News

Warnings of escalating clampdown on press freedom come after Cairo court convicts Attalah of managing an unlicensed website Lina Attalah, a prominent Egyptian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the news outlet Mada Masr, has been released from detention by Egypt’s authorities and had her website ordered to be shut down by a court amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media in the country. Attalah was taken briefly into custody after a Cairo court convicted her of managing an unlicensed website, prompting fresh international concerns over press freedom in Egypt. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Canadian vehicles and parts from 25% to 50% if a trade deal is not reached between the two countries.

John Healey’s budget offered a ‘sting in the tail’ for savers by raising tax rates but there are ways to ease the pain Savers were both winners and losers in Wednesday’s budget. In his first outing as chancellor, John Healey dropped a plan to cut the cash Isa limit for under-65s but surprised everyone with an extra tax charge on savings and property income. His predecessor, Rachel Reeves, had already announced a plan to increase the income tax rates for savers and landlords that was due to take effect in April 2027. But Healey went further, adding an additional two percentage points to each of the rates. Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth manager Evelyn Partners, describes the higher rates as a “sting in the tail” for savers. Continue reading...

Jean Kaseya, of the Africa CDC, warns of the illness spreading like Covid unless more funding is secured to increase preparedness and possible treatment The “unprecedented” spread of the Ebola outbreak means it could reach the UK and other countries, according to one of Africa’s top health officials. As the current outbreak reached 10,000 cases, with almost 5,000 deaths, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), compared the outbreak to the Covid pandemic, which first took hold in China before spreading to countries across the world, claiming millions of lives, and ravaging health systems and economies. Continue reading...

For the first time, new-energy vehicles (NEVs) made up 67% of new car sales in China in September, according to… The post Chart: A record two-thirds of car sales in China are now electric vehicles appeared first on Carbon Brief.

IISS study questions overreliance on American support and ‘overdependence on expensive, high-end systems’ Gulf states are going to have to reconfigure their trillion-dollar defences given the damage inflicted on their economies and the questionable continued value of US bases in the face of Iranian attack, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The report says that in the weeks before the 8 April ceasefire, 12 regional states, overwhelmingly in the Gulf, faced 4,670 Iranian one-way attack drones and more than 1,400 ballistic missiles. Nearly half were aimed at the United Arab Emirates. Although the vast majority were repelled, one estimate of the damage to energy infrastructure cited by the report is put as high as $58bn (£43bn). Continue reading...

Cop17, focused on protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, concludes on Saturday with critics saying system allows ‘one idiot’ to stall progress Calls are growing for major reforms to UN biodiversity summits as countries fail to deliver on their promises to halt the destruction of the natural world, with governments likely on track to continue their record of never having met a target in the 34-year history of the convention. Two weeks of negotiations at biodiversity Cop17 in Yerevan, Armenia, concluded on Saturday morning with countries vowing to redouble their efforts to meet this decade’s targets, which include commitments to protect 30% of the planet for nature, restore nearly a third of Earth’s degraded ecosystems and reform $500bn (£410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies. Continue reading...

Third day of indirect talks as Qatar tries to negotiate release of $6bn in Iranian assets that could lead to waterway’s reopening Officials from the Gulf states are “braced for the worst” as they wait for Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait of Hormuz before the US midterm elections on Tuesday. Indirect talks in Doha ran into a third day on Sunday with Qatar trying to negotiate the release of more than $6bn in Iranian assets, which could lead to the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and the restart of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. Continue reading...

The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states have filed a lawsuit against Dollar General, claiming the retailer has charged customers more than advertised prices.

KWIGILLINGOK, Alaska—Lucy Martin’s family was among the last to be evacuated from Kwigillingok, a Yup’ik village a quarter mile from the Bering Sea that was devastated by Typhoon Halong in October 2025. A year later, Martin, the village’s tribal resilience coordinator, is still in Bethel, a regional hub about 70 miles to the northeast, and […]

China’s exports in 2026 of clean-energy technologies, such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, are on track to cut… The post Analysis: China’s clean-tech exports in 2026 to avoid as much CO2 as Brazil emits in a year appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Led by Congress party, India’s opposition alliance channels anger over removal of 130 million names from voter roll Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in Delhi as protests against the Narendra Modi government continue to gather momentum. Led by the Congress party, India’s opposition alliance has brought together supporters from across the country, amid growing anger over a large-scale revision of the country’s voter roll that has seen 130 million names erased. Continue reading...

Former USA team doctor Larry Nassar’s 2018 conviction sparked a global reckoning in gymnastics, yet gymnasts say they are still being let down It has been 10 years since the Indianapolis Star published allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, setting off a chain of events that would lead to a reckoning for the sport. Hundreds of women came forward with their own allegations against Nassar, who also worked at Michigan State University, leading to his conviction and jailing. The exposure of his crimes sparked a wider investigation into how gymnastics had allowed predators to abuse young athletes around the world. While Nassar was the worst recorded case, it emerged many other countries had questions to answer about the failure to protect victims from not only sexual but physical and emotional abuse. But a decade later, on a large houseboat moored in Rotterdam three tram stops away from the Ahoy Arena, where the World Gymnastics Championships are taking place this week, survivors and advocates raised fears about the slow pace of change. Continue reading...

Critics cite Lana Nusseibeh’s denial of accusations the UAE is fuelling Sudan war by supporting paramilitary RSF Members of the Sudanese diaspora and international human rights monitors have denounced the candidature of an Emirati diplomat for the top job at the UN, citing her denial of accusations that the United Arab Emirates is fuelling the war in Sudan by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The UAE nominated Lana Nusseibeh last week to replace the UN secretary general, António Guterres, as he finishes his second five-year term ⁠this year, upending a race that had become gridlocked. Continue reading...