Analysts say result too close to call, with poor turnout amid cost of living crisis and soaring unemployment
Kenya?€?s veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga and the deputy president, William Ruto, are locked in a tight race for the country?€?s highest office, according to early results from Tuesday?€?s election.
National media updates put Ruto in the lead, at roughly 52%, with Odinga a close second at 47%. The deputy president is performing better than polls had predicted, with a number having placed Odinga in both clear and marginal leads.
Antony Blinken announces formal working group during Kinshasa visit, while voicing concerns over auction of oil and gas permits
The US and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have agreed to form a working group to protect the enormous Congo basin rainforest and peatlands, which are threatened by oil and gas exploration.
Tough economic realities have pushed campaigns beyond ethnic and personality-driven politics
Millions of Kenyans have been voting in an election that pits the longtime opposition politician Raila Odinga against the deputy president, William Ruto.
In Kayole, a poor neighbourhood in the capital, Nairobi, residents woke up to the sound of vuvuzelas and whistles from 4am - a rallying call to get out and vote.
Raila Odinga is leading William Ruto in the polls but the latter hopes his ?€?hustler?€? image will win him votes among the poor
Kenyans are heading to the ballot box on Tuesday after a campaign season marked by a shift in ethnic alliances and two big-ticket issues: the cost of living crisis and high unemployment.
The race pits presidential frontrunners Raila Odinga, the former prime minister, and deputy president William Ruto against each other in a hotly contested race. Polls place Odinga in the lead.
Horniman museum is first government-funded institution to hand back artefacts looted by British forces in 1897
A London museum is to return 72 treasured artefacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria in what experts described as an ?€?immensely significant?€? moment.
The Horniman museum said it would transfer the ownership of the historic objects to the Nigerian government after an unanimous vote by its board of trustees.
Three billboards in the Ural city of Ekaterinburg shine a light on what was once one of Russia?€?s most shadowy organisations, the private military contractor Wagner.
?€?Motherland, Honour, Blood, Bravery. WAGNER?€?, one of the posters reads.
Trees are advancing into the Arctic tundra and retreating from boreal forests further south, where stunting and die-offs are expected
Forests from the Arctic to the Amazon are transforming at a ?€?shocking?€? rate due to the climate crisis, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while dying off from escalating heat farther south, scientists have found.
Global heating, along with changes in soils, wind and available nutrients, is rapidly changing the composition of forests, making them far less resilient and prone to diseases, according to a series of studies that have analyzed the health of trees in north and South America.
Fire destroyed 40% of island?€?s main fuel storage facility over five days and caused blackouts
Firefighters have finally overcome what officials described as the worst blaze in Cuba?€?s history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island?€?s main fuel storage facility and caused blackouts.
The blaze in Matanzas province raises fears that the damaged facility will worsen the island?€?s energy shortage
Flames have engulfed a fourth tank at an oil storage facility in western Cuba as a raging fire consumes critical fuel supplies on an island grappling with a growing energy crisis.
Firefighters and specialists from Mexico and Venezuela helped fight the blaze in the province of Matanzas with boats, planes and helicopters as they sprayed foam on the containers, a first for crews since broiling temperatures had prevented them from doing so earlier.
World Health Organization issues statement after reports of animals being poisoned in Brazil
The World Health Organization has stressed that monkeypox outbreaks are not linked to monkeys, following a number of reported attacks on the primates in Brazil.
?€?What people need to know is that the transmission we are seeing is happening between humans,?€? a WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.
Cybersecurity expert Ron Deibert to testify to Canadian MPs about troubling spread of invasive surveillance tools
The mercenary spyware industry represents ?€?one of the greatest contemporary threats to civil society, human rights and democracy?€?, a leading cybersecurity expert warns, as countries grapple with the unregulated spread of powerful and invasive surveillance tools.
Ron Deibert, a political science professor at the university of Toronto and head of Citizen Lab, will testify in front of a Canadian parliamentary committee on Tuesday afternoon about the growing threat he and others believe the technology poses to citizens and democracies.
Feared Gulf Clan has unleashed terror campaign since arrest of leader in May but keen to talk to leftist president Gustavo Petro
One 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.
Beijing blames its actions on US House speaker Nancy Pelosi?€?s visit to Taiwan
Taiwan has become the latest focal point in the fraught relationship between London and Beijing, with the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, summoning China?€?s ambassador to explain his government?€?s recent actions over the self-ruled democracy.
?€?I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country?€?s actions. We have seen increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region,?€? Truss said in a statement.
Zhou Xiaoxuan, who alleges TV host groped her, hopes case proves ?€?difficulty of being a woman?€? in China
The woman at the centre of a landmark case in China?€?s #MeToo movement has vowed not to give up after a court rejected her appeal for an apology and damages.
In 2018 Zhou Xiaoxuan accused a high-profile state TV presenter, Zhu Jun, of forcibly kissing and groping her during a 2014 internship. The case inspired many others to share their experiences of sexual assault and caused a social media storm.
Reshuffle comes after murder of Shinzo Abe put spotlight on ruling party?€?s ties with religious movement
Japan?€?s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has removed ministers associated with the Unification church in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at reviving his fortunes amid a public outcry over his party?€?s ties to the religious movement.
The reshuffle comes just over a month after the murder of Shinzo Abe by a man who has said he targeted the former prime minister over his links to the church, which he blamed for his family?€?s financial ruin.
Beijing repeats resolve to annex Taiwan by force if peaceful means prove unsuccessful
Beijing has announced an end to its military drills surrounding Taiwan but said further ?€?training and war preparation?€? would continue.
It made the announcement shortly after reaffirming its commitment, in a major policy paper, to use force against Taiwan if it could not take control ?€?by peaceful means?€?.
Study identifies mystery elements in Kaogong ji, shedding light on how early bronzes were produced
Researchers have deciphered enigmatic recipes for metal-making contained in an ancient Chinese text, revealing unexpected complexity in the art at the time.
Six chemical formulas are given in a Chinese text from 300BC known as the Kaogong ji. The manuscript, known as The World?€?s Oldest Encyclopedia of Technologies, forms part of a detailed archive of early imperial rule, which archeologists have been trying to decode since the 1920s.
Alexander Blong smashed the previous world record for the most carriages in a Lego train
A New Zealand teenager has broken a Guinness World Record for the most carriages in a Lego toy train, beating the previous record by 32 carriages, after he was inspired to break a record during boring Covid lockdowns.
It took 14-year-old Aucklander Alexander Blong roughly 50 hours to build the 101-carriage locomotive. When finished, it measured 25 metres long.
The man appointed by the New South Wales government to a senior London trade role approved negative television ads that targeted a Labor business tax policy at the last state election in his previous job as head of the NSW Business Chamber.
Separately, a NSW parliamentary inquiry heard testimony this week that the NSW agent general to the UK, Stephen Cartwright, went over the head of his manager, Investment NSW chief Amy Brown, and messaged Liberal trade minister Stuart Ayres directly in a dispute about a cost of living allowance.
Doctors are increasingly scrapping bulk billing, according to a survey of almost 500 GPs, with stalling Medicare rebates and the costs of running a practice cited as key reasons.
HealthEd, a private professional education company for doctors, surveyed 477 GPs on 2 August and found more than one in five - 22% - had recently changed their billing model.
Australia?€?s main electricity market will prioritise cutting emissions as part of its objectives for the first time since its creation a quarter of a century ago, a shift that could set up conditions for a carbon price, experts said.
Federal, state and territory energy ministers are scheduled to meet in Canberra on Thursday for a dinner before holding formal talks on Friday. It will be the first gathering since the national electricity market (NEM) was suspended in June after the market operator had to resort to whiteboards and spreadsheets to order generators online.
Nine out of 10 major Australian electricity companies are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement, a study has found.
Businesses not acting in accordance with the 2015 Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to well below 2C since pre-industrial times included the generators and retailers AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin, according to the study led by University of Queensland researchers.
Authorities are urging an intruder who broke into a monkey enclosure in Tasmania to seek medical attention as they may have been exposed to a ?€?potentially fatal?€? herpes virus.
The enclosure, which houses macaque monkeys, was broken into on Tuesday night with the intruder causing damage to the electric fence before stealing coins from a surrounding moat.
A gas company with interests in the Beetaloo Basin is calling on the federal government to rewrite its climate change legislation to abandon the ?€?unattainable?€? objective of trying to limit global heating to 1.5C.
The call comes despite Australia being a signatory to the Paris agreement that aims to limit global warming to well below 2C - and preferably to 1.5C - compared to pre-industrial levels.
Political sources in Ukraine said the country had carried out the attack - but no public claim of responsibility was made by Kyiv of the incident that one expert believes may have been the product of a daring raid rather than a missile strike.
The claim by Ukraine?€?s general staff of the armed forces comes after widely reported explosions at Russia?€?s Saki air base. This live blog is now closed
Ukrainian officials are reporting that 11 people were killed and 13 wounded by Russian shelling in the Nikopol district in Ukraine?€?s Dnipropetrovsk region overnight.
Residential homes were reportedly damaged in the attack and as many as 1,000 people are without gas, the regional regional military administration said.
Russia likely plans to resource a large proportion of 3 AC from newly formed ?€?volunteer?€? battalions, which are being raised across the country, and which group together recruits from the same areas.
Russian regional politicians have confirmed that potential 3 AC recruits are being offered lucrative cash bonuses once they deploy to Ukraine.
Officials say navy and air force efforts to rescue up to 50 people has shown no signs of progress
Dozens of people are feared to have died off the coast of Greece after their boat sank while attempting to make the perilous crossing from Turkey.
Efforts by Greece?€?s navy and air force to rescue up to 50 people who went down with the vessel in stormy waters off Rhodes had shown no signs of progress by late Wednesday, coast guard officials said.
High temperatures and drought in the wine-growing region of Gironde force partial closure of motorway
About 10,000 people have been evacuated to save them from wildfires in the Gironde region of south-west France after a massive blaze that destroyed more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of pine forest in July sparked up again and tore through woodland.
?€?The fire is rampant and has now spread to the Landes départment,?€? local authorities in the wine-growing départment said. The French government doubled the number of firefighters to 1,000 on Wednesday afternoon, supported by planes dropping water.
Ukrainian president says Russians ?€?should live in their own world until they change their philosophy?€?
The EU has been urged to introduce a travel ban on Russian tourists with some member states saying visiting Europe was ?€?a privilege, not a human right?€? for holidaymakers.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with the Washington Post that the ?€?most important sanction?€? was to ?€?close the borders, because the Russians are taking away someone else?€?s land?€?. Russians should ?€?live in their own world until they change their philosophy?€?, he said.
Disgraced former PM will run as Forza Italia candidate for senate in alliance led by far-right Brothers of Italy
Italy?€?s disgraced former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is plotting a political comeback in next month?€?s national elections, saying the move ?€?would make everyone happy?€?.
Berlusconi, the 85-year-old leader of Forza Italia, said he would run as a senator in the ballot on 25 September. ?€?That way everyone would be happy,?€? he told Rai radio. ?€?I?€?ve received pressure [to do so] from many, even outside Forza Italia.?€?
President urges regime, which denies involvement, to release Tice, who disappeared in 2012 covering Syrian war
Joe Biden has said that the US knows ?€?with certainty?€? that the Syrian government is holding Austin Tice - an American journalist who has been missing for a decade - and called on Damascus to release him.
Ten years after the freelance reporter disappeared while reporting on the Syrian war, Biden said the US government knows ?€?that [Tice] has been held by the Syrian regime?€?.
Shahram Poursafi, who US says belongs to Revolutionary Guards, offered money to hitman to avenge Suleimani death, DoJ alleges
The US has charged an Iranian man it says is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with attempting to hire a hitman for $300,000 to kill John Bolton, the former national security adviser in the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice said Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, offered the money in November 2021 to an unidentified person in the US to ?€?eliminate?€? Bolton, apparently to avenge the drone killing of the IRGC commander Qassem Suleimani, in January 2020.
Ahmad Abouammo found to have given users?€? personal information to Mohammed bin Salman?€?s aide
A former Twitter employee has been found guilty of spying on Saudi dissidents using the social media platform and passing their personal information to a close aide of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
A jury in a federal court in California found Ahmad Abouammo, a dual US-Lebanese national, had acted as an unregistered agent of the Saudi government.
Russia has launched an Iranian satellite from Kazakhstan amid concerns it could be used for battlefield surveillance in Moscow?€?s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran has denied that the Khayyam satellite, which was delivered into orbit onboard a Soyuz rocket launched from Baikonur cosmodrome, would ever be under Russian control.
Many areas are still without water and electricity following three days of Israeli airstrikes
In 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.
Revival of agreement awaits ?€?political decisions?€? in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agree text
The 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 the final text and could not be amended further.
Exclusive: Father of one of three soldiers slain by Hekmatullah says Australia was ?€?sidelined?€? in deal between US and Taliban to release terrorist from prison
The family of one of the Australian soldiers killed by rogue Afghan national army sergeant Hekmatullah says Australia was treated with contempt by its closest ally, the US, after it agreed to release the self-professed terrorist from prison.
The Guardian revealed on Monday that the former Afghan national army sergeant, and Taliban plant, Hekmatullah, is again at liberty, and housed under Taliban protection, in the former diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul.
Hekmatullah, the rogue Afghan soldier who killed three unarmed Australian diggers in Afghanistan a decade ago, is living in a luxury home in the capital Kabul, treated as a ?€?returning hero?€? by the Taliban who released him from prison.
He has said he does not regret killing Australian soldiers, and has vowed he would again kill Australians, or anyone who opposes the Taliban.
Despite their promises of peace and stability, the country is on its knees, and its people are desperate
Maryam* is near the top of her sixth grade class in Kabul, which under Taliban rule means that her education should be ending in a few months.
But the 10-year-old, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has a strategy to stay in school for another year, and her eyes dance with satisfaction as she explains her plan. ?€?I will make sure I don?€?t answer too many questions right. I have decided to fail, so I can study sixth grade again.?€?
Home Office accused of failing to ensure safety of thousands including teachers and translators
Thousands of Afghans who worked for the UK have been abandoned and remain at risk from the Taliban a year after the evacuation from Kabul, a coalition of human rights groups has said.
In a parliamentary briefing, nine expert groups on Afghanistan criticised the British government?€?s resettlement schemes as ?€?unjustifiably restrictive?€?. They said it was deeply concerning that the government is currently not offering a safe route for many Afghan women and girls or to oppressed minority groups.
The explosion happened in a western district where the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meet
A bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan?€?s capital Kabul on Saturday killed eight people and injured at least 22, hospital officials and witnesses said.
The blast occurred in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meet.
Death of Samira Islam, 20, follows deaths of Rafiqul, 51, and Mahiqul, 16, during holiday
A woman has become the latest family member of a British family of five on holiday in Bangladesh to die from a suspected poisoning.
Samira Islam, 20, died on Friday after she was discovered unconscious in a locked room by police officers on 26 July. Her father, Rafiqul Islam, 51, a taxi driver, and his 16-year-old son, Mahiqul, also died in the rented flat in the eastern city of Sylhet.
Tory leadership contender says rival had previously dismissed direct support as ?€?handouts?€?
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, is giving a speech to the Policy Exchange thinktank on equalities and rights. There is a live feed here.
In a preview of the speech published in the Daily Telegraph, Braverman says she wants to clarify the law on trans rights as it applies in schools. She says:
When it comes to gender-questioning children, we should always have compassion. At the same time, our compassion should never blind us to the harm it is possible to do to children by misplaced affirmation. Many schools and teachers believe - incorrectly - that they are under an absolute legal obligation to treat children who are gender questioning according to the preference of the child. Many are scared of the consequences of not doing so.
I want to make it clear that it is possible, within the law, for schools to refuse to use the preferred opposite-sex pronouns of a child.
The UK and partners have condemned in the strongest terms China?€?s escalation in the region around Taiwan, as seen through our recent G7 statement.
I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country?€?s actions.
Analysis: Gordon Brown, Martin Lewis and Ed Davey are the voices being heard, as the opposition is left with the same policy as Sunak
Gordon Brown has thrown down the gauntlet with his plan to halt a winter energy crisis - but not just to the Tory leadership candidates. The call to revoke the energy price cap and consider nationalising energy firms will attract a lot of attention but fundamentally it is also a chance for Labour to choose to be radical. It is likely to compound calls from activists for the party to find a new sense of urgency.
In the middle of August, politicians can often afford to take long breaks away from Westminster to recharge - and sometimes get a valuable dose of perspective. But the extent to which politicians - including those in the Labour party - have gone missing this summer is particularly striking.
Be it a loft insulation drive or a lower price cap, there are many ways to help - but action must be swift and extensive
The UK government has been urged to take further action to alleviate the impact of soaring energy prices, and there are a number of measures it could take.
Any rescue package would need to be swift and extensive to prevent households being plunged into poverty this winter as home energy prices surge. Ministers will also need to dig deep to prevent more businesses hit by rising energy costs from defaulting on loans and declaring themselves bankrupt.
Police arrest 39-year-old man after series of incidents being treated as linked in west Scotland
A man has died on Skye and three others were injured after a series of incidents, some involving a firearm, on Skye and in Wester Ross in west Scotland.
Police Scotland said they had arrested a 39-year-old man who was one of the casualties after receiving reports on Wednesday morning that a woman, 32, had been seriously injured at a property in the Tarskavaig area of southern Skye.
Groups such as Walt Disco are struggling to make ends meet - or giving up - because of new obstacles, a musicians?€? charity says
Night after night, the Beatles honed their harmonies in the clubs of Hamburg.
But now, British bands trying to fine-tune their sound by playing in Europe are struggling to make ends meet - or giving up entirely - because of the barriers created by Brexit, a charity for musicians has said.
Utah-based company Lions Not Sheep was first cited by the FTC in May for replacing ?€?Made in China?€? tags on their clothing
A pro-Donald Trump brand was fined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for using fake ?€?Made in USA?€? labels on items that were imported from other countries.
The Utah-based apparel company Lions Not Sheep was first cited by the FTC in May for replacing ?€?Made in China?€? tags on their clothing with bogus ?€?Made in USA?€? labels.
Hundreds were marooned in the downpour as the climate crisis increases the likelihood of extreme weather
Recent severe rains in Death Valley that flushed debris across roadways, damaged infrastructure and carried away cars are being described by meteorologists and park officials as a once-in 1,000-year event.
The arid valley was pelted with roughly an inch and a half of rain on Friday, near the park?€?s rainfall record for a single day.
The justice department has announced charges against a Tehran-based member of Iran?€?s Revolutionary Guards for attempting to hire someone in the United States to kill John Bolton, a national security adviser under Donald Trump.
According the department, 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi last year promised an unnamed person in the United States $300,000 to kill Bolton, probably as retaliation for Washington?€?s assassination of Qassem Suleimani in January 2020. The goal was apparently to have Bolton killed by the 3 January anniversary of Suleimani?€?s death in Baghdad, but the person Poursafi allegedly hired for the job was actually a confidential informant.
Ex-president pleads the fifth two days after the FBI raided his Florida home, seeking classified documents
Donald Trump declined to answer questions under oath on Wednesday in New York state?€?s civil investigation into his business dealings, pleading the fifth two days after the FBI raided his Florida home in a criminal case, seeking classified documents taken from the White House.
The former US president?€?s decision to exercise his fifth amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination was delivered during a closed-door deposition in Manhattan, where the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, is examining the Trump family real estate empire.
After seven years and an ambitious plan to open 880 outlets, US chain?€?s local franchise files for bankruptcy
Domino?€?s Pizza has pulled out of the Italian market after failing in its mission to conquer the home of pizza.
The US fast food chain?€?s departure from Italy after seven years followed a period in which the business was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which in turn forced traditional Italian pizzerias to adopt their own delivery services.
Democrats select progressive Becca Balint for Vermont House seat while Trump-backed candidate nominated for Wisconsin governor
Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a member of the select progressive group in the House of Representative dubbed the Squad, eked out a closer-than-expected Democratic primary victory on Tuesday night against a centrist challenger who questioned the incumbent?€?s support for the ?€?defund the police?€? movement.
The evening went far smoother for another progressive, Becca Balint, who won the Democratic House primary in Vermont - positioning her to become the first woman representing the state in Congress.
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
