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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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).
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, analysis reveals, adding evidence to the hope that the world’s biggest polluter has managed to hit its target of peak CO2 emissions well ahead of schedule.
Rapid increases in the deployment of solar and wind power generation – which grew by 46% and 11% respectively in the third quarter of this year – meant the country’s energy sector emissions remained flat, even as the demand for electricity increased.
Continue reading...Ahmed al-Sharaa and Donald Trump hold first White House summit between a US and Syrian leader since 1946
The US has announced a partial suspension of sanctions on Syria after a historic meeting in Washington DC between its new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Donald Trump.
Monday’s meeting was the first summit between a US and Syrian leader at the White House since 1946. The meeting is part of a remarkable turnaround in US-Syrian relations after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who had prosecuted a deadly civil war in the country from 2011 until his forces collapsed in December 2024.
Continue reading...Aircraft headed to island on Hurricane Melissa aid mission crashed into a pond in a neighborhood in Coral Springs
A small turboprop plane on a hurricane relief mission to Jamaica crashed into a pond in a gated residential neighborhood of the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs, killing two people shortly after takeoff and narrowly missing homes, authorities and a local resident said.
The Coral Springs police department confirmed the deaths in a statement Monday afternoon. But police did not provide further details about the occupants of the plane and did not immediately return messages seeking more details.
Continue reading...Ministers and high-ranking officials from nearly 200 countries have gathered in the Amazonian city of Belem, with Brazil insisting this will be ‘the Cop of implementation’
Hundreds lined up for Cop30 on opening morning, with some in Indigenous headdresses and others in trouser suits, writes Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter for the Guardian US.
The conference is being held in a massive temporary building in Belem’s Parque da Cidade area. It was still under construction just days ago, but now seems to be ready to use.
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