World

Hundreds of people rallied at Minneapolis-Saint Paul ⁠International airport in the US state of Minnesota on Friday to protest flights carrying immigrants detained by federal immigration enforcement. Authorities said about 100 clergy members and dozens of other protesters were arrested outside the airport's main terminal for overstepping their protest permit and disrupting airline operations.  The clergy were given misdemeanor citations for trespassing and failing to comply with officers before being released, according to an airport spokesperson. The rally was one of many held in Minnesota, as organizers from various groups, including labor unions and religious groups, called on people to protest against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the state.Minnesota residents p...

The United States military on Friday struck another boat it suspected of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing two people, the US Southern Command said. The attack represents the first known strike by the administration since US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, said. SOUTHCOM's post on X included a clip of a multi-engined boat being smashed by an explosion. The footage showed three people on the vessel before the strike.   Two people were killed and one survived, SOUTHCOM said, adding it "immediately" notified the US Coast Guard to search for the survi...

Some 200 million people in the United States were preparing for a massive winter storm that is expected to affect two-thirds of the country beginning Friday. Snow fell over parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas on Friday. The storm is set to move to the northeast this weekend, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted. What do we know about the massive winter storm? Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, as well as Arctic temperatures, are forecast to sweep across the country from the Rocky Mountains to the mid-Atlantic states to New England. Forecasters warned the damage from the storm could rival that of a hurricane, especially in areas hit by ice.  At least 14 states and the District of Columbia hav...

China gets up to a fifth of its imported oil from Iran and another 4% to 5% from Venezuela, often through clandestine channels to skirt United States sanctions — or at least it did before recent disruptions. US President Donald Trump's move earlier this month to unseat Venezuela’s longtime leader, Nicolas Maduro, redirect its oil to the US and impose 25% tariffs on Iran-linked trade has raised serious questions about energy security in the world's second-largest economy. Oil prices briefly spiked on fears that China’s discounted Iranian supplies could be hit, while experts warned that US seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers may further constrict flows. Can China's domestic production fill the gap? Beijing, meanwhile, has limited room to fall back on its domestic oil production to p...

The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), a year after President Donald Trump announced he was putting an end to America's 78-year-old commitment to the health agency. Trump notified the United Nations health agency a year ago when he signed an executive order on the first day of his office in 2025. There's a one-year waiting period before the withdrawal is finalized. The US president cited the organization's alleged "mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic" and "other global health crises" among reasons to quit the body. He also said that US membership in the organization required "unfairly onerous payments." "Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints," said a joint statement from US Secr...

Using slides showing images of gleaming skyscrapers and apartments, Jared Kushner presented a Trump-backed "master plan" for the rebuilding of Gaza. Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, said during Thursday's presentation at the World Economic Forum in Davos that postwar Gaza would become "a place that the people … can thrive, have great employment." "In the Middle East they build cities like this, you know for 2 or 3 million people, they build this in three years," said Kushner, who has no official title but has been part of the US-backed Gaza peace negotiations. "And so, stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen," he said, speaking immediately after Trump presented his ambitious "Board of Peace" designed to oversee the Gaza truce and Strip's reconstruction. Kushner...

European Council President Antonio Costa has said that the EU leaders believe "it's very important to preserve and cherish our transatlantic partnership." He made the comments after chairing an emergency summit in Brussels late on Thursday. The evening meeting was called to reassess ties with United States over President Donald Trump's treats to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and impose tariffs on select EU nations. But on the eve of the summit, while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump suspended his tariff threats and said he wouldn't use force to take the Arctic island. EU leaders to turn focus on implementing trade deal with US The summit didn't make any decision. But Costa said the priority now must be to implement the EU-US trade deal agree...

Israel's decision on December 26, 2025 to recognize Somaliland as an independent state sent shockwaves across the Horn of Africa and beyond. Diplomatic pushback from Somalia and concern within the African Union (AU) followed over regional stability and territorial integrity. Somaliland, a self-governing region in northern Somalia, declared independence in 1991 following the collapse of Somali ruler Siad Barre's military regime. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the late 1980s as Barre's forces pursued rebel groups in the territory. Many Somalilanders argue the union with Somalia was unlawful and had failed, fuelling demands for self-rule and a separate, stable state.Somaliland: Somalia's breakaway 'nation'To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a we...

The European Parliament voted on Wednesday for a legal check of the EU's trade deal with four members of the Latin American Mercosur bloc, a move that could severely delay or even derail the deal.  German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took to social media soon after news of the vote, calling the result "regrettable" and saying it "misjudges the geopolitical situation."  The EU signed the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay on Saturday, after a quarter of a century of negotiations. But it still requires approval from the European Parliament before it can formally take effect. Farmers protested outside the parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, after clashes with police the previous dayImage: Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa/picture alliance Razor-thin margin in vote, amid massive prote...

Announcing the EU's Anti-Racism Strategy for 2026-2030, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib faced a barrage of questions from the press: Had the EU watered the proposal down over fears it might worsen the relationship between the EU and the US? Back in April 2025, the Trump administration torched America's diversity, equity and inclusion ,or DEI, polices, branding them "woke ideology.” It prompted scores of companies and universities to wind back commitments to anti-discrimination. "When it comes to the Americans, they do what they want," insisted Lahbib, the bloc's commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management, during the press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. "They can mock, but we are not like this. These are our values. This is who we are .When they...