald Trump said that he wants to be “a whale psychologist”, made the case for replacing income tax with tariffs and praised Confederate general Robert E Lee as a “genius”, the most striking thing about the former president’s encounter with podcaster Joe Rogan wasn’t...

Iran’s military suggests it would prioritise an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and Lebanon over any retaliation The US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he hopes Israel’s latest strikes on Iran will mark the end of a months-long cycle of escalation, as his administration doubles down on efforts to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza and Lebanon. “I hope this is the...

Results with 70% of precincts counted give Georgian Dream majority in vote seen as crucial to possible EU membershipCalls for protests as ruling pro-Russia party declared winnerGeorgia’s ruling party is leading in a pivotal parliamentary election widely seen as a make-or-break vote for the country’s long-held aspiration for EU membership.Early official results, with 70% of precincts counted, showed the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party...

Face-to-face military confrontation on each other’s soil has now been normalisedFor years, Israel and Iran have waged a “shadow war”, attacking each other indirectly using proxy forces, assassinations, informants, spies and hybrid, non-military covert means. Now this undeclared, largely silent war is undisguisedly out in the open. It’s become a shooting war, it’s noisy, it’s escalating, and there’s no end in sight.This is not...

The government is facing calls to cease trading with DP World because of its partnership with Putin’s northern sea route Ministers are facing calls to review the UK’s financial ties to the multinational logistics company DP World over its business deals in Russia.The business announced a £1bn expansion of the London Gateway port earlier this month, despite a row over the transport secretary, Louise...

Rescue workers continue to search for missing after storm brings two months’ rainfall to some areas in 24 hoursThe number of dead and missing after tropical storm Trami caused extensive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has exceeded 100, as the president said many areas remained isolated.Trami blew away from the north-western Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 81 people dead and 34 others...

US and European states urge Tehran not to respond, while Middle Eastern countries condemn Israeli operationMiddle East crisis – live updatesWorld leaders have called for restraint after the first open Israeli airstrikes on Iran, after Tehran reiterated that it was “entitled and obligated to defend itself”.The Israeli air force struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air...

Repeated blackouts leave residents concerned about food, water supply and Cuba’s futureMaria Elena Cárdenas is 76 and lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street.“You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said....

Political elite under pressure from variety of sources, with US urging Iran to step back from the brinkMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Iranian government has belittled the scale and effectiveness of the Israeli attack on its military sites, but hardliners in the parliament insisted the strikes breached Iranian red lines and required a swift response, preferably at a time when Israel is already...

Voters will decide if Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, will secure another four-years, having shifted the country closer to RussiaGeorgians have headed to the polls in a pivotal parliamentary election that could determine whether Georgia shifts away from its long-held western orientations towards stronger ties with the Kremlin.Voters will decide on Saturday whether the Georgian Dream (GD) party, which has been in...

UK government stresses it does not pay reparations and said before Chogm summit that issue was not on agendaCommonwealth leaders have resolved that “the time has come” for a conversation on reparatory justice despite the UK’s insistence that the issue was not on their agenda.The language, agreed at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) on Saturday, is a blow to the UK, which...

Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, Botchwey supports calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism Commonwealth members have appointed Ghana’s foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, as the new secretary general, on the final day of the group’s summit in Samoa.Botchwey, a former lawmaker who has served as Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, has supported calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism – a...

Observers say country’s democracy at stake after Moscow-aligned ruling party’s threats to ban oppositionGeorgians are heading to polls in a critical election that could determine whether one of the once most pro-western former Soviet states will veer towards a more authoritarian, Russia-aligned path.For the past three decades, Georgia – a country of 3.6 million people nestled in the Caucasus mountains – has maintained strong...

Upgraded Triton Island outpost in the Paracel archipelago expands China’s surveillance capabilities in the regionThe Chinese military is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests.Analysis by Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island, on the south-west corner of the...

VP party holds Maduro regime responsible for death of Edwin Santos who had been picked up by security officialsA major Venezuelan opposition party has said that one of its activists was murdered this week after being detained by security officials in the western state of Apure.Edwin Santos “was murdered after being abducted by members of the state security forces” on Wednesday, Voluntad Popular (VP)...