Donald Trump’s reported threat to cut off US aid to Nigeria and order the Pentagon to prepare for “possible action” over the persecution of Christians has drawn renewed international attention to Nigeria’s worsening security crisis. Analysts and civil society figures, however, say the rhetoric is unlikely to result in meaningful protection for vulnerable communities or produce lasting change on the ground. In Nigeria, reactions have been mixed. The Nigerian Supreme…

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russia’s sovereign assets held in the bloc, as Moscow escalates threats to retaliate against Euroclear, the Brussels-based securities depository responsible for safeguarding most of the immobilised funds. The move, which uses emergency powers to immobilise €210bn (£185bn) of Russia’s central bank reserves, marks a significant step towards channelling the money to support Ukraine’s defence. European Council president António Costa confirmed on Friday…

North Korea has admitted for the first time that its soldiers were sent to Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year to clear mines, a rare acknowledgement of the dangerous tasks assigned to its forces abroad. Leader Kim Jong-un made the disclosure in a speech carried by state media on Saturday, hailing the return of an engineering regiment that had been deployed for 120 days from August. According to South Korean…

Reddit has lodged a challenge in the High Court against Australia’s ban on social media use by under-16s, filing its case two days after introducing age restrictions on its platform. In a statement posted on Friday, the company said it supported efforts to protect young people but argued the legislation imposed “intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage…

Iranian security forces have arrested 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi at a memorial ceremony for a lawyer and human rights advocate, her supporters said. Mohammadi, who had been granted temporary medical leave from prison in December 2024, was detained alongside several activists at the ceremony for Khosro Alikordi, who was found dead in his office last week, the Narges Foundation said on X. Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, who…

South Korean entrepreneur, Do Kwon, behind the collapse of two cryptocurrencies that wiped out $40bn (£29.8bn) in value, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud. The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud charges in the United States. He co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna tokens, whose implosion in 2022 triggered a wider crash in the sector. At a hearing…

Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence, creating a federal taskforce with the sole responsibility of challenging state laws. At a ceremony on Thursday, the president said AI companies were eager to invest in the United States but warned that “if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it”. The order, titled Ensuring a national…

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…