Reuters: World

Indonesia pauses some Australian cattle imports after cows found with LSD Indonesia has paused live cattle imports from four Australian facilities after lumpy skin disease (LSD) was detected in a small number of cattle some time after arrival, the Australian government said. Australian officials were working with Indonesia to reassure market participants that all animals exported from Australia complied with Indonesian requirements, including being free of LSD, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said in a statement on Sunday. Indonesia is the largest market for Australian live cattle exports, accounting for about 56% in 2021–22, data showed, worth about A$900 million ($600 million). It is a trade that Australia's north heavily relies on. Australia did not specify the number of shipments that will be impacted by Indonesia's decision. source

Trump's $475 million 'big lie' defamation lawsuit against CNN dismissed A federal judge has thrown out Donald Trump's $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN, in which the former president claimed the network's description of his election fraud as the "big lie" associated him with Adolf Hitler. In a ruling late on Friday night, U.S. Judge Raag Singhal, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, said CNN's words were opinion, not fact, and therefore could not be the subject of a defamation claim. "CNN's statements while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory," wrote Singhal, who sits in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, near Trump's home at his Mar-a-Lago resort. read more

Malaysia reverses plan to take legal action against Meta over harmful content Malaysia may not go through with a plan to take legal action against Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O) following "positive" engagement with the firm on tackling harmful content on the social media platform, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said in an interview on Friday. Last month, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it would take legal action against Meta for failing to act against "undesirable" content relating to race, royalty, religion, defamation, impersonation, online gambling, and scam advertisements. Fahmi said Meta had since given a firm commitment to work with Malaysian authorities, including the regulator and the police, to tackle such posts on its platforms. read more

African leaders tell Putin: 'We have a right to call for peace' African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal crucial to Africa on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain, which Moscow tore up last week. While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day of a summit were more concerted and forceful than those that African countries have voiced until now. They served as reminders of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices. read more

Wreck of ancient Roman cargo ship found off the coast near Rome The wreck of an ancient Roman cargo ship from more than 2,000 years ago has been found off the coast near Rome, the arts squad of Italy's Carabinieri police said on Friday. The ship was located off the port of Civitavecchia, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north-west of the Italian capital, on a sandy seabed at a depth of about 160 metres (525 ft), a statement said. The vessel, estimated to be more than 20 metres long and dating from the 1st or 2nd century BC, was carrying hundreds of amphorae -- a type of ancient Roman jar -- that were mostly found intact. read more

US says Trump ordered video deleted, charges second employee in documents case Donald Trump ordered employees at his Florida resort to delete security videos as he was under investigation for retaining classified documents, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday as they broadened the case against the former president and charged a second member of his staff with helping to hide documents. U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith filed three new criminal counts against Trump, bringing the total to 40, and charged a maintenance worker at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, Carlos De Oliveira, with conspiracy to obstruct justice, accusing him of helping Trump to hide documents. De Oliveira, 56, told another worker at the resort where Trump lives that "the boss" wanted security videos of the property in Florida deleted after the Justice Department subpoenaed them. read more

North Korea's Kim shows off banned missiles to Russian minister Russia's defence minister accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a defence exhibition that featured the North's banned ballistic missiles as the neighbours pledged to boost ties, North Korean state media reported on Thursday. The Russian minister, Sergei Shoigu, and a Chinese delegation led by a Communist Party Politburo member arrived in North Korea this week for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day". The nuclear-capable missiles were banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted with Russian and Chinese support. But this week they provided a striking backdrop for a show of solidarity by three countries united by their rivalry with the U.S. and a revival of what some analysts see as their Cold War-era coalition. read more

Iranian chess player who removed hijab gets Spanish citizenship An Iranian chess player who moved to Spain in January after she competed without a hijab and had an arrest warrant issued against her at home has been granted Spanish citizenship, Spain said on Wednesday. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, better known as Sara Khadem, took part in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships held in Kazakhstan in late December without the headscarf that is mandatory under Iran's strict Islamic dress codes. Laws enforcing mandatory hijab-wearing became a flashpoint during the unrest that swept Iran when a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of the morality police in mid-September. read more

Ship carrying 3,000 cars burns off Dutch coast, one dead A fire blazed on Wednesday on a ship off the Dutch coast with nearly 3,000 vehicles, killing one person and injuring several others, the coastguard said. The fire began on Tuesday night on the 199-metre Panama-registered Fremantle Highway, which was en route from Germany to Egypt, forcing several crew members to jump overboard. Rescue ships sprayed water onto the burning boat to cool it down, but too much water risked its sinking, the Dutch coastguard said. A salvage vessel hooked on to stop it drifting. read more

Japan's population falls while foreign residents rise to record The number of Japanese people has decreased at the fastest pace ever while the number of foreign residents has risen to a record of nearly 3 million, government data showed on Wednesday. The data showed that Japanese society is aging across the country and suggests that foreign nationals are playing an ever bigger role in making up for the shrinking population. The number of Japanese nationals fell for a 14th year, by about 800,000 people, to 122.42 million, according to resident registration data as of Jan. 1, 2023, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. read more

China replaces foreign minister Qin after brief stint and weeks of speculation China removed Foreign Minister Qin Gang from his post on Tuesday after a one-month absence from public duties, replacing him with his predecessor Wang Yi, state media said, after weeks of speculation about what had happened to him. Qin, 57, who only took up the job in December after a brief stint as envoy to the United States, had not been seen in public since June 25 when he met visiting diplomats in Beijing. After he missed an international diplomatic summit in Indonesia, his ministry later said he was off work for unspecified health reasons, but the lack of detailed information fuelled a swirl of speculation. read more

'Oppenheimer' sparks online outrage in India due to Hindu scripture scene A scene featuring a holy Hindu scripture in nuclear arms biopic "Oppenheimer" has drawn social media fire in India, with many users saying they would boycott the movie because of what one nationalist group called a "scathing attack on Hinduism". The scene features the protagonist reciting a verse from the Bhagwad Gita, considered the holiest of Hindu scripture, just before sexual intercourse. The film, which was released in India on Friday with much fanfare, was rated by the Central Board of Film Certification U/A, which recommends parental guidance for viewers aged under 12. read more