World News

US imposes restrictions on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, in addition to initial list of 12 countries

Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Tuesday that further restricts and limits the entry of foreign nationals to the United States, the White House said.

The US has imposed full restrictions and entry limitations on nationals from five countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria – in addition to the initial list of 12 countries. Full restrictions have also been imposed on individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, the White House said.

The move represents an intensification of Trump’s crackdown in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC on 26 November. The suspected shooter is an Afghan national who served in a unit under the CIA in Afghanistan and was admitted to the US after its withdrawal from the country in 2021. He was granted asylum this year after being vetted.

Family say Ahmed ‘doesn’t discriminate’ and would have done anything to save lives during the attack

The European Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday to drop the EU's effective ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035 after pressure from the region's auto sector, marking the bloc's biggest retreat from its green policies in recent years.

The move, which still needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament, would allow continued sales of some non-electric vehicles. Carmakers in regional industrial powerhouse Germany and in Italy had sought easing of the rules.

The EU executive appears to have bowed to calls from carmakers to keep selling plug-in hybrids and range extenders that burn fuel as they struggle to compete against Tesla, opens new tab and Chinese electric vehicle makers.

The Murphy inquiry suggested bookmakers were grooming children with ads online, but Labor’s new social media ban on under-16s is viewed as a solution because it would, in principle, limit their exposure to such advertising online.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43763604

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European and Ukrainian leaders have officially launched an International Claims Commission in The Hague, marking a significant step toward accountability and reparations for the damage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The new body is tasked with processing and adjudicating claims related to losses suffered by the Ukrainian state, businesses, and individuals since the start of the war.

The establishment of the Commission reflects growing international consensus that victims of the conflict should have access to a structured, legal mechanism to seek compensation. According to European officials, more than 80,000 claims have already been submitted, highlighting the vast scale of destruction to infrastructure, housing, industry, and livelihoods across Ukraine.

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The International Claims Commission is designed to operate as an independent and rules-based mechanism. Its mandate includes reviewing evidence, assessing damages, and determining the validity and value of claims arising from the conflict. While it does not itself enforce payments, the Commission represents a crucial institutional framework that could underpin future compensation arrangements.

Locating the Commission in The Hague — a city internationally recognized as a center for justice and international law — underscores the legal and symbolic weight of the initiative. European leaders emphasized that the Commission complements existing international justice efforts and reinforces the principle that violations of international law carry consequences.

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For Ukraine, the launch of the Commission represents an important diplomatic achievement and a step toward long-term recovery and reconstruction ... For Europe, the Commission sends a broader message: accountability and reparations are integral to any durable peace. By creating a formal mechanism now, European states aim to ensure that compensation is not treated as an afterthought, but as a core element of post-war justice laying the groundwork for future reparations and reinforcing the international rules-based order.

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cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43764288

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The Moscow City Court has upheld the sentence against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the election rights advocacy movement Golos (“Vote”). Melkonyants was convicted of participating in the activities of an “undesirable” organization — namely, the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) ... In May 2025, the Basmanny District Court sentenced Melkonyants to five years in a general-security penal colony; his defense appealed the ruling.

At the appellate court hearing, Melkonyants delivered a final statement in which he criticized the work of the prosecutor’s office and the court, calling their approach to sentencing “careless.” [The statement can be read in the linked article.]

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Diplomatic staff from the embassies of the U.S., France, the Czech Republic, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and New Zealand, as well as a representative of the European Union, attended the announcement of Melkonyants’s sentence in May.

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Critics warn the vaguely worded proposal could have a chilling effect on internet freedom

The Danish government has ignited a firestorm of criticism after proposing a new bill that would make it illegal to use a VPN to access geoblocked streaming content or bypass restrictions on illegal websites.

The proposal, which is part of a larger legislative effort to combat online piracy, has alarmed digital rights advocates who fear it could have far-reaching consequences for internet freedom in the country.

The proposal was immediately condemned by privacy advocates. Jesper Lund, chairman of the IT Political Association, expressed deep concern over the bill’s ambiguous language, stating it has a "totalitarian feel to it."

"Even in Russia, it is not punishable to bypass illegal websites with a VPN," Lund told Danish broadcaster DR, pointing out that the proposed Danish law could go further than measures seen in more authoritarian states.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47414660

Australia is emerging as an alternative destination in global people smuggling routes involving Chinese nationals, as tougher US border controls push smuggling networks to test new maritime pathways through South-East Asia.

Last week six Chinese nationals who arrived in Australia by sea were found in a remote Indigenous community in Western Australia and detained by border authorities.

WA Police said the group had travelled on an unidentified vessel and was believed to be part of a larger attempt to reach the country by boat. A Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat beached on a beach with border force agents and two men in life vests.

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Similar incidents have been recorded in Western Australia and the Northern Territory over the past year, and migration lawyer Sean Dong says he is seeing an increasing number of attempts by people from China.

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While Chinese nationals arriving by sea remain rare, the case points to a broader rerouting of irregular migration from China, known as "walking the route", driven by tougher US border controls under the Trump administration.

With fewer legal migration options available, smugglers are using countries in South-East Asia such as Indonesia as transit hubs to probe Australia's maritime frontier.

[...]

"Walking the route" refers to Chinese nationals using irregular and often dangerous pathways to leave China and reach other countries without legal documents, visas or formal migration channels.

The term first became widely known in China through journeys to the US via Latin America and the Mexico border, but it is now also used to describe attempts to reach Australia by sea.

These journeys are typically organised by people smuggling syndicates, commonly referred to as "snakeheads", who coordinate transport, transit points and illegal border crossings.

[...]

Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, told the ABC that many people are unaware of the scale of Operation Sovereign Borders, the policy introduced in 2013 to prevent maritime arrivals of asylum seekers.

"I think some people still believe that there is a general humanitarian reputation in Australia," he said.

Mr Rintoul said Chinese asylum seekers were not unusual in this regard, and often faced the same constraints as others who had attempted irregular journeys.

Many, he said, had no realistic way to migrate legally, either because of poverty or because they were unable to obtain the necessary travel documents.

Others may avoid formal travel channels because they are known to authorities — including political activists or members of persecuted ethnic or religious minorities — leaving few options beyond irregular routes.

"For them, travelling by plane may not be possible."

[...]

Flight logs reveal three British women onboard who were allegedly trafficked by convicted sex offender, according to BBC

Nearly 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein reportedly arrived at and departed from UK airports, some with British women onboard who allege they were abused by the convicted child sex offender.

Analysis by the BBC found three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein’s records of flights in and out of the UK and other documents related to the late disgraced billionaire.

The flight logs were among thousands of court documents and papers released by Epstein’s estate that have been made public over the past year.

Chile has become the latest country in Latin America to veer toward the right, electing a deeply conservative veteran politician who has long attracted comparisons to Donald Trump.

The president-elect, José Antonio Kast, has expressed nostalgia for the 17-year military dictatorship of the late Gen. Augusto Pinochet, opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage and advocated in recent years for a constitutional ban on abortion.

Those stances, which some say sabotaged Kast’s previous presidential bids in the increasingly liberal country, didn’t seem to matter in Sunday’s election.

Across the world, desperate parents of sick or dying children are being exploited by online scam campaigns, the BBC World Service has discovered. The public have given money to the campaigns, which claim to be fundraising for life-saving treatment. We have identified 15 families who say they got little to nothing of the funds raised and often had no idea the campaigns had even been published, despite undergoing harrowing filming.

Nine families we spoke to - whose campaigns appear to be products of the same scam network - say they never received anything at all of the $4m (£2.9m) apparently raised in their names.

A whistleblower from this network told us they had looked for "beautiful children" who "had to be three to nine years old… without hair".

We have identified a key player in the scam as an Israeli man living in Canada called Erez Hadari.

Taiwan's military can respond rapidly to any sudden Chinese attack with all units able to operate under a decentralised mode of command without awaiting orders from above, Taipei's defence ministry said in a report to lawmakers.

Democratically-governed Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, has repeatedly warned that China could try to suddenly shift its regular drills into active combat mode to catch Taiwan and its international supporters off guard.

China's military operates around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, in what Taipei says is part of a "grey zone" harassment and pressure campaign that stops short of actual combat but is designed to wear out Taiwan's armed forces by putting them constantly on alert.

Almost 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein arrived at and departed from UK airports, some with British women on board who say they were abused by the billionaire, a BBC investigation has found.

We have established that three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein's records of flights in and out of the UK and other documents related to the convicted sex offender.

US lawyers representing hundreds of Epstein victims told the BBC it was "shocking" that there has never been a "full-scale UK investigation" into his activities on the other side of the Atlantic.

The UK was one of the "centrepieces" of Epstein's operations, one said.

Police investigating claims Sajid and Naveed Akram received ‘training’ overseas before Sunday’s attack

The father and son duo allegedly behind the Bondi attack appear to have been inspired by Islamic State, the Australian prime minister says, as police confirmed they were investigating why the pair travelled to the Philippines last month.

The New South Wales police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, on Tuesday alleged Naveed Akram, 24, and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, had recently travelled to the Philippines, which was confirmed by authorities in Manila.

Lanyon also alleged that IEDs and two homemade IS flags were found in a car registered to Naveed that was parked at the scene of Sunday’s Hanukah festival shooting.

“The reasons why they went to the Philippines, and the purpose of that, and where they went when they were there, is under investigation at the moment,” Lanyon said.

The United States has paused a $40 billion technology agreement with Britain, officials said, following concerns in Washington over London's approach to digital regulation and food standards.

Britain became the first country to agree in principle to lower some U.S. tariffs in May, but implementation has been slow. Talks on sectors such as steel stalled, though the two sides agreed a framework pharmaceutical deal earlier this month.

British ministers say the May tariff deal allowed higher U.S. beef exports without compromising UK standards and insist digital regulations and tax will not be negotiated away.

Cuts to US aid funding have directly led to the closure of more than 1,000 family planning clinics, new figures shared with the Guardian reveal.

Millions of people have been left without access to contraceptives or care, including those who have suffered sexual assault, as part of a “radical shift towards conservative ideologies that deliberately block human rights”, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

A survey of its member associations found that approximately 1,394 service delivery points, or clinics, have been shut down, including 1,175 in Africa, and that 34 had laid off staff as a result of the Trump administration’s cuts, representing at least 969 job losses.

Campaigners say the cuts have emboldened anti-rights groups, reporting a rise in rhetoric opposing abortion and access to contraception for teenagers.

Alexandra Ching has lived in Bondi her whole life, describing the iconic beach nearby as her back yard. On Sunday evening, like many residents in the area, she heard pops echo through the neighbourhood and thought they were fireworks.

“Everyone did, but I thought it was too light and no one could see them, so what’s the point,” Ching tells the Guardian. She left her apartment to see people “streaming up Bondi Road”. When she saw the looks on their faces, she knew something was wrong.

As Ching stood on the road speaking with a couple who had run up the hill, still dripping wet in their swimmers, she heard someone come up behind her. It was a lifeguard sprinting towards Bondi, barefoot, from neighbouring Tamarama beach – about 1.5km away – carrying a defibrillator.

“I heard someone say ‘excuse me’, and as I turned I just saw this flash of blue,” she recounts. “He was just flying past. It was just him running in the direction that everyone was trying to escape from, carrying that big kit and barefoot … He’s running at something that surely every fibre in your being, you know, would tell you to go in the other direction."

A super-complaint has been filed against police forces in England and Wales over years-long delays in investigating sexual offences.

More than 37,000 sexual offence investigations have taken longer than three years to conclude over the past decade, campaigners said.

Sexual offence cases taking more than three years to investigate have increased more than sevenfold over the past 10 years, from 533 in 2014-15 to 4,008 in 2024-25, according to freedom of information requests submitted by the organisations to the Home Office and police forces across England and Wales. At the end of March 2025, there were almost 14,000 investigations that had been open for more than three years, the organisations said.

Their research found that investigations lasting between three and four years had increased from 137 cases in 2014-15 to 2,261 cases in 2024-25.