World news

• Peruvian police conduct drugs raid dressed as Santa Claus and elf

  16-12-2020 23:50 via independent.co.uk
  
  The festively themed officers broke into the suspected drug dealer’s home using a large hammer.
  
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• Snow storm tracking - live: Latest forecasts as NYC closes schools and East Coast braces for severe weather

  16-12-2020 23:34 via independent.co.uk
  
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• Texas AG announces multi-state lawsuit against Google

  16-12-2020 23:03 via independent.co.uk
  
  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a multistate lawsuit against Google for the online search giant’s alleged “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry
  
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• Snow storm tracking - live: de Blasio announces NYC school closures as East Coast braces for severe weather

  16-12-2020 22:31 via independent.co.uk
  
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• Nothing scares men more than a successful woman – it’s getting quite exhausting

  16-12-2020 22:30 via independent.co.uk
  
  After reading a sexist op-ed about Jill Biden in ‘The Wall Street Journal’, Holly Baxter is fed up of women being belittled by men who feel threatened
  
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• East Coast snow storm - live: Bill de Blasio announces school closures across New York City for Thursday

  16-12-2020 21:56 via independent.co.uk
  
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• Hiker dies after 80-foot fall at Grand Canyon National Park

  16-12-2020 21:45 via independent.co.uk
  
  Death comes after hiker fell while taking off-trail photos in July
  
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• US to announce new charges in 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing

  16-12-2020 21:34 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Justice Department expects to unseal charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people
  
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• Pornhub parent company faces $80m lawsuit for hosting videos of ‘trafficked’ women

  16-12-2020 21:31 via independent.co.uk
  
  The lawsuit comes days after Pornhub removed all of its unverified videos from the site
  
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• Historic Negro Leagues promoted to Major League status so players’ achievements will be officially recognised

  16-12-2020 21:24 via independent.co.uk
  
  MLB says move corrects ‘longtime oversight’ in game’s history
  
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• East Coast snow storm - live: Latest updates as NY and other states prepare for severe weather

  16-12-2020 21:22 via independent.co.uk
  
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• Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly assigned to monitor other inmates who may be suicidal

  16-12-2020 20:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  Her lawyers have requested that she be released to home confinement on $28.5m bail agreement
  
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• Pete Buttigieg says he feels 'eyes of history' on him as first LGBTQ+ cabinet pick – video

  16-12-2020 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Pete Buttigieg thanked Joe Biden as he was formally announced as his nominee for transportation secretary. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and Democratic presidential candidate, will be the first openly LGBTQ+ cabinet member in American history to be confirmed into post by the Senate, assuming he wins confirmation.US politics liveBiden taps Pete Buttigieg for transportation post and Jennifer Granholm for energy Continue reading...
  
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• US snow storm - live: Latest updates as NY and east coast hit by severe weather

  16-12-2020 20:47 via independent.co.uk
  
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• ‘The Nine Lives of Pakistan’: An elegantly crafted memoir of a gifted journalist

  16-12-2020 20:35 via independent.co.uk
  
  Bilal Qureshi writes that while ‘Nine Lives’ is by no means the definitive account of Pakistan after 9/11, it is unquestionably illuminating
  
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• Man indicted in alleged plot to stage 9/11-style attack

  16-12-2020 20:23 via independent.co.uk
  
  Cholo Abdi Abdullah was arrested in the Philippines in 2019
  
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• States declare emergency as biggest snowstorm in years rolls towards New York City

  16-12-2020 20:21 via independent.co.uk
  
  Two to three inches of snow will fall per hour
  
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• US angling to secure more of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine

  16-12-2020 20:05 via independent.co.uk
  
  U.S. officials say they’re actively negotiating for additional purchases of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine after passing up a chance to lock in a contract this summer because it was still unclear how well the shots would work
  
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• 'If not one thing, it's another': Northeast preps for storm

  16-12-2020 19:56 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Northeast is girding for a major snowstorm at a key moment in the coronavirus pandemic
  
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• Alaska healthcare worker has allergic reaction after taking Covid-19 vaccine

  16-12-2020 19:34 via independent.co.uk
  
  The person is reportedly still in the hospital as of Wednesday 
  
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• ‘I just miss all of that’: Germany’s historical Christmas markets are quiet this year

  16-12-2020 19:30 via independent.co.uk
  
  The ancient Christmas markets of Germany have long been a gathering place in the lead up to to the holidays, but this year the markets will be very quiet, and some will not open at all, writes Melissa Eddy
  
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• Turkish movie about ancient town flooded by dam wins EU film competition

  16-12-2020 19:14 via independent.co.uk
  
  The film tells the story of the ancient town of Hasankeyf
  
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• Chicago tried to block video of cops arresting and cuffing naked woman in bungled raid on her home

  16-12-2020 19:13 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘It was so traumatic to hear the thing that was hitting the door,’ says Anjanette Young
  
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• Charlie Hebdo trial: Paris gunman’s widow jailed in absence for 30 years as 13 others found guilty

  16-12-2020 18:44 via independent.co.uk
  
  Widow of gunman who killed five people convicted in absence after fleeing to Syria
  
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• Georgia man pleads guilty to lying to employer about Covid infection, costing them $100,000

  16-12-2020 18:21 via independent.co.uk
  
  The company spent $100,000 disinfecting its workspace and paying for employee salaries while they were home isolating
  
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• South Korea reports country’s highest number of new cases with fears of national lockdown

  16-12-2020 18:03 via independent.co.uk
  
  Prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, warned that a full lockdown could cause ‘irrevocable pain’ to the economy
  
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• Boris Johnson: it would be inhuman to cancel Christmas – video

  16-12-2020 18:02 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK prime minister insists he will not change plans to relax Covid rules around Christmas, despite a sharp rise in cases. Johnson instead urges Britons to exercise personal responsibility, minimise social contacts, and consider delaying seeing elderly relatives until they have been vaccinatedUK coronavirus liveUK to stick with relaxed Christmas Covid rules but nations split on guidanceWales imposes fresh Covid lockdown rules from Christmas Eve Continue reading...
  
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• Obama defends and clarifies stance on ‘defund the police’ slogan

  16-12-2020 18:01 via independent.co.uk
  
  Former president argues more people support policy if explained
  
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• Charlie Hebdo trial: 14 found guilty of being accomplices in 2015 terror attacks in Paris

  16-12-2020 17:38 via independent.co.uk
  
  A French court has found 14 people guilty of being accomplices of the extremist militants behind the January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris.
  
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• ‘What the hell, let’s have fun’: How the Indian wedding industry is adapting to coronavirus

  16-12-2020 17:04 via independent.co.uk
  
  Instead of 300 guests, Liza Maria ended up with 25, but while the wedding was smaller, it shone no less bright, writes Niha Masih
  
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• Prominent anti-government activist shot dead in Baghdad, reports say

  16-12-2020 16:53 via independent.co.uk
  
  Hundreds of people have been killed in protests since October 2019 
  
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• Komodo dragon seriously wounds worker building ‘Jurassic Park’ resort in Indonesia

  16-12-2020 16:49 via independent.co.uk
  
  Giant lizard ‘tore several parts of his body’, security chief says
  
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• Florida potentially ‘manipulated Covid-19 death data ahead of election’, report says

  16-12-2020 16:43 via independent.co.uk
  
  The South Florida Sun Sentinel found the state stopped logging backlogged deaths from 24 October to 17 November 
  
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• Russian FM dismisses media reports about Navalny poisoning

  16-12-2020 16:29 via independent.co.uk
  
  Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has brushed off media reports that there were several attempts to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and that Russia’s security forces might have orchestrated and carried out the poisoning
  
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• Mike Pompeo in quarantine after contact with Covid-positive person

  16-12-2020 16:24 via independent.co.uk
  
  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has gone into quarantine after reported contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, the State Department said in an announcement on Wednesday morning. 
  
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• New York City cathedral shooter ‘planned to take hostages’

  16-12-2020 15:56 via independent.co.uk
  
  Luis Vasquez allegedly wrote manifesto calling on US institutions to give money to Latin American countries
  
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• Covid: What is Europe doing for Christmas?

  16-12-2020 15:38 via independent.co.uk
  
  As European countries scramble to keep the virus under control, we outline what restrictions are in place for Christmas.
  
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• California orders thousands of body bags as it struggles to deal with mounting Covid death toll

  16-12-2020 15:35 via independent.co.uk
  
  'This is a deadly disease, a deadly pandemic, and we're in the middle of it right now,' says governor Gavin Newsom
  
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• Dutch further tighten lockdown amid anger at open stores

  16-12-2020 15:25 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Dutch government has tightened even further the strict five-week coronavirus lockdown that went into force this week, amid a backlash over some large stores remaining open
  
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• Foreign Muslims ‘scapegoated’ over Covid spread in India walk free as court throws out charges

  16-12-2020 15:01 via independent.co.uk
  
  Police had initially booked 952 foreign nationals for defying Covid-19 related guidelines; over 900 of them had pleaded guilty as a part of a plea bargain
  
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• Puppy saved from alligator honoured with ‘deputy dog’ by Florida Sheriff

  16-12-2020 14:59 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘I just wasn’t going to let him have my puppy for breakfast’
  
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• Police raid factory making counterfeit spices ‘out of donkey dung and acid’

  16-12-2020 14:30 via independent.co.uk
  
  Police find donkey dung, hay, inedible colours and drums full of acid in the factory during the raid
  
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• Erdogan: US aims to stymie growing Turkish defense industry

  16-12-2020 14:20 via independent.co.uk
  
  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is portraying U.S. sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian air defense system as an attempt to obstruct his country’s rising defense industry
  
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• Cocaine laden ghost boat washes up on remote Pacific island

  16-12-2020 14:16 via independent.co.uk
  
  Globally, cocaine manufacturing doubled in four years between 2014 and 2018
  
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• School girls lined up on knees in ‘patriarchal’ skirt length check

  16-12-2020 13:59 via independent.co.uk
  
  Over 150 parents took to social media in protest 
  
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• Paris city hall fined for hiring too many women

  16-12-2020 13:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘The management of the city hall has, all of a sudden, become far too feminist,’ Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said, mocking the fine
  
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• WHO urges Europeans to wear masks when meeting up for Christmas

  16-12-2020 13:23 via theguardian.com
  
  UN body also suggests gatherings should be ‘outside where possible’ to reduce Covid transmission riskCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEuropeans gathering for Christmas with their friends or families should try and celebrate outside or wear masks indoors in a well ventilated space, according to a new advisory issued by the World Health Organization.The advice, posted by the UN health body’s European region on its website, covers a variety of issu
  
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• Online incest porn is ‘normalising child abuse’, say charities

  16-12-2020 13:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Experts voice concern over growth of ‘deviant’ videos, including foster-child abuse fantasies, on Pornhub and other mainstream sitesGroups working on the frontline in the fight against child abuse in the UK have warned that an increase in abuse-themed pornography is “normalising” child abuse.Children’s charity Barnado’s said it is working with vulnerable children who are being put at risk by “deviant” pornography that fetishises fantasies of sex wi
  
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• Ella Kissi-Debrah: how a mother’s fight for justice may help prevent other air pollution deaths

  16-12-2020 13:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Landmark ruling that toxic fumes killed nine-year-old Londoner follows long campaign for truthUntil now, the statistics on air pollution deaths have been presented in black and white – numbers on a page that estimate between 28,000 and 36,000 people will die as a result of toxic air pollution every year in the UK.But the life and death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah is in full colour: from the pictures of her wearing her gymnastics leotard hung with medals, to the image of her mother a
  
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• Top 10 house parties in fiction | David Leavitt

  16-12-2020 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From Evelyn Waugh to Virginia Woolf and Sally Rooney, these novels offer masterclasses in dialogue-driven narrative
  For better or worse, I am a literary Anglophile. My mother was too. As a child I remember peeking over her shoulder at the novels she read after dinner: PG Wodehouse, Ngaio Marsh, all 12 volumes of Anthony Powell. It was with my mother that I first watched Upstairs, Downstairs — I was 10 at the time – and, through it, got an early glimpse of the house party, a phenomeno
  
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