Category Archives: World News

Stakes rise as Trump deploys world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean

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Expert says military action may be ‘imminent’ in Venezuela, while others suspect deployment is a negotiating tactic

When Donald Trump started sending warships, marines and reaper drones to the Caribbean in August to torment Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, the US’s former ambassador in Caracas, James Story, suspected the deployment was largely for show: a spectacular flexing of military muscle supposed to force the authoritarian leader from power.

But in recent days, as the world’s largest aircraft carrier and its strike group powered towards the region and the US president continued to order deadly airstrikes on alleged narco-boats, the diplomat’s thinking has shifted.

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Italian ‘mystic’ faces fraud trial over claim Virgin Mary statue wept blood

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Gisella Cardia allegedly made €365,000 in donations from pilgrims to shrine in lakeside town near Rome

A self-styled mystic who drew hundreds of pilgrims to a town near Rome by claiming a statue of the Virgin Mary wept tears of blood has been sent to trial for alleged fraud.

Gisella Cardia, who also claimed the statue was transmitting messages to her, will be tried along with her husband, Gianni Cardia, in April next year.

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Dire warnings over aid and hunger following RSF’s capture of Sudanese city

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Fears rise for displaced civilians as UN reports deteriorating situation and MSF warns of ‘staggering’ malnutrition

There are grave fears for civilians who survived the capture of El Fasher by a Sudanese paramilitary group last month, as the UN warned relief operations were on the brink of collapse and an aid group said malnutrition in displacement camps had reached “staggering” levels.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher – the capital of North Darfur state and the last urban centre outside of its grasp in the wider Darfur region – on 26 October. Survivor accounts and video and satellite evidence suggest more than 1,500 people were killed in ethnically targeted massacres in the immediate aftermath.

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Pakistan opens investigation into Islamabad terror attack

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Pakistani ministers attribute deadly suicide attack to Indian state terrorism but India denies claim

Pakistan has opened an investigation into the suicide attack that killed 12 people outside district court buildings in Islamabad, after the prime minister made unsubstantiated claims that “Indian state terrorism” was behind the blast.

The attack took place in the middle of the day on Tuesday as the area was thrumming with people. The bomber made several attempts to get inside the buildings before detonating a device next to a police car, killing 12 people and injuring 27.

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Trump writes to Israeli president calling for Netanyahu pardon

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Isaac Herzog can pardon convicted criminals in some circumstances, but cases against Israeli PM are ongoing

Donald Trump has repeated a request to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for a pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases.

The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases. No rulings have been delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.

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Republican disquiet over hemp ban threatens passage of bill to end shutdown

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Kentucky trio oppose provision restricting hemp-derived products, with House to vote on Wednesday on funding bill

A last-minute provision in the federal spending bill heavily restricting hemp-derived products such as CBD and THC drinks could lead some Republicans to vote against the spending bill which, if passed, could end the government shutdown as early as Wednesday.

Kentucky is one of the largest producers of hemp in the country, and Republicans in the state have shown strong support for the hemp industry. Jonathan Miller, an advocate for the hemp industry and former Kentucky state treasurer, said that “Kentucky is really ground zero for the rebirth of hemp” – a niche industry until the 2018 farm bill allowed a much wider variety of legal products.

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Venezuelans sent by Trump to El Salvador endured systematic torture, report finds

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Human rights groups accuse Trump officials of complicity and draw comparison with scandal at Abu Ghraib prison

More than 252 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador under Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy suffered systematic and prolonged torture and abuse, including sexual assault, during their detention, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The report, compiled jointly by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Cristosal – a group investigating violations in Central America – says conditions at El Salvador’s sprawling “terrorist continent center” (Cecot) breached the UN’s standard minimal rules for the treatment of prisoners. It cites “inhumane prison conditions, including prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food” and other shortcomings.

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‘Atrocious on every level’: sex case findings shame New Zealand’s senior police culture

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Inspector general will be inaugurated to oversee service after report on how top officers steered investigation of Jevon McSkimming, who went on to become deputy commissioner

New Zealand’s government will take the unprecedented move of appointing an inspector general of police after a damning report found “significant failings” in the way senior police officers handled serious sexual complaints against a former high-ranking officer.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released a 135-page report on Tuesday detailing allegations made against the former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming and the police’s response to them.

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Supply boom in cheaper renewables will seal end of fossil fuel era, says IEA

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Watchdog’s flagship report says rise in low-carbon electricity will make transition ‘inevitable’, despite Trump’s calls to carry on drilling

Renewables will grow faster than any major energy source in the next decade, according to the world’s energy watchdog, making the transition away from fossil fuels “inevitable”, despite a green backlash in the US and parts of Europe.

The world is expected to build more renewable energy projects in the next five years than has been rolled out over the last 40, according to the flagship annual report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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China sharpens its language on Taiwan as part of ‘longer-term’ strategy

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A series of statements, articles, photos and even a new national holiday indicate a shift in Beijing’s stance over the island, analysts say

In recent weeks China has released a series of statements, articles and photos, that analysts say signal an escalation in the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s approach to Taiwan.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a province and has vowed to annex it under what it terms “reunification”. China’s military is not believed to be capable of a full invasion yet, but senior officials have recently started using sharper language.

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Israel attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals

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Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sites

Israeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals.

Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts.

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Pentagon’s largest warship enters Latin American waters as US tensions with Venezuela rise

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USS Gerald R Ford’s arrival marks the largest US military presence in the region since the invasion of Panama in 1989

The US navy has announced that the USS Gerald R Ford, regarded as the world’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, has entered the area of responsibility of the US Southern Command, which covers Latin America and the Caribbean.

The deployment of the ship and the strike group it leads – which includes dozens of aircraft and destroyer ships – had been announced nearly three weeks ago, and its arrival marks an escalation in the military buildup between the US and Venezuela.

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Milan prosecutors investigate alleged ‘sniper tourism’ during Bosnian war

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Groups from Italy and elsewhere alleged to have paid Serb soldiers to shoot Sarajevo residents during siege

Prosecutors in Milan have opened an investigation into Italians who allegedly paid members of the Bosnian Serb army for trips to Sarajevo so that they could kill citizens during the four-year siege of the city in the 1990s.

More than 10,000 people were killed in Sarajevo by constant shelling and sniper fire between 1992 and 1996 in what was the longest siege in modern history, after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia.

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Catherine Connolly sworn in as Ireland’s president on day of pomp and celebration

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New president pledges ‘all voices’ will be heard and vows to promote climate action, tolerance and a Gaelic revival

Catherine Connolly has vowed to make Ireland a “republic worthy of its name” by using her presidency to champion diversity, the Irish language and the legacy of decolonisation.

Connolly spelled out a leftwing alternative to centre-right orthodoxy in her inauguration speech after being sworn in to office on Tuesday.

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Men with family stuck in Gaza say lack of action from UK government is breach of human rights

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Two fathers in Britain enlist law firm to get government to follow through on evacuation promises made months ago

The British government is facing legal action over its lack of action to help evacuate families in Gaza after committing to do so months ago.

Two families have argued that the government’s failure to act is unlawful and in breach of their family’s human rights. They are among a number of separated families to which the government has failed to keep its evacuation promise, according to the law firm Leigh Day, which is representing them.

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Indian police investigating fatal Delhi car blast under anti-terror law

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Statements from government ministers suggest they do not see explosion that killed eight people as an accident

Indian police are investigating a car explosion that killed eight people outside Delhi’s historic Red Fort under an anti-terror law, as they focus on the final movements of the vehicle involved.

The explosion on Monday occurred at about 7pm, a peak time when Delhi’s old city is usually packed with people and traffic.

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TikTok influencer killed in public ‘execution’ as Mali’s jihadist crisis worsens

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Mariam Cissé, who posted videos in support of ruling junta, received death threats before being abducted and killed

A TikTok influencer has been shot dead in front of a crowd by suspected jihadists in Mali, underlining how state control has been eroded in the west African nation.

Mariam Cissé often wore combat attire to post videos in support of the country’s military to more than 100,000 followers on TikTok. According to Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu region, she was abducted in a market on Friday by unknown gunmen.

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Pakistan Taliban claim responsibility for deadly terror attack in Islamabad

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Defence minister says country is in ‘state of war’ after suicide blast kills 12 and injures 27 outside court buildings

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide blast in Islamabad carried out by the Pakistan Taliban, as the country’s defence minister said a deadly surge in terror attacks had put the country in a “state of war”.

The explosion, which was confirmed as a suicide attack by several government ministers, took place outside district court buildings in the capital on Tuesday at about 12.30pm. The area is usually heavily crowded with lawyers and litigants attending trials.

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Olympians call on Iran to halt execution of boxing champion

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Sports personalities including Martina Navratilova and the swimmer Sharron Davies sign letter condemning Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani’s death sentence

More than 20 Olympic medallists, coaches and other international athletes, including the tennis player Martina Navratilova and the swimmer Sharron Davies, have signed a letter calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and coach, who is on death row in Iran.

Amid growing international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded letter condemns the Iranian regime’s decision to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

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‘I can’t breathe in this city’: inaction over Delhi’s suffocating pollution sparks rare protest

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The failure by state governments to do anything about pollution means it has often been met with apathy. But at a rare protest anger and frustration were rife

As a familiar smoky evening haze gathered over Delhi, the crowd began to assemble in their hundreds. Mothers and children, students, retirees and environmentalists were all united by a basic but desperate demand: the right to breathe safely in India’s capital.

“Delhi is not a liveable city any more, it’s a death trap,” said Radhika Aggarwal, 33, an engineer who joined the protest on Sunday.

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