Poland plans to complete a new network of anti-drone defences along its eastern borders within two years, following repeated incursions by suspected Russian drones into its airspace earlier this year. The deputy defence minister, Cezary Tomczyk, said the first elements of the system could be operational within six months, with full completion expected within 24 months. Speaking in Warsaw, Tomczyk said the new defences would be integrated into an older…

The United States has restarted intelligence and surveillance flights over Nigeria, days after launching airstrikes against ISIS-linked militants in Sokoto State. A Sahel-based terrorism analyst, Brant Philip, disclosed that flight tracking records showed a US-linked aircraft operating over parts of Borno State on Saturday. The aircraft, identified as a Gulfstream V, is a long-range jet frequently adapted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. According to Philip, the renewed operations…

Guinea goes to the polls on Sunday for its first presidential election since the 2021 military coup that brought Colonel Mamady Doumbouya to power. In September 2021, Doumbouya, then a little-known army colonel, appeared on national television to announce that soldiers had overthrown President Alpha Condé, ending more than a decade of civilian rule. “The will of the strongest has always supplanted the law,” he said at the time, claiming…

Somaliland already hosts a United Arab Emirates military base in Berbera, which includes a port and an airstrip.

A third of Kyiv has been left without heating after a major Russian drone and missile attack cut power supplies across the Ukrainian capital, exposing hundreds of thousands of residents to freezing conditions. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia launched nearly 500 drones and about 40 missiles overnight, including ballistic missiles. He said energy facilities and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv were the primary targets. The bombardment lasted about 10 hours,…

A leading US transplant surgeon has said gene-edited pig kidneys could one day prove superior to human donor organs, as the first clinical trial involving living patients gets under way. Dr Robert Montgomery, director of the Transplant Institute at NYU Langone, said the first transplant in the trial had already been carried out, with another expected in January. Six patients are initially set to receive pig kidneys that have been…

An elderly woman has died after being seriously assaulted inside a flat in Devizes on Christmas Day, police have said. The woman, who was in her 80s, was found at a property on Keepers Road early on Christmas morning. Despite the efforts of police officers and paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Wiltshire Police confirmed that a 63-year-old woman, who is known to the victim, has been arrested…

A US judge has blocked American authorities from detaining or deporting a British anti-disinformation campaigner Imran Ahmed targeted by the Trump administration over efforts to counter hate speech and misinformation. Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is one of five European nationals accused by US officials of pressuring technology companies to censor American viewpoints. On Thursday, Ahmed filed a legal complaint against senior Trump allies,…

Japan’s cabinet has approved a record defence budget amid rising tensions with China, as Beijing accused Tokyo this week of “fuelling a space arms race”. The draft budget for the next financial year, approved on Friday, exceeds ¥9tn (£46bn), marking a 9.4% increase on the current year’s spending, which ends in April. It represents the fourth year of Japan’s five-year plan to double defence spending to 2% of gross domestic…

A powerful rain and wind storm driven by an atmospheric river from the Pacific has been blamed for a third death in southern California, as flooding, road closures and debris flows disrupt large parts of the region. A flood watch was extended through Thursday for most of southern California, after more than 11 inches of rain fell in parts of Los Angeles county by Wednesday night. Evacuation warnings were issued…

The United States have launched a deadly attack against Islamic State terrorists persercuting Christians in Nigeria. Donald Trump said this on Sunday evening via his Truth Social account. The New Daily Prime reported that Trump had declared Nigeria Country of Particular Concern (CPC). Several individuals, including rapper Nicki Minaj backed the President while Nigerian pastor Eugene Ugo had urged Nigerian government to act fast to avert US military invasion. American…

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday appealed to Russia and Ukraine to summon the “courage” needed to engage in direct negotiations, while also drawing attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as he delivered his first Christmas message as pontiff. The US-born pope, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, used the occasion to denounce the devastation of war, describing it as senseless and leaving behind “rubble and…