Students faced prison terms and thousands of dollars in restitution over campus protest against Israel’s war on Gaza
Five Stanford University students who faced prison sentences and thousands of dollars in restitution in connection to a campus protest against Israel’s war on Gaza had all charges dropped on Monday.
The students also had their restitution severely reduced, ending a two-year legal saga that also saw the lead prosecutor in the case removed by the court.
Continue reading...Wildfire forces evacuations and burns through mountains surrounding Villa de Leyva in the north-east
Colombian authorities declared a public calamity as a wildfire burned through mountains surrounding one of the country’s best-known colonial towns in the north-east, scorching large swaths of vegetation and forcing evacuations.
Nearly 20 active fires are burning across the South American country. Dry conditions have increased fire danger in Colombia as it braces for the effects of El Niño, which can help wildfires spread.
Continue reading...Dozens of US attacks on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean have killed more than 230 people since September 2025
A special rapporteur for the UN human rights council has concluded that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the United States attacks on boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Pacific and Caribbean “constituted crimes against humanity”.
The boat strikes, carried out since September 2025 on the stated grounds of stopping drugs being trafficked by sea to the US, have killed more than 230 people. The latest, on Saturday, killed four people in the Caribbean.
Continue reading...Merz seeks to shore up support after CDU loses two state elections and is ejected from Mecklenburg parliament
Germany’s beleaguered leader, Friedrich Merz, has vowed to keep his fractious coalition government together for the good of the country’s “democratic future” after his conservative party suffered a drubbing at the polls in two state elections.
Merz, who has vowed to plough ahead with an unpopular reform agenda, dismissed speculation over his position, saying it was vital that he and his coalition government remained in place.
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