General news

• Colombian narco militia seeks peace talks after calling ‘unilateral’ ceasefire

  08-08-2022 23:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Feared Gulf Clan has unleashed terror campaign since arrest of leader in May but keen to talk to leftist president Gustavo PetroOne of Colombia’s most feared armed groups has announced a “unilateral” ceasefire in the hopes of entering peace talks with the government of Colombia’s new leftist leader, Gustavo Petro.The Gulf Clan, a notorious drug-trafficking militia, has unleashed a campaign of terror following the May extradition to the US of its leader – Dairo Anton
  
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• WATCH: Children rescued from submerged vehicle amid Denver flooding

  08-08-2022 23:47 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Several children were rescued from a submerged vehicle in the middle of a Denver highway, as flash flooding slammed the area.
  
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• Manchester United: Marko Arnautovic interest 'a PR disaster', says Chris Sutton

  08-08-2022 23:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BBC pundit Chris Sutton says news of Manchester United's move for Marko Arnautovic is "a PR disaster".
  
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• WATCH: Gray whale sprays a 'rainbow' from blowhole

  08-08-2022 23:06 via abcnews.go.com
  
  A gray whale sprayed a “rainbow” from its blowhole, delighting onlookers in Washington state.
  
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• Ukraine round-up: Russia's tech weakness and latest fighting

  08-08-2022 22:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A study shows how Russian arms depend on Western components - and a nuclear plant remains a major concern.
  
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• CDC adds popular Middle Eastern destination and tiny Dutch island to 'high' risk category

  08-08-2022 22:50 via cnn.com
  
  A popular Middle Eastern destination and a tiny Dutch Caribbean island were added to the CDC's "high" risk category for travel on Monday.
  
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• Beyonce debuts remix of Madonna's 'Vogue' honoring Black icons

  08-08-2022 22:50 via cnn.com
  
  Beyoncé honors Black female icons in a new remix of "Break My Soul," which reimagines Madonna's "Vogue."
  
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• US Navy recovers jet blown off aircraft carrier from bottom of ocean

  08-08-2022 22:44 via cnn.com
  
  A US Navy team recovered a military jet from a depth of 9,500 feet in the Mediterranean Sea on August 3 after the aircraft had blown overboard during "unexpected heavy weather" in July, a release from US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said.
  
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• Birmingham expects surge of tourism following success of Commonwealth Games

  08-08-2022 22:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Event is on track to be most successful games in history with more than 1.5m tickets sold Birmingham is expecting a surge of tourists over the summer as the city’s reputation receives a boost from the Commonwealth Games, business leaders said as the 11-day sports event comes to a close.The event has been heralded as a roaring success for the Midlands city, with more than 1.5m tickets sold – making it on track to be one of the most successful Commonwealth Games in history. Continue re
  
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• Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crime

  08-08-2022 22:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Travis and Greg McMichael were also sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for the murderThe white father and son convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting after they chased him through a Georgia neighborhood were sentenced on Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.Travis McMichael, 36, and Greg McMichael, 66, received their sentences from US district court judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the port city of Brunswick. The punis
  
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• John Travolta pays tribute to Olivia Newton-John

  08-08-2022 22:39 via cnn.com
  
  Actor John Travolta, who co-starred with Olivia Newton-John in the hit movie musical "Grease," has posted a statement in tribute to the late singer.
  
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• Senior leader of Pakistani Taliban killed in IED attack, sources say

  08-08-2022 22:36 via cnn.com
  
  A senior founding leader of the Pakistani Taliban was killed Sunday night in a targeted attack, according to two sources within the group's leadership.
  
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• White House warns of ‘intensifying impacts of climate change’ as Biden tours flood-hit Kentucky – live

  08-08-2022 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  President and first lady to tour state in which 37 have diedSign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by emailOn Joe Biden’s visit to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky today he is not just viewing the effects through the lens of a disaster needing federal assistance but also through the lens of the climate crisis that is making events like this more intense, more common and more deadly, in America and around the world.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed th
  
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• Tech giant's new robotaxi with removable steering wheel not legal yet in China

  08-08-2022 22:20 via cnn.com
  
  Chinese tech giant Baidu revealed its plan to roll out Apollo RT6, an autonomous self-driving car with a detachable steering wheel, even though Chinese authorities haven't approved the concept yet. In August, Baidu obtained the first permits to operate fully driverless robotaxis in two cities in China.
  
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• Kookaburras rout India to continue hockey dominance as golden Games come to a close

  08-08-2022 22:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Australian men’s team trounce India 7-0 to claim gold medalAustralia end with 67 golds, 11 ahead of second-placed EnglandOn the opening night of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Eddie Ockenden marched into Alexander Stadium, carrying the Australian flag with the broadest of smiles. A distinguished servant of Australian hockey for 16 years, Ockenden was a popular choice for the honour. His excellence with the hockey stick and his humility away from the pitch were on display again on Monda
  
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• Gabby Petito’s family to file $50m wrongful death case against Utah police

  08-08-2022 22:20 via theguardian.com
  
  The lawsuit alleges that when officers stopped the couple on 12 August last year, they did not recognize that Petito was in dangerThe family of Gabby Petito announced plans to file a $50m wrongful death lawsuit against Utah police on Monday, claiming that officers in the small desert town of Moab, who stopped Petito and boyfriend Brian Laundrie last year, failed to recognize their daughter was in a domestic violence situation.The notice of a forthcoming claim alleges that when officers stopped t
  
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• Ahmaud Arbery: Three sentenced for hate crimes over jogger's murder

  08-08-2022 22:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The men - who are already serving life sentences for murder - are given additional federal sentences.
  
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• Looking back at Olivia Newton-John's iconic moments

  08-08-2022 22:13 via cnn.com
  
  Olivia Newton-John, the Australian singer whose breathy voice and wholesome beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the '70s and charmed generations of viewers in the blockbuster movie "Grease," has died, according to a statement from her husband. She was 73.
  
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• Russia halts US inspections of nuclear arsenal under New START treaty

  08-08-2022 22:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Russia "temporarily" suspends nuclear warhead inspections under the New START treaty with the US.
  
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• 'Suicidal' shelling around Ukrainian nuclear plant condemned

  08-08-2022 21:52 via cnn.com
  
  • LIVE: 'Huge consequences' for Ukraine and Europe if Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is compromised
  • In the trenches: Ukrainian defensive lines
  
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• Country pop to black spandex - the life of Olivia Newton-John

  08-08-2022 21:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Grammy award-winning singer found enduring fame in the film Grease.
  
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• Olivia Newton-John, star of Grease, dies aged 73

  08-08-2022 21:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Pop star best known for her role in the film musical devoted her later life to activism in support of cancer researchOlivia Newton-John, the musical star who found enduring fame for her leading role in the film Grease, has died aged 73. The news was confirmed by her husband.In a statement posted on social media, Olivia Newton-John’s widower John Easterling said: “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family
  
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• Judge authorizes warrant for US to seize Russian oligarch's $90 million private plane

  08-08-2022 21:28 via cnn.com
  
  US authorities have obtained a warrant to seize a Russian oligarch's private plane, valued at over $90 million, for violating US sanctions for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  
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• Liz Truss plans could cost £50bn a year, and will ‘fail to help poorest cope’

  08-08-2022 21:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Tory frontrunner says tax cuts and spending could cost £30bn, but analysis shows a much higher priceLiz Truss’s emergency tax and spending pledges could cost upwards of £50bn a year, with experts warning they will fail to help the worst-off deal with the rising cost of living.Truss, the strong favourite to be the next prime minister, has promised to cancel the national insurance rise, scrap a planned increase in corporation tax, spend more on defence, and remove green levies on
  
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• Coming crisis could soon undo any Tory truce on Trussonomics

  08-08-2022 21:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis: there are deep divisions among the party’s MPs about the leadership frontrunner’s spending promisesLiz Truss as prime minister will have to appeal to three very different constituencies. The first is Conservative members, a target audience that has been enthused by talk of tax cuts for both individuals and businesses, as well as cuts to Whitehall waste and a war against “woke”.When she turns to face the wider electorate, that message will need to change consider
  
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• Cuba: third oil tank ignites as firefighters struggle to extinguish blaze

  08-08-2022 20:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Mexico and Venezuela send crews to fight fire that has killed at least one and injured 125, with dozens of firefighters still missingA deadly fire that began at Cuba’s main oil terminal in Matanzas has spread after a third crude tank caught fire and collapsed as firefighters struggled to fight the massive blaze.At least one person has died and 125 are injured, with dozens of firefighters reported missing ever since lighting struck one of the facility’s eight tanks on Friday night. A
  
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• Plan to axe 91,000 civil servants ‘only possible with cuts to services’

  08-08-2022 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Review casts doubt on Boris Johnson’s claim that frontline services would not be harmedDoubts have been cast on claims by Boris Johnson that it will be possible to go ahead with plans to axe 91,000 civil servants “without harming” frontline services.The prime minister wrote in May to civil servants justifying plans for a reduction in headcount of almost 20%, saying the government must reduce its costs “just as many families are doing”. Continue reading...
  
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• Funerals and Islamic Jihad battle songs: Gaza after the ceasefire

  08-08-2022 20:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Many areas are still without water and electricity following three days of Israeli airstrikesIn Shujaiya, a neighbourhood of Gaza City already scarred by several rounds of war, men passed around coffee and dates under the shade of a colourful mourning tent while Palestinian Islamic Jihad battle songs blared from a sound system.Men carrying AK-47s, their faces shielded by black balaclavas, lined the entrance to the tent, and the militant group’s black and yellow flag flew overhead. Continue
  
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• Ed Davey calls for halt to energy price cap increase to avoid ‘catastrophe’

  08-08-2022 20:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Lib Dem leader says new PM should let government pay £36bn costin new ‘energy furlough scheme’Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak should cancel the £1,400 energy price cap increase in October in a new “energy furlough scheme” and government should absorb the £36bn cost of the hike, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.Ed Davey said neither candidate appeared to have any policies that grasped the magnitude of what could happen this autumn. “
  
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• EU team submit ‘final text’ at talks to salvage 2015 Iran nuclear deal

  08-08-2022 20:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Revival of agreement awaits ‘political decisions’ in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agree textThe European Union has submitted a “final text” at talks to salvage the 2015 deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.The revival of the agreement now awaits “political decisions” in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agreed the text thrashed out between Iranian and European representatives over the past five days was t
  
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• Mother dies in her sleep in front of children and husband on flight to UK

  08-08-2022 20:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Helen Rhodes was a ‘devoted wife and mother’ and ‘the glue that held her family together’, a friend saidA mother of two died in front of her children and husband after becoming unresponsive on a flight from Hong Kong to the UK.Helen Rhodes, who was flying back to the UK with her family after more than 15 years abroad, was found unresponsive hours into the flight on 5 August, her friend Jayne Jeje wrote in a Go Fund Me which has since raised more than £13,000. Contin
  
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• More than 60% of land in the European Union and UK is now experiencing drought conditions

  08-08-2022 20:00 via cnn.com
  
  Sixty-three percent of land in the European Union and United Kingdom -- an area nearly the same size as India -- is now under either drought warnings or alerts, according to data published by the European Drought Observatory on Wednesday.
  
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• 60% of European Union and UK land is now facing drought conditions

  08-08-2022 20:00 via cnn.com
  
  Sixty percent of land in the European Union and United Kingdom -- an area bigger than Alaska and Texas combined -- is under either drought warnings or alerts, according to the European Drought Observatory.
  
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• World Bank announces additional $4.5bn in Ukraine aid – as it happened

  08-08-2022 19:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Announcement brings financial aid from US to $8.5bn; Ukraine says staff at plant working under ‘barrel of Russian guns’ What we know on day 166 of the invasionOleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has said that two people were killed in shelling on the region in the last 24 hours. He claimed that overnight the roof of the administrative building in Kharkiv’s Kyiv district had caught fire due to the shelling. His message ended:As you can see, the Russians, because of their l
  
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• US news website Axios agrees $525m sale to Cox Enterprises

  08-08-2022 19:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Axios, whose founders launched site in 2016, to be taken over by legacy publisher that owns US regional newspapersFor $525m, Axios – publisher of punchy, notated news briefs – is set to be acquired by Cox Enterprises, a legacy publisher that owns a series of US regional newspapers.The cash deal, announced Monday, is expected to close in the next few weeks and marks a significant moment in the growth of the news outlet, which was founded in 2016 by the same journalists who launched Po
  
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• Why Hamas stayed out of the latest Gaza conflict

  08-08-2022 19:57 via cnn.com
  
  One of the most important aspects of the weekend's short but violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was what didn't happen: Hamas' involvement.
  
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• Canadian province declares emergency amid worst wildfires in over 50 years

  08-08-2022 19:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Blazes have consumed vast tracts of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador and remain out of controlOfficials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Final text' to revive Iran nuclear deal is ready

  08-08-2022 19:45 via cnn.com
  
  A "final text" to revive the Iran nuclear deal is ready to be signed in Vienna, according to the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. However, the text must still be approved by Iran and the US, he said on Monday.
  
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• State government ‘disappointed’ as Queensland real estate peak body urges skirting of new eviction laws

  08-08-2022 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Property managers are being advised to provide notices to leave when issuing fixed-term leasesGet our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastQueensland’s housing department says “best practice” advice given by the state’s peak real estate body that would see every renter issued with notice to leave at the start of their lease is “disappointing” and “not in the spirit” of rent reforms.But the tenants’ union is calling for
  
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• CSIRO researchers identify 139 new species, including an ant that ‘babysits’ caterpillars

  08-08-2022 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Other discoveries formally named and described include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frogGet our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastA blind cave-dwelling weevil, an ant that protects the caterpillars of one of Australia’s rarest butterflies, and the first millipede to actually have more than 1000 legs were among 139 new species described by scientists at CSIRO in the past year.Other discoveries formally named and described in sc
  
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• Bushfire recovery groups blindsided by reports Resilience NSW might be axed

  08-08-2022 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Community organisations in Cobargo say the agency, which has faced criticism, has done some good in protecting against firesGet our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastCommunity groups from a bushfire-ravaged village in the hinterland of the New South Wales south coast fear they will be abandoned amid reports the new government agency established to coordinate disaster recovery might be axed.But critics of the organisation, created in response to the Black Summer bushfire
  
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• Blackmores subsidiary kept selling pregnancy vitamins despite hundreds of complaints, ex-employee alleges

  08-08-2022 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Whistleblower says he was instructed to tell customers the products were safe to consume, despite lack of testing evidenceGet our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastA subsidiary of the supplements company Blackmores left a pregnancy multivitamin on shelves for nearly a year despite hundreds of complaints that it was contaminated with mould-like black spots, a former staff member has alleged.In a complaint to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Peter Ellis alleged FIT-B
  
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• Alex Jones' texts have been turned over to the January 6 committee, source says

  08-08-2022 19:29 via cnn.com
  
  Approximately two years' worth of text messages sent and received by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have been turned over to the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday.
  
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• Blinken Africa trip: The world should not dictate to the continent

  08-08-2022 19:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US's top diplomat is trying to curry favour amid growing influence from Russia and China.
  
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• Lars von Trier diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

  08-08-2022 19:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Danish director, who won Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark, said to be ‘in good spirits’Lars von Trier, the acclaimed and controversial Danish director, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his production company has announced. In a statement released on Monday, Zentropa – which von Trier co-founded in 1992 with producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen – said the director is in “good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms” while he complet
  
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• Friends start GoFundMe for woman who lost her home in Anne Heche car crash

  08-08-2022 19:17 via cnn.com
  
  The woman whose home was destroyed when Anne Heche crashed her car into it "narrowly escaped physical harm," according to friends.
  
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• Russia using Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as army base - Ukraine

  08-08-2022 19:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Officials say Russia has been launching artillery attacks from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
  
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• Billionaires are funding a massive treasure hunt in Greenland as ice vanishes

  08-08-2022 19:07 via cnn.com
  
  Some of the world's richest men are funding a massive treasure hunt, complete with helicopters and transmitters, on the Southwest coast of Greenland.
  
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• UK braces for even higher bills as Norway threatens electricity export cut

  08-08-2022 19:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Water levels in southern Norway so low domestic consumers may be prioritised over international customersBritish consumers could face even higher bills and potential energy shortages this winter after Norway threatened to ration electricity exports.The UK receives hydroelectric power from Norway through a subsea interconnector cable running beneath the North Sea. Continue reading...
  
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• Greek PM denies knowing about tapping of opponent’s phone

  08-08-2022 18:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Kyriakos Mitsotakis said eavesdropping on the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, was wrongThe Greek prime minister has attempted to douse a wiretapping scandal engulfing his government, claiming he had no idea the country’s socialist party leader was being monitored by intelligence services reporting directly to him.In an address to the nation on Monday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the phone tapping of the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, as a mistake that should never have occur
  
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