world news

Has Britain finally pulled off a diplomatic victory in the row over reparations?
world

Has Britain finally pulled off a diplomatic victory in the row over reparations?

A formal apology over slavery without direct reparations will give the UK the moral high ground but no legal liability A beach in Antigua is not the ideal place for a prime minister to be photographed less than a week after his first budget where the focus was the crushing cost-of-living crisis. Add to the beachside cocktail a row about reparations for the British role in the slave trade, one of the favoured punching bags of the right-wing press, and it becomes easy to understand why Andy Burnham was wary of even attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

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UK found to be ‘dangerously’ reliant on China for critical minerals needed for defence and AI
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UK found to be ‘dangerously’ reliant on China for critical minerals needed for defence and AI

Delivering net zero also at risk, say MPs as they call for centralised policy and funding for mines and diversification The UK is “dangerously” dependent on China for critical raw materials needed for the military, renewable energy infrastructure and AI, a parliamentary investigation has found. MPs on the business select committee called for an urgent centralised policy and the creation of a “critical minerals finance facility” to help fund rare earth and other critical mineral mines, and deploy grants, equity and debt to accelerate a diversification programme.

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South Korea says it will expand naval operations closer to strait of Hormuz
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South Korea says it will expand naval operations closer to strait of Hormuz

Seoul to seek parliamentary approval to extend anti-piracy Cheonghae unit’s area to about 650km from the vital strait after criticism from Donald Trump on Iran war support South Korea plans to expand the operations ⁠of its anti-piracy unit to waters closer to the strait of Hormuz, its defence ministry has said, after pressure from Donald Trump to ⁠provide support for his war in Iran. The government is to submit a motion to parliament that would expand the Cheonghae unit’s area of operation to waters near the port of Duqm in Oman, which ​is about 650km (403 miles) away from the strait.

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North Korea’s Kim vows to build ‘most advanced’ warships
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North Korea’s Kim vows to build ‘most advanced’ warships

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to possess “the most advanced and powerful warships” while touring a shipyard, state media reported Wednesday, as Pyongyang accelerates an ambitious naval expansion. Kim toured the Nampho Shipyard on Monday, where North Korea is building a new warship, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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‘He was destined for this award’: China Miéville wins Goldsmiths prize for 1,200-page novel
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‘He was destined for this award’: China Miéville wins Goldsmiths prize for 1,200-page novel

The Rouse, which took its author two decades to complete, was praised by judges as ‘exuberant, overflowing’ China Miéville has won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for The Rouse, a 1,264-page epic that is part paranormal thriller, part historical saga moving through decades of British imperial and cold war history. The win, announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday, makes The Rouse the longest novel to take the prize since it was launched in 2013 to reward fiction that “breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form”.

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Leading Chinese modernisation steadily forward through the party’s self-revolution, By Yu Dunha
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Leading Chinese modernisation steadily forward through the party’s self-revolution, By Yu Dunha

Standing at a new historical starting point, China will take the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee as its guide, remain committed to the long-term task of self-revolution, unremittingly advance full and rigorous Party self-governance, firmly follow the path of Chinese modernisation, unswervingly promote high-quality development and expand high-level

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The midterms were a thumping rebuke of the US-Israel relationship
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The midterms were a thumping rebuke of the US-Israel relationship

Even Trump seems to recognize that the relationship has become a political liability, and may never be the same On the eve of a midterm election that ended in an unequivocal rejection of his brand of politics, even Donald Trump seemed to recognize that the US-Israel relationship had become a political liability. Trump’s 11th-hour suggestion, on election morning, that he would cut military aid to Israel at the end of the year because, as he put it, “they don’t need it”, was condemned across the board – with pro-Palestinian advocates dismissing it as “desperate” and pro-Israel ones as “unserious

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OPINION: President Xi Jinping’s “Four Principles” offer a New Peace Framework for the Horn of Africa
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OPINION: President Xi Jinping’s “Four Principles” offer a New Peace Framework for the Horn of Africa

President Xi Jinping’s “Four Principles” offer a New Peace Framework for the Horn of Africa. As a responsible arbiter, on October 13, President Xi Jinping proposed four principles for the constructive participation of relevant parties in the resolution of African hotspot issues, while in a meeting with the President of the Council of Ministers of Togo Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, who was on an official visit to China.

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The £10,000 refugee tax must be scrapped
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The £10,000 refugee tax must be scrapped

Such a punitive measure will leave people at risk of exploitation and severe poverty, says Mark Joselin of the Refugee Council Cabinet ministers are right to be worried about the potential impact of the new asylum bill (Mahmood infuriates fellow ministers by failing to reveal impact of UK migration shake-up, 30 October). The proposed refugee tax unfairly punishes refugees by threatening to slap most with a £10,000 tax once they are granted refugee status, a clear breach of the UN refugee convention.

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Oyebanji warns commissioners against arrogance, corruption
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Oyebanji warns commissioners against arrogance, corruption

The new commissioners are Dayo Apata, SAN, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; Akintunde Oyebode, Commissioner for Finance; and Dr Oyebanji Filani, Commissioner for Health and Human Services. The 10 special advisers are Prof. James Olaleye, e-GIS, Lands and Survey; James Folorunso, Bureau of Public Procurement; Dr John Moyo Ekundayo, Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery; Bunmi Talabi, Bureau of Special Projects; and Olayinka Oyebode, Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media.

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Putin’s reported commitment is a diplomatic win for Ghana – but the fight to protect our citizens is not over
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Putin’s reported commitment is a diplomatic win for Ghana – but the fight to protect our citizens is not over

When Ghana’s name was mentioned at the United Nations over allegations that its citizens were being recruited to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the country could not afford to look the other way. Today, following President John Dramani Mahama’s engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister says Moscow has agreed to halt the recruitment of Ghanaians.

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