Top World News
A bomb explodes on Syrian Defense Ministry bus, killing and wounding soldiers
A bomb has exploded on a Syrian Defense Ministry bus in the country's east, killing and wounding several soldiers, according to state TV
Ex-marine Daniel Duggan appeals extradition to US over claims of training Chinese pilots
Former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan has appealed his extradition from Australia to the United States
Just-released hostage attends funeral of fellow soldier, whose body was among few returned from Gaza
Mourners in Jerusalem gathered at Capt. Daniel Peretz’s funeral, where Matan Angrest, a recently released hostage, paid his respects
Jim Bolger, former New Zealand prime minister who drove reconciliation with Māori, dies at 90
Tributes flow from across political spectrum for man known for high ideals but also remembered for controversially slashing welfare and health spendingFormer New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger, whose political legacy was defined by his deep commitment to reconciliation with Māori as well as his brutal cuts to welfare and deregulation of the labour market, has died aged 90.Bolger died peacefully surrounded by his wife, Joan, nine children and 18 grandchildren, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. Bolger suffered kidney failure last year and had been undergoing dialysis. Continue reading...
Read what a Chinese officer wrote of D-Day in his diary salvaged in Hong Kong
A long-lost diary from a Chinese officer is shedding light on a lesser-known part of D-Day history
US may take strategic stakes in rare earths companies to tackle China ‘power grab’
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent raises possibility of taking more direct stakes in companies to protect national security in wake of Beijing’s curbs on rare earths exportsThe Trump administration has criticised China’s increased restrictions on rare earth exports as a threat to global supply chains, and said it would seek to tighten control over strategic sectors by taking more stakes in key companies to counter Beijing.Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told an event on Wednesday that China’s dramatic new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets demonstrated the need for the US to be self-sufficient in critical materials or rely more on trusted allies. Continue reading...

Oct 16, 2025
US developer builds homes for displaced Ukrainians
Trump says he authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela as Maduro decries the move as ‘coups d’etat’
Move marks escalation in Maduro pressure campaign as president says US mulling strikes on Venezuelan territoryDonald Trump said on Wednesday he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in his administration’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government.Trump further suggested he was considering strikes on Venezuelan territory, a dramatic step that would go beyond a series of recent lethal attacks on boats in the Caribbean, which Democrats and United Nations experts have forcefully condemned as unlawful. Continue reading...
Madagascar's president rose to power off youth discontent and was taken down by it
Andry Rajoelina, once a young mayor who led protests against Madagascar's government, has been ousted as president
Costa Rica's president limits abortion to life-threatening cases
Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves has further restricted access to abortion, limiting it to situations when the mother’s life is in danger
ICC disqualifies chief prosecutor from Duterte case over perceived conflict of interest
Judges at the International Criminal Court have disqualified the court's chief prosecutor from the case against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Netanyahu says bodies of hostages received as Trump reportedly says fighting could resume if Hamas fails to uphold agreement – as it happened
This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Gaza, read more coverage here. The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal is not that of one of the hostages who was held in Gaza. Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, after the first four on Monday – when the last 20 living hostages were released. The military said that “following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages”.In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government’s black-masked armed police resumed street patrols, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens. Continue reading...
Trump threatens land strikes in Venezuela after blowing up boats
President Donald Trump said he was looking at military strikes on land in Venezuela after weeks of targeting boats off the country's coast.While speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump insisted that the U.S. Coast Guard could not effectively stop drug traffickers."We've been doing that for 30 years, and it has been totally ineffective," he insisted. "Some of these boats are seriously, I mean, they're world-class speed boats, and — but they're not faster than missiles.""Right now we have, I would say, none coming in through the seas. In fact, I don't know about the fishing industry," he continued. "We've almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we'll stop it by land.""I don't want to tell you exactly, but we are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control."According to The New York Times, the Trump administration recently authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.