General news

• Australia news live: Sussan Ley stands by Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare calls ‘grubby’; Victorian Labor senator Linda White dies

  29-02-2024 23:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Deputy opposition leader defends herself and labels immigration minister ‘hopeless’; White dies after health battle. Follow the day’s news liveGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastSussan Ley stands by Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare calls ‘grubby’Both sides of politics are pulling out all the stops as the Dunkley byelection goes down to the wire.You should delete the tweet… This is a classic example of why women a
  
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• Media outlets call for protection of journalists working in Gaza

  29-02-2024 23:56 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 30 news organisations sign open letter demanding freedom to report conflict in safetyMore than 30 news organisations have signed an open letter expressing solidarity with journalists working in Gaza and calling for their protection and freedom to report.The letter, coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists, was signed by global news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters, as well as other leading media outlets including the Guardian, the New York Times, BBC News and Israel’s Haar
  
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• Biden asks Trump to urge Congress to pass bipartisan border security bill

  29-02-2024 23:24 via nbcnews.com
  President Joe Biden urged former President Donald Trump to encourage Congress to pass the bipartisan border security bill. “We can do it together,” said Biden. 
  
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• Australia news live: Sussan Ley stands by Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare calls ‘grubby’; TGA moves to ban Ozempic copies

  29-02-2024 23:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Deputy opposition leader defends herself and labels immigration minister ‘hopeless’. Follow the day’s news liveGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastSussan Ley stands by Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare calls ‘grubby’Both sides of politics are pulling out all the stops as the Dunkley byelection goes down to the wire.You should delete the tweet… This is a classic example of why women aren’t joining the Liberal
  
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• University of Iowa's Caitlin Clark says she will enter the 2024 WNBA draft

  29-02-2024 23:10 via nbcnews.com
  
  University of Iowa women's basketball all-star Caitlin Clark is moving on from college hoops and will be entering the 2024 WNBA draft.
  
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• Three men named John: Senators begin jockeying to replace Mitch McConnell

  29-02-2024 23:04 via nbcnews.com
  
  Who will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader? Three men named John — Sens. Barrasso, Thune and Cornyn — are the frontrunners.
  
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• Polls close in Rochdale byelection with George Galloway favourite to win seat

  29-02-2024 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Former Labour MP could take seat from party after it pulled support for its candidate over Israel remarksThe polls have closed in the Rochdale byelection after a chaotic race that dominated headlines, driven by conversations around the Israel-Gaza conflict.The favourite to win is the former Labour MP George Galloway, standing as the candidate for the Workers Party of Britain. He has also been a Respect party MP, and a Rochdale win would mean a fourth seat in parliament for Galloway since 1987. C
  
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• Bitcoin is surging. Here's why.

  29-02-2024 22:53
  
  Bitcoin has climbed more than 20% over the past four days.
  
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• Texas wildfires cause chaos as largest blaze in state history scorches 1.2m acres

  29-02-2024 22:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Governor issues disaster declaration as emergency crews work to contain dozens of wildfires burning across Texas PanhandleDozens of wildfires are causing chaos across the Texas Panhandle as the Smokehouse Creek fire – now the largest blaze in state history – grew to more than 1 million acres on Thursday, even as a dusting of snow brought a measure of relief.Fueled by parched grasses, strong winds and abnormally warm temperatures, the fires have scorched more than 1.2 million acres si
  
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• City discovers migrants being housed illegally in furniture store

  29-02-2024 22:26
  
  A Bronx furniture store where people were being illegally housed has been vacated by the city after people were found in unsafe living conditions.
  
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• Over 3,000 stranded as boat captain arrests halt Darién Gap migration

  29-02-2024 22:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Attempt to stop movement through perilous rainforest leaves people stuck in two remote Caribbean townsMigration towards the US through a perilous but increasingly well-trodden rainforest border crossing has ground to a halt after the Colombian navy arrested two boat captains for trafficking migrants.But the attempt to stop movement through the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama has left more than 3,000 people stranded in two remote Caribbean towns, where officials fear the bottleneck
  
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• Alabama legislature passes bill aiming to protect IVF after embryo ruling

  29-02-2024 22:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Measure intends to provide legal protection to clinics after state’s supreme court ruled embryos were ‘extrauterine children’Alabama lawmakers moved to protect in vitro fertilization treatments in the state, days after a state judicial ruling on embryos led to clinics that offered the reproductive technique to suspend services.Alabama’s house and senate both passed a measure Thursday intended to provide legal protections to IVF clinics, a temporary fix to problems created
  
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• Child asylum seekers in UK made to play game about who gets foster care places

  29-02-2024 22:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Home Office inquiry opens after ‘insensitive, upsetting’ treatment of children in hotel, who had to guess who would be next to leaveThe Home Office has launched an inquiry after staff made unaccompanied asylum-seeking children play a game in which they had to guess who would be the next one to be placed in foster care, a watchdog’s report has disclosed.The report, one of 13 written by the borders inspectorate and released on Thursday, also found that agency workers employed to
  
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• Death row inmate exonerated 30 years after 1994 arson murder

  29-02-2024 22:13
  
  The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office found "critical" flaws in the 1994 first-degree murder investigation.
  
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• Devastating report lays bare police failings over Sarah Everard’s killer

  29-02-2024 22:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Inquiry into serial sexual offender Wayne Couzens outlines multiple failings by police forcesThe full extent of Wayne Couzens’ alleged offending was laid bare in a devastating official report that revealed accusations of serial sexual abuse including rapes, before he used his status as a police officer to kidnap and murder Sarah Everard.His alleged offending going back nearly 20 years, included two allegations of rape, sexually assaulting a girl, barely in her teens, and several incidents
  
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• FBI raids home of NYC Mayor Eric Adams' aide

  29-02-2024 22:05
  
  Federal authorities have been investigating the mayor's fundraising, ABC has previously reported.
  
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• Wavering Black voters: Biden is flawed — and Trump is unacceptable

  29-02-2024 22:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  A new focus group of Black voters in North Carolina who could be up for grabs in 2024 shows them largely dissatisfied with Biden — but repelled by Trump.
  
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• Rachel Leviss from 'Vanderpump Rules' sues Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, alleges revenge porn

  29-02-2024 21:57 via nbcnews.com
  
  One-time “Vanderpump Rules” star Rachel Leviss filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix of revenge porn in the "Scandoval" saga.
  
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• Questions raised about whether GPs will be ready for influx of people seeking vaping prescriptions

  29-02-2024 21:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Doctors admit helping patients quit vaping is a ‘new experience’ ahead of a near-total ban coming into force on 1 JulyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastGPs are preparing for a rush of patients seeking prescriptions for vapes or help to give up smoking, with a peak doctors’ lobby admitting it is a “new experience” for some medical experts before new government vaping crackdow
  
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• Canada lawyer under fire for submitting fake cases created by AI chatbot

  29-02-2024 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Chong Ke, from Vancouver, under investigation after allegedly using ChatGPT to cite case law – but those cases did not existA lawyer in Canada is under fire after the artificial intelligence chatbot use she used for legal research created “fictitious” cases, in the latest episode to expose the perils of using untested technologies in the courtroom.The Vancouver lawyer Chong Ke, who now faces an investigation into her conduct, allegedly used ChatGPT to develop legal submissions
  
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• Seven police officers under watchdog investigation over fatal Cardiff car crash

  29-02-2024 21:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Gwent police officers being investigated after incident in which three friends died and two others were trapped for almost 48 hoursA police watchdog is investigating seven officers over a car crash in which three friends died and two others were trapped for almost 48 hours.The Gwent police officers are being investigated over how missing person reports were handled, how they dealt with family members, how searches were carried out and for remarks made at the scene of the crash. One officer is un
  
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• Humpback whales photographed having sex — and gay sex — for the first time

  29-02-2024 21:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  Photographers have captured two male humpback whales having gay sex in what experts say is the first time the species has been documented exhibiting any sexual activity.
  
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• Argentine Jewish community recounts deadly 1994 bombing in midst of Israel-Hamas war

  29-02-2024 20:58 via foxnews.com
  
  On Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked numerous targets in Israel, killing hundreds and abducting others, Marina Degtiar felt she had traveled back in time, to July 18, 1994.What happened in Buenos Aires 30 years ago broke her apart. A bomb-laden van exploded inside a Jewish community center where her 21-year-old brother Cristian worked.It was the worst such attack in Argentina’s history, killing 85 — Degtiar´s brother among them — and injuring 300.ARGENTINA'S MAVERICK
  
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• ‘One of the most racist things he’s ever said’: Black voters react to Trump comments

  29-02-2024 20:54 via nbcnews.com
  In a focus group produced with Engagious, Syracuse University and Sago as part of the NBC News Deciders Focus Group series., Black voters in North Carolina, who say they are disinclined to vote for both President Biden and former President Trump in the 2024 general election, react to recent comments Trump made in front of a Black conservative audience.
  
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• Court orders maker of Pegasus spyware to hand over code to WhatsApp

  29-02-2024 20:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Israeli company NSO Group is accused in lawsuit by Meta’s messaging app of spying on 1,400 users over a two-week periodNSO Group, the maker of one the world’s most sophisticated cyber weapons, has been ordered by a US court to hand its code for Pegasus and other spyware products to WhatsApp as part of the company’s ongoing litigation.The decision by Judge Phyllis Hamilton is a major legal victory for WhatsApp, the Meta-owned communication app which has been embroiled in a lawsu
  
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• Ministry of Defence seeks £3.2bn as costs overrun in Yemen and Ukraine

  29-02-2024 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Grant Shapps tells MPs his department’s spending exceeded its allocation in last year’s budget in light of unstable global situationThe Ministry of Defence has said it had to seek an emergency cash payment of £3.2bn because operational costs overran after military operations in Yemen and the Red Sea – alongside Britain’s continued support of Ukraine.Grant Shapps told MPs the MoD’s “cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided” in last year&r
  
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• Prominent opposition leader killed in attack he led against Chad's security agency

  29-02-2024 20:44 via foxnews.com
  
  An opposition leader in Chad was among several people killed as he led an attack on the national security agency in the country's capital this week, the state prosecutor said Thursday.The attack underscored the tenuous situation in the central African country of Chad ahead of a presidential election scheduled for May 6.The killed leader, Yaya Dillo, was the current president’s cousin and a strong contender in the upcoming election. He headed the Socialist Party Without Borders, which was b
  
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• Ghana's LGBTQ crackdown draws ire of UN, international rights groups

  29-02-2024 20:42 via foxnews.com
  
  A bill which criminalizes LGBTQ+ people in Ghana and their supporters drew international condemnation Thursday after it was passed by parliament, with the United Nations calling it "profoundly disturbing" and urging for it not to become law.In a statement, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner, said the bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people simply for being who they are, and threatens crim
  
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• Belarus to consider ban on promoting homosexuality

  29-02-2024 20:40 via foxnews.com
  
  A bill in Belarus that would outlaw the promotion of homosexuality and other behavior is set to land on lawmakers' desks amid an unwavering crackdown on dissent initiated by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said Thursday the proposed legislation establishes administrative liability for anyone promoting "abnormal relationships, pedophilia (and) voluntary refusal to have children." He didn't elaborate or discuss what the potential punishments wou
  
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• Mississippi families honor recently identified Black soldiers at Civil War battlefield

  29-02-2024 20:35 via foxnews.com
  
  Thelma Sims Dukes grew up during the 1940s and ‘50s in a segregated Mississippi town steeped in Civil War history.As a small Black girl, she would walk to school through Vicksburg National Military Park — the hilly battlefield where Union and Confederate soldiers fought and died over whether the U.S. would continue allowing slavery in the South.Union forces won a pivotal campaign to capture the town of Vicksburg and gain control of the Mississippi River in 1863, hastening the war's e
  
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• Russian journalist fined for criticizing army

  29-02-2024 20:34 via foxnews.com
  
  Russian authorities on Thursday fined journalist Sergei Sokolov, the editor of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, for discrediting the army after detaining him, his newspaper reported.Sokolov said he did not agree with the charge against him.The case stemmed from an article published in Novaya Gazeta in December 2023 entitled "Nobody's boys" about Russians orphans who signed army contracts to fight in Ukraine, the official Telegram channel for Moscow's court system said.PUTIN ISSUES CHILLING W
  
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• US House passes temporary funding bill to avert government shutdown

  29-02-2024 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Passage of bill comes after congressional leaders from both parties announced agreement on WednesdayThe House has passed a short-term funding bill, narrowly averting a partial government shutdown that would have taken place this weekend.The bill passed with a 320-99 vote on Thursday afternoon. Among Republicans, 113 voted yes and 97 voted no. Meanwhile, 207 Democrats voted yes and 2 voted against it. Continue reading...
  
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• Revealed: the names linked to ClothOff, the deepfake pornography app

  29-02-2024 20:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Guardian investigation for podcast series Black Box reveals names connected to app that generated nonconsensual images of underage girls around the worldPrologue: the collision – podcastThe first Miriam al-Adib learned of the pictures was when she returned home from a business trip. “Mum,” said her daughter. “I want to show you something.”The girl, 14, opened her phone to show an explicit image of herself. “It’s a shock when you see it,”
  
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• Middle East crisis: Biden says killing of more than 100 Palestinians near aid trucks will complicate ceasefire talks – as it happened

  29-02-2024 20:27 via theguardian.com
  
  This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Israel-Gaza war, read our most recent report:112 dead after Israeli troops opened fire near aid trucks, say Gaza officialsSee all of our coverage on the Israel-Gaza warCNN are reporting that concern is rising among Biden officials that Israel may launch an incursion into Lebanon.In a politics piece published on its website on Thursday, CNN cite US administration and intelligence officials as being “concerned that Israel is planning a grou
  
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• 112 dead in chaotic scenes as Israeli troops open fire near aid trucks, say Gaza officials

  29-02-2024 20:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Israeli military denies shooting into large crowds of hungry people and says most were killed in crush or run over trying to escapeMore than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered round aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was likely to complicate ceasefire talks.There were starkly different accounts of how the victims died in the chaos that
  
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• 112 dead after Israeli troops opened fire near aid trucks, say Gaza officials

  29-02-2024 20:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Israeli military denies shooting into large crowds of hungry people and says most were killed in crush or run over trying to escapeMore than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered round aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was likely to complicate ceasefire talks.There were starkly different accounts of how the victims died in the chaos that
  
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• Scientist fed classified information to China, says Canada intelligence report

  29-02-2024 20:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Report says Xiangguo Qiu secretly worked with Wuhan Institute for Virology and posed a ‘threat to Canada’s economic security’A leading research scientist at Canada’s highest-security laboratory provided confidential scientific information to Chinese institutions, met secretly with officials and posed “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security” according to newly released intelligence reports.The dismissal of Xiangguo Qiu and her husba
  
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• Sarah Everard report sparks demand for urgent action to restore trust in police

  29-02-2024 20:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Inquiry chair says there is ‘nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight’ and radical overhaul is needed Police should never have employed Wayne Couzens, report findsSarah Everard’s “devastating” murder was “entirely preventable”, campaigners have said, as they called for urgent reform of policing to restore women’s trust.The Angiolini inquiry found that Wayne Couzens should never have been given a job as a police officer and that chan
  
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• Judge puts a halt to strict Texas immigration law

  29-02-2024 19:52
  
  A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Thursday to temporarily prevent one of the strictest immigration bills in the country from going into effect in Texas.
  
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• Balkan leaders vow to bring economies in line with EU regulations on road to membership

  29-02-2024 19:38 via foxnews.com
  
  The leaders of Western Balkan countries agreed Thursday to speed up regional cooperation to benefit more from a new European Union plan of financial aid that will help provide a faster road to membership.Brussels' plan calls for about $6.5 billion to be sent to the Balkan states over the next three years in an effort to double the region's economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to the join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line wit
  
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• Food trade bodies consider legal action over post-Brexit ‘not for EU’ labelling

  29-02-2024 19:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflationFood industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”.Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflation, and they are discussing a legal challenge as a viable option if a solution
  
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• Biden and Trump to visit US-Mexico border as immigration plays key role in election

  29-02-2024 19:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Biden expected to hammer Republicans for blocking bipartisan deal in Brownsville, while Trump will deliver remarks in Eagle PassJoe Biden and his all-but certain Republican challenger, Donald Trump, will make dueling visits to Texas border towns on Thursday, a rare overlap that sets the stage for an election season clash over immigration.In Brownsville, along the Rio Grande, Biden is expected to hammer Republicans for blocking a bipartisan border security deal after Trump expressed his vocal opp
  
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• Burma's military blames technical fault for crash of fighter jet on training flight

  29-02-2024 19:11 via foxnews.com
  
  A Burma fighter jet crashed and burned on Thursday in the countryside of the central Magway region due to what was described as a technical fault during training maneuvers, state television MRTV reported.The crash took place shortly after noon and the pilot was reported to have ejected from the plane and to have been safely rescued. The TV report mentioned only one pilot, but training missions in Burma likely use MiG-29UB two-seat planes.US LAWMAKERS FORM CONGRESSIONAL BURMA CAUCUS TO ENCOURAGE
  
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• As Gaza death toll tops 30,000, is Israel on the path to victory or quagmire?

  29-02-2024 19:10 via nbcnews.com
  
  As the death toll in Gaza tops 30,000 and international criticism mounts, Israeli forces believe they are on the path to victory against Hamas. Are they?
  
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• UN delegates table proposal to 'reflect sun's rays back into space' as opponents cite health risks

  29-02-2024 19:09 via foxnews.com
  
  U.N. delegates on Thursday withdrew a motion calling for more research into technologies that aim to fight climate change by reflecting the sun's rays back into space, amid concerns about health and environmental risks.Some who opposed the draft resolution at the U.N. Environment Assembly were also worried that the use of solar radiation modification (SRM) might let big polluters off the hook, organizations watching the debate said.Switzerland and Monaco first tabled the resolution on examining
  
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• Prince William denounces antisemitism amid soaring rates of abuse at London synagogue

  29-02-2024 19:01 via foxnews.com
  
  Prince William condemned antisemitism during a visit to a London synagogue on Thursday, the first time he appeared in public after he unexpectedly pulled out of a royal event earlier in the week.William, the heir to the throne, heard about how Jewish students across the U.K. have been affected by the rise of hatred against the Jewish community during his visit to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue. He also spent time with Renee Salt, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor.The royal said he and his wife
  
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• Oprah Winfrey announces she is stepping down from WeightWatchers

  29-02-2024 18:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Talkshow host says she will donate all her shares ‘to eliminate any perceived conflict around her taking weight-loss medications’Oprah Winfrey announced she was leaving WeightWatchers on Thursday and giving away all her stock – a move that follows the TV talk queen revealing that her recent dramatic weight loss was due to taking new weight-loss drugs.A statement from Winfrey issued by the company said that the talkshow host, a public face for WeightWatchers since 2015, would do
  
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• Dutch government spent $180 million dealing with downing of Malaysia Airlines flight that killed 298 people

  29-02-2024 18:55 via foxnews.com
  
  The Dutch government has spent more than $180 million dealing with the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, from repatriating victims' bodies to investigating and prosecuting some of those involved in the downing, according to an official report Thursday.The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels. All
  
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• Ferguson, Missouri, to pay out $4.5m to settle debtors’ jail lawsuit

  29-02-2024 18:45 via theguardian.com
  
  City where police killed Mike Brown in 2015 was defendant in class-action suit by plaintiffs detained over inability to pay city finesThe city of Ferguson, Missouri, will pay out $4.5m to thousands of plaintiffs who allege that the city jailed them because of their inability to pay fines, fees and other municipal costs.The multimillion-dollar settlement is in response to a class-action lawsuit filed against Ferguson in 2015, the legal advocacy non-profit ArchCity Defenders announced on Tuesday.
  
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• India begins replacing military personnel with civilian technical staff in Maldives

  29-02-2024 18:37 via foxnews.com
  
  India on Thursday said it has begun replacing dozens of its military personnel in Maldives with civilian technical staff who will operate three aircraft given by India to provide humanitarian services.The first batch of technicians to operate a helicopter has reached Maldives, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.The decision comes after new Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu demanded that the Indian military personnel be withdrawn by March 15.INDIA'S LEADING TRAVEL
  
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