World news

World news

Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before - until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.

Internationally-renowned carrier Cathay Pacific will launch its Aria Suite business class seat on flights to the United States starting Dec. 31, the airline told Travel + Leisure. The new cabin will be available on select flights between San Francisco and Hong Kong aboard the airline's retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. First announced last year, the Aria Suite boasts a sliding privacy door, customizable lighting, a 24-inch 4K ultra high-definition screen, a built-in wireless charger, soft suede walls, wool seats, and leather headrests.

Pressed by interviewers for details on the possible security guarantees floated by the United States in Monday's Berlin talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Merz said the guarantors would need to repel Russian forces should there be a violation of any ceasefire terms. We would secure a demilitarized zone between the warring parties and, to be very specific, we would also act against corresponding Russian incursions and attacks. We're not there yet, he said.

"You are located near buildings used by Hezbollah, and for your own safety you must evacuate them immediately," the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military said on Saturday afternoon. Then something rather unusual happened. The Lebanese army requested that, instead of an Israeli air strike, it should be allowed to inspect the premises for weapons itself. In what Israeli media would later describe as a "rare" and "unprecedented" event, the Israelis agreed and called the air strike on Yanouh off.

Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an antisemitic mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, and more than 20 other people are still being treated in hospitals. All of those killed by the gunmen who have been identified so far were Jewish. Police said that Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old suspected shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his gunman father at Bondi.

We the government want to make sure no one is left behind, Marshall Islands' minister for finance David Paul told the Guardian. $200 per person per quarter, which is about $800 a year, does not compel you to quit your job but it's actually like a morale booster for people. An archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, the Marshall Islands lies between Hawaii and Australia, and has a population of about 42,000.

For generations, two centres of gravity in New Zealand's central Ruapehu region had enough pull to entice people to the area and keep them there: the mountains and the mills. Mount Ruapehu, the country's largest active volcano, lured people to its snowy slopes for work and play, while the local mills run by the region's largest employer, Winstone Pulp International kept generations of families in employment.

The unholy alliance between Big Tech and China goes far beyond TikTok, which recently reached a deal to survive in the U.S. by divesting its American operations from non-Chinese ownership. Even American-owned tech giants are deep under the covers with the Chinese, as evidenced by a new Reuters report that examines the relationship between Facebook's parent company Meta and China. The report concludes that Meta takes in billions in ad revenue from China while only loosely policing fraud and other illegal content in those ads.

India's political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government. An debate erupted in India's parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country's electoral roll in decades.

Analysts warn US terrorist' designation of the EGC could escalate violence and hinder peace negotiations in Colombia. Bogota, Colombia The United States Department of State has designated Colombia's largest criminal group, the Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC), a terrorist organisation. The EGC, also referred to as the Clan del Golfo, has a presence across Colombia and is known for its involvement in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion.

It was a night at the museum like no other. As the staccato sound of firecrackers and explosions rang out across Martyr's Square in the heart of Tripoli, for once it was not Libya's militias battling it out for a larger stake in the country's oil economy, but a huge firework display celebrating the reopening of one of the finest museums in the Mediterranean.

The shift could make African countries among the fastest-growing economies in the world - or create a string of humanitarian crises that may define the start of the next century. By the numbers: Africa will become the world's demographic center of gravity as it more than doubles its population from 2030 to 2100, the U.S. Census Bureau's International Database (IDB) released last week projects.

The Israeli government has approved the formalisation of 19 so-called settlement outposts as independent settlements in the occupied West Bank. This is the third wave of such formalisations this year by the government, which considers settlement expansion and annexation a top priority. During an earlier ceremony of formalisation, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, We are advancing de facto sovereignty on the ground to prevent any possibility of establishing an Arab state in [the West Bank].

The 33 percent drop was recorded despite the wildfires that ravaged wealthy neighbourhoods in Los Angeles in January, burning more than 9,308 hectares (23,000 acres), destroying homes and businesses and forcing thousands to flee. Swiss Re put the insured losses from the inferno at $40bn, labelling it the globe's costliest wildfire to date. That single event was a major contributor to the $107bn in insured losses from natural catastrophes in 2025.

The killing of two US service members in an attack in Syria over the weekend has raised questions about the future of American forces in the country. Also, prosecutors in Serbia have charged a government minister with abuse of office and falsifying of documents in an apparent attempt to pave the way for a real estate project financed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, US President Trump's son-in-law.

Investigators say the deadly Bondi Beach attack is being treated as terrorism' after evidence of ISIL influence found. The Australian police say the two men accused of carrying out a deadly shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people were inspired by the ISIL (ISIS) group. Police also confirmed on Tuesday that they were investigating a trip the two suspects undertook to the Philippines last month.

A trial got underway in Seoul last week for 46 South Koreans, mostly men in their 20s, accused of participating in online scam operations in Cambodia. Since mid-October, South Korea has repatriated 107 nationals from Cambodia where officials estimate upwards of 1,000 of its citizens are working either "voluntarily or involuntarily" in scam compounds. The repatriation effort follows public outrage over the death of a South Korean college student, who was reportedly lured to Cambodia and forced to work in a scam center.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals being negotiated with U.S. officials for a peace deal to end his country's nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend.

Dec. 15 (Asia Today) -- South Korean internet giant Kakao said Monday it ordered employees to work remotely after receiving a threatening message claiming an explosive device had been planted at its headquarters in Pangyo. Kakao said the message was received by its customer service center at about 11:15 a.m. and alleged that a homemade explosive device was placed at the company's Pangyo "Ajit" office building in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

"People are lining up and treating this the way they treated reconstruction in Iraq," says Aram Roston, whose latest investigation for The Guardian US looks at how the company behind the notorious Florida immigration detention jail nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" has been involved in rebuilding plans spearheaded by Trump's so-called Board of Peace.