World

A collection of 1422 posts

World

Two-dollar daily rental batteries power businesses in Tembisa township

In Tembisa, a township northeast of Johannesburg, small business owners and residents are using daily rental solar batteries to stay open and charge phones amid frequent power cuts. Anselmo Munghabe, 37, said people flock to his tin-shack barbershop to plug in phones, paying 5 rand (about 30 cents) per plug,

World

Bobi Wine reported abducted from home amid nationwide internet blackout

Security forces in Uganda abducted the country’s main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, from his home, his party said on Friday, a day before the electoral commission was expected to declare President Yoweri Museveni the winner. Mr. Wine’s National Unity Platform said on X that “an army helicopter” had

World

Lagos demolitions leave thousands homeless in Makoko

Excavators have demolished homes in Makoko, a 19th-century fishing community in Lagos, leaving thousands of residents homeless, community leaders said. Leaders in Makoko and two nearby settlements said at least 10,000 people lost their homes in a demolition process that began in late December and was ongoing Friday. Community

World

Gabriel Barkay, archaeologist who found early biblical texts, dies at 81

Gabriel Barkay, one of Israel’s leading biblical archaeologists, died on Sunday in Jerusalem at 81, his daughter Naama Barkay said. She said he died in a care facility from complications of an autoimmune disease. Dr. Barkay spent more than 50 years leading digs in and around Jerusalem and earned

World

FAA issues cautions for Pacific airspace near Mexico and parts of Latin America

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday urged pilots to “exercise caution” when flying over portions of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, issuing seven notices to airmen covering those areas. The seven NOTAMs spanned waters abutting the four countries and were set to remain in place

World

Syrian president issues decree recognizing Kurdish language and rights

President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree on Friday affirming the rights of Kurdish Syrians, according to state media. The decree recognized Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and adopted Nowruz, the Persian new year widely celebrated by Kurds, as an official holiday. Mr. al-Sharaa also called for the government

World

Man with bow and arrow shot dead by NSW police during welfare check

A man armed with a bow and arrow was shot dead by police in Gunnedah, New South Wales, during a welfare check on Friday at 1.40pm after authorities received a call about concerns for his welfare. Police say they spoke to the man outside his home before he went

World

CIA director visits Venezuela as María Corina Machado vows she will be president

The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, flew to Venezuela to meet acting president Delcy Rodríguez, the visit coming as sidelined opposition leader María Corina Machado publicly vowed she would become the country’s first elected female president. The Guardian said Ratcliffe’s agents had reputedly played a key role in locating

World

Cuba faces oil shortfall after Venezuela supply is cut

The Trump administration’s removal of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president has given the United States new leverage over Cuba and, by blocking Venezuelan shipments, cut off Cuba’s primary oil supplier, leaving the island with by most accounts less than two months of imported oil on hand. The

World

Mexico’s president defends antidrug efforts after U.S. criticism

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico defended her government’s efforts to combat drug trafficking at a morning news conference on Thursday, after the U.S. State Department called Mexico’s border security policy unacceptable and the two countries issued a joint statement noting “significant challenges.” Sheinbaum presented data she said

World

Lesbos court acquits 24 volunteers, including Sara Mardini, of migrant-smuggling charges

A criminal court in Lesbos acquitted 24 former volunteers, including the refugee-turned campaigner Sara Mardini, of all charges related to rescuing migrants at sea, lawyers who attended the hearing said. The defendants had faced charges that carried up to 20 years in prison, including facilitating illegal entry, money-laundering and membership

World

Iran internet blackout has fueled disinformation campaigns abroad

The shutdown of internet and cellular communications inside Iran has coincided with a surge of propaganda, disinformation and influence campaigns on social media outside the country, researchers and analysts said. Experts have identified inauthentic accounts and bots on platforms such as X and Instagram that have spread false and conflicting

World

Crackdowns and communications blackout largely subdue protests in Iran

A heavy police presence and deadly crackdowns appeared to have largely suppressed demonstrations in many cities and towns across Iran, several witnesses and a human rights group told The New York Times. For weeks Iran has been convulsed by protests sparked by a collapsing economy and a currency in free

World

Kyiv closes schools until February as winter blackouts deepen

Kyiv authorities announced on Friday that schools in the capital will close until February as millions of Ukrainians endure winter cold amid blackouts caused by repeated Russian strikes on power plants. Mayor Vitali Klitschko, announcing the closures in a post on social media, said his top priority was “the safety

World

Reporter in Greenland documents reactions to Trump’s desire to take it over

Jeffrey Gettleman is on the ground in Greenland, seeing how people have reacted to Trump’s desire to take it over. He and our senior writer Katrin Bennhold discuss what Greenland means to the United States, Denmark and Greenlanders. The report focuses on those local reactions and on the territory’

World

28 recovered after landfill collapse near Cebu City; eight remain missing

Rescuers in Cebu City have recovered 28 bodies from a garbage mound that collapsed on Jan. 9 at a private landfill in Binaliw, a mountainous area outside the city, the police said on Friday. Search and recovery operations continue for eight people still reported missing. Dozens of people were buried

World

Heavy rain inundates north-eastern South Africa and neighbouring Mozambique

Large areas of north-eastern South Africa and neighbouring Mozambique have been inundated for several days by exceptionally heavy rainfall, authorities and reports said. Some locations in South Africa recorded hundreds of millimetres over the weekend, with Graskop in Mpumalanga receiving 113mm in 24 hours and Phalaborwa recording about 85mm. The

World

Lithuanian officials seek expulsion of dissident Leonid Volkov after leaked remarks

Lithuanian officials have called for the expulsion of Leonid Volkov, a prominent Russian dissident who has lived in the country for years, after private messages in which he criticized Ukrainian officials were leaked. Mr. Volkov, who oversaw major organized resistance to President Vladimir V. Putin and served as chief of

World

Museveni leads early Uganda vote as conflicting accounts of post‑vote violence emerge

Veteran president Yoweri Museveni held a commanding lead in early presidential results announced on Friday in Uganda, as conflicting accounts emerged of violence after the vote. Preliminary tallies from the electoral commission, based on nearly half of polling stations, showed Museveni with 76.25% of the vote and his main

World

Italy’s Meloni and Japan’s Takaichi meet in Tokyo, pledge closer ties

Prime Ministers Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Sanae Takaichi of Japan met in Tokyo for extended talks and pledged to deepen bilateral ties, with the encounter marked by a public display of personal camaraderie between the two conservative leaders. The leaders discussed defense, trade and culture and said they would

World

Petro Threatens Joint Military Action with Venezuela Against ELN

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has threatened military action, alongside Venezuela, against the National Liberation Army (ELN), a leftist group that experts say has become a major cocaine trafficker with a foothold in Venezuela. Mr. Petro wrote on X that “If the ELN does not join the peace process by leaving

World

Intense protests in Iran test regime amid economic strain and brutal crackdown

Intense protests have raged across Iran since late December, prompting questions about whether this unrest could bring down the regime — a determination the Times says can only be made in hindsight. Several factors make this moment different from earlier unrest, the Times reports: the economy is worse, runaway inflation has

World

Carney announces preliminary trade deal as Canada seeks new partnership with China

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China after talks in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, marking the first visit by a Canadian leader to China in eight years. Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said the two countries could “build

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Victorian authorities defend timing of Surf Coast flash‑flood warnings after heavy downpour

Authorities have defended the timing of warnings for holidaymakers along Victoria’s Surf Coast after an “unprecedented” downpour on Thursday, as forecasters warned Sydney to expect a very wet weekend. Weatherzone predicted up to 20mm of rain in Sydney on both Saturday and Sunday, which the outlet said would be

World

Canada lowers tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles; China eases canola duties

Canada will lower tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles and China will cut its own tariffs on Canadian canola products, the two countries announced during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s state visit to Beijing. Under the change, Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian