The latest bombing brings the total death toll from US boat strikes to 125 since September, raising human rights concerns. The administration of President Donald Trump has announced United States' latest boat strike in international waters, which killed two people in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Friday's attack brings the total number of bombings to at least 36 since Trump began his campaign on September 2. An estimated 125 people have been killed, including the two latest casualties.
The European Union has proposed sanctions against Iran's interior minister and 14 other senior officials for their role in a violent crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in late December, documents obtained by RFE/RL show. Protests erupted on December 28 over economic woes including currency collapse but morphed into anti-regime demonstrations that were met with lethal force. The bloc's foreign ministers could adopt the measures, which include asset freezes and visa bans, when they meet in Brussels on January 29.
Hong Kong used to host yearly candlelight vigils to mark Beijing's deadly crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, but those events have been banned since 2020. That year, Beijing imposed a national security law on the former British colony in the wake of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests. Rights groups and some foreign governments have criticised cases brought against prominent pro-democracy figures under the law as a weaponisation of the rule of law to silence dissent.
A young Filipino journalist who spent nearly six years in a crowded provincial prison was found guilty of terror financing on Thursday, in a case rights groups and a UN rapporteur labelled a travesty of justice. Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, and former roommate Marielle Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read and they were sentenced to 12-18 years in prison by judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Tacloban regional court.
I am in support of abolishing ICE, and I'll tell you why. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people - no matter their immigration status, no matter the facts of the law, no matter the facts of the case.
An Arab human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) has filed a request for United Kingdom sanctions to be lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over incitement to violence and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. British law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn filed the request on Tuesday with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on behalf of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK), seeking targeted financial and travel sanctions against the Israeli leader.
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.
On September 14, Alejandro Carranza, a 42-year-old fisherman, set out to sea from a remote town in La Guajira, Colombia's northernmost province, bordering Venezuela. It was an ordinary fishing trip, in search of tuna and marlin, said Leonardo Vega, a childhood friend and the president of the fishing association Carranza belonged to. But this time, Carranza never returned.
Five months out from the World Cup the politics are impossible to avoid. There are concerns relating to one of the host countries, the US, with armed immigration officials roaming through its cities and visa restrictions ramped up against foreign visitors. One qualifying nation, Iran, is experiencing a public uprising against its leadership, with the regime attacking its citizens in response.
New penalties come as US President Trump welcomes purported Iranian decision to halt execution of antigovernment demonstrators. The United States has imposed new sanctions against Iran, targeting political and security officials over the crackdown on antigovernment protesters, amid US President Donald Trump's threats to intervene militarily against the country. The US penalties on Tuesday targeted Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNCS), and several other officials, who it said were the architects of Tehran's brutal response to the demonstrations.
Uganda is on edge as polls have opened, with President Yoweri Museveni expected to extend his four-decade rule amid a police crackdown on the opposition, fears of violence and an internet shutdown. The East African nation is holding a contentious general election on Thursday after a Ugandan government regulatory body instructed mobile network operators to block public internet access, starting on Tuesday evening.
At yesterday's monthly council meeting, elected representatives passed a motion calling his assertion "baseless" and accusing him of attempting to "scapegoat and demonise migrants" for the housing crisis. Introducing the motion, Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty said the Tánaiste was conflating the issues of housing, homelessness and immigration, and had presided over a housing crisis for the last decade and a half. "[Simon Harris] has never met a problem that he won't blame on someone else, and now he's pointing the finger at migrants. It's disgraceful," he said.
On Tuesday, Li Yingqiang, the leader of the Early Rain Covenant Church, was taken by police from his home in Deyang, a small city in Sichuan province, according to the statement. Li's wife, Zhang Xinyue, has also been detained, along with two other church members: Dai Zhichao, a pastor; and Ye Fenghua, a lay member. At least a further four members were taken and later released, while some others remain out of contact.
Nicaragua's left-wing government has announced the release of dozens of prisoners following pressure from United States President Donald Trump's administration. The government of President Daniel Ortega said in a statement on Saturday that tens of people who were in the national penitentiary system have gone home to their families. list of 3 itemsend of list The statement did not specify the exact number of people freed, or whether they had been detained for political reasons.
