World news

World news

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.

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.

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.

We are counting on five documents. Some of them concern security guarantees: legally binding, that is, voted on and approved by the US Congress, he said in comments to journalists via WhatsApp. He said the guarantees would mirror article 5 of Nato. On Monday, US officials declined to give specific details of what the security package was likely to include, and what would happen if Russia attempted to seize more land after a peace deal was reached.

A group of victims of the Iranian government crackdown during the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022 have filed the first criminal complaint against 40 named Iranian officials alleging crimes against humanity, including targeted blinding and murder. The request for a criminal investigation to be launched has been filed in Argentina by a group of Iranians with the help of the non-profit Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.

I was just delighted because the wedding had gone very well I was beetling back to Sydney, it's a gorgeous drive the green hills and the trees and I was going to get home for eight o'clock, the family would be back from Dover Heights by then, we would all get together, we would light Hanukah candles, give out chocolate money to the kids, it was one of those perfect days.

The broadcaster said unidentified females were listed among the passengers travelling into and out of the UK, while 15 of the UK flights took place after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor. US lawyers representing hundreds of Epstein victims told the BBC it was shocking that there had never been a full-scale UK investigation into his activities in the country.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview recorded in October with Al Jazeera's Fault Lines documentary programme, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells correspondent Hind Hassan that strikes by Israel and the United States in June caused serious damage to Iran's nuclear facilities but insists its nuclear programme will continue.

Almost every teenager in America is on social media now. The 2024 National Academies report confirmed what parents already suspected: Nearly 100 percent of adolescents have at least one account. And the research keeps piling up about what that's doing to them. Poor sleep. More anxiety. Depression rates are climbing; teens stay up until 2 a.m. and then wonder why they feel exhausted the next day. Middle schoolers compare themselves to filtered, photoshopped versions of reality and somehow expect to measure up.