Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and threatening strikes on land targets, as the Venezuelan leader accused Washington of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean. On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and their associated shipping companies. The US Treasury alleged the vessels…

According to the Telegraph, a leaked document purporting to be an extended version of the United States National Security Strategy (NSS) has triggered a wave of diplomatic tension, following claims that the Trump administration planned to weaken the European Union by drawing four member states away from the bloc. The White House has firmly rejected the report, calling it “fake news,” but international reactions suggest the allegations are being taken…

West Africa is preparing for its most ambitious aviation reform in decades after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) approved sweeping measures to reduce the region’s  high air travel costs. The move, announced this week, will see member nations eliminate several taxes on air transport and reduce passenger and security charges by 25 per cent from 1 January 2026—a decision expected to transform mobility, trade, tourism and economic…

US forces have seized a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s campaign against President Nicolás Maduro. Caracas denounced the move as “an act of international piracy”. President Donald Trump confirmed the operation on Wednesday, describing the vessel as “the largest one ever seized”. He declined to reveal the ownership of the tanker but insisted it had been taken “for a very good…

A highly classified U.S. government assessment has concluded that China would defeat the United States in a military conflict over Taiwan, warning that Beijing’s rapidly expanding arsenal and mass-production capabilities have overtaken the Pentagon’s traditional technological advantage. The Telegraph reported that Beijing’s hypersonic missiles “could sink U.S. aircraft carriers within minutes.” The analysis, contained in a top-secret document known as the “Overmatch Brief”, states that China can manufacture weapons at…

Elon Musk has admitted that the sweeping federal job-cutting initiative he led during Donald Trump’s second term, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), was only “a little bit successful” and confirmed he would not take on the role again. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, a right-wing commentator and former Doge adviser, Musk said he would have been “better off running his companies” than heading the…

All visitors to the United States would be required to disclose their social media activity from the past five years under new proposals from the Trump administration. The plans, published on Tuesday in the Federal Register, would also oblige tourists to provide email addresses and telephone numbers used during the same period, along with the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members, including children. The Department of Homeland Security…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared he is prepared to hold elections within the next three months, if Ukraine’s parliament and foreign allies agree, after Donald Trump accused him of clinging to power. Speaking on Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian president appeared irritated by Trump’s remarks. “This is a question for the people of Ukraine, not people from other states, with all due respect to our partners,” he said. Zelenskyy added that he…

French celebrities and politicians on the left have condemned Brigitte Macron after she was filmed using a derogatory term to describe feminist protesters at a theatre performance in Paris. The footage, recorded on Sunday, showed France’s first lady backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre speaking with actor and comedian Ary Abittan, who was preparing to go on stage. Abittan, previously accused of rape, told her he was nervous following a…

Fewer than 60,000 people, just 0.001% of the world’s population, now control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a major study that warns inequality has reached extremes requiring urgent action. The World Inequality Report 2026, compiled by 200 researchers, found that the richest 10% of income-earners take home more than the other 90% combined, while the poorest half capture less than 10%…

The opposition party in Benin – Communist Party of Benin (PCB) has openly criticised what it calls foreign military interference following the attempted coup d’état in Benin Republic on Sunday, December 7, 2025. In a statement released on Monday, the opposition party said the failed coup and the events that followed have raised serious concerns about Benin’s sovereignty, warning that the country is drifting into external control under the guise of…

Caribbean coral reefs have lost nearly half of their hard coral cover since 1980, according to a new study. Scientists report a 48 per cent decrease, driven largely by climate breakdown and increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. The heatwaves disrupt the microalgae that sustain coral, turning them toxic and forcing the coral to expel them. In 2023–24, the region endured what researchers described as “the most destructive thermal stress ever recorded”,…