News

It is difficult to try to predict the decisions that US President-elect Donald Trump will make when he returns to the White House. But one thing seems unlikely to change: his dislike of patient, principled diplomacy as a means to peace and his preference for transactional politics and populist gestures. This brings openings and perils […]

The United Nations says Israeli construction along a demilitarised buffer zone with Syria has led to “severe violations” of a 50-year-old ceasefire agreement, which risk increasing tensions along their shared frontier in the occupied Golan Heights. Satellite photographs show new trenches and earth berms dug over the past few months along the length of what […]

US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Elon Musk to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) for his incoming administration. He announced that Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech investor, will work with the SpaceX and Tesla founder on the project – whose acronym refers to Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency Dogecoin – to “dismantle” bureaucracy. The […]

Volkswagen Group (VW) and Tesla rival Rivian have launched a joint venture, with the German car giant increasing its investment in the partnership. The two companies say the deal is now worth $5.8bn (£4.55bn) – up from an initial pledge from VW of $5bn. Shares in the US electric vehicle (EV) maker jumped more than […]

The president of COP29’s host country has told the UN climate conference that oil and gas are a “gift of god”. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticised “Western fake news” about the country’s emissions and said nations “should not be blamed” for having fossil fuel reserves. The country plans to expand gas production by up to […]

Out of all of Donald Trump’s supporters, Derrick Evans has a particular reason to be happy with November’s election results – he hopes the president-elect will give him a pardon for participating in the 6 January riot at the US Capitol. “A pardon will be life changing,” said Evans, who was a member of the […]

President-elect Donald Trump has named Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations. A longtime Trump ally, Stefanik is a staunch supporter of Israel and has also been critical of the UN for what she argues is a lack of sufficient backing for its war against Hamas. “Elise is […]

Burkina Faso’s armed forces say they are investigating a gruesome video that purports to show military volunteers hacking apart a dead body with machetes, while gloating to the camera. Work is under way to verify the video and the people shown in it “so that they can be held accountable for their actions, if the […]

The prime minister of Mauritius has accepted that his coalition, L’Alliance Lepep, has suffered a “huge defeat” following Sunday’s parliamentary election. “The population has decided to choose another team,” Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, 62, told journalists on Monday. Jugnauth was seeking a second five-year term, but his main rival, Navin Ramgoolam, 77, leader of the […]

Kenya’s most senior judge has hit out following recent allegations of corruption and incompetence within the judiciary. “In all these 22 years I’ve been a judge and a chief justice, nobody has ever approached me with a bribe. I would have them arrested,” Martha Koome told the BBC. The country’s first female chief justice has […]