Top World News
US considers wider sanctions on Sudanese army and RSF as ceasefire efforts falter
Trump envoy fails to secure deal as Norway prepares to host talks on how to restore civilian government in SudanThe US is considering a much broader range of sanctions on the belligerents in the war in Sudan, in a tacit acknowledgment of the inability of the US envoy Massad Boulos to persuade the parties to accept a ceasefire.Last week Donald Trump announced that work had begun to end the war after a personal request for his direct intervention from the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Continue reading...
“This is war”: Is Trump about to invade Venezuela? – podcast
Donald Trump has in recent months turned his attention to ousting Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. But the US president and his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, are under scrutiny over military strikes on suspected drug boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea.This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Tom Phillips about why people are accusing Trump of war crimesArchive: 60 Minutes, CBS News, ABC News, PBS Newshour, C-SPAN, Al Jazeera English, CBS Miami, City News, CBC, Reuters Continue reading...
Police recover a swallowed Fabergé pendant after a 6-day wait for it to reappear
Police have recovered a James Bond-inspired Fabergé pendant after six days of waiting for it to exit a suspect's gastrointestinal tract
Putin and Modi to discuss Russia-India trade and defense ties amid US pressure
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an annual summit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties
Patient police say they have recovered Fabergé pendant from man accused of swallowing it
Six days after alleged incident, evidence emerges without requiring medical intervention, New Zealand police sayPolice say they have recovered a Fabergé egg pendant from a man accused of swallowing the item in a jewellery story.New Zealand police have spent six days monitoring every bowel movement of the suspect, a spokesperson said, and the NZ$33,000 ($19,000) James Bond Octopussy pendant was recovered from his gastrointestinal tract on Thursday night by natural means, without requiring medical intervention. Continue reading...
Pentagon announces it has killed four men in another boat strike in Pacific
Strike comes amid congressional turmoil over legality of US attacks on suspected drug smugglersThe Pentagon announced on Thursday that the US military had conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics, killing four men in the eastern Pacific, as questions mount over the legality of the attacks.Video of the new strike was posted on social media by the US southern command, based in Florida, with a statement saying that, at the direction of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”. Continue reading...
Dec 5, 2025
Baby fur seal wanders into a bar in New Zealand
Strike survivors deserved death for 'trying to flip their boat back over': GOP senator
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) insisted that two survivors of the strike on a small alleged drug boat deserved to die because they were trying to "flip" the vessel back over after it was hit.Following a briefing from Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley on Thursday, Cotton defended the Pentagon's decision to continue firing on the boat after the first strike."The second strike and the third and the fourth strike on September 2nd were entirely lawful and needful, and they were exactly what we would expect our military commanders to do," the senator insisted. "What exactly did you see in terms of the video of the second strike?" one reporter asked. "Were there survivors?""I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat, loaded with drugs, bound for the United States, back over, so they could stay in the fight," Cotton replied. "And potentially, given all the contacts we heard, of other narco-terrorist boats in the area coming to their aid to recover their cargo and recover those narco-terrorists, and just like you would blow up a boat, off of the Somali coast or the Yemeni coast and you'd come back and strike it again if it still had terrorists and it still had explosives or missiles."The boat, however, did not have explosives or missiles and was too small to pose a threat to the U.S. mainland from that distance, many experts have said. "I didn't see anything disturbing about it," Cotton told the reporters. "And we're going to continue to strike these boats until cartels learn their lesson that their drugs are no longer coming to America.""But Congressman Himes said that according to what he saw in that video, the two people who survived trying to get back on the boat, there was no way they could have conducted further operations or anything like that?" a reporter pressed. "He may be okay with drug boats running to America," Cotton snapped. "I just disagree with that.""If you think these strikes are justified and righteous, as I do, and I want them to continue, then of course the second strike, when you have two survivors, who are trying to flip their boat back over and continue on their mission, remain in the battle," he added.
Yasser abu Shabab, leader of Israel-backed militia, killed in Gaza
Death of commander of Popular Forces is blow to Israel’s efforts to confront Hamas through proxy groupsThe leader of an Israeli-backed militia in Gaza has been killed, dealing a major blow to Israel’s efforts to build up its own Palestinian proxies to confront Hamas.Yasser abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader based in the Israeli-held zone of the devastated territory, is thought to have died from wounds sustained in a violent clash with powerful and well-armed local families, according to local media and sources in Gaza. Continue reading...
Ecuador's Otavalo Indigenous people use anime to inspire pride in their ancient culture and language
High in the mountains of the Ecuadorian Andes, a group of young Otavalo Indigenous people is using anime to inspire pride in their ancient culture and language, especially among Otavalo children.
Putin and Modi to meet amid politically treacherous times for Russia and India
Delhi visit gives Russian leader a chance to reduce Moscow’s isolation but both countries need each other to negotiate Trump’s US and a powerful ChinaWhen Vladimir Putin last set foot in India almost exactly four years ago, the world order looked materially different. At that visit – lasting just five hours due to the Covid pandemic – Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, discussed economic and military cooperation and reaffirmed their special relationship.Three months later, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine would turn him into a global pariah, isolating the Kremlin from the world and restricting Putin’s international travel. Continue reading...
US and EU critical minerals project could displace thousands in DRC – report
Global Witness says plan to upgrade railway line to Angola puts up to 1,200 buildings at risk of demolitionUp to 6,500 people are at risk of being displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project funded by the EU and the US, amid a global race to secure supplies of copper, cobalt and other “critical minerals”, according to a report by campaign group Global Witness.The project, labelled the Lobito Corridor, aims to upgrade the colonial-era Benguela railway from the DRC to Lobito on Angola’s coast and improve port infrastructure, as well as building a railway line to Zambia and supporting agriculture and solar power installations along the route. Angola has said it needs $4.5bn (£3.4bn) for its stretch of the line. Continue reading...
Czech populist billionaire Andrej Babiš to move business to a trust to become prime minister
Czech Populist billionaire Andrej Babiš says he plans to transfer his major businesses to an independent trust to become prime minister again



