Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

The Trump administration has announced a major package of arms sales to Taiwan worth more than $10bn, including medium-range missiles, artillery systems and drones, prompting a sharp response from China. The US state department confirmed the sales late on Wednesday, during a nationally televised address by President Donald Trump. Trump made little reference to foreign policy and did not mention China or Taiwan. Relations between Washington and Beijing have fluctuated during Trump’s second term, driven largely by disputes over trade and tariffs. Tensions have also been heightened by China’s increasingly assertive stance towards Taiwan, which Beijing claims must be reunited…

Hundreds of Gen Z protesters have been arbitrarily detained in Morocco amid allegations of beatings and mistreatment, drawing condemnation from human rights groups as the country prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. The arrests followed a wave of youth-led protests in late September and early October over underfunded healthcare and education. The demonstrations, dubbed “Gen Z 212” after Morocco’s international dialling code, were the largest the country has seen since the 2011 Arab spring. Human rights organisations say the authorities responded with a sweeping crackdown, arresting thousands of people. Detainees were allegedly beaten and left for…

China is set to impose a value-added tax on condoms and other contraceptives for the first time in more than 30 years, as part of efforts to modernise its tax system and encourage higher birth rates. From 1 January, condoms and contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate. The products have been exempt since China introduced a nationwide VAT system in 1993. The change was included in a VAT law passed in 2024, aimed at updating China’s tax framework. VAT accounts for nearly 40% of the country’s total tax revenue. After enforcing a strict one-child policy for more…

Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been targeted in a campaign of intimidation linked to Russian intelligence, aimed at persuading Belgium to block the use of €185bn in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies. Security officials told the Guardian that key figures at Euroclear, the Brussels-based financial services group holding most of Russia’s frozen central bank assets, as well as senior Belgian political leaders, had been deliberately targeted. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday are debating whether to approve loans for Ukraine backed by Russian assets. The funding is seen as vital to sustaining…

Brigitte Macron is facing a legal complaint after being filmed calling feminist protesters at a Paris theatre show “stupid bitches”. More than 300 women, 343 in total, have filed a complaint against the French first lady for public insult. The number is a deliberate reference to a landmark moment in French feminist history. The remarks were caught on video last week backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris. Macron was speaking with the actor and comedian Ary Abittan, whose show she attended with her daughter and friends. The night before, feminist activists had disrupted Abittan’s performance, shouting: “Abittan, rapist!”…

An intense surge in flu cases driven by a newly dominant virus strain is sweeping across Europe, placing health systems in several countries under severe strain, the World Health Organization has warned. The WHO said on Wednesday that at least 27 of the 38 countries in its European region were reporting high or very high levels of influenza activity. In six countries, including Ireland, Serbia, Slovenia and the UK, more than half of patients presenting with flu-like symptoms tested positive for influenza. The agency said the flu season had started around four weeks earlier than usual and urged the public…

Donald Trump has signed a new proclamation further restricting the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, the White House said on Tuesday. The move expands existing travel restrictions, imposing full entry bans on nationals from five additional countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. Full restrictions were also placed on individuals holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. The new measures build on an earlier list of 12 countries already subject to full restrictions. The announcement comes in the wake of the fatal shooting of two National Guard members in Washington DC on 26 November.…

Loureiro, 47, was found with multiple gunshot wounds on Monday night after police responded to a call at the property.

Donald Trump has ordered what he described as “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating pressure on the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. The announcement comes amid an intensifying campaign by the Trump administration against the Venezuelan government, including an expanded US military presence in the region and a series of strikes on vessels near Venezuelan waters. In recent months, US forces have carried out more than 20 military strikes in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing at least 95 people, most of them off Venezuela’s coast. Last week, the US…

California governor Gavin Newsom has appointed two senior scientists who recently left the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following disputes with the Trump administration to key state roles. Dr Susan Monarez, the former CDC director, will take on a leading role in California’s new public health initiative, the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX). Monarez was dismissed by the Trump administration in August, less than a month after assuming leadership of the CDC. Her removal followed disagreements with the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, particularly over vaccine policy. Newsom has also appointed Dr Debra Houry,…