World news | The Guardian

Students taken from Catholic school in Niger state amid threats from Trump to intervene over ‘Christian genocide’

Unknown gunmen have abducted an unidentified number of students from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, the second mass abduction in the country in a week.

The latest kidnapping, in Papiri community in Niger state, came against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s threat to intervene militarily to end a “Christian genocide”, which the Nigerian government has denied is happening.

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Trump press secretary accuses Cyril Ramaphosa of ‘running his mouth’ after US boycott of summit in Johannesburg

The dispute between South Africa and the US over the Trump administration’s decision to boycott the G20 in Johannesburg has continued, with South Africa objecting to a US plan for a junior embassy official to take part in the closing ceremony meant to mark the handover to the next summit, which will take place in Florida.

The two-day summit, which opens on Saturday, comes at a febrile moment in global politics. The US has proposed a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it agreed with Moscow without the involvement of Ukraine or the EU.

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PM says he aims to secure investment to help deal with cost of living and shore up support for Ukraine

Keir Starmer has defended his decision to travel to South Africa for the G20 summit days before the budget and despite the planned absence of Donald Trump.

The prime minister will arrive in South Africa on Friday morning for two days of summit discussions and bilateral talks on topics including sustainability and economic growth.

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Cyril Ramaphosa says US has had ‘change of mind’ but does not confirm Trump’s attendance in Johannesburg

The US has changed its mind about attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa’s president has said, without confirming whether Donald Trump, who had said the US would boycott the event, now wanted to come.

Trump has claimed that South Africa racially discriminates against the minority white Afrikaner community, which led the country during the apartheid regime that ended in 1994.

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Judge says Nnamdi Kanu used his Indigenous People of Biafra group to incite attacks on security officials and civilians

The Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu has been sentenced to life in prison on terrorism-related charges by a court in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Judge James Omotosho said prosecutors had shown that Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, had used his Indigenous People of Biafra group (Ipob) to incite attacks on security officials and civilians in south-east Nigeria and during anti-police protests in Lagos.

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Two critically hurt after attack on walking trail in British Columbia as police and conservation officers search for bear

Eleven people were injured, two of them critically, when a grizzly bear attacked a group of schoolchildren and teachers on a walking trail in British Columbia, Canada.

The attack happened on Thursday in Bella Coola, 435 miles (700km) north-west of Vancouver. The Nuxalk Nation said the “aggressive bear” remained on the loose and police and conservation officers were on the scene.

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Exclusive: Discredited election-rigging conspiracy theory could strengthen Trump’s military action against Maduro

Federal investigators have been interviewing multiple people who are pushing unfounded claims that Venezuela helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump, the Guardian has learned.

Two promoters of the conspiracy theory have repeatedly briefed the US attorney for the district of Puerto Rico, W Stephen Muldrow, and have shared witnesses and documents with officials, according to four sources. Muldrow declined to comment.

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Texans planned to utilize unhoused US people to take over Gonâve and fulfill ‘rape fantasies’, justice department says

The Department of Justice has alleged that two Texas men plotted a murderous coup d’etat on the island of Gonâve, the largest in Haiti, “for the purpose of carrying out their rape fantasies”.

The two men, 21-year-old Gavin Rivers Weisenburg and 20-year-old Tanner Christopher Thomas, have been accused of plotting to take the island by force, utilizing the homeless population of Washington DC, then killing all the men on the island and “using the women and children as sex slaves”, according to an announcement by the US attorney’s office of the eastern district of Texas on Thursday.

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Cannon, three coins and a cup taken from San José, a 1708 wreckage that could hold items worth billions of dollars

A cannon, three coins and a porcelain cup are among the first objects recovered by Colombian scientists from the depths of the Caribbean Sea where the legendary Spanish galleon San José sank in 1708 after being attacked by a British fleet.

The recovery is part of a scientific investigation authorised by the government last year to study the wreckage and the causes of the sinking. Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. Its exact location is a state secret.

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Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars’ worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico’s cutest critter

For most of her life, Gorda was just an axolotl who lived in a museum in Mexico City – that is, until she became the star of the country’s favourite banknote.

The note, which features a depiction of Gorda as the model for Mexico’s iconic species of salamander, went into circulation in 2021, dazzling the judges of the International Bank Notes Society, who declared it the Note of the Year.

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From Scott Morrison’s ‘on-water matters’ to the Albanese government’s MOU with Nauru, successive governments’ attitude to legitimate scrutiny has been one of hostility

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Offshore, secrecy dominates. But it doesn’t stop at the water’s edge.

In February, Australia brokered a new offshore arrangement with Nauru, striking a deal to send members of the so-called NZYQ cohort – non-citizens with criminal histories – to the Pacific island. Australia would give Nauru more than $400m in exchange.

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California faced evacuation warnings over flood risk, while Japan experienced heavy early season snowfall

Evacuation warnings were issued last week in California as heavy rain brought the risk of flooding and landslides. The storms in the US were linked to a phenomenon known as an “atmospheric river” – a long filament of moisture-laden air that originates above the Pacific Ocean and provides vital replenishment of reservoirs and snowpack along the western coast of the US. However, they can also bring destructive volumes of rain, particularly along coastal areas.

Elsewhere in the US, parts of Colorado experienced some of their longest stretches of snowless days ever this year, with Denver surpassing its third-latest snowfall date this week after recording its highest ever November temperature of 28C earlier in the month. The warm temperatures and lack of snowfall have also forced ski resorts to delay opening until December.

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It’s a climate-vulnerable nation, while also being the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter. Global investment in climate action is vital

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Penny Wong says translation notes were ‘taken hastily’ by official who was not accredited translator and were ‘for internal purposes only’

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A top secret translation of the Nauruan president’s public commentary on the NZYQ deal will remain suppressed for a decade after the Albanese government considered its release “inappropriate”.

Nauru declined to endorse an informal translation by Australia’s high commission of the 10-minute public interview uploaded to Facebook in February, nor did it provide its own translation, newly released documents reveal.

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Guo, who pretended to be Filipina to become mayor, found guilty of human trafficking after raid on compound where more than 700 people were forced to run scams

Alice Guo, a Chinese national who became a mayor in the Philippines while masquerading as a Filipina, has been sentenced to life in prison along with seven others on human trafficking charges, state prosecutors have said.

Guo, who served as mayor of a town north of Manila, was found guilty of overseeing a Chinese-operated online gambling centre where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture.

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Exclusive: Concession follows fierce criticism of the workaround but may not be enough to convince minor party

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Labor would prevent a contentious “national interest” exemption being used to approve coal and gas projects if the Greens agreed to support its nature laws, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The offer follows a groundswell of criticism about the discretionary power, including from the author of the review that inspired the new laws, Graeme Samuel, and the former treasury secretary Ken Henry.

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The EPBC Act has emerged as a key test, with the government hoping to score a political milestone while the Liberal leader needs to prove her authority

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The final sitting week of federal parliament before the summer break is not usually the most edifying example of democracy in action. Politicians and the media are spent and the sausage-making process can get a little rough.

So it was at the end of 2024, as Labor moved to clear the decks with an election looming and rumours of a summer campaign spreading. On the last sitting day alone, more than 30 bills went through the Senate, including reforms to the Reserve Bank – and Labor’s landmark social media ban for under-16s, now just weeks away.

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Australian Marine Conservation Society’s GoodFish guide aims to showcase the most environmentally friendly seafood sources

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As a challenging year for marine life heads into its final weeks, GoodFish has shared its list of sustainable choices for the festive season to help take the pressure off Australia’s oceans.

“It’s a time to be more careful than ever,” said Adrian Meder, sustainable seafood program manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, which produces the GoodFish guide.

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Third man charged for allegedly harassing ‘Australian high-office holder’ as police target people ‘causing high levels of harm to Australia’s social cohesion’

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Two men have been charged over threatening messages to two federal MPs, one in relation to messages to Lidia Thorpe, and another in relation to a message about Allegra Spender.

A third man has been charged for allegedly harassing an “Australian high-office holder”. Guardian Australia has been told the charge relates to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

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The enormous, serpentine fish, regarded in Japanese folklore as a herald of disaster, usually live deep below the surface and are only sighted when sick or dying

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It was a beautiful warm day in north-west Tasmania when a fish with a reputation as a harbinger of doom washed ashore.

Tony Cheesman, who lives in the seaside town of Penguin, was walking his two dogs, Ronan and Custard, along the beach at Preservation Bay on Friday morning when something silvery and surrounded by gulls grabbed his attention.

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US president says ‘Thursday is an appropriate time’ in radio interview as Ukrainian leader weighs up US proposal

German Bild tabloid is also reporting that Merz is expected to hold a phone call not only with Zelenskyy, but also with the US president, Donald Trump.

Mind you: there’s been no official confirmation yet.

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US president demands that Kyiv accepts plan that would mean giving up territory to Russia

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions.

Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.

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It would be expedient for Reform to take Labour’s advice and disavow ‘Putin talking points’

• Reform UK’s former Wales leader jailed for taking bribes for pro-Russia speeches

The discovery of a pro-Russian asset, Nathan Gill, at the heart of a British political party reads like the plot of a John Le Carré novel.

Russia was long known to have been trying to interfere in foreign politics with online bots and cyber-disinformation over the past decade.

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Ukraine could be forced into an agreement but plan as it stands seems too bizarre for Zelenskyy to sell to his public

We’ve been here before: the Trump administration announces a roadmap towards peace in Ukraine that seems to be dramatically skewed towards Moscow’s demands; Volodymyr Zelenskyy gets on the phone to alarmed European allies; they quickly call Trump to message him that the whole idea is unworkable; the plan quietly dies. Rinse and repeat.

This time it feels a bit different, however. Reports on Friday suggested the US has threatened that if Ukraine does not sign a hastily concocted peace plan, Washington could withdraw intelligence-sharing and other support critical to the Ukrainian war effort.

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Former French president complains about noise in extract from A Prisoner’s Diary, to be released next month

Nicolas Sarkozy is to publish a book next month called A Prisoner’s Diary detailing his 20 days in jail.

The book was announced 11 days after the former French president was released from prison while he appeals against his conviction for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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‘The world thinks Palestinians don’t need help any more,’ aid organiser says, despite desperate need as winter nears

Fundraisers collecting for Palestinian civilians in Gaza are seeing a “catastrophic” drop-off in donations since the ceasefire was announced in October.

Donations collected by volunteers and funnelled to needy families living in temporary shelters and struggling with illness, hunger and malnutrition have been harder to raise since then, according to organisers, many of whom have been running volunteer initiatives for Palestinians in Gaza on third-party crowdfunding platforms over the past two years.

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Medical officials say 17 people killed in Khan Younis area and 16 in strikes on Gaza City

Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 33 people and injured many more, according to medical officials, in one of the most serious escalations of violence since the US-backed ceasefire came into effect last month.

Officials at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said they received the bodies of 17 people, including five women and five children, after four Israeli airstrikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people. In Gaza City, medical officials said two airstrikes killed 16 people, including seven children and three women.

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Saad Almadi’s family thanks Trump and state department as announcement comes after meeting with crown prince

Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow US citizen Saad Almadi to return home to Florida, five months ahead of the scheduled lifting of travel restrictions and a day after Saudi crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman met Donald Trump at the White House.

Almadi, 75, was sentenced to 19 years of incarceration in the kingdom in 2021 after he wrote 14 tweets critical of the Riyadh government. Two years later, the charges were reduced to so-called “cyber crimes” and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on leaving Saudi Arabia.

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Exclusive: Images are first indication that Israel has used cluster munitions in nearly 20 years

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in its recent 13-month war in Lebanon, photos of munition remnants in south Lebanon seen by the Guardian suggest.

The images, which have been examined by six different arms experts, appear to show the remnants of two different types of Israeli cluster munitions found in three different locations: south of the Litani River in the forested valleys of Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Barghouz and Wadi Deir Siryan.

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• Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s White House visit

A reminder that Donald Trump’s family has a strong personal interest in Saudi Arabia. In September, London real estate developer Dar Global announced that it plans to launch Trump Plaza in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

It’s Dar Global’s second collaboration with the Trump Organization, the collection of companies controlled by the US president’s children, in the kingdom. Last year, the two companies announced the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah.

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Exclusive: Tshering Tobgay says his country is doing ‘a lot more than our fair share’ on climate and west must cut emissions ‘for the happiness of your people’

The wealthy western countries most responsible for the climate crisis would improve the health and happiness of their citizens by prioritising environmental conservation and sustainable economic growth, according to the prime minister of Bhutan, the world’s first carbon-negative nation.

Bhutan, a Buddhist democratic monarchy and biodiversity hotspot situated high in the eastern Himalayas, is among the world’s most ambitious climate leaders thanks to its people’s connection with nature and a strong political focus on improving gross national happiness rather than just GDP, Tshering Tobgay told the Guardian.

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Hasina sentenced in absentia by court in Dhaka over deadly crackdown on student-led uprising last year

Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Dhaka for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

A three-judge bench of the country’s international crimes tribunal convicted Hasina of crimes including incitement, orders to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities as she oversaw a crackdown on anti-government protesters last year.

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The accidental explosion comes days after a deadly car blast in New Delhi which killed at least eight people near the city’s historic Red Fort

At least nine people were killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police have announced.

The blast occurred in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, the region’s main city, late on Friday while a team of forensic experts and police were examining the explosive material, said Nalin Prabhat, the region’s police director general. He ruled out any foul play, saying it was an accident.

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Investigators believe an explosion that killed 13 people may be linked to group operating in the disputed region

Police have carried out raids and made several arrests across the Indian region of Kashmir in the aftermath of a car explosion in Delhi that left 13 people dead.

On Wednesday, the Indian government confirmed it was treating the blast as a “terror incident” perpetrated by “anti-national forces”. The explosion took place outside one of India’s most significant monuments during rush hour on Monday evening.

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Cabinet says explosion near Red Fort that killed 12 is suspected to have been perpetrated by ‘anti-national forces’

India has confirmed it is treating the explosion that killed 12 people outside Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday as a “terror incident” perpetrated by “anti-national forces”.

The statement by the cabinet, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, confirmed mounting speculation that a terrorist attack was behind the blast that took place during peak time in one of the capital’s busiest areas and outside one of India’s major landmarks.

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Shumeet Banerji was away during crucial discussions that led to resignation of director general and BBC News chief

A member of the BBC’s board has resigned after saying he was cut out of the discussions that led to the shock resignation of its director general, Tim Davie.

Shumeet Banerji, a tech industry executive, was out of the country on the crucial days before the departure of Davie and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness.

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Mohamed says decision to leave was after ‘many false allegations and smears’ against him and others

A second MP within a week has quit Your Party in acrimonious circumstances, throwing yet more doubt on the viability of the leftwing group co-led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

In a statement on X, Iqbal Mohamed, who was elected as the independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley last year, said his decision to leave was after “many false allegations and smears” against him and others, which he did not explain.

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Party’s former leader in Wales admitted taking payments to make statements in favour of Russia

Nigel Farage is facing calls to investigate and root out links between Reform UK and Russia after one of his party’s former senior politicians was jailed for 10 years for accepting bribes from a pro-Kremlin agent.

Keir Starmer said Farage had questions to answer about how this happened in his party. Nathan Gill, a former leader of Reform UK in Wales, admitted taking payments to make statements in favour of Russia.

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Judge sentences Martin Suter to minimum of 27 years for stabbing Ann Blackwood to death in 2023

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum of 27 years for murdering his ex-wife at their son’s grave on their late child’s birthday.

Martin Suter, 68, was rebuked by the judge and his former brother-in-law for “pitilessly extinguishing” the life of Ann Blackwood, 71.

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Home Office ordered to reconsider case of Jeanell Hippolyte, whose father and brother were granted ILR

The case of a woman who was denied indefinite leave to remain in the UK even though her father and brothers were granted the status under the Windrush scheme must be reconsidered by the Home Office, the court of appeal has said.

Jeanell Hippolyte, a Saint Lucian national, originally came to the UK at the age of 17 in 2000, but left two years later to comply with immigration rules after her student visa expired.

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Much anticipated sit-down comes same day US House of Representatives passed resolution denouncing ‘horrors of socialism’

• Trump and Mamdani to have first face-to-face meeting at the White House

Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House oversight committee, has sent a letter to the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, urging the justice department to release the complete trove of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, despite the newly launched investigation into several Democrats’ ties to the late sex offender.

“There is already a concern President Trump will attempt, on dubious legal grounds, to exploit a provision which allows DoJ to withhold information relevant to ongoing investigations,” Garcia wrote.

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Ideologically opposed president and New York City mayor-elect will meet after months of combative rhetoric

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Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, went into a meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon for an encounter between two ideologically opposed leaders with conflicting visions for the nation’s largest city.

The meeting marked the first face-to-face discussion between the combative Republican president and the defiant democratic socialist who secured a commanding electoral victory last month with over 50% of the vote. The meeting comes after months of back and forth, with Trump only recently having called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” while the incoming mayor has pledged to “Trump-proof” New York City and accused the administration of pursuing policies designed to punish the metropolis.

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As most government business halted during the shutdown, immigration agents continued their raids

US immigration officials arrested, detained and deported tens of thousands of people in operations nationwide during the federal government shutdown, new data reveals.

The arrests have led to a marked increase in the number of people held in immigration jails, with more than 65,000 currently detained nationwide – the highest number of people in immigration detention ever.

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Officials say the move is ‘long overdue’ and meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle crash testing

The transportation department has unveiled a first crash test dummy in the US modeled specifically on female anatomy, a move officials say is meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle testing.

Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, unveiled the THOR-05F, an advanced female design for a crash-test dummy with upgraded technical specifications. According to the transportation department, the dummy will be incorporated into federal vehicle crash testing once a final rule is published.

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Motorist told dispatcher ‘you may not believe me’ and said windshield was shattered while driving on North Carolina highway

A motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when the carcass of a cat crashed into the passenger side of her front windshield along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

In a call to 911, the unidentified driver on US Route 74 in Swain county, near Bryson City, told a dispatcher that a bald eagle dropped the cat. Bryson City is about 65 miles south-west of Asheville.

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