Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who has been publicly questioned over her affinity for foreign dictators and promoting conspiracy theories, has been confirmed as director of national intelligence by the US Senate. The Senate voted 52 to 48, with just one Republican – the senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – voting against her confirmation. Gabbard, 43, faced a tense confirmation hearing last month that saw her respond to questions…

Angela Sequera heard from her son in immigration detention twice a day every day for nearly five months, until Sunday. That afternoon, another detainee called her with a message that left her panic-stricken: Her son, 25-year-old Yoiker David Sequera, had been taken away to a notorious offshore prison. “Señora Angela, I’m calling to tell you that your son is going to Guantanamo,” she recalled the man saying, “he gave me…

Lucy Harrison, from Warrington, was on holiday in the US when she was fatally shot with a firearm. A young British woman was fatally shot while on holiday in Texas, an inquest has heard. Lucy Harrison, 23, from Warrington was found dead at her father’s home in Prosper, in Texas, on January 10. An inquest into her death opened today, (Wednesday, February 12) hearing Ms Harrison was abroad in the…

A harrowing human-egg harvesting racket where around 100 women were kept as slaves has been uncovered in the former Soviet nation of Georgia. Operated by Chinese gangsters, the egg farm was exposed after three Thai women were freed from the “egg mafia” by a Thailand-based NGO, according to a report in Bangkok Post. Pavena Hongsakula, founder of the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women, said she first learned about the…

A two-day summit in Paris was supposed to bring the world’s leaders together to create a united front AI – but the UK and US left without signing anything. World leaders and tech bros descended on Paris this week, with some determined to show a united stance on artificial intelligence. But at the end of the two-day summit on Wednesday, the UK and the US walked away empty-handed, having refused…

Elon Musk, standing beside President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, defended the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE’s) efforts to drastically cut spending and dismiss workers across the federal government, insisting that Americans voted for major change and the Trump administration is delivering. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, took questions for the first time since the president gave him broad authority to overhaul the executive branch. “The people voted…

U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday about starting negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskiy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform.…

Russia on Wednesday rejected swapping occupied territory with Kyiv in any peace deal, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy floated the idea. “This is impossible. Russia has never and will never discuss the topic of exchanging its territory,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, ruling out Zelenskyy’s idea of a swap involving Ukrainian-held parts of Russia’s western Kursk region. Peskov spoke not long after Russia hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with a…

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hamas it will end the ceasefire in Gaza and resume intense fighting if the Palestinian group “does not return our hostages by Saturday noon [10:00 GMT]”. Netanyahu said he had ordered Israeli forces to mass inside and around Gaza in response to Hamas’s announcement that it was postponing freeing more hostages until further notice. He did not specify whether he was demanding the…

“A person who applies for citizenship from 10 February 2025, who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey, will normally be refused citizenship.” – UK Home Office The Home Office has been accused of quietly implementing policies that prevent thousands of refugees from applying for British citizenship if they arrived in the UK via small boats or concealed in…

President Trump hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday and renewed his suggestions that Gaza could be emptied of residents, controlled by the U.S. and redeveloped as a tourist area — a plan that could likely only work if the Arab nation agrees to accept more refugees. The pair met in the Oval Office, where President Trump suggested he wouldn’t withhold U.S. aid to Jordan, Egypt…

President of the United States (POTUS), Donald Trump has lifted restrictions that previously penalized American companies for bribing foreign officials, including those in Nigeria. Trump signed the Executive Order directing the country’s Justice Department to pause prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the US law prohibiting American citizens and businesses from bribing foreign government officials to gain or retain business on Monday. The president asked the US attorney…