World news | The Guardian

Christian group revises up number of students and teachers missing after one of country’s largest mass abduction

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in Nigeria, a Christian group said on Saturday, as security fears mounted in Africa’s most populous nation.

The early Friday raid on St Mary’s co-educational school in Niger state in western Nigeria came after gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

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Women’s groups welcomed the announcement on the eve of the international leaders’ summit in Johannesburg

Hundreds of women gathered in cities across South Africa on Friday to protest against gender-based violence in the country before the G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend.

Demonstrators turned out in 15 locations – including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban – wearing black as a sign of “mourning and resistance”.

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Twelve teachers also kidnapped from Catholic school amid threats from Trump to intervene over ‘Christian genocide’

Unknown gunmen have abducted 215 schoolchildren and 12 teachers 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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Wealthy countries should triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal

The world edged a small step closer to the end of the fossil fuel era on Saturday, but not by nearly enough to stave off the ravages of climate breakdown.

Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels, and they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries.

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Brazilian ex-president says he used soldering iron on device and is now in custody over fears he was going to abscond

Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has claimed he tried to damage his electronic ankle monitor “out of curiosity” after he was arrested at his villa owing to suspicions he was poised to abscond.

In a video released by the supreme court, Bolsonaro – who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for masterminding a military coup – can be heard admitting to a security official that he had used a soldering iron to tamper with the black tag.

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Tom Player speaks out about incident in which Victoria Bond died along with two Mexicans and two Germans

A survivor of the blizzard that killed a British woman and four others in Chilean Patagonia has said that tourists were concerned about adverse weather conditions ahead of the trek, but were told by staff it was “normal” and they could proceed.

Tom Player, a London-based composer, told the Guardian that during the brutal blizzard about 30 volunteers worked together in an attempt to try to rescue hikers.

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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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Exclusive: Kanak leader Christian Tein, who was freed from prison in June, says France is ‘deliberately dragging out’ re-issue of his passport

A pro-independence leader from the French overseas territory of New Caledonia has accused the French government of “deliberately dragging out” his passport application, preventing him from flying home after his release from prison.

Christian Tein, an Indigenous Kanak leader, was arrested in New Caledonia in June 2024 over allegations that he had instigated the deadly pro-independence protests that had taken place on the island a month earlier.

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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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Top End residents told to stay sheltered at home until authorities give the all-clear. Follow updates live

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Greens senator says party wants native forest protections as part of nature law negotiations

The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young has appeared on ABC’s Insiders amid the government appealing to the minor party with concessions in order to pass their nature laws.

Three more years of the destruction of our native forests when we’ve got 2,000-plus species already endangered in this country, where we’ve got billions of dollars of taxpayer money already being spent subsidising an industry that’s about destroying our native forests. I mean, it’s 2025 and it’s time we ended native forest logging, protected these beautiful, ancient forests that aren’t just there for the richness of biodiversity, but they’re so important when it comes to combating climate change, they are carbon sinks.

I was probably finally convinced only in the final couple of days, to be honest, I had colleagues come and have chats. I have a really good relationship with Mark Speakman. It was a friendly chat with Mark. It was a hard chat, but it was a very friendly one. And then when I’m in, I’m in 100%. I think what a lot of people would do in my position is weigh up the pros and cons and think of all the reasons that I shouldn’t do it, but at the end of the day, the reasons I should outweighed those, and I’ll be a committed leader. I’m very clear eyed once I’ve made up my mind.

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Higher education regulator investigates Catholic institute after comments by academics, including endorsing the White Australia policy

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An influential Catholic college in Sydney is under investigation by the higher education regulator over a series of comments made by two of its prominent academics supporting the White Australia policy and calling for Anglo-Celtic Australians and Europeans to become a “supermajority” in the country.

The federal education minister, Jason Clare, said the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) was “undertaking a compliance process” with Campion College in relation to a number of comments made by Stephen McInerney, a dean of studies, and Associate Prof Stephen Chavura, a senior lecturer.

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Readers share the impact of Guardian Australia’s two-year investigation Broken trust, which underlined the ‘shocking realities of domestic violence-related deaths’

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Guardian Australia’s Broken trust series has uncovered allegations of policing failures before domestic and family violence homicides, and cases that were not adequately investigated.

Over the course of the week, we revealed new information about the cases of Hannah Clarke and her children, Gail Karran and Kardell Lomas.

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Experts warn US deal on ‘lethal’ aircraft presents issues for Australia that ‘we’ve tried desperately to ignore with the Israelis’

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Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to sell F-35 joint strike fighter jets to Saudi Arabia will rely on critical Australian components, prompting experts to warn Australia could become complicit in human rights abuses.

The US president announced the deal during a meeting with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, this week, despite consistent concerns about the Saudi regime’s human rights record – including bombing raids on civilian targets – and fears it could share the technology with China.

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Plibersek said those victims – Hannah Clarke and her children, Kardell Lomas and her unborn child, and Gail Karran – ‘should have been kept safe’

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The federal social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, says Guardian Australia’s “devastating” revelations of failures to protect women fleeing violence must prompt action from governments “at every level”.

Broken Trust, a two-year Guardian investigation, uncovered evidence and allegations of serious police and support service failures in multiple domestic violence homicides in Queensland.

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European leaders say Washington’s proposal needs major changes, as Macron warns G20 risks losing relevance

Western leaders have said the US peace plan for ending the war in Ukraine “will require additional work” at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, which Donald Trump boycotted.

The draft plan, which was leaked this week, endorsed some of Russia’s demands, such as handing over areas of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, limiting its military, and relinquishing its ambitions to join Nato. Washington has given Kyiv a deadline of Thursday to respond.

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Leaders from Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia are expected to huddle on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday to “discuss the way ahead on Ukraine”, an EU official said.

A European diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse (AFP):

We are working on making the US plan something more able to be applied, based on previous dialogue.

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US officials to hold high-level talks in Brussels amid unhappiness in Washington at slow action on July deal

The EU and US are set to restart trade negotiations next week after a two-month pause to try to settle unresolved sticking points in their controversial tariff deal struck in July.

The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and trade representative Jamieson Greer will hold high-level meetings in Brussels on Monday with ministers, EU commissioners and industry bosses.

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Some teachers and pupils voice concerns about pilot programme after government’s agreement with OpenAI

Secondary school teachers in Greece are set to go through an intensive course in using artificial intelligence tools as the country assumes a frontline role in incorporating AI into its education system.

This week, staff in 20 schools will be trained in a specialised version of ChatGPT, custom-made for academic institutions, under a new agreement between the centre-right government and OpenAI.

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Chernihiv residents say they are without power for 14 hours a day as they gather in ‘invincibility points’ to charge up and warm up

Valentyna Ivanivna showed off her new head torch. It was a present from her grandson, she said. Most evenings she wears it while doing household chores: cooking dinner, washing up and stacking plates. “It’s impossible to plan anything without power. You can’t even invite people round for a cup of tea because the kettle won’t work. It’s stressful and exhausting for everyone,” she explained.

Ivanivna lives in Chernihiv, an ancient Ukrainian city known for its early medieval cathedrals. The border with Belarus and Russia is a short drive away, across a landscape of pine forests, villages with geese and the occasional wandering moose. In 2022, Russian troops invaded and occupied most of the oblast. They bombed and laid siege to Chernihiv, pulling out after six weeks and rolling north.

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On the border with Lebanon, communities have started to return and rebuild – even though some are in no hurry to return

Noam Erlich looks out over what was his beer garden. Beyond the disordered chairs and tables and the sign instructing neighbours and friends to “pay whatever you like”, the ridge falls away to fields, then a fence, then hills littered with the skeletal ruins of shattered Lebanese villages.

The 44-year-old brewer is standing in front of the house his grandfather built when the Manara kibbutz was founded in the 1940s in the very far north of Israel. The building was hit repeatedly by missiles fired by Hezbollah during the conflict, which ended a year ago, and will now almost certainly be demolished, along with most of the neighbouring houses.

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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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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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Research shows members would back Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting over PM

Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting would all win a head-to-head leadership contest against Keir Starmer, according to a poll of Labour members.

Research conducted by Survation for LabourList found that Burnham and Rayner would defeat the prime minister by considerable margins, while Streeting and Miliband would have a slight advantage but within the margin of error.

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Chancellor will confirm the measure, intended to help commuters on expensive routes, in her budget speech

Rail fares in England will not be increased in 2026, the government has announced, surprising passengers with the first fare freeze in 30 years.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will confirm a freeze on fares in this week’s budget, a move designed to limit inflation, ease the cost of living and support economic growth.

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Industry experts welcome extra incentives but fear a consultation on a mileage tax sends mixed messages

Drivers will be able to claim government subsidies to cut the cost of buying a new electric car until 2030 under plans to be announced by Rachel Reeves at next week’s budget.

The chancellor will unveil an extra £1.3bn for subsidies for new electric vehicles (EVs) and a further £200m for charging points, as she attempts to prevent the market for clean cars drying up amid concerns about a new pay-per-mile tax.

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Prime minister says in principle anyone with knowledge of child sexual offence cases should disclose what they know

Keir Starmer has increased the pressure on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to cooperate with a congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, saying those who are caught up in child sexual offence cases should disclose any information they have.

Asked whether Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, should respond to the US House oversight committee, the prime minister said those with “relevant information” should share it. The former prince had a long friendship with Epstein and is alleged to have sexually assaulted one of his victims, Virginia Giuffre – allegations he denies.

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Many fear competition and diversity will be diminished as Daily Mail owner wins race to buy newspaper

As the dust settles from the battle for the ownership of the Daily Telegraph, one man has been left standing: Lord Rothermere, whose family have been a mainstay of British newspapers for more than a century.

“This is a very British stitch-up,” said Lionel Barber, the former editor of the Financial Times. “Lord Rothermere has played a very astute poker hand, he’s shown patience and he’s the big winner.”

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Fire-resistant upgrades are included in replacement structure less than a year after fires destroyed 13,000 homes

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Less than a year after the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in Los Angeles, the first completed rebuilt home is being celebrated in Pacific Palisades.

In a statement, mayor Karen Bass confirmed that the Los Angeles department of building and safety had issued the certificate on Friday, certifying that the home had passed inspection and was ready for occupancy.

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Journalist, daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, reveals she has acute myeloid leukemia

Tatiana Schlossberg, a journalist and the granddaughter of John F Kennedy, disclosed on Saturday that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, saying her doctor informed her that she has less than a year left to live.

The environmental writer also addressed her cousin, Robert F Kennedy Jr, criticizing the influence his policies as secretary of health and human services have had on her experience with the illness.

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A new congressional map was abruptly passed by Republicans in mid-September – but voters have a chance to rebuke politicians and stop it from going into effect

When canvassers fan out across neighborhoods, they usually rely on sophisticated lists that will tell them things like a voter’s political party and how likely they are to support a given cause. Jill Imbler isn’t bothering with any of that.

The 69-year-old has lived in Moberly – a Missouri town of about 14,000 people – her entire life. She doesn’t use a GPS when she drives around, knows where people live, and what time they’re likely to be home. And there’s a pretty good chance that she, or one of her six siblings, knows them personally.

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Some Republicans offered congresswoman plaudits, but AOC was scathing in her dismissal of her frequent sparring partner

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation from Congress late on Friday, saying she refused to be a “battered wife” following her public fallout with Donald Trump, has been slammed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman and Greene’s frequent sparring partner.

“She’s carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement on her Instagram account, and criticized her voting record on healthcare.

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Move could affect hundreds of Somalis who fled civil war in their home country

Donald Trump said on Friday night that he’s “immediately” terminating temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, further targeting a program seeking to limit deportations that his administration has already repeatedly sought to weaken.

Minnesota has the nation’s largest Somali community. Many fled the long civil war in the east African country and were drawn to the state’s welcoming social programs.

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