World politics

World politics

For an inveterate liar, Donald Trump is remarkably honest. The best guide to what he thinks is what he says. When forecasting his likely course of action, start with his declared intentions removing the president of Venezuela, for example and assume he means it. When he says the US must take possession of Greenland, he is not kidding. The motives are sometimes muddled but rarely hidden.

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us: that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

seek feasible alternatives together for peace on the Korean Peninsula,

By many accounts, those most impacted by the attacks - Venezuelans living and working in Venezuela - are resolutely opposed to the strikes, with thousands mobilizing in numerous Venezuelan cities in protest. (The death toll from the US strikes currently stands at 80 soldiers and civilians, a figure whichwill likely go up as the dust settles.) Though the attacks are still too recent to get accurate polling data of the country's sentiments, a November survey found that 86 percent of Venezuelans preferred for Maduro to remain head of state to resolve the country's economic woes.

Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,

With disbelief, shock, and confusion, after more than 20 weeks of political tension, Venezuela awoke to the news of the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a combined military operation by U.S. forces in Caracas. The question now is what will happen to Chavismo and who will assume power. With Maduro and Flores detained, the 1999 Constitution stipulates that the vice president, in this case Delcy Rodriguez, a close confidante of the president, assumes the reins of the executive branch.

The United States, once again, decided to act against international laws, kidnapping a sitting leader of a foreign government with no rhyme or reason that could be justified, and is looking to further destabilize countries whose governments they don't agree with. We need to be out here in the streets making that known that we don't agree with it, protester William Novello said, adding that he wants the world to know that not every American agrees with the military strike.

Writing on New Year's Day 2026, I feel the need to try to make some sense of the worst year of my 73-year life. I don't mean worse personally. My close family and I live in the relative safety and affluence of London, England, and we are all healthy and have fulfilling jobs. I mean, worst in the global sense.

The year we are leaving behind has been plagued from the start by a series of social, economic, environmental, technological and institutional challenges, all happening with such speed and intensity that we are yet to fully comprehend their impact on our lives, let alone on future generations. As the overwhelming strain of domestic and geopolitical changes continues to build up, I cannot help but remember the man's words. Too much pressure. Unstable, uncertain and replete with deep inequalities.

Mass protests in Nepal and Madagascar toppled both governments this year, even when the young people at the forefront of the demonstrations were faced with heavily armed police and the threat of arrest. Many called 2025 the year of the protest although the revolution in Bangladesh in 2024 that unseated the authoritarian leader Sheikh Hasina is often credited with inspiring young people to take to the streets across parts of Asia and Africa.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

We haven't resolved everything, but I think we are making progress in the right direction, and we have to keep up the momentum, he said.

On December 25, 1914, British and German soldiers stopped fighting and met in the middle of "no man's land" to socialize, exchange gifts, and play soccer. In what has become known as theChristmas Truce of World War I, the men, for a moment, returned to being normal people. Perhaps the holiday made them nostalgic for their families and the joy of the season. From inside the cold, wet, snow-filled trenches, one side started singing Christmas carols, and then the other side joined in.

Television host Rabi Lamichhane, the 51-year-old chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP), and the 35-year-old rapper turned Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah pledged to address the demands of the younger generation following September's deadly anti-corruption protests. At least 77 people were killed during the 8-9 September youth-led uprising that was triggered by anger over a brief government ban on social media, building on public frustration after years of economic stagnation and allegations of entrenched political corruption.

The planet is experiencing a veritable global wave of autocratisation, according to the report 25 Years of Autocratisation: Democracy Trumped?, by the Swedish University of Gothenburg's V-DEM Institute. The world now has 88 democracies compared to 91 autocracies, which is a radical change from last year, according to the report. Liberal democracies have become the least common type of regime globally. Almost three out of four people, or 72% of humanity, now live in autocracies, the report points out.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday he had agreed to a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the "near future." "A lot can be decided before the New Year," he posted on social media. The announcement follows weeks of stepped-up diplomatic efforts to end Ukraine's war with Russia. On Thursday, Zelenskyy gave a positive assessment of his conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about ending the war.

A tariff is a tax paid by consumers, and if there's one thing the past four years have taught us, it's that the public will not forgive a politician who presides over a period of rising prices, no matter what the cause. Luckily for the political fortunes of the world's leaders, there is a better way to respond to tariffs. Tit-for-tat tariffs are a 19th-century tactic, and we live in a 21st-century world

It's not possible to have a real impeachment; however, they want to make a record that President Lai would be the first president considered impeached in the history of Taiwan's democracy, said Yen-tu Su, an expert in constitutional law and democratic theory at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institution. It's a way to register their protest. It's a way to humiliate the president, and also a way to retaliate against the executive branch refusal to promulgate legislation passed by the legislators, he told Al Jazeera.

The old world is dying, Antonio Gramsci once wrote. And the new world struggles to be born. In such interregnums, the Italian Marxist philosopher suggested, every act, even the smallest, may acquire decisive weight. In 2025, western leaders appeared convinced they and we were living through one such transitional period, as the world of international relations established after the second world war crashed to a halt.