World news

World news

Between the lines: Larijani, a close confidant of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, visited Moscow earlier this week and met Russian President Putin. The Russians are one of several channels used by Iran and the U.S. to pass messages in recent days. The other side: President Trump told Fox News on Saturday that Iran is negotiating."The last time they negotiated, we had to take out their nuclear, didn't work, you know. Then we took it out a different way, and we'll see what happens"

This time last year, Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, was better known on the global stage for his sporting achievements than international politics. For years he dominated the territory's badminton scene, winning the singles and doubles championships almost every year. He won several medals at the Island Games, earning himself a reputation for very competitive play on the court. As it turned out, that was useful preparation for his time in office.

At least one person was killed and 14 were injured in an explosion in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. State television reported that the blast hit an eight-storey building, "destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops" in the area of Moallem Boulevard in the city. Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted the crisis management director for Hormozgan province, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, as saying the explosion's cause was under investigation.

In a social media post on Friday, Diaz-Canel said that under a false and baseless pretext, Trump plans to suffocate Cuba's economy by slapping tariffs on countries that sovereignly trade oil with it. This new measure reveals the fascist, criminal and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal ends, he said, in an apparent allusion to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American and a known anti-Cuban government hawk.

The Chinese government has executed 11 members of the Ming family crime syndicate. This comes after investigations into the criminal empire uncovered "intentional homicide, intentional injury, illegal detention, fraud, and operating gambling dens", as well as other penalties. In the announcement, which has been translated, the Supreme People's Court has confirmed that the group, led by Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, working alongside the "telecommunications fraud syndicate" led by other members, had conspired or committed various crimes.

Shaimaa Khalil,Tokyo Correspondent and EPA Sir Keir Starmer has invited Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the UK following talks in Tokyo, saying the relationship between the countries was the "strongest" it has been "in decades". The leaders of UK and Japan said they had discussed their "joint values" and set out plans to strengthen trade and security ties, including boosting defence and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region.

On January 3, Panama woke up with the strange sensation of looking in a mirror. During the early hours of the morning while the world tried to process the details about the capture of Nicolas Maduro, as a result of a U.S. military operation the country that is home to the Panama Canal once again delved into a wound that, 36 years later, remains open: the 1989 U.S. invasion.

Live updatesLive updates, Israel carries out deadly attacks in Gaza a day before the Rafah crossing is due to reopen. At least 12 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera. The violence comes a day before Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza with Egypt, on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.

The ISIL (ISIS) armed group has claimed responsibility for an attack on an air force base at Niger's main airport. The ISIL-affiliated Amaq News Agency reported on Friday that the group carried out a surprise and coordinated attack on the base at Diori Hamani International Airport near the capital, Niamey. It claimed the attack caused significant damage, without providing more details.

Sir Keir Starmer is only one of the middle power leaders trekking to Beijing to renew relations. No one has forgotten China's increasing international forcefulness, its handling of the pandemic and its closer relations with Russia as war engulfed Ukraine. But the wildness of Donald Trump's first year back in power is spurring Canada, France and others to hedge their bets. This, not whisky tariff cuts, is what the British prime minister sought.

Gunmen known locally as bandits arrived in the village in numbers, armed with AK47 rifles. They broke down doors and ordered people out of their homes and the village's three churches. They blocked the village exits before taking people and marching dozens into the forest at gunpoint. Some captives were taken from church, while others were forcibly kidnapped as gunmen moved from house to house. In one house, more than 30 members of an extended family were abducted.

"These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa," the ministry said. The foreign ministry also accused Seidman of failing to inform South African authorities of "purported visits by senior Israeli officials." DIRCO went on to say that this constituted a "gross abuse of diplomatic privilege" and said it was in violation of the Vienna Convention. Israel's diplomatic mission in South Africa has not yet responded to the latest development.

This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty, the statement said. These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO of purported visits by senior Israeli officials.

Tehran's priority is currently not to negotiate with the US, but to have 200 percent readiness to defend our country, Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior member of the Iranian negotiating team, was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday. Gharibabadi said that messages have recently been exchanged with the US through intermediaries. But he added that even if conditions were suitable for talks, Iran would remain fully prepared to defend itself, noting that it was previously attacked first by Israel and then the US

For the first time in our history, more than 70% of Africans are under the age of 30. This, along with entrenched inequalities, poverty, unemployment and socioeconomic fault lines, is reshaping how our societies interact with one another and the world. This is Africa's most consequential decade. Leaders who take office over the next 10 years will have to deliver on difficult mandates within a political, economic and social landscape that has been fundamentally altered.