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Suspects arrested after tipoff over accusation that 17 South Africans were tricked on to frontlines of the conflict

Five South Africans have appeared in court on charges relating to recruitment and fighting for Russia in its war with Ukraine, amid allegations that 17 South Africans had been tricked on to the frontlines of the conflict.

A female suspect was arrested on Thursday on her return to South Africa at OR Tambo international airport outside Johannesburg, police said. Three suspects were arrested at the airport on Friday and another on Saturday.

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Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030

In Mozambique, a teenage rape victim sought care at a health clinic only to find it closed. In Zimbabwe, Aids-related deaths have risen for the first time in five years. In Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), patients with suspected HIV went undiagnosed due to test-kit stocks running out.

Stories of the devastating impact of US, British and wider European aid cuts on the fight against HIV – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – continue to mount as 2025 comes to an end, and are set out in a series of reports released in the past week.

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Algerian foreign minister says African countries and peoples continue to pay a heavy price for colonialism

African leaders are pushing to have colonial-era crimes recognised, criminalised and addressed through reparations.

At a conference in the Algerian capital, Algiers, diplomats and leaders convened to advance an African Union resolution passed at a meeting earlier this year calling for justice and reparations for victims of colonialism.

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Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla quits as MP after being accused of recruiting 17 men who are trapped in war-torn Ukraine

A daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma has resigned as an MP, after being accused of tricking 17 South African men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia to train as bodyguards for the Zumas’ uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, the most visible and active in politics of her siblings, volunteered to resign and step back from public roles while cooperating with a police investigation and working to bring the men home, the MK chair, Nkosinathi Nhleko, said at a press conference in Durban.

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Alarming shift since 2010 means planet’s three main rainforest regions now contribute to climate breakdown

Africa’s forests have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, according to research that underscores the need for urgent action to save the world’s great natural climate stabilisers.

The alarming shift, which has happened since 2010, means all of the planet’s three main rainforest regions – the South American Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa – have gone from being allies in the fight against climate breakdown to being part of the problem.

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Defence secretary gave order for strikes but did not say to ‘kill everybody’, according to White House spokesperson

“The special election in Tennessee’s seventh district will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on election day, and who stays home,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.

“Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on election day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn’s strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps’ vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.”

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Trinidad PM rejects claims installation is in support of US campaign but opposition says ‘they have sold soul of nation’

• How the US pressure campaign against Venezuela unfolded in the Caribbean

The revelation that Trinidad and Tobago has approved the installation of a US military radar installation has stoked fears that the Caribbean could be drawn into the escalating crisis between the US and Venezuela.

Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, had attempted to allay concerns about a US C-17 aircraft that had landed in the country, claiming it was carrying marines to assist with a road construction project. She also claimed she was told that no marines remained in the country.

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• Trump news at a glance: tensions with Venezuela rise following president’s reported ultimatum to Maduro

The president has picked up where he left off before Thanksgiving, when it comes to his anger at the six Democratic lawmakers who took part in a video urging service members to “refuse illegal orders”.

A reminder, that Trump initially went on a Truth Social tirade, accusing the members of Congress (all of whom are veterans or former intelligence officials) of sedition, adding that their actions are “punishable by death”.

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US president sent a ‘blunt message’ to his South American counterpart, sources say

• Analysis: Trump’s pardon of Honduras’s ex-president shows counter-drug effort is ‘based on lies and hypocrisy’

• How US campaign against Venezuela has unfolded

• US politics – live updates

Donald Trump reportedly gave Nicolás Maduro an ultimatum to relinquish power immediately during their recent call – but Venezuela’s authoritarian leader declined, demanding a “global amnesty” for himself and allies.

On Sunday, the US president confirmed the call had taken place, telling reporters: “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call.”

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Pedro Inzunza Coronel, alias ‘El Pichón’, was killed during an anti-drug operation by the Mexican navy in Sinaloa

Mexican authorities have killed one of the country’s top fentanyl traffickers, accused of importing tens of thousands of kilos of the drug into the US and wanted by the US authorities on narco-terrorism charges.

Pedro Inzunza Coronel, alias “El Pichón”, (The Pigeon) was killed on Sunday during an anti-drug operation by the Mexican navy in the north-western state of Sinaloa.

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Independent inquiry into fire and media questions to leader would not happen in mainland China, but crackdown on dissent has begun

As Hong Kong mourns the victims of its worst fire in decades, the response to the disaster reveals the ways in which the semi-autonomous city retains differences from mainland China – and how some of those differences are being eroded.

Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, announced on Tuesday the creation of an “independent committee” to investigate the blaze, which killed 151 people at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

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New Zealand police allege 32-year-old ingested the 18-karat gold egg – a James Bond Octopussy locket – and say the object has ‘not yet been recovered’

A New Zealand man has been charged with theft after allegedly swallowing a Fabergé James Bond Octopussy egg pendant worth more than $33,500 (US$19,200).

Police were called to a central Auckland jewellery store, Partridge Jewellers, on Friday afternoon after staff reported a man had allegedly picked up the pendant and swallowed it, said Grae Anderson, the city’s central area commander.

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Sanae Takaichi’s not-so-catchy remarks about everyone working like a horse did not go down well in a country notorious for its demanding work culture

It is not, perhaps, a word many people in Japan will want to hear as they prepare for the bonenkai office party season and some well-earned time off over the new year.

But the promise made by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, that she would “work, work, work, work, and work” on behalf of her country has clearly struck a chord.

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Millions of people affected by torrential rainfall in Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia

• How cyclones and monsoon rains combined to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide

Sri Lanka and Indonesia have deployed military personnel as they race to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed more than 1,100 people across four countries in Asia.

Millions of people have been affected by a combination of tropical cyclones and heavy monsoon rains in Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days.

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• Full report: Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy militaries as Asia floods death toll passes 1,100

• How cyclones and monsoon rains combined to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide

Cyclone Ditwah, which unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, has brought heavy rain to India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The storm, now about 30 miles off the coast of the city of Chennai, the state capital, has weakened into a “deep depression”, according to weather officials, who expect it to weaken even further across the day.

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Australia’s under-16s social media ban might take weeks to work but all platforms are on notice, government says

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The government’s plans to bar under-16s from social media might take “days or even weeks” to properly take effect, communications minister Anika Wells has conceded, saying the world-leading scheme won’t work perfectly from day one.

Lemon8, a newer social media app that has experienced a surge in interest recently because it is not included in the ban, will restrict its users to over-16s from next week, Guardian Australia can reveal. The eSafety Commission had previously warned it was closely monitoring the app for possible inclusion in the ban.

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Ashley Jenkinson, who died in the crash on 2 January 2023, was seen inhaling a white powder at a New Year’s Eve party

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A helicopter pilot involved in one of Australia’s worst air disasters was seen taking cocaine at a party a day before the fatal crash, a coroner has heard.

Ashley Jenkinson, 40 was among four people who died when his Sea World chopper collided midair with another helicopter outside the Gold Coast theme park on 2 January 2023.

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Mark Mudie, believed to be in his 60s, was fighting a large blaze near Ravensthorpe, about 500km south-east of Perth

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A farmer working frantically to protect his property from a fast-moving bushfire has died after his vehicle was engulfed in flames.

Mark Mudie, who was in his 60s, was trying to create a fire break with a front-end loader at West River near Ravensthorpe about 450km south-east of Perth.

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US has said it hopes other countries will follow as health policy experts say the agreement signals a shift away from value-for-money assessment

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The federal health minister, Mark Butler, said the government is trying to understand a “dynamic shift that’s happening in the global pharmaceutical market” following a new agreement that will see the UK pay 25% more for new US medicines, as drugs policy experts warn the deal sets a “problematic precedent”.

Under the deal, the UK will double the percentage of GDP it allocates to buying innovative therapies from the US. The deal has led to UK experts expressing concern that the National Health Service will pay more money for new treatments, with less money left to pay for health staff and proven existing treatments.

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Former SBS newsreader defends sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah leader as fair comment on a matter of public interest

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Racial discrimination proceedings brought by the head of the Zionist Federation of Australia were “part of a deliberate campaign to undermine and discredit” Mary Kostakidis, court documents claim.

The former SBS newsreader has been accused by the ZFA of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.

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US-led peace push comes as Kyiv says fighting is continuing over important hub

• US-Russia talks may pile pressure on Kyiv to make concessions, says EU foreign policy chief

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

In parallel to Witkoff’s meeting in Moscow, we will also follow Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Ireland.

He has arrived in Dublin last night, and has a busy schedule today, paying a brief visit to the country’s new president Catherine Connolly, before meeting with key government figures including the taisoeach, Micheál Martin, and addressing both chambers of the Irish parliament in the afternoon.

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Hundreds of police, rangers and military personnel deployed to tackle virus threatening pork export industry

Spanish authorities have deployed hundreds of police officers, wildlife rangers and military personnel in an effort to contain an outbreak of highly infectious African swine fever (ASF) outside Barcelona before it becomes a major threat to the country’s €8.8bn-a-year pork export industry.

Officials believe the virus, detected in the municipality of Bellaterra, may have begun to circulate after a wild boar ate contaminated food that had been brought in from outside Spain.

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Trump envoy lands in Russia as Putin hails ‘important’ capture of Pokrovsk, although claim is disputed by Kyiv

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Vladimir Putin has claimed Russian forces have taken control of the strategic city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine, as he sought to project confidence before a key meeting on Tuesday with a US delegation to discuss a possible peace deal to end the war.

Dressed in military fatigues during a visit to a command centre on Monday evening, the Russian president hailed what he called the “important” capture of Pokrovsk – once a major logistical hub for the Ukrainian army – though Ukrainian officials later disputed the claim.

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Exclusive: Rising flood risks driven by climate change could release chemicals from ageing sites – posing threats to ecosystems

• ‘I kept smelling a horrible nasty smell’: the risks of England’s old dumping grounds

Thousands of landfills across the UK and Europe sit in floodplains, posing a potential threat to drinking water and conservation areas if toxic waste is released into rivers, soils and ecosystems, it can be revealed.

The findings are the result of the first continent-wide mapping of landfills, conducted by the Guardian, Watershed Investigations and Investigate Europe.

Disclaimer: This dataset may contain duplicate records. Duplicates can arise from multiple data sources, repeated entries, or variations in data collection processes. While efforts have been made to identify and reduce duplication, some records may remain.

Journalismfund.eu provided funding support for the investigation.

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Conch-shell trumpets discovered in Neolithic settlements and mines in Catalonia make tone similar to french horn, says lead researcher

As a child, Miquel López García was fascinated by the conch shell, kept in the bathroom, that his father’s family in the southern Spanish region of Almería had blown to warn their fellow villagers of rising rivers and approaching flood waters.

The hours he spent getting that “characteristically potent sound out of it” paid off last year when the archaeologist, musicologist and professional trumpet player pressed his lips to eight conch-shell trumpets. Their tones, he says, could carry insights into the lives of the people who lived in north-east Spain 6,000 years ago.

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Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an Accident

Iran 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.

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Group beaten in early hours of morning in village where they volunteered to help protect Palestinians from settler violence

Italy and Canada have raised concerns about the treatment of their citizens who were beaten and robbed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Three Italians and a Canadian were attacked early on Sunday morning in the village of Ein al-Duyuk, near Jericho, where they had volunteered to help protect the Palestinian population from intensifying settler violence.

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Meanwhile, Iran grapples with one of worst droughts and temperatures fall 10C below normal in US

More heavy rainfall is expected in Sri Lanka in the coming days, likely resulting in further damage across the country. It comes after torrential rainfall in south-east Asia triggered catastrophic flash floods and landslides that have affected millions, killing more than 300 people in Indonesia and 160 in Thailand, with hundreds more still missing.

Parts of North Sumatra, Indonesia, were hit with rainfall totals of 800mm over four days, with other areas also experiencing heavy rainfall.

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Residents in Batn al-Hawa have all but given up hope and blame the Gaza war which, they say, has created ‘an atmosphere of hate’ towards them

The dome of the al-Aqsa mosque gleamed in the late afternoon autumnal sun as Zohair Rajabi looked out from his balcony towards the skyline of Jerusalem’s Old City. Christian pilgrims spilled out of buses, while observant Jewish worshippers gathered outside the gate to the Western Wall.

New flags now fly a few metres from Rajabi’s home. Blue and white and bearing the Star of David, they mark where residents were evicted recently from their homes by Israeli police. After more than 20 years of activism, Rajabi knows his days in Batn al-Hawa, a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood less than a mile south of the Old City, are almost certainly numbered.

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Pontiff tells politicians and religious heads they must persevere with peace efforts despite facing ‘highly complex, conflictual’ situation

Pope Leo has urged political leaders in Lebanon to make peace their highest priority in a forceful appeal as he is visiting the country, which remains a target of Israeli airstrikes, on the second leg of his first overseas trip as Catholic leader.

Leo, the first US pope, arrived in Beirut on Sunday from a four-day visit to Turkey where he said that humanity’s future was at risk because of the world’s unusual number of bloody conflicts, and condemned violence in the name of religion.

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Many uncertain about the future after losing everything in the country’s deadliest natural disaster for years

When the rains began, Layani Rasika Niroshani was not worried. The 36-year-old mother of two was used to the heavy monsoon showers that drench Sri Lanka’s hilly central region of Badulla every year. But as it kept pounding down without stopping, the family started to feel jittery.

Some relocated to a relative’s house, but her brother and his wife decided to stay behind to collect the valuables. As they were inside, a landslide hit the family home.

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Critics voice concern as government says its Sanchar Saathi app combats cybersecurity threats for 1.2bn telecom users

India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cybersecurity app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates.

In tackling a recent surge of cybercrime and hacking, India is joining authorities worldwide, most recently in Russia, to frame rules blocking the use of stolen phones for fraud or promoting state-backed government service apps.

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MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London denies allegations and condemns ‘flawed and farcical’ trial

• What led to Bangladesh trial of Tulip Siddiq in her absence?

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced the British MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

In a ruling on Monday, a judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother, brother and sister.

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Hundreds of people still missing after heavy rain and mudslides in country’s deadliest natural disaster for years

Entire areas of Sri Lanka’s capital are flooded after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.

Officials said the extent of the damage in the country’s worst-affected central region was slowly becoming clear on Sunday as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

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Another 191 missing after heavy rains from Cyclone Ditwah while almost 78,000 evacuated to temporary shelters amid rescue operations

Torrential rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah have killed 153 people across Sri Lanka so far, with another 191 still missing, the country’s Disaster Management Centre (DCM) said on Saturday.

The DMC director general, Sampath Kotuwegoda, said relief operations were under way with 78,000 people moved to nearly 800 state-run welfare centres after their homes were destroyed by the week-long heavy rains.

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Officials from agency grilled by MPs

The former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will lay an amendment on Wednesday to speed up the workers rights’ bill, after “considerable anger” that unelected Lords forced the watering down of day-one rights, Jessica Elgot and Pippa Crerar report.

Twelve more prisoners have been mistakenly freed in the past month and two are still at large, David Lammy has said.

I’m not going to give details of those cases, because these are operational decisions made by the police, and you’ll understand if they’re about to arrest somebody they don’t want me to blow the cover.

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Deputy PM contrasts apologies from former classmates to Reform UK leader’s response to claims against him

David Lammy has spoken of his own “traumatic” experience of being racially abused at school as he called on Nigel Farage to apologise for comments he allegedly made while a teenager.

Lammy, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, said the testimony of more than 20 of the Reform leader’s school contemporaries of his racist and antisemitic behaviour was “deeply troubling”.

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Official tells MPs there was lots of information appearing in the press that ‘wasn’t particularly helpful’

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The Office for Budget Responsibility complained to senior Treasury officials in the run-up to the budget about a flurry of leaks that it said spread “misconceptions” about its forecasts, it has emerged.

Prof David Miles of the OBR’s budget responsibility committee told MPs on the Treasury select committee on Tuesday that the watchdog had raised the issue of leaks with the department before the chancellor’s statement last week.

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Elderly people unable to reach water stations set up by South East Water after treatment site closed

Thousands of homes have been without water for four days in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, after South East Water accidentally added the wrong chemicals to the tap water supply.

Schools across the area have been shut for two days, and residents have been filling buckets with rainwater to flush toilets. Cats, dogs and guinea pigs have been given bottled mineral water to drink as the people of Tunbridge Wells wait for their water to be switched back on. Currently, 18,000 homes are without water.

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Tom Dolphin, who applied to be Labour candidate in 2024, says political career not relevant as he defends strikes

The head of the doctors’ union has denied he is pursuing further strike action to progress his own political career after the Labour party overlooked him as a prospective candidate for parliament.

The British Medical Association has announced that resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – in England will stage another five-day strike from 7am on 17 December until 7am on 22 December.

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Steve Witkoff is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Plus, a new book highlights the forgotten builders of the Empire State Building

Good morning.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she fears talks between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions.

What did Kallas say? “I am afraid that all the pressure will be put on the victim,” she said. “In order to have peace, we shouldn’t lose focus that it’s actually Russia who has started this war [and is] targeting civilians”.

What’s happening today? Witkoff is meeting Putin in Moscow. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, continues his diplomatic push to rally support from European allies, visiting Ireland today after France on Monday.

This is a developing story. Follow our live blog here.

What did Maduro say? He reportedly refused to step down immediately and allegedly made a series of counter-demands, including worldwide immunity from prosecution and being allowed to cede political control but keep control of the armed forces.

What is the context? The US has undertaken three months of deadly airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed at least 83 people – attacks the UN and other humanitarian organisations have described as extrajudicial executions. The US accusees Maduro of involvement in drug trafficking.

Is Venezuela a major drug-trafficking route to the US? No. A 2020 report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration estimated 74% of the cocaine reaching the US had arrived via the Pacific, and only 8% on fast boats from the Caribbean islands.

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Four years after workers at a Starbucks store in upstate New York became the first to unionize, hundreds of outlets followed – defying intense resistance from the coffee chain. What happened next?

2000Thousands of Starbucks baristas are on strike across the US, warning the world’s largest coffee chain to brace for the “longest and biggest” bout of industrial action in its history.

Barely a year after Brian Niccol, the Starbucks CEO, tried to draw a line under bitter divisions between its management and unionized workers, pledging to “engage constructively” with them, the American coffee giant is now grappling with an escalating strike during its lucrative holiday trading season.

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Trump’s renomination of billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman is a tale of politics, ambition and vanity

It used to be that once your star had fallen in Donald Trump’s orbit, it was destined never to rise again. Any number of discarded former allies stretching back to Trump’s first term of office could testify as much.

One who has emerged from a political black hole to return to the president’s firmament is the billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, who will on Wednesday tell senators – for the second time – why he is the best person to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).

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Questions mount over US attack in Caribbean Sea that killed survivors on boat allegedly carrying drugs

A US navy admiral will provide a classified briefing to lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday as they investigate a US attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea allegedly carrying drugs that included a second strike that killed any survivors.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Monday said the second strike was carried out “in self-defence” and in accordance with laws governing armed conflict.

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Amar Subramanya will replace John Giannandrea after firm has struggled to catch up with AI rollouts by competitors

Apple’s head of artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, is stepping down from the company. The move comes as the Silicon Valley giant has lagged behind its competitors in rolling out generative AI features, in particular its voice assistant Siri. Apple made the announcement on Monday, thanking Giannandrea for his seven-year tenure at the company.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said his fellow executive helped the company “in building and advancing our AI work” and allowing Apple to “continue to innovate”. Giannandrea will be replaced by longtime AI researcher Amar Subramanya.

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