Browsing: Main Headlines

A 15-year-old student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and a teenager, and injuring six others. The shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow (also known as Samantha), was a student at the school and reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two of the injured remain in critical condition.

Five people were killed in a series of shootings in northern France, including near a migrant camp in Loon-Plage, close to Dunkirk. A 22-year-old man has surrendered to police and confessed to the attacks, according to French media.

South Korea’s constitutional court has begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was suspended after declaring martial law and triggering nationwide chaos. Parliament impeached Yoon last Saturday, leaving Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting president during the trial.

Cyclone Chido has wreaked havoc on Mayotte, a French Indian Ocean territory, with wind speeds exceeding 225 km/h (140 mph), flattening settlements and leaving hundreds feared dead. Rescue teams, including reinforcements from France, are working tirelessly to locate survivors amid widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, water, and shelter.

Bitcoin soared to an all-time high, briefly surpassing $106,000, fueled by optimism over Donald Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency stance ahead of his return to the White House. The cryptocurrency has gained more than 50% since Trump’s election victory on November 5.

Israel announced plans to shut its Dublin embassy, accusing Ireland’s government of “extreme anti-Israel policies.” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticised Ireland for supporting South Africa’s legal action at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of “genocide.”  

A tornado struck Scotts Valley, California, on Saturday afternoon, injuring four people and flipping cars, according to local authorities. The EF1 tornado, with winds peaking at 90 mph, lasted five minutes, damaging power lines and leaving Monterey County among the hardest hit with ongoing outages.

Brazil’s federal police arrested former defence minister Braga Netto on Saturday on suspicion of obstructing the investigation into 2022’s alleged attempt to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration.

Donald Trump nominated former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes to chair the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday that Russia has started deploying North Korean soldiers in its operations in the Kursk region.

Winter weather disrupted both the US Midwest and California on its West Coast at the weekend. 

South Korea’s opposition leader urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on a bid to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, the day after parliament voted to impeach him over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.

Syria is witnessing mass celebrations as citizens gather to mark the end of five decades of rule by the Assad regime. Images from Damascus show large crowds assembling for the first Friday prayers since Islamist rebels seized control of the capital on Sunday.

After 17 years as European Union members, Romania and Bulgaria will officially join the EU’s border-free Schengen travel zone on January 1, 2025. The decision allows citizens from both countries to travel to other Schengen countries like France, Spain, or Norway without requiring a passport.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed at least 35 Palestinians, including 12 individuals guarding aid trucks, according to medics and Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence authority. The guards were reportedly protecting lorries carrying flour to UN warehouses in southern Gaza, which have been targeted by violent theft amid severe food shortages.

Sean “Diddy” Combs faces new allegations of rape and sexual assault, as three men have filed separate lawsuits in New York Supreme Court. The lawsuits, submitted Thursday, allege incidents between 2019 and 2022 in which the rapper is accused of drugging and assaulting the plaintiffs.

President Joe Biden has issued pardons to 39 Americans convicted of non-violent crimes and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others, marking the most acts of presidential clemency in a single day, according to the White House.

President Emmanuel Macron will reveal his choice for France’s next prime minister on Friday, the Elysée Palace confirmed, as the country grapples with months of political instability.

Hundreds of protesters led by university students held a noisy rally on Thursday outside Serbia’s state television headquarters, despite the country’s president pledging to fulfil…

The letter from the National Iwi Chairs Forum, representing over 80 tribal leaders, appeals to the King to ensure the New Zealand government upholds its commitments under the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s founding document.  

The outage began around 18:00 GMT, according to the tracking site Downdetector, and affected users in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the US. Reports indicated over 18,000 issues with WhatsApp and more than 22,000 with Facebook.

At least 19 people were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a residential building in northern Gaza, according to medical officials and Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency. The strike targeted a three-story house near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, widely known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), declared that the former regime’s notorious security apparatus would be dismantled. The statement, reported by Reuters, came after the fall of Assad’s government.

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the devastated Gaza Strip. One hundred and fifty-eight members voted in favour of the resolution, nine voted against, with 13 abstentions.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has defended his decision to declare a short-lived martial law, saying it was a measure to protect the country’s democracy.