Global News

The New York Times on Saturday quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy, with one official saying the government had "not given any direction to oil companies" to cut back imports from Russia.

Jaiswal added that India has a "steady and time-tested partnership" with Russia, and that New Delhi's relations with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/45361172

The J-10s shot down at least one Rafale, Reuters reported in May, citing U.S. officials. Its downing surprised many in the military community and raised questions about the effectiveness of Western military hardware against untested Chinese alternatives.

Indonesia, which has outstanding Rafale orders, has said it is now considering purchasing J-10s – a major boost to China’s efforts to sell the aircraft overseas.

Delhi hasn't acknowledged a Rafale being shot down, but France's air chief told reporters in June that he had seen evidence of the loss of that fighter and two other aircraft flown by India, including a Russian-made Sukhoi. A top Dassault executive also told French lawmakers that month that India had lost a Rafale in operations, though he didn't have specific details.

Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey on Saturday began supplying natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria, whose infrastructure has been ravaged by a long civil war, with annual deliveries expected to reach up to two billion cubic metres.

Syria's Islamist authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the battered country where power cuts can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by Syria's energy minister and Azerbaijan's economy minister as well as the head of Qatar's development fund, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the initiative would help Syria get back to normal.

"In the initial phase, up to two billion cubic metres of natural gas per year could be exported to Syria," Bayraktar said in the southern province of Kilis near the Syrian border.

Damascus has said the gas would be used to generate electricity.

"The gas will help activate a power plant with a capacity of around 1,200 megawatts, meeting the electricity needs of approximately five million households, and making a significant contribution to the normalisation of daily life in Syria," Bayraktar said.

"We will transport natural gas to Aleppo and from Aleppo to Homs. This will enable the power plants there to be put into operation in the near future," he added.

A first phase of the Qatari scheme to fund gas supplies for power generation in Syria rolled out in March via Jordan and provided 400 megawatts of electricity per day.

Brasília (AFP) – Brazilians set fire to effigies of Donald Trump in protests across several cities Friday, denouncing the US president's politically motivated trade tariffs.

Anti-Trump protests were held in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a sign of souring ties between two of the Americas' largest economies.

The demonstrations were modestly attended, but reflected broad anger at Trump's decision to put a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian exports and to sanction a top judge.

The mercurial US president has openly admitted he is punishing Brazil for prosecuting his political ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

The far-right Brazilian firebrand is currently on trial for plotting a coup after failing to win reelection in 2022.

"This Court, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Federal Police will not bow to these threats," he said during a court session.

And he vowed the court would remain "absolutely uncompromising in defending national sovereignty and its commitment to democracy."

Moraes has repeatedly taken aim at the Brazilian far-right and its figurehead Bolsonaro, as well as tech titan Elon Musk, over online disinformation.

He is also the presiding judge in the coup trial of Bolsonaro, who risks a 40-year prison sentence.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Moraes of "serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention involving flagrant denials of fair trial guarantees and infringing on the freedom of expression."

Moraes recently ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle bracelet pending the conclusion of his trial, and barred him from leaving his home at night or using social media pending an investigation into potential obstruction of justice.

Washington (AFP) – Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been moved from a prison in Florida to a minimum security facility in Texas, the Bureau of Prisons said Friday, triggering an angry reaction from some of their victims.

No reason was given for Maxwell's transfer but it comes a week after a top Justice Department official met with her to ask questions about Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for allegedly sex trafficking underage girls.

"We can confirm Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas," a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, interviewed Maxwell for two days at a Florida courthouse last week in a highly unusual meeting between a convicted felon and high-ranking Justice official.

Blanche has declined so far to say what was discussed but Maxwell's lawyer, David Markus, said she answered every question she was asked.

Maxwell has offered to testify before Congress about Epstein if given immunity and has also reportedly been seeking a pardon from Trump, a one-time close friend of Epstein.

She had been subpoenaed to give a deposition to the House Oversight Committee on August 11, but Politico reported Friday it had been postponed indefinitely.

The former British socialite is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for Epstein.

Two women who said they were sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell and the family of another accuser who recently committed suicide condemned the prison transfer.

"It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received," Annie and Maria Farmer and the family of Virginia Giuffre said in a statement Friday.

"Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency," they said.

"Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum security luxury prison in Texas," they said. "This move smacks of a cover-up. The victims deserve better."

Tim Hogan, a senior Democratic National Committee advisor, also denounced what he alleged was a "government cover-up in real time."

"Donald Trump's FBI, run by loyalist Kash Patel, redacted Trump's name from the Epstein files -- which have still not been released," Hogan said.

"While Trump and his administration try to cover up the heinous crimes included in those files, they're simultaneously doing favors for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell."

Trump is facing mounting demands from Democrats and many of his conspiracy-minded Make America Great Again supporters to be more transparent about the case of the wealthy and well-connected Epstein.

Trump's supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said last month that Epstein had committed suicide while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a "client list."

The president raised further questions this week as he told reporters he fell out with Epstein after the financier "stole" female employees from the spa at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

One of those girls was Giuffre, who accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave and committed suicide at her home in Australia in April.

Giuffre's family issued a statement this week appealing to Trump not to consider pardoning Maxwell, who they called a "monster who deserves to rot in prison for the rest of her life."

https://archive.is/XjUjC

Taiwan’s failure to secure a trade deal with Donald Trump before his August 1 deadline has deepened fears that Washington could water down security support for Taipei to smooth relations with Beijing.

Trump on Thursday imposed a 20 per cent tariff on imports from Taiwan. The levies are due to take effect next week.

The decision comes amid growing uncertainty in U.S.-India trade ties. Trump’s abrupt announcement of a 25% tariff on Indian goods—set to take effect August 7—has caught Indian officials off guard.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/amid-trumps-tariff-shock-india-informs-us-it-wont-purchase-f-35-fighter-jets-487335-2025-08-01

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

The mathematics of famine are simple in Gaza. Palestinians cannot leave, war has ended farming and Israel has banned fishing, so practically every calorie its population eats must be brought in from outside.

Israel knows how much food is needed. It has been calibrating hunger in Gaza for decades, initially calculating shipments to exert pressure while avoiding starvation.

Jakarta (AFP) – An Indonesian volcano spewed a 10-kilometre (6.2-miles) molten plume of ash topped by lightning into the Friday night sky, weeks after another huge eruption triggered dozens of flight cancellations in Bali.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre-high volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted at 20:48 pm (1248 GMT), the volcanology agency said in a statement.

"The height of the eruption column was observed to be approximately 10,000 metres above the summit," the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

The eruption was triggered by a gas buildup in recent weeks, geological agency head Muhammad Wafid said in a statement.

He also warned of the possibility of hazardous lahar floods -- a type of mud or debris flow of volcanic materials -- if heavy rain occurs, particularly for communities near rivers.

Tourists and residents were told to avoid a six-kilometre radius around the crater.

Pictures shared by the country's geological agency showed volcanic lightning near the top of the ash plume.

Last month, the volcano spewed a colossal 18-kilometre tower of ash, scrapping 24 flights at Bali’s international airport.

There were no immediate reports of cancelled flights after Friday’s eruption.

Laki-Laki, which means man in Indonesian, is twinned with the calmer but taller 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) volcano named Perempuan, after the Indonesian word for woman.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".

Bogotá (AFP) – A Colombian judge on Friday sentenced still-powerful former president Alvaro Uribe to 12 years of house arrest, capping a long and contentious career that defined Colombian politics for a generation.

Uribe, aged 73, received the maximum possible sentence after being found guilty of witness tampering, a legal source told AFP.

The sentence, which is due to be publicly announced later on Friday, marks the first time in Colombia's history that a former president has been convicted of a crime and sentenced.

Uribe led Colombia from 2002 to 2010 and led a relentless military campaign against drug cartels and the FARC guerrilla army.

He remains popular in Colombia, despite being accused by critics of working with armed right-wing paramilitaries to destroy leftist rebel groups.

And he still wields considerable power over conservative politics in Colombia, playing kingmaker in the selection of new party leaders.

He was found guilty of asking right-wing paramilitaries to lie about their alleged links to him.

A judge on Monday found him guilty on two charges: interfering with witnesses and "procedural fraud."

Uribe insists he is innocent and is expected to appeal the ruling.

A law-and-order hardliner, Uribe was a close ally of the United States and retains ties to the American right.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier decried Uribe's prosecution, claiming, without providing evidence, that it represented "the weaponization of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges."

Recent opinion polls revealed him to be the South American country's best loved politician.

In 2019, thousands protested in Medellin and capital Bogota when he was first indicted in the case.

On Monday, a smaller group of followers gathered outside the court wearing masks fashioned after his image and chanting: "Uribe, innocent!"

The investigation against Uribe began in 2018 and has had numerous twists and turns, with several attorneys general seeking to close the case.

It gained new impetus under Attorney General Luz Camargo, picked by current President Gustavo Petro -- himself a former guerrilla and a political arch-foe of Uribe.

More than 90 witnesses testified in the trial, which opened in May 2024.

During the trial, prosecutors produced evidence of at least one ex-paramilitary fighter who said he was contacted by Uribe to change his story.

The former president is also under investigation in other matters.

He has testified before prosecutors in a preliminary probe into a 1997 paramilitary massacre of farmers when he was governor of the western Antioquia department.

A complaint has also been filed against him in Argentina, where universal jurisdiction allows for the prosecution of crimes committed anywhere in the world.

That complaint stems from Uribe's alleged involvement in the more than 6,000 executions and forced disappearances of civilians by the Colombian military when he was president.

Uribe insists his trial is a product of "political vengeance."

Seoul (AFP) – South Korea's impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol lay on his prison cell floor in his underwear to resist attempts to interrogate him, prosecutors said Friday.

Prosecutors obtained a fresh arrest warrant on Thursday to forcibly bring the former leader in for questioning over allegations of election tampering.

However, they were "unable to do so due to his strong refusal", prosecutor Oh Jeong-hee told reporters.

"The suspect refused arrest while lying on the floor without wearing his prison-issued clothing," she said.

"Due to concerns over safety incidents, physical force was withheld, and the execution of the warrant was temporarily suspended."

Yoon was wearing "a sleeveless top and prison-issued briefs," prosecutors said, calling it the "most appropriate way" to describe his attire given the "serious nature of the situation".

There was no information on the colour of his underclothing, they added.

Prosecutors informed Yoon they would have to carry out physical force if necessary in the next attempt.

Yoon was arrested after he tried to impose martial law on December 3, sending troops to parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting down his declaration and plunging the country into political turmoil.

He faces a litany of charges, from insurrection to election tampering, but has refused multiple times to appear at his summons.

Yoon's legal team said the prosecutors had shown a "disturbing disregard" for "basic human decency".

"The special counsel turned what should have been a press briefing into a stage for personal humiliation," Yoon's lawyer Yoo Jeong-hwa told AFP.

"What kind of legal institution in a civilised country gives a real-time report and commentary to journalists on a detainee's clothing, especially in a cramped cell nearing 40 degrees (Celsius) (104 degrees Fahrenheit)?"

Yoon's lawyers said the former president suffers from "several underlying conditions that pose significant challenges to maintaining his health", making it difficult for him to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez is one of the brothers left running a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel after notorious capo "El Chapo" was imprisoned in the U.S.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250514230839/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sinaloa-cartel-leader-family-enters-us-deal-trump-administration-mexico/

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Germany's armed forces reported a 28% surge in soldier recruits from January to late July, compared with the same period last year, bolstering plans to boost NATO defences in response to what it sees as an increased threat from Russia.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250731175007/https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/german-armed-forces-see-28-surge-recruits-nato-defence-boost-2025-07-31/

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Content Warning: this article contains graphic and distressing testimony and images.

Research documents ‘horrific and extreme’ attacks by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and warns that impunity has meant such atrocities are expanding to new regions

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250731140326/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jul/31/mass-rape-forced-pregnancy-sexual-torture-in-tigray-ethiopian-eritrean-forces-crimes-against-humanity-report

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New vehicle testing by the nation’s peak motoring body has again shown consumers cannot rely on the fuel consumption and emissions information provided at point of sale, with 25 of the latest 30 cars tested consuming more fuel than advertised.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.aaa.asn.au/2025/07/popular-cars-using-up-to-33-more-fuel-than-advertised/

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When North Korea honored fallen Korean War heroes at a Victory Day ceremony last week.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.dailynk.com/english/n-korea-secretly-buries-ukraine-war-dead-alongside-korean-war-heroes/

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Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump, who is remodeling the White House to his tastes, will build a massive ballroom for hosting official receptions, one of the largest projects at the US executive mansion in over a century.

Trump himself and unspecified donors will foot the bill for the $200 million project, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing on Thursday.

"For 150 years, presidents, administrations and White House staff have longed for a large event space on the White House complex," the spokeswoman said.

"There's never been a president that was good at ballrooms," the 79-year-old president and former real estate developer told reporters of the latest bid to leave his mark on the White House.

"I'm good at building things, and we'll get it built quickly and on time. It'll be beautiful," said Trump, assuring that the character of the original building would be preserved.

The new structure will span over 8,000 square meters (90,000 square feet) and have space to seat 650 people, according to Leavitt.

Work on the ballroom -- one of Trump's long-time ambitions -- will begin in September and is expected to be completed "well before" the end of his second term in January 2029, Leavitt said.

The hope is it will host grand state dinners, given in honor of foreign heads of state visiting Washington. Until now, these were generally done by erecting a huge tent on the White House grounds.

A model of the ballroom presented by the government shows it will be a white building with tall windows. Its columns and front look reminiscent of the main White House building, a facade is known worldwide.

The ballroom building will replace the East Wing, which usually houses the offices of the US first lady.

Trump, who does not shy away from the gaudy, has also redone the Oval Office to splash the room in gold -- from the stars surrounding the presidential seal on the ceiling, to the gold statues on the fireplace, to the mantel itself.

The project is shaping up to be one of the most significant to break ground at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since renovation and expansion works undertaken by President Theodore Roosevelt at the start of the 20th century.

President Harry Truman also oversaw notable construction work between 1948 and 1952, but did so without changing the external structure.

Trump has said for some time that he wants to build a White House ballroom inspired by his own properties.

On Thursday, he praised the newly built, lavish ballroom -- named after himself -- at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, one of dozens of properties owned by the Trump family.

It will also be inspired by the ballroom of the Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, which has served as the model for Trump's remodeling of the White House to suit himself.

The Republican billionaire, inspired by the patios of Mar-a-Lago, recently ripped up the lawn at the White House's historic Rose Garden and is paving that area, where official events are often held.

He is flying two huge American flags outside the White House, which has been the residence and workplace of American presidents since 1800.

A two-year-old child was found dead in the rubble after Thursday's sweeping Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine's prime minister said on Friday, taking the death toll to 28, with over 150 wounded.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/two-year-old-among-28-dead-thursdays-russian-attack-kyiv-2025-08-01/

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Prime minister says 'historic investments' have been made into border security as Trump raises fentanyl again

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250801021440/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-tariffs-canada-deadline-1.7598480

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(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump will impose a 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland, one of the steepest levies globally which threaten to leave the country’s key exports reeling.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-slammed-with-39%25-tariff-rate-in-us-trade-blitz/89768316

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The government of Nicaragua recognizes the temporarily occupied territories of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions as part of Russia.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/nicaragua-recognizes-russian-control-over-1753976161.html

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The group is using an "adversary-in-the-middle" technique to deploy its custom "ApolloShadow" malware for intelligence collection. This campaign, active since at least 2024, poses a high risk to diplomatic entities and sensitive organizations in Moscow, particularly those relying on local internet providers.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://kyivindependent.com/russian-cyberspies-hit-embassies-in-moscow-microsoft-reports/

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The killing of Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh by the Islamic State group was shown in a grim video circulated online in 2015.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250731143917/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czd04nn7q75o

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At least seven people have died in Conakry due to heavy overnight rain, exposing the city’s vulnerability to extreme weather.

The downpour, which struck overnight from Wednesday 30 July to Thursday 31 July, brought chaos to numerous neighbourhoods, collapsing homes and sweeping vehicles into the floodwaters.

The government said seven people had died, though civil protection services suggest the death toll could be even higher, as several people are still missing.

Several buildings collapsed during the downpour, trapping residents in floodwaters, local media and witnesses said.

A resident of the Soumanbosiya neighbourhood, Benjamin Kamano, lost his three children and their mother when part of their home collapsed.

“I heard the children calling for help,” he told AFP reporters. “I got up quickly and found myself underwater… There was no one in the children's room. I realised they were gone, because their crying had stopped.”

The municipality of Matoto – Conakry’s largest – also suffered heavily, with at least five reported deaths after two homes collapsed.

The rainfall recorded in Conakry on Wednesday evening reached 70.8mm, according to national meteorological services.

The effects have been compounded by longstanding urban planning issues, with unregulated construction and blocked drainage systems making many parts of the city vulnerable to severe flooding.

Since the end of June, flooding in Guinea has resulted in at least 15 deaths and affected over 1,200 households.

The director of the National Agency for Emergency and Humanitarian Disaster Management, Lancei Touré, acknowledged that poor infrastructure and overwhelmed drainage systems have exacerbated the crisis.

In a statement issued Thursday, the government expressed “deep sadness” over the loss of life and widespread damage.

It pledged ongoing efforts to assist affected families and address the root causes of the city’s vulnerability to extreme weather events.

As the rainy season continues, many residents remain on high alert.

There are growing calls for sustainable urban reforms to better protect Guinea’s capital from future disasters.

(With AFP)