Top World News
Asia flood death toll surpasses 1,500 as calls grow to fight deforestation
Deaths from last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides in parts of Asia have surged past 1,500
Norway donates a Christmas tree to London every year. Here's how the tradition began
London’s Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square is a famed British tradition with roots in the Norwegian forest
Revealed: Myanmar junta ‘crony’ given key role behind Fifa peace prize
Inaugural prize expected to be handed to Donald Trump but ‘process’ for choosing future winners to be proposed by controversial tycoon’s committeeIt was the timing that set off the first alarm bells. With Donald Trump brooding over missing out on the Nobel peace prize, and shortly before Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, Fifa, was due to meet the US president in Miami, an announcement was made.In a press release and a post on his personal Instagram account last month, Infantino said Fifa would launch its very own peace prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. Continue reading...
Trump hosting the leaders of Congo, Rwanda to sign deal for peace in eastern Congo
U.S. President Donald Trump will host Congolese and Rwandan presidents for a deal signing aimed at securing peace in eastern Congo
Japan's Takaichi is winning fans not with politics but with her style and 'work, work, work' mantra
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has won the catchphrase of the year for her pledge to “work, work, work, work and work” for the country
Thailand seizes more than $300m in assets and issues 42 arrest warrants in cyberscam crackdown
Seizures and warrants involve Chinese-Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi, who heads US-sanctioned Prince Group, and Cambodians Kok An and Yim LeakThailand has seized assets worth more than $300m, including shares in a major regional energy company, and issued arrest warrants for 42 people in a high-profile push against regional scam networks, officials said on Wednesday.Parts of south-east Asia, including the border areas between Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, have become hubs for online fraud, with criminal networks earning billions from illegal compounds where trafficking victims are often forced to work. Continue reading...
'Pete Hegseth was responsible': Colombian fisherman's family files formal murder complaint
The family of a Colombian fisherman has filed a formal complaint accusing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of murder.Alejandro Andres Carranza Medina was killed Sept. 15 in a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean, and the 42-year-old fisherman's wife and four children filed the complaint Tuesday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) alleging the United States committed human rights violations in an “extra-judicial killing," reported The Guardian.“From numerous news reports, we know that Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats," reads the filing. "Secretary Hegseth has admitted that he gave such orders despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted for these bombings and extra-judicial killings.""U.S. President Donald Trump has ratified the conduct of Secretary Hegseth described herein," the filing adds.The family's lawyer, Daniel Kovalik, told the Washington Post that the man's wife and children had been left without their breadwinner and were also facing threats after speaking out about his killing.“Their world has been turned upside down,” Kovalik said.Carranza was killed in the second missile strike of the Trump administration's bombing campaign against alleged drug smuggling boats, but his family said he was a fisherman who trolled the water for marlin and tuna.“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump posted on Truth Social the day Carranza was killed.The president claimed the crew of that boat was from Venezuela, but the Colombian government soon identified them as Colombian.“We think this is a viable way to challenge the killing of Alejandro," Kovalik said. "We are going to seek redress for the family. We want the US to be ordered to stop doing these boat attacks. It may be a first step but we think it it’s a good first step.”Carranza's family is seeking compensation, although their attorney acknowledged the IACHR doesn't have the authority to enforce its recommendations.“They also want the killings to stop,” Kovalik said. “We hope that this can be at least part of the process of getting that to happen.”Hegseth is facing scrutiny over his verbal directive that led to the killing of two survivors of the first boat strike, on Sept. 2, and the Carranza family's IACHR complaint cited Washington Post reporting on that incident.
More than 200 leading cultural figures call for release of jailed Palestinian leader
Group including Margaret Atwood, Ian McKellen and Richard Branson sign open letter to free Marwan BarghoutiMore than 200 leading cultural figures have come together to call for the release of Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian leader seen as capable of uniting factions and bringing the best hope to the stalled mission of creating a Palestinian state.The prestigious and diverse group calling for his release in an open letter includes a variety of prominent names, including the writers Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor and Mark Ruffalo, and the broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker. Continue reading...
Families on rooftops, homes buried by mud: Asia floods show water is overtaking wind as main threat
Much improved response systems are struggling to cope with ever more powerful and destructive stormsDeath toll from Indonesia floods passes 700 as 1 million evacuatedFamilies stranded on their rooftops. Homes buried by fast-flowing mud. Jagged brown craters scarring lush green hillsides.The scenes are the result of a series of cyclones and storms in a heavy monsoon season that have struck Asia with torrential rains, gutting essential infrastructure and reshaping landscapes. The violent weather has killed at least 1,200 people in the past week and forced a million to flee without knowing whether their homes will still be standing when they go back. Continue reading...
British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lankan mountains running out of food and water, daughter says
Friends Melanie Watters and Janine Reid have been trapped in Pussellawa since ThursdayTwo British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lanka’s tea mountains are running out of food and water, the daughter of one of them has said, as officials reported that the death toll of Cyclone Ditwah has reached 465.Melanie Watters, 54, and her friend Janine Reid, 55, both from London, were being driven through the mountains from Kandy in central Sri Lanka on Thursday when the road in front of them was swamped, sending a bus nearby over a cliff-edge. Continue reading...
Indian order to preload state-owned app on smartphones sparks political outcry
Apple among big tech companies reportedly refusing to install Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on their devicesA political outcry has erupted in India after the government mandated large technology companies to install a state-owned app on smartphones that has led to surveillance fears among opposition MPs and activists.Manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and Xiomi have 90 days to comply with the order to preload the government’s Sanchar Saathi, or Communication Partner, on every phone in India. Continue reading...
Iran sentences award-winning director Jafar Panahi to year in prison for ‘propaganda activities’
Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an AccidentIran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the country.The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said, adding that they would file an appeal. Continue reading...
