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As if there weren’t other things for Russian MPs to worry about nine months into the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine.

But as their president seeks to exalt traditional Russian values above what he has called the “outright Satanism” of the West, his parliament has adopted in the second reading a bill that further tightens the screws on Russia’s beleaguered LGBTQ+ community.

Legislation introduced in 2013 which banned the promotion of so-called gay propaganda to minors has been expanded to incorporate all age groups.

That means that films, literature, journalism, advertising – anything which actively promotes the notion of non-traditional sexual relations or which advocates a change of gender will be punishable with hefty fines.

Those can reach up to 400,000 rubles for individuals (£5,500) or five million rubles for legal entities (£70,000).

Foreign citizens found to have violated the law will face expulsion from the Russian Federation.

How lawmakers plan to implement the new law remains to be seen, whether with a flood of cases or simply by scaring people into self-censorship.

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“There are so many pieces of law now and this obviously won’t be the last,” says Vladimir Komov from Delo LGBT which provides legal assistance to the LGBT community.

“We partly hope that by resisting and not hiding we will be able to stop the system. It simply won’t be able to cope with the number of cases.”

Delo LGBT is one of the few remaining LGBT support groups in Russia. Others have been labelled foreign agents and have left the country.

It is not clear how many tens of thousands from the LGBT community have fled since 24 February, especially given the fear of mobilisation into the notoriously homophobic Russian armed forces but Mr Komov says he needs to defend the rights of those who stay.

He is worried that the new legislation will worsen trends of violence, forced outing, catfishing and extortion of Russia’s LGBT community and provide a permissive environment for ever-worsening hate speech.

“Homophobes now openly compare LGBT people with fascists and Nazis,” Mr Komov says.

“Since February, LGBT changed from ordinary opponents who were created as targets of the state ideology, a homophobic ideology by the way, and we became almost the main enemy.”

Despite the growing restrictions, the gay scene in cities like Moscow, St Petersburg or Sochi over the past decade was pretty vibrant. Gay clubs were packed. There would be no markings or advertising, but they weren’t hard to find.

Domestic homophobia, if anything, was on the wane, especially amongst a younger demographic.

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“I was born in the year 2000 and most of my peers are LGBT friendly or they have a neutral attitude,” says Robert, who lives as an openly gay man in Moscow.

“Most of them just don’t get the reason why we need this ban and it sounds incredible to them that you can lure someone into being gay by propaganda.”

Russia’s parliamentarians are largely 40 plus at least, and they are legislating on behalf of younger generations, many of whom have grown up seeing things differently. One good illustration is the book that topped the bestseller lists this summer.

Summer in a Pioneer Tie tells the story of a romance between a teenage boy and his 19-year-old male group leader at a Soviet pioneer camp.

Labelled 18+ in accordance with existing laws, it has nevertheless picked up a massive teenage following, the associated hashtag #lpvg racking up 317 million views at present count on TikTok.

“We must do everything to protect our children and those who want to live a normal life,” said the speaker of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, as lawmakers voted on the bill.

“Everything else is sin, sodomy, darkness and our country is fighting this.”

But by banning any so-called LGBT propaganda, Russia’s lawmakers run the risk of making it a lot more alluring to a younger generation who may find the endless rhetoric around traditional values wearing.

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Channel migrant dinghy in which five people died packed with people carrying weapons and fighting – survivor

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Channel migrant dinghy in which five people died packed with people carrying weapons and fighting - survivor

The migrant dinghy in which five people died was chaotic, overloaded and packed with people carrying weapons and fighting, according to one of the passengers who was on board, speaking exclusively to Sky News.

Heivin, 18, confirmed the boat was stormed by a rival group of migrants, armed with sticks and knives, as it was preparing to set off.

She said: “People were fighting, people were getting stepped on, they were dying and being thrown off.”

She said she fell into the water but was pulled out by another person on the boat. Two other passengers who fell into the water, including a young girl, drowned. Three other people died on the boat.

Heivin said she “really hated” the group of people who hijacked their boat, insisting they should take the blame for what happened.

“They caused a huge tragedy,” she said.

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Five die after migrant boat ‘hijacked’

“It was because of them that people died.

“If they hadn’t come and started fighting, none of this would have happened.”

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The tragedy happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the waters off the French coastal town of Wimereux.

The boat, which launched with 112 people on board, stopped on a sandbar only a few hundred metres from the shore.

By the time emergency services arrived, it was clear people had died, both on the boat and in the water.

Two men have been charged with immigration offences in connection with the investigation into the deaths of the five migrants.

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French authorities struggle to intercept all small boats carrying migrants across the Channel.

“I fell into the water but a man helped me up,” Heivin said.

“Everyone was climbing aboard and there were too many people – over 110 of us.

“I had tried to be at the front, but after I fell in the water I sat on the edge of the boat and didn’t go towards the other end – that’s where people were fighting.

“I thank God that I didn’t get into the top part of the dinghy. I would have suffocated. I thank God for that every day.”

Men in blue on Channel Crossing
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These men rushed on to the boat

She said her group, comprising between 50 and 60 people, had arrived at the beach in Wimereux after following the instructions of the people smugglers who had taken their money in exchange for arranging a passage to Britain.

Hidden away, they had waited for the smugglers to prepare the dinghy. She then saw police officers and was told simply to run towards the water.

At that point, the rival group emerged as well, clambering into the boat along with the people who had paid the smugglers.

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Heivin said she saw migrants from this group carrying sticks and knives, squaring up to both the police and the original passengers.

When the boat set off, exceptionally overladen, it meandered towards the Channel, but there was still fighting and it is clear that some people were being crushed.

“I was aware there was a fight,” Heivin said.

“They were shouting that people were stuck underneath other people, that they couldn’t get out, that some were falling under people’s feet.”

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Heivin has spent seven months travelling across Europe since leaving Iraq. She said she wanted to get to Britain because “it is a better country for me, definitely in terms of the language but also, in many other other ways, it is better than the rest of Europe”.

She’s made 30 attempts to cross the Channel, but has failed each time. Sometimes it has been the French police who have destroyed boats while other times the boat on which she was travelling broke down. One time, the boat failed only an hour from British waters.

She is undeterred by the trauma that she underwent, however, and she intends to try again to reach Britain as soon as possible. “Perhaps this weekend,” she said.

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There’s a new trade war brewing – over global dominance in the electric car market

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There's a new trade war brewing - over global dominance in the electric car market

There’s a trade war brewing between China and the West, at stake is who will dominate the global market for electric vehicles.

Outside the port city of Ningbo, Chinese car company Zeekr is rolling out luxury EVs and growing fast. The factory has only been up and running for three years, but this year it’s more than doubling production.

Chinese car company Zeekr is rolling out luxury EVs at its factory near outside the port city of Ningbo. Credit: Lex Ramsay
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Chinese car company Zeekr is rolling out luxury EVs at its factory near the port city of Ningbo. Pic: Lex Ramsay

Zeekr is a new player in the EV market, but it has unbridled ambition to sell its high-end, high-tech cars abroad. It’s a subsidiary of a state-backed company, Geely.

However, US and EU critics say the financial backing and vast resources of China’s government gives companies like Zeekr an unfair advantage.

In a recent trip to Beijing US treasury secretary Janet Yellen accused China of “overproduction” and “dumping” its EVs on overseas markets. The European Commission has started an investigation into whether to impose punitive tariffs on China’s industry.

But at Zeekr the threat of tariffs is being talked down. The company insists the global market is big enough for everyone.

Chinese car company Zeekr is rolling out luxury EVs at its factory near outside the port city of Ningbo. Credit: Lex Ramsay
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Zeekr is a new player in the EV market. Pic: Lex Ramsay

Speaking to Sky News at a massive auto show on the outskirts of Beijing, Zeekr vice president Chen Yu explained that when foreign car companies first started setting up EV plants in China, local car companies watched on and learned fast.

“Definitely,” Mr Chen said. “We learned about the performance, the design, the culture, everything.”

Now companies like Zeekr, and BYD which is a giant in the Chinese EV manufacturing market, are taking on traditional car companies.

“I would not say (Chinese EVs) are dominating the market. I would say just they bring more diversity to the local customer, that is the nature of competition as you know,” Mr Chen said.

However, the possibility of Europe slapping tariffs on Chinese EVs is a concern for the Zeekr executive: “Definitely, if the tariff goes up, no doubt we are worried about the potential challenge.”

Zeekr vice president Chen Yu. Pic: Lex Ramsay
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Mr Zhang, EV owner Pic: Lex Ramsay

On the floor of the auto show, car dealers and importers were clearly impressed with China’s EVs and warned legacy car manufacturers that they are in trouble.

New Zealand car dealer Matthew Foot has been attending the annual show for five years, and said: “It’s going to be very hard to beat China. They get incredible resources from the government; from lithium mines, to the ships and everything in between.

“Obviously you can see why Europe is fearing them and taxing them as well.”

This week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in China. Trade tensions are on the agenda, alongside the world’s geo-political crises.

The US already imposes a 27.5% tariff on Chinese cars. But in Europe it’s only 10% and that makes companies like VW, Volvo and BMW increasingly nervous.

In Beijing last week German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “It’s clear that we have to talk about questions of overcapacity, and that we have to talk about subsidy competition.”

Chinese car company Zeekr is rolling out luxury EVs at its factory near outside the port city of Ningbo. Credit: Lex Ramsay.
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BYD car at Beijing Auto Show Pic: Lex Ramsay


Germany is in a difficult position. As Europe’s largest car manufacturer, it fears that if the EU slaps tariffs on Chinese cars, China could retaliate by restricting access to its vast market.

But the fact is, more than half of all new electric cars sold worldwide are from China and it can make them cheaper and faster than its competitors.

At the end of last year China’s EV giant, BYD, sold more electric cars than Tesla. Tesla was back on top last quarter, but the competition is fierce.

The scale of production is staggering. BYD owns its mines, battery factories and eight ships.

Even a comparatively smaller company like Zeekr is the model of efficiency, with 2,700 workers churning out around 500 cars a day.

The focus on EVs is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to overhaul the country’s debt-driven economy. He calls it “new production forces”. Investing in infrastructure is out, new technology is in.

In the industrial hub of Anhui Province, local officials are also brushing off the looming threat of tariffs. Provincial official Pan Feng said: “Some countries, thinking about their short-term self-interests, introduced some regulations, but I think they are only temporary.

“China is a big country, with a big market, it has huge power and confidence to counteract these conflicts.”

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Chinese buyers are also confident about their country’s electric cars, purchasing more than seven million of them domestically last year.

The country also has more charging stations than anywhere else on the planet.

While charging his BYD electric car in Zhejiang Province, Mr Zhang told us: “Chinese-made cars are good enough for us ordinary Chinese. If you’re thinking of buying an EV, there’s no need to go for a Mercedes or a German EV.”

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Rwanda Bill causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of UK, deputy PM says

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Rwanda Bill causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of UK, deputy PM says

The threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said.

The Rwanda Bill, which will see asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” sent to the central African nation – regardless of the outcome of their application – was passed on Tuesday, despite human rights concerns.

Micheal Martin told The Daily Telegraph that the policy was already affecting Ireland, as people were “fearful” of staying in the UK.

The former Taoiseach said: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”

Mr Martin, who is also Ireland’s foreign secretary, said asylum seekers were seeking “to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda”.

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His words follow those of justice minister Helen McEntee, who told a scrutiny committee in the Irish parliament earlier this week that migrants and refugees were crossing the border with Northern Ireland.

Ms McEntee said “higher than 80%” of people seeking asylum in Ireland entered the country through Northern Ireland, a border crossing that is open as guaranteed under a UK-EU Brexit treaty.

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It comes amid increasing tension over immigration levels in Ireland, which is grappling with a housing crisis that has affected its own people as well as asylum seekers.

Overnight, six people were arrested during a protest at a site earmarked to house asylum seekers in Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow.

Gardai said officers came under attack after workers were brought onto the site, suffering “verbal and physical abuse throughout the day, which escalated into rocks and other missiles being thrown this evening”.

Fires were lit, an axe was found and officers were “forced to defend themselves” with incapacitant spray, helmets and shields.

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Three patrol cars were also damaged.

Irish broadcaster RTE said protesters accused gardaí of using unnecessary force, and intimidating and aggressive tactics against a legitimate and peaceful protest.

According to RTE, there have been protests during the past six weeks at the site, known as Trudder House or River Lodge.

It is reportedly being considered as a site for 20 eight-person tents housing asylum seekers but some locals have said it is unsuitable and the village’s resources are already over-stretched.

Ms McEntee said there was “a lot of misinformation about migration at the moment”.

She tweeted late on Thursday to promote the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which she described as “a real game changer” and “something we must opt into”.

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