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Who leaked Witkoff’s call advising Kremlin on how to get Trump on side?
Potential culprits of giving Bloomberg recording include CIA, NSA, European intelligence agencies and UkraineBloomberg’s scoop showing how Trump aide Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on the best way to get into Trump’s good graces is extraordinary for what it tells us about Witkoff’s dubious loyalties and the Kremlin’s potential influence over US negotiation efforts. But equally interesting is the leaked material itself and where it may have come from.The story covers two intercepted phone calls: one between Witkoff and top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, and one between Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, who has been deeply involved in negotiations with the Trump White House. Continue reading...
Trump threatens Venezuela’s Maduro with ‘the easy way … or the hard way’
Venezuela president vows to defend ‘every inch’ of the country amid military buildup in CaribbeanA visual guide to the US military presence in the CaribbeanDonald Trump has warned Nicolás Maduro he can “do things the easy way … or the hard way” as Venezuela’s authoritarian leader responded to the growing US pressure campaign by urging followers to prepare to defend “every inch” of the South American country.Clad in woodland camouflage fatigues, Maduro told a rally in the capital, Caracas, it was their historic duty to fight foreign aggressors, just as the Venezuelan liberation hero Simón Bolívar did two centuries ago. Continue reading...
Massive Fire Breaks Out At Residential Building In Hong Kong, Many Trapped
Wang Fuk Court is a housing complex made up of eight blocks, providing close to 2,000 residential units.
Departing Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘the canary in the coal mine’ for Republicans, says former House speaker – US politics live
Kevin McCarthy says exit of the Trump loyalist turned critic is a sign of broader trouble for RepublicansCertain Republicans are moving to criticize Steve Witkoff and his relationship with Moscow, after Bloomberg published the transcript of a call between Trump’s envoy and a senior Kremlin official yesterday.“It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired,” said outgoing Republican congressman Don Bacon, of Nebraska. Continue reading...
Ministers approve £750m Marlow Film Studios development after review
Planning permission granted for Buckinghamshire project seen as test of Labour’s drive for economic growthBusiness live – latest updatesMinisters have approved a development to build a £750m Hollywood-style film and TV studios in Marlow, west of London, a project that has faced local opposition and been seen as a test of Labour’s appetite to prioritise economic growth.The Marlow Film Studios project has received high-profile backing from film-makers including the director of 1917, Sam Mendes, the director of Titanic and Avatar, James Cameron, and the Captain Phillips director, Paul Greengrass. Continue reading...
Karoline Leavitt’s nephew’s mother detained by US immigration agents
Bruna Ferreira, who has a child with the White House press secretary’s brother, is now in custody at an ICE facilityUS politics live – latest updatesKaroline Leavitt’s nephew’s mother has been detained by US immigration agents in Revere, Massachusetts, as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.Bruna Ferreira, a Boston-area resident who migrated with her family to the US from Brazil as a child, is now in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana, according to the Boston radio station WBUR, which first reported the arrest. Continue reading...
Nicolas Sarkozy convicted of illegal campaign financing in failed 2012 re-election bid
Former French president released from prison only this month in connection with separate convictionThe former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been convicted of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid, after the country’s highest court rejected his final appeal.Sarkozy, who was the country’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, was convicted of hiding illegal overspending for his unsuccessful re-election campaign that was shaped by vast American-style rallies. Continue reading...
At least 13 dead after fire engulfs residential tower blocks in Hong Kong
Several people reportedly trapped inside burning towers as firefighters tackle huge blaze in Tai Po districtAt least 13 people have been killed and dozens injured in a fire that engulfed several residential tower blocks in Hong Kong on Wednesday.Police said several people remained trapped inside on Wednesday night, as the fire continued to burn in more than half a dozen 31-storey towers. Authorities declared the incident a five-alarm fire, the highest emergency rating, and at least 128 fire engines and almost 800 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze. Roads including major highways near the towers have been closed. Continue reading...
Junta hails end to US protected status for Myanmar nationals
Human rights monitors say it is not safe to return, citing reports of ‘serious crimes in the run-up to elections’Myanmar’s junta applauded the Trump administration on Wednesday for halting a scheme that protected its citizens from deportation from the US back to their war-racked homeland.About 4,000 Myanmar citizens are living in the US with temporary protected status (TPS), which shields foreign nationals from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work. Continue reading...
Americans helping Ukrainian war effort decry US peace plan as a ‘betrayal by Trump’
US volunteers who have poured into Ukraine to help amid war are dismayed by Trump’s continuing pressures on KyivAmericans involved in the Ukrainian war effort are embarrassed and dismayed by Donald Trump’s continuing pressures on Kyiv and think his administration’s latest peace plan is tantamount to backstabbing and another catastrophic failure of US foreign policy.“Complete bullshit and a betrayal by Trump,” said an American special forces veteran who has helped train and advise the Ukrainian military since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. “But are you even surprised?”This article was amended on 26 November 2025 to correct that Don Bacon represents Nebraska, not Mississippi. Continue reading...
Von der Leyen warns against ‘carving up’ of Ukraine amid crunch US-led talks
Commission president says undermining of sovereign European nation would ‘open the doors for more wars’Europe live – latest updatesThe European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has warned against “the unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation”, as Europe scrambles to assert influence over a US effort to end the war in Ukraine.Speaking to European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday, von der Leyen said Russia showed “no signs of true willingness to end the conflict” and continued to operate in a mindset unchanged since the days of Yalta – the much-criticised and misunderstood 1945 summit to settle the post-war order. Continue reading...
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raid Palestinian town in West Bank
Israeli military and security service say ‘broad counter-terrorism operation’ in Tubas to continue for several daysHundreds of Israeli soldiers supported by armoured vehicles have conducted raids in the Palestinian town of Tubas near Nablus in the biggest such military deployment by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza last month.Palestinian media reported that a curfew was imposed on Tuesday night on Tubas and some neighbouring communities, roads were closed by earthen barriers and families forced from their homes to allow Israeli forces to use the buildings. Continue reading...
