9 h. ago Syrian forces expel Kurdish fighters as US strikes Islamic State targets

Three hundred Kurds detained and further 400 evacuated following clashes in AleppoSyrian government forces have detained 300 Kurds and evacuated more than 400 Kurdish fighters after clashes in Aleppo, the interior ministry has said, as US and allied forces carried out separate “large-scale” strikes against Islamic State targets.An interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse that about 360 Kurdish fighters and 60 wounded had been bussed to the Kurds’ de facto autonomous zone in the north-east from the Sheikh Maqsoud district, the last area of Aleppo to fall to the army. Continue reading...

Events

16 h. ago Back to the front: Ukrainian troops return to the battlefield – photo essay

Photojournalist Julia Kochetova and reporter Dan Sabbagh stayed with Da Vinci Wolves battalion as infantry and drone pilots rotated from Ukraine’s eastern frontlineIt is just before dawn, the December temperature a couple of degrees above freezing; time for troop rotations to start across Ukraine’s 750 mile front.A crew of four from Da Vinci Wolves battalion are loading up into an M113 armoured personnel carrier at a secret location ready to be driven out to a safe point. From there they will walk to their position and remain on the front for 10 or 12 days.Drone pilots of Da Vinci Wolves battalion prepare to return to the frontline. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Ukrainian official ‘targeted in car bomb attack’ as one man hospitalised days after three killed in Moscow car explosion

A SUSPECTED car bomb has destroyed a vehicle belonging to a senior Ukrainian officer in Kyiv. At the time of the blast, two people were believed to be in or near the vehicle. One man was hospitalised with shrapnel injuries, though his identity and current condition have not been disclosed. Kyiv’s prosecutor’s office said the...

Events

1 week ago Ukraine war briefing: 10% away from peace, Zelenskyy tells Ukrainians

US intelligence officials persuade Donald Trump that Ukrainians did not target Putin with drones – reports. What we know on day 1,408Ukraine was “10%” away from a peace deal, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, and his country wanted an end to the war but not at “any cost”. The Ukrainian president, in his New Year’s Eve address, said any agreement needed strong security guarantees. “The peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains. And that is far more than just numbers.”As the Russian ruler, Vladimir Putin, pushes for full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region as part of any deal, Zelenskyy said he did not believe Russia would stop there. “Pull out from the Donbas, and it will all be over. That is how deception sounds when translated from Russian – into Ukrainian, into English, into German, into French, and, in fact, into any language in the world.”Zelenskyy said he would not sign a “weak” peace agreement that would only prolong the war. “What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At...

Events

2 w. ago Nigerian official refuses to rule out AMERICAN troops on the ground after working with Trump to bomb ISIS

American troops may be deployed to Nigeria following President Trump's bombing of ISIS targets in the nation, a Nigerian official said.

Politics

3 w. ago PHOTO ESSAY: Tibetans depart Nepal, a former safe haven transformed under Chinese pressure

Sonam Tashi refuses to let his son inherit the same fear.

Events

3 w. ago Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua: boxing, influencers and spectacle collide in Miami – in pictures

Britain’s Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their money-spinning heavyweight fight on a surreal Friday night in Miami, where boxing’s oldest realities converged with a new, attention-driven worldAnalysis: Jake Paul’s artless spectacle robbed boxing of its democratic dream Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago PHOTO ESSAY: Under watch by Chinese tech, the Tibetan community in Nepal is slowly suffocating

In Nepal, the unseen eye has changed Tibetan life.

Culture

3 w. ago PHOTO ESSAY: The Palestinian families trying to rebuild their lives in the ruins of Gaza

The Halawa family’s building still rises two stories above the rubble in Gaza City, a small miracle after two years of Israeli airstrikes wrought heavy damage on homes across the Palestinian territory.

Society

3 w. ago Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets

Exclusive: Key figures at frozen assets depository among targets of intimidation campaign, say European intelligence agenciesBelgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies.Security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago PHOTO ESSAY: Refugees flee Mali as region is the world's deadliest for extremism

A makeshift village in the Mauritanian desert shelters thousands of refugees who have fled Mali in recent weeks as fighting intensifies against militants linked to al-Qaida.

Events

last month US agents increasingly arresting Afghan asylum seekers, lawyers say: ‘A huge chilling effect’

Lawyers say people ‘don’t feel safe to leave their home’ as officials target recent arrivals and those awaiting hearingsImmigration agents appear to be increasingly arresting and detaining Afghan asylum seekers, especially men, who have arrived in the US recently and are awaiting court hearings to decide their cases.Amir – an asylum seeker who came to the US via Mexico in 2024 – was driving home from his English class in Bloomington, Indiana just after noon on Monday, when he was pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle. Minutes later, the asylum seeker from Afghanistan was cuffed and driven to a detention center. Continue reading...

Events

last month PHOTO ESSAY: In Texas, a former Chinese official targeted by Beijing's surveillance finds refuge

The Chinese government is using an increasingly powerful tool to control and monitor its own officials: Surveillance technology, much of it originating in the United States, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Events

last month A Chinese whistleblower now living in the US is being hunted by Beijing with help from US tech

Retired Chinese official Li Chuanliang fled to the U.S. seeking asylum, fearing persecution from the Chinese government

Politics