Author: News Desk

Hurricane Oscar leaves six dead in Cuba Hurricane Oscar left six people dead after hitting Cuba over the weekend, during a nationwide power blackout, authorities confirmed Monday. The blackout occurred on Friday when the collapse of the country’s largest power plant knocked out electricity for Cuba’s 10 million residents. By Monday afternoon, nearly 90% of Havana’s two million residents had regained power, according to a report by the capital’s electricity company on the state-run news portal Cubadebate. However, many areas outside Havana were still without electricity. The hurricane made landfall in eastern Cuba on Sunday as a Category 1 storm,…

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo sentenced to 20 years for corruption A Peruvian court has sentenced ex-President Alejandro Toledo to 20 years and six months in prison for corruption and money laundering. Toledo, who served as president from 2001 to 2006, was convicted of accepting $35 million in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for awarding a major road-building contract in southern Peru. Toledo, 78, was arrested in California five years ago, where he had been living, and was extradited to Peru in 2023 to face charges. Odebrecht, now rebranded as Novonor, has admitted to paying millions in…

Four killed in Israeli bombing near southern Beirut hospital An Israeli airstrike near Rafik Hariri University Hospital in southern Beirut has killed four people, including a child, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The strike reportedly hit the hospital’s car park, with 24 others injured in the attack, a hospital source told Reuters. The airstrike was part of a series of 13 strikes that targeted areas in south Beirut on Monday evening. The Israeli military stated that the strikes were aimed at Hezbollah-linked facilities. While an Israeli spokesperson had earlier issued warnings for people to evacuate certain areas in southern…

Israel still blocking humanitarian aid to north Gaza, Unrwa says  The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has accused Israel of continuing to block humanitarian missions from delivering essential supplies like food and medicine to northern Gaza. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lazzarini highlighted that hospitals in the region have been hit and are without power, leaving injured civilians without medical care. Lazzarini also described the dire conditions in UNRWA shelters, which are so overcrowded that displaced people are being forced to live in bathrooms. He cited reports that some civilians attempting to…

Seven new lawsuits filed against P Diddy Seven new civil lawsuits have been filed against music mogul Sean Combs aka P Diddy in a New York federal court. Four men and three women accuse Combs of sexually assaulting them during parties held in Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas. One of the plaintiffs was just 13 years old at the time of the alleged incident. Currently held in a Brooklyn jail, Combs is also facing federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, which he has denied. His legal team has dismissed the latest lawsuits, describing them as “clear attempts…

Martin Lewis sends warning over Buy Now Pay Later crackdown Martin Lewis has issued a warning over a new crackdown on buy now, pay later products. The money expert has cautioned consumers it is a case of buy now, get protected later. Ministers have announced that millions of shoppers are to be protected by new rules for BNPL, as they are known. Mr Lewis welcomed the change saying: “Buy Now, Pay Later is now ubiquitous at online checkouts, so the fact it’s never been regulated is a travesty I and others have long campaigned on. “The last chancellor promised to…

When is the 2024 Budget and what might be in it? Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s first Budget on Wednesday 30 October. Each year, the chancellor of the exchequer – who is in charge of the government’s finances – makes a Budget statement to MPs. The speech outlines the government’s plans for spending and taxes. The Budget speech usually starts around 12:30pm and lasts about an hour. Reeves may be considering pushing the freeze beyond its current expiry date of 2028 in a move that could raise £7 billion, according to the Financial Times. Other measures reported to be under…

King Charles heckled: What Indigenous Australian artefacts does Britain still possess? Get Nadine White’s Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week’s newsGet our free newsletter from The Independent’s Race CorrespondentAn Indigenous Australian senator who accused King Charles of genocide during a fiery parliament outburst has reignited the debate about returning colonial artefacts held in Britain. Lidia Thorpe disrupted Charles’s welcome to the capital Canberra, shouting: “Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us … Our babies, our bones, our skulls, our people. You destroyed our land”.Her outburst overshadowed a speech highlighting his debt…

Lords committee urges Government to begin new talks with EU over data adequacy Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Government has been urged by a House of Lords committee to begin early talks with the European Commission on securing a new data adequacy agreement to ensure the economy is not hit by extra costs and red tape.The Lords European Affairs Committee has written to Technology Secretary Peter Kyle to encourage him to begin talks on renewing the data agreement, which is due to expire in…

Apps that create deepfake nudes should be banned, says online safety group AI-powered “nudifying” apps which can create non-consensual explicit images of people, including children, should be banned, an online safety charity has said. Internet Matters has called on the Government to strengthen the Online Safety Act to ban tools which can create deepfake nudes after a study from the group estimated that as many as half a million children have encountered such images online. It said its research had found a growing fear among young people over the issue, with 55% of teenagers saying it would be worse to…