Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

A newly released batch of Epstein files contains numerous references to Donald Trump, including a claim that he flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet several times in the 1990s alongside women who may have been potential witnesses in later investigations. The documents do not accuse Trump of any criminal wrongdoing. Inclusion in the files does not imply guilt, and there is no indication that any woman mentioned was a victim of a crime. The latest tranche, released on Tuesday by the US justice department, follows a similar disclosure last week relating to federal investigations into the late financier and convicted…

The United States has recorded a sharp rise in violence against journalists since Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new report by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The non-profit organisation says most of the incidents involved reporters and photographers covering protests against the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Many of the alleged attacks were carried out by law enforcement officers. The foundation reports that journalists have suffered almost as many assaults this year as in the previous three years combined. By 16 December, it had documented 170 verified assaults. Between 2022 and 2024, there were 175. Press…

A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine has killed at least three people and caused widespread power cuts, just days before Christmas and as the country faces freezing winter temperatures. Ukrainian officials said Russia launched more than 650 drones and over 30 missiles in strikes that began overnight and continued into Tuesday morning. Among those killed was a four-year-old child. Poland scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace during the attack, according to the country’s armed forces. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the timing of the assault, saying it came as families were preparing for Christmas and amid…

Donald Trump has unveiled plans for a new generation of US navy warships to be known as the “Trump-class”, marking a break with long-standing naval naming traditions. Speaking on Monday, the US president said the vessels would be bigger, faster and “a hundred times more powerful” than any previous American warship. Construction is set to begin with two ships, with the programme eventually expanding to between 20 and 25 vessels. The navy secretary, John Phelan, said the appearance of the Trump-class USS Defiant would signal inevitable American victory at sea. He described the planned ships as the largest and deadliest…

China and Russia have voiced support for Venezuela as it faces a US blockade of oil tankers, amid escalating pressure from Donald Trump on the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. The US president has repeatedly called on Maduro to step down, while defending Washington’s seizure of Venezuelan oil shipments in recent weeks. Trump said the US would either keep or sell the oil taken off the Venezuelan coast. Asked whether the aim was to remove Maduro from power, Trump told reporters it would be “smart” for him to leave office, warning that further resistance would have serious consequences. Following Trump’s announcement…

US Coast Guard officials said on Sunday that they were tracking an oil tanker in international waters close to Venezuela, according to multiple unnamed US officials quoted by American media. The move marks the second such operation over the weekend and the third within a week, as Washington intensifies pressure on Venezuela’s oil sector. Officials described the operation as an “active pursuit” in the Caribbean Sea. It came a day after the coast guard seized another tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Unnamed officials told the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse that the vessel was part of what they described as Venezuela’s…

El Salvador has announced prison sentences for hundreds of gang members, with some of those convicted receiving terms running into the hundreds of years, as President Nayib Bukele’s hardline security campaign continues. The attorney general’s office said on Sunday that 248 members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang had been handed what it described as “exemplary sentences” for crimes including 43 murders and 42 enforced disappearances. In a statement posted on X, the office did not specify when the sentences were handed down or whether the defendants were tried collectively or in separate proceedings. According to the statement, one…

Israel has approved plans for 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, pressing ahead with an expansion drive that further undermines prospects for a Palestinian state. The decision brings the number of settlements approved in recent years to 69, a record, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a leading advocate of settlement expansion. Two of the newly approved sites were previously dismantled during Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. The approval by the security cabinet represents a sharp increase during the tenure of the current government. In 2022, there were 141…

While the disclosure was largely limited, the FBI report has drawn renewed scrutiny of how authorities handled early warnings.

Israeli forces killed six Palestinians, including a baby, in an attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to hospital officials. The deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israel to 401 since the October ceasefire came into effect. The Palestinian civil defence said Israeli troops fired across the ceasefire line, striking the school and wounding several others. It said rescue teams were only able to recover the bodies after coordinating with the United Nations, to avoid further fire. At Gaza City hospital, dozens gathered to mourn the dead. Five body bags were placed outside the…