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This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: tensions with Venezuela rise following president’s reported ultimatum to MaduroThe president has picked up where he left off before Thanksgiving, when it comes to his anger at the six Democratic lawmakers who took part in a video urging service members to “refuse illegal orders”.A reminder, that Trump initially went on a Truth Social tirade, accusing the members of Congress (all of whom are veterans or former intelligence officials) of sedition, adding that their actions are “punishable by death”. Continue reading...

Man in his 60s was fighting large blaze near Ravensthorpe, about 500km south-east of PerthFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA farmer working frantically to protect his property from a fast-moving bushfire has died after his vehicle was engulfed in flames.The man aged in his 60s was operating a front-end loader as he tried to create a fire break at West River, about 500km drive south-east of Perth on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin "El Chapo" pleaded guilty Monday to US drug trafficking charges, months after his brother entered a plea deal.

Zelenskyy says redrafted peace plan ‘looks better’ but Kaja Kallas fears Moscow meeting will wrongfully put pressure on Kyiv rather than Kremlin. What we know on day 1,378An intensified diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year war has continued, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting Paris on Monday – a day after the Ukrainian president’s team held talks with US officials – and Vladimir Putin due to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday.Zelenskyy, speaking in Paris, said the Kremlin’s claims of battlefield advances were exaggerated. He said Ukraine’s priorities remained security guarantees, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as he insisted that Russia must not get rewards for its aggression on Ukraine. He said he hoped to have talks with the US president, Donald Trump, to discuss next steps once Steve Witkoff is back from his talks in Russia.Ukraine’s president said that after revisions the peace plan circulating between Ukraine, Russia and Washigton “looks better” and the work will continue. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned however that talks between the Putin and Witkoff will again pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions, write Jennifer Rankin and Pjotr Sauer. Kallas said: “In order to have peace, we shouldn’t lose focus that it’s actually Russia who has started this war and Russia that is continuing this war and Russia that is really targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure every single day to cause as much damage as possible.”The White House said it was “very optimistic” of a deal being reached to end the war. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters: Just yesterday [the White House team] had very good talks with the Ukrainians in Florida and now of course special envoy Witkoff is on his way to Russia.” Witkoff has in the past returned to Washington conveying variations of Vladimir Putin’s maximalist demands for Ukraine’s total capitulation. His role has come under scrutiny following a report that he coached Putin’s foreign affairs adviser on how to pitch to Trump.The Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said the Florida talks “achieved significant progress” but that some issues remained unresolved. Zelenskyy, while trying carefully not to anger Trump, has refused US-backed calls for Ukraine to give up hard-fought territory that Russia has not been able to seize.Four people were killed and 40 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the eastern-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Monday, Ukrainian officials said. Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region, said 11 of those injured were in a serious condition. Ukraine’s emergency services said car service stations, other businesses, an office building and 49 cars were all damaged in the attack. Continue reading...

Colombia says it sent 26 members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor to the United States after determining that the rights of some of the children in the group were at risk

Many uncertain about the future after losing everything in the country’s deadliest natural disaster for yearsWhen the rains began, Layani Rasika Niroshani was not worried. The 36-year-old mother of two was used to the heavy monsoon showers that drench Sri Lanka’s hilly central region of Badulla every year. But as it kept pounding down without stopping, the family started to feel jittery.Some relocated to a relative’s house, but her brother and his wife decided to stay behind to collect the valuables. As they were inside, a landslide hit the family home. Continue reading...

Meta platform allows users under 16 in Australia to change their date of birth – but only after clearing a ‘video selfie’ or providing government IDFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInstagram’s process for determining whether a user is over 16 is relatively quick and painless if you’re clearly an adult – but how does it work if a 13-year-old tries to change their account’s date of birth to make them appear grown up?Meta in November began notifying Instagram and Facebook users whose date of birth is set as under 16 – or who the platform understands to be under 16 – that their accounts will be deactivated as part of Australia’s social media ban for children. The ban takes effect on 10 December, but Meta has said it will start removing access to users under 16 from 4 December. Continue reading...

Hong Kong has set up an independent commission to investigate a deadly fire that burned seven apartment buildings and killed at least 151 people