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Showing posts from March, 2024
Ukraine-based groups claim raids into Russia
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Three Ukraine-based Russian paramilitary groups say they have crossed into Russia and are now fighting government troops there. The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and Siberian Battalion (SB) posted videos purportedly showing their fighters in Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions. The FRL and an exiled Russian politician claimed two villages were now in control of "liberation forces". Russia's defence ministry said the breakthrough attempts were thwarted. It claimed more than 234 Ukrainian troops had been killed and several tanks had been destroyed. Ukraine-based Russian armed groups claim raids into Russia 18 hours ago By Jaroslav Lukiv, BBC News Share Telegram/Freedom of Russia Legion An armed soldier in a video posted by the Freedom of Russia LegionTelegram/Freedom of Russia Legion The Freedom of Russia Legion said Russia must be "freed from Putin's dictatorship" Three Ukraine-based Russian paramilitary groups say they have crossed into Russia and are n...
Biden to send new $300m weapons package to Ukraine
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The US will send $300m (£234m) in military weapons to Ukraine, including ammunition, rockets and anti-aircraft missiles, the White House has said. The surprise announcement comes as a bill in Congress to send further aid to Ukraine stalls amid partisan debate. The US shipment, the first in nearly three months, is intended to prevent Ukraine from losing ground to Russia. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said this aid "is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine's battlefield needs". "This ammunition will keep Ukraine's guns firing for a period, but only a short period," Mr Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, adding that "it will not prevent Ukraine from running out of ammunition." The White House has been appealing to Congress for months to pass a budget that sends aid to Ukraine, as well as Israel and Taiwan. A $60bn aid bill has already passed the Senate, but has yet to face a vote in the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Mike Johns...
India to enforce migrant law that excludes Muslims
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India's government has announced plans to enact a controversial citizenship law that has been criticised for being anti-Muslim. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will allow non-Muslim religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to seek citizenship. The authorities say it will help those facing persecution. The law was passed in 2019 - sparking mass protests in which scores of people died and many more were arrested. Rules for it were not drawn up in the wake of the unrest but have now been, according to the country's home affairs minister Amit Shah. He made the announcement on Monday, writing on social media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries". Implementation of the CAA has been one of the key poll promises of Mr Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Pa...
Trial of British hedge fund trader accused of £1.4bn fraud begins
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The fraud trial of a British hedge fund trader renowned for throwing extravagant parties and hosting stars such as Elton John at charity concerts has begun. Sanjay Shah is one of nine British and US nationals accused of defrauding Denmark out of $1.8bn (£1.4bn) through major tax evasion and avoidance schemes. The so-called cum-ex schemes were designed to exploit weaknesses in national tax laws and focused on huge share trades, which were carried out with the sole purpose of generating multiple refunds of a tax that had only been paid once. Mr Shah, the founder of London-based hedge fund Solo Capital Partners, denies any wrongdoing. He has been held in custody in Denmark since being extradited to the country following his arrest in Dubai in 2022. Prosecutors alleged that Mr Shah, the main suspect in the case, fraudulently obtained a dividend tax refund from the Danish treasury via the trading schemes that flourished following the 2008 financial crisis, Reuters reported. So-called cum-ex...
Trump says a ban on TikTok would only help Facebook
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Former US President Donald Trump has criticised a congressional bill to force TikTok's parent company to sell the app or see it banned in the US. Mr Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 while in the White House, said the proposal would give unfair advantages to Facebook owner Meta. Lawmakers are debating a measure that would force TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell it by 30 September. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill if it passes. "Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people," Mr Trump told NBC on Monday. Asked about app's security, the Republican presidential candidate said "there's a lot of good and there's a lot of bad" with the social media platform. "There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it," Mr Trump added. He said he agreed with those who see TikTok as a national security th...
Protests at Holocaust museum as Israeli president visits
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India's government has announced plans to enact a controversial citizenship law that has been criticised for being anti-Muslim. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will allow non-Muslim religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to seek citizenship. The authorities say it will help those facing persecution. The law was passed in 2019 - sparking mass protests in which scores of people died and many more were arrested. Rules for it were not drawn up in the wake of the unrest but have now been, according to the country's home affairs minister Amit Shah. He made the announcement on Monday, writing on social media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries".
Hollywood stars head to Oscars red carpet on biggest film night of year
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Oppenheimer wins six awards as best picture to be announced 18,208 18,208 viewing this page With updates from Katie Razzall, Emma Saunders, Emma Vardy, Peter Bowes and Tom Brook in Los Angeles. Related Video and Audio VIDEO 33 SECONDSVIDEO 33 SECONDS0:33 Play video Watch: Stars dazzle on red carpet in Oscars arrival from BBCWatch: Stars dazzle on red carpet in Oscars arrival BBC Play video Watch: Stars dazzle on red carpet in Oscars arrival from BBC VIDEO 1 MINUTE 22 SECONDSVIDEO 1 MINUTE 22 SECONDS1:22 Play video The first Arab woman with two Oscar nominations from BBCThe first Arab woman with two Oscar nominations BBC Play video The first Arab woman with two Oscar nominations from BBC VIDEO 1 MINUTE 31 SECONDSVIDEO 1 MINUTE 31 SECONDS1:31 Play video Cate Blanchett: The New Boy co-star is 'a magnetic presence' from BBCCate Blanchett: The New Boy co-star is 'a magnetic presence' BBC Play video Cate Blanchett: The New Boy co-star is 'a magnetic presence' from BBC...
Ukraine hits back at Pope's 'white flag' comment
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Ukraine has strongly rejected a call by Pope Francis for Kyiv to negotiate an end to its war with Russia and have "the courage to raise the white flag". Ukraine's foreign minister says it will "never raise any other flags" than the country's blue and yellow colours. And the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the comments as "virtual mediation". A Vatican spokesman later said the Pope was speaking of stopping the fighting through negotiation, not capitulation. The interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, recorded in February, is scheduled to air on 20 March as part of a cultural programme. According to a transcript quoted by Reuters news agency, the Pope was asked to comment on a debate between those who want Ukraine to seek a settlement with Russia - or wave the "white flag", as the interviewer put it - and those who argue that doing so would legitimise aggression. The Pope was quoted as saying: "The strongest one is t...
Ros Atkins on... The German military intelligence leak
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This week, Germany faced uncomfortable questions after a security lapse allowed a top-secret military discussion to be intercepted - then made public by Russian state media. Officers from the German air force were heard talking about weapons aid to Ukraine, and the conversation also included sensitive details about UK military activities. Our analysis editor Ros Atkins explains.
Winnie the Pooh slasher movie named worst film
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This week, Germany faced uncomfortable questions after a security lapse allowed a top-secret military discussion to be intercepted - then made public by Russian state media. Officers from the German air force were heard talking about weapons aid to Ukraine, and the conversation also included sensitive details about UK military activities. Our analysis editor Ros Atkins explains. When it was released last year, the Pooh film received a string of downright awful reviews. The Guardian called it a "a terrifying combination of not-scary and not-funny" awarding it one star, while Empire said it was "the poorest writing and acting seen in a theatrically-released horror film in living memory". The movie won worst picture, worst screenplay, worst director and worst rip-off. Pooh and Piglet, depicted in the film as blood-thirsty killers, also won worst on-screen couple. But the negative reviews have not deterred director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who won worst director. He has a...
IDF says it fired at 'suspects' but not Gaza convoy
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An Israeli military report says troops did not fire at Palestinians around an aid convoy but at "suspects" nearby who they deemed a threat, during a deadly incident in Gaza last month. The findings follow an investigation into the events in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Palestinians accused Israel of shooting dead people at the convoy. Israel has said most were killed being trampled or run over by the convoy. The head of the UN, the EU and several countries have called for an independent investigation into the incident, which happened on 29 February at the Nabulsi roundabout on the south-western edge of Gaza City. In the early hours of that morning, a convoy of lorries transporting aid was surrounded by crowds of Palestinians just after it had passed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint. During chaotic scenes, shots were fired by soldiers and IDF surveillance footage showed lorries, which had briefly stop...
Hamas officials leave Gaza truce talks without deal
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A Hamas delegation has left talks in Cairo without a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but the armed group says indirect negotiations with Israel are not over. It had been hoped that a 40-day truce could be in place for the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan next week. With more signs of a famine looming, international pressure has only grown. But Egyptian and Qatari mediators have struggled to seal a deal that would see Hamas free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Israel did not send a delegation to Cairo, saying it first wanted a list of the surviving hostages who could be released under the agreement. A Hamas delegation has left talks in Cairo without a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but the armed group says indirect negotiations with Israel are not over. It had been hoped that a 40-day truce could be in place for the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan next week. With more signs of a famine looming, international pressure has only grown. But Egypt...
US to set up temporary port on Gaza coast for aid delivery
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President Joe Biden is to announce that the US military will construct a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the territory by sea, senior US officials say. The temporary port will increase the amount of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians by "hundreds of additional truckloads" per day, officials say. However it will not include US troops on the ground in Gaza, they said. The UN warns that a quarter of the population is on the brink of famine. The port will take "a number of weeks" to set up, the officials said, and will be able to receive large ships carrying food, water medicine, and temporary shelters. Initial shipments will arrive via Cyprus, where Israeli security inspections will take place. Mr Biden is due to make the announcement during his State of the Union address later. Israel's military launched an air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 others w...
German patient vaccinated against Covid 217 times
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A 62-year-old man from Germany has, against medical advice, been vaccinated 217 times against Covid, doctors report. The bizarre case is documented in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The shots were bought and given privately within the space of 29 months. The man appears to have suffered no ill effects, researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg say. 'Very interested' "We learned about his case via newspaper articles," Dr Kilian Schober, from the university's microbiology department, said. "We then contacted him and invited him to undergo various tests in Erlangen. He was very interested in doing so." The man provided fresh blood and saliva samples. The researchers also tested some frozen blood samples of his that had been stored in recent years. About Covid vaccination - NHS Dr Schober said: "We were able to take blood samples ourselves when the man received a further vaccination during the study at his own insistence. "We w...
Facebook and Instagram restored after outages
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People trying to log onto the websites and apps were finding error messages and were unable to refresh their feeds as normal. Meta also apologised to those who had been affected, saying it resolved the problem as quickly as it could. Tracking website Downdetector indicated the outages had affected multiple countries.
France makes abortion constitutional right
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France has become the first country in the world to explicitly include the right to abortion in its constitution. Parliamentarians voted to revise the country's 1958 constitution to enshrine women's "guaranteed freedom" to abort. The overwhelming 780-72 vote saw a standing ovation in the parliament in Versailles when the result was announced. President Emmanuel Macron described the move as "French pride" that had sent a "universal message". The right to abortion has been enshrined in law since 1975, but polls show around 85% of the public supported amending the constitution to explicitly protect the right to end a pregnancy. It becomes the 25th amendment to modern France's founding document, and the first since 2008. Before the vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told parliament that the right to abortion remained "in danger" and "at the mercy of decision makers". "We're sending a message to all women: your body belo...
Jack Teixeira: US airman pleads guilty to Pentagon documents leak
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An Air National Guard member has pleaded guilty to posting dozens of classified documents online in one of highest-profile intelligence leaks in recent years. Prosecutors recommend that Jack Teixeira, 22, be sentenced to up to 16 years and eight months in prison. While working at an Air National Guard base, he posted documents to Discord, a platform popular with gamers. The material included maps, satellite images and intelligence on US allies. Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of national defence information in a US federal court in Boston on Monday. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, under the details of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to ask for a term of 200 months in prison - which Teixeira has agreed not to contest. He will also be fined $50,000 (£39,000). Teixeira initially began sharing classified information in late 2022 to a small community of gun and military enthusiasts on a Discord server, or chatr...