Top World News

Dec 3, 2025 - World

Van Epps defeats Aftyn Behn in congressional election closely watched for signs of Republican weaknessRepublican Matt Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in a congressional special election in the western Nashville suburbs, which was being closely watched for signs of Republican weakness going into congressional midterms next year.The Associated Press called the race at 9.47 EST with Van Epps holding a 52% to 46% lead. Continue reading...

Dec 3, 2025 - World

Pause, including Afghanistan and Somalia, indicates plan to tie US security to increased focus on legal immigrationThe Trump administration on Tuesday said it had paused all immigration applications, including green card and US citizenship processing, filed by immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing concerns over national security and public safety.The pause applies to people from 19 countries that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June, placing further restrictions on immigration – a core feature of Donald Trump’s political platform. Continue reading...

Dec 3, 2025 - World

Report says ‘systemic failures’ led to collapse of trial, but found no evidence of UK government interference Parliament’s security committee has criticised prosecutors for pulling their charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing, in a damning report that concluded the handling of the case was “shambolic”.MPs said that a process “beset by confusion and misaligned expectations” and “inadequate” communication between the government and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had contributed to the collapse of the trial, while several “opportunities to correct course were missed”.It was “unclear” why the CPS had concluded that a July 2024 ruling concerning a Bulgarian spy ring “altered the legal landscape so significantly” that they had to change their approach.It was “surprised” the CPS had deemed the government’s evidence insufficient to put to a jury when it had set out how China “posed a range of threats to the United Kingdom’s national security” that “amounted to a more general active threat”.The government “did not have sufficiently clear processes for escalating issues where there was a lack of clarity” and “the level of senior oversight” from cabinet ministers and national security advisers “was insufficiently robust”. Continue reading...

Dec 3, 2025 - World

Group including Margaret Atwood, Ian McKellen and Richard Branson sign open letter to free Marwan BarghoutiMore than 200 leading cultural figures have come together to call for the release of Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian leader seen as capable of uniting factions and bringing the best hope to the stalled mission of creating a Palestinian state.The prestigious and diverse group calling for his release in an open letter includes a variety of prominent names, including the writers Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor and Mark Ruffalo, and the broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker. Continue reading...

Dec 2, 2025 - World

This live blog is now closed.Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says as peace talks with US beginIn parallel to Witkoff’s meeting in Moscow, we will also follow Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Ireland.He has arrived in Dublin last night, and has a busy schedule today, paying a brief visit to the country’s new president Catherine Connolly, before meeting with key government figures including the taisoeach, Micheál Martin, and addressing both chambers of the Irish parliament in the afternoon. Continue reading...