Republic of Benin’s government said on Sunday its armed forces had foiled a coup attempt after a group of soldiers in the West African nation claimed on national television to have seized power.
The attempted coup was the latest threat to democratic rule in the region, where the military have in recent years seized power in Benin’s neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea and, only last month, Guinea-Bissau.
At least eight soldiers, several holding weapons, went on state television on Sunday morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Tigri Pascal had taken over and was dissolving national institutions, suspending the constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders.
“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” said a statement read by one of the soldiers.
A few hours later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said the West African country’s armed forces had thwarted the attempted coup.
“Therefore, the government urges the population to go about their business as usual,” he said.
Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari had earlier told Reuters that “a small group” of soldiers had attempted to overthrow the government but that forces loyal to President Patrice Talon were working to restore order.
He said the coup plotters had only managed to take control of state television, which was cut after the soldiers read out their statement. It resumed broadcasting shortly afterwards, allowing the interior minister to read his statement saying the coup bid had been foiled. West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS and the African Union condemned the coup attempt.
A group of soldiers on Republic of Benin’s national television claimed to have seized power in the West African nation on Sunday, the latest threat to democratic norms in the unstable region.
“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” said a statement read by one of the soldiers who was flanked by half a dozen others, several wearing helmets.
“The constitution is suspended. All institutions are dissolved (and) political party activities suspended until further notice.
“A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The announcement came as Benin Republic was preparing for a presidential election next April that would mark the end of the tenure of incumbent Patrice Talon, in power since 2016.
The country’s ruling coalition had nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate, positioning a man seen as a key architect of its economic policies to pursue the administration’s current reform agenda if elected.
Talon’s decision to step down after two terms was a rare move in the West and Central Africa region where democratic norms are increasingly under pressure.
A coup last month in Guinea-Bissau was the ninth in the region since 2020.
However, Talon’s entourage said Talon, who has been president of the west African nation for 10 years and is due to step down in April, was safe.
“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city and the country are completely secure,” his office told AFP.
Gunmen stormed a hostel in Saulsville, 18 kilometres west of Pretoria, on Saturday, killing 11 people, including a three-year-old child, South African police said.
The attack is the latest in a string of mass shootings that have shaken the country of 63 million, South Africa Broadcasting News reports.
Police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe said: “I can confirm that a total of 25 people were shot,” adding that 14 had been hospitalised.
She explained that ten victims died at the scene, while another succumbed to injuries in hospital. The attack also claimed the lives of a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old pupils.
Mathe described the incident: “Quite an unfortunate incident. Police were only alerted to this incident at around 6 o’clock.”
Authorities said three gunmen entered the premises at around 4:30 am (0230 GMT) and indiscriminately opened fire on a group of men who were drinking. The motive remains unknown, and no arrests have been made.
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized nation, continues to grapple with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks. While many citizens own licensed firearms for personal protection, illegal guns are widespread.
Police data indicates that between April and September, an average of 63 people were killed each day, highlighting the scale of the country’s ongoing violence.
Mathe added that investigations are ongoing.
She concluded, “We are still investigating the motive, but as I’ve indicated, maximum resources have been deployed to arrest those that are behind this incident.”
Fresh deadly border clashes have broken out between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban forces, with both sides accusing each other of breaking a fragile ceasefire.
Residents fled the Afghan city of Spin Boldak overnight, which lies along the 1,600-mile (2,574 km) border the two countries share.
A medical source in the nearby city of Kandahar told BBC Pashto a local hospital had received the bodies of four people. Three injuries have been reported in Pakistan.
Sporadic fighting has repeatedly broken out between the two in recent months, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government has also accused Pakistan of carrying out air strikes inside the country.
Both sides have confirmed they exchanged fire overnight but each blamed the other for beginning the four hours of fighting.
Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accused the Taliban of “unprovoked firing”.
Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesperson said Pakistan had “once again initiated attacks” and said it was forced to respond.
Footage from the area showed a large number of Afghans fleeing on foot and in vehicles, with people in neighbouring towns also leaving in fear of the renewed fighting spreading.
The death toll in the floods which struck Indonesia last week has now climbed to more than 500, with rescue workers still battling to reach affected areas.
The floods, which were caused by a rare cyclone that had formed over the Malacca Strait, have hit three provinces and impacted some 1.4 million people, according to the government’s disaster agency.
Another 500 people remain missing, while thousands more have been injured.
Indonesia is just one part of Asia which has been hit with torrential rain and storms in recent days, with Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka all also reporting deaths.
In Indonesia, the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra have been hardest hit, with thousands still cut off and without critical supplies.
Arini Amalia, a resident from Aceh’s Pidie Jaya Regency, told the BBC the floodwaters had been “like a tsunami”.
“According to my grandmother, this is the worst, the worst in her life,” Amalia said.
Aid workers have been trying to reach people on foot and by motorcycle, as many roads are impassable to larger vehicles.
Pictures from the region show bridges washed away, roads covered in mud and debris, and logs piled high.
At West Sumatra’s Twin Bridges landmark, where floodwaters swept through and deposited enormous amounts of mud and debris, Mariana watched as excavators cleared the roads, hoping they would find her missing family members including her 15-year-old son.
“Watching the excavators, seeing how thick the mud is… I keep thinking, what condition will my child be in when they find him?” she said. ”Will he still be intact? My mother, my brother-in-law… Looking at how it is here, maybe their faces won’t even be recognisable any more.”
At least four people have been killed in a mass shooting at a child’s birthday party in California.
Ten others were injured in the shooting at a restaurant on Saturday evening, in the state’s northern city of Stockton.
Local police say the victims include both adults and children. The conditions of the injured have not been confirmed.
A suspect is still on the loose and police say they believe the shooting may have been “targeted”.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened shortly before 18:00 local time (02:00 GMT on Sunday), and is appealing to anyone with “information, video footage, or who may have witnessed any part of the incident” to come forward.
Spokeswoman Heather Brent described the incident as “unfathomable”, adding: “This is a very active and ongoing investigation, and information remains limited.
“Early indications suggest this may be a targeted incident, and investigators are exploring all possibilities.”
Stockton’s Mayor Christina Fugazi called the shooting “unacceptable”.
“Families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive.”
California has some of the strictest firearm laws in the US, and has in recent years faced challenges to it.
Authorities have begun investigating what sparked the disastrous blaze, including the presence of bamboo scaffolding and plastic mesh wrapped around the structures as part of construction work.
Hong Kong firefighters were scouring scorched high-rises Thursday for over 250 people listed as missing, a day after the financial hub’s worst blaze in decades killed at least 55 in an apartment complex.
Over 24 hours after fire broke out in the eight-building housing estate with 2,000 units, flames were still visible in some windows as crews sprayed water on the blackened exteriors.
Authorities have begun investigating what sparked the disastrous blaze, including the presence of bamboo scaffolding and plastic mesh wrapped around the structures as part of construction work.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption body said it has launched a probe into renovation work at a housing complex, hours after police said they arrested three men on suspicion of negligently leaving foam packaging at the fire site.
The intense flames in four of the eight apartment blocks were finally extinguished and the fires in three others were under control, officials said Thursday afternoon. One building was not affected.
Multiple residents of Wang Fuk Court, located in Hong Kong’s northern district of Tai Po, told AFP that they did not hear any fire alarm and had to go door-to-door to alert neighbours to the danger.
“The fire spread so quickly. I saw one hose trying to save several buildings, and I felt it was far too slow,” said a man surnamed Suen.
“Ringing doorbells, knocking on doors, alerting the neighbours, telling them to leave — that’s what the situation was like,” added.
Crowds moved by the tragedy gathered near the complex to organise aid for displaced residents and firefighters, part of a spontaneous effort in a city that has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest residential blocks.
“It’s truly touching. The spirit of Hong Kong people is that when one is in trouble, everyone lends support… It shows that Hong Kong people are full of love,” said Stone Ngai, 38, one of the organisers of an impromptu aid station.
But the toll continues to increase and fire service officials told reporters that 51 victims lost their lives at the scene, while four died in hospital.
Hong Kong authorities will immediately inspect all housing estates undergoing major works following the disaster, the city’s leader John Lee said.
A woman has died, and a man has been seriously injured after they were attacked by a shark while swimming at a remote beach in the Australian state of New South Wales.
Police said the woman, believed to be aged in her 20s, died at the scene, while the man, also believed to be in his 20s, was airlifted to a hospital in Newcastle in critical condition.
Paramedics had been called to Kylies Beach, in Crowdy Bay National Park about 300km north of Sydney, early on Thursday morning local time, police said.
Authorities praised a bystander who put a makeshift tourniquet on the man’s leg before the paramedics arrived, which “potentially saved his life”.
“The courage from some bystanders is amazing in this situation,” NSW Ambulance Superintendent Josh Smyth told reporters.
“To put yourself out there is heroic and obviously it did give us time to get to that male patient.”
The shark involved was likely a “large bull shark”, the Department of Primary Industries said.
Bull sharks, which can be found in both fresh water and salt water, are “one of the few sharks that are potentially dangerous to people”, the Australian Museum says. They are the third deadliest shark species, according to the International Shark Attack File.
The beach has now been closed and “smart” drumlines – which lure sharks with baited hooks so they can be tagged and re-released – were being deployed.
Surf Life Saving NSW said surrounding beaches would also be closed for 24 hours while drones surveilled the area.
“This is a terrible tragedy and our deepest condolences go to the families of the woman and man involved,” Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said.
“For now, please remain clear of the water at beaches in the vicinity and follow the direction of lifeguards.”
This is the fifth fatal shark attack in Australia this year. The most recent was less than three months ago, when a man was killed in a rare shark attack in Sydney’s northern beaches.
The US has suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, after an Afghan man was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the decision was made pending a review of “security and vetting protocols”.
The suspect of Wednesday’s shooting, which left two National Guard members critically injured, is said to have arrived in the US from Afghanistan in September 2021.
US President Donald Trump said the attack was an “act of terror”, adding that he would take steps to remove foreigners “from any country who does not belong here”.
Tens of thousands of Afghans entered the US under special immigration protections following the chaotic US withdrawal from the country in 2021 under former President Joe Biden.
The Department of Homeland Security named the suspect in a press release as Rahmanullah Lakamal, “a criminal alien from Afghanistan”. An official has told the BBC’s US news partner CBS that he applied for asylum in 2024, and his application was granted earlier this year.
The 29-year-old is understood to have entered the country under the programme called Operation Allies Welcome.
Trump said following the shooting that the US “must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden”.
The Joint Task Force DC, which is co-ordinating the National Guard deployments to the nation’s capital, said the attack took place at around 14:15 EST (17:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station.
The soldiers had been on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets – a busy lunch spot for office workers.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately started firing”, adding that the soldiers had been “ambushed”.
Other National Guard members nearby heard the gunfire and intervened, holding the suspect down until police arrived, he said.
The suspect was shot four times, law enforcement sources told CBS.
One witness described to the BBC his experience of hearing gunshots, as people ran in panic and tried to take shelter in a nearby shop.
Another witness, who was in his car close to the metro station, showed the BBC footage he took of the two soldiers lying on the street in their uniforms while being treated by medics.
A third person, apparently the alleged gunman, was also on the pavement being treated.
In the wake of the attack, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to the American capital.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington DC safe and beautiful,” the Pentagon chief said.
There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in the city.
They are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.
The troops were deployed in August to tackle what Trump called “out of control” crime in Washington.
Overall crime in the city has fallen since the force was sent, which Trump credits to the troops’ presence on the streets.
There have been similar deployments in other Democratic-led cities across the US, which have faced legal challenges by opponents who accuse the Trump administration of overreach.
Trump imposed a travel ban on nationals of Afghanistan – and 11 other countries – earlier this year.
Afghan nationals holding Special Immigration Visas – available to those who worked directly with the US military and feared retribution from the Taliban as a result of that co-operation – were among a few exceptions to the sweeping bans.
The Taliban returned to power following the US withdrawal in 2021.
Trump has also ended a programme that granted deportation protections for thousands of people from Afghanistan.
The temporary protected status programme allowed migrants to get work permits if the US government deemed it unsafe for them to return to their home countries due to war.
At least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Hamas-run health ministry has said, in what was one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire came into effect five weeks ago.
According to rescuers,Ten people were killed when a ministry of religious endowments building in the eastern Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City was hit,
Israel’s military said it struck “Hamas terrorist targets” after gunmen opened fire towards an area where its soldiers were operating in the southern city of Khan Younis in violation of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas questioned the claim and denounced what it said was a “dangerous escalation” that could jeopardise the ceasefire.
The flare-up of violence comes after the UN Security Council passed a resolution that endorsed US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan to end two years of devastating war.
Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, told the BBC that Israeli air, drone and artillery strikes hit several locations in Gaza City and Khan Younis shortly after sunset on Wednesday.
The attacks marked a sharp escalation after several days of relative calm, he said.
The Civil Defence reported that the strike in Zeitoun caused severe damage to the religious endowments ministry’s building and surrounding structures, and posted a video showing its rescue workers appearing to find two people buried under rubble.
Photos published by the Anadolu news agency meanwhile showed the bodies of three young children reportedly recovered from the scene.
In a separate incident in Gaza City, one person was killed and several others were wounded when a drone struck a group of people at Shejaiya junction on Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main north-south road, according to Mr Bassal.
The Civil Defence reported that another 13 people were killed in the Khan Younis area. Mr Bassal said three of them were killed in a strike on a group inside a sports club run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that “several terrorists opened fire toward the area where IDF soldiers are operating in Khan Younis” earlier on Wednesday.
“This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No IDF injuries were reported,” it added. “In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas denounced the Israeli strikes, saying in a statement that it considered them a “dangerous escalation through which the war criminal [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu seeks to resume the genocide against our people”.
It also urged the US to “honour its stated commitments and exert immediate pressure on Israel to enforce the ceasefire and halt its attacks”.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN stressed the importance of disarmament, saying that his country would “not stop or let up” until Hamas no longer presented “a threat”.
The Israeli military launched an offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 69,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, including 280 during the ceasefire, according to the territory’s health ministry.
A fire ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city on Wednesday, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country’s largest urban blaze in almost half a century.
Aerial footage from broadcasters showed houses reduced to rubble and thick plumes of smoke rising from the hilly Saganoseki district of Oita city.
The flames had also spread to nearby forested slopes and an uninhabited island more than one kilometre off the coast, likely due to strong winds, local media reported.
The blaze started on Tuesday evening and has burned 48,900 square metres- forcing 175 residents in the district, some 770 km (478 miles) southwest of Tokyo, to flee to an emergency shelter, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, the agency added.
One person has been found dead, local media reported citing police sources, while a woman in her 50s was reported to be hospitalised for mild burns.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to all residents who are evacuating in the cold,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a post on X.
The fire has caused power outages at around 300 houses in the district, according to Kyushu Electric Power.
The number of buildings and size of the area engulfed in flames make it the largest urban fire in Japan since a 1976 blaze in Sakata, excluding incidents caused by earthquakes.
US President, Donald Trump said Saudi Crown, Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing” about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as he welcomed the kingdom’s de facto ruler to the White House.
Trump’s comments appeared to contradict a US intelligence assessment in 2021 which determined the crown prince had approved the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
The crown prince, who has denied any wrongdoing, said at the White House that Saudi Arabia “did all the right things” to investigate Khashoggi’s death, which he called “painful”.
It was his first US visit since the assassination, which sent shockwaves through the US-Saudi relationship.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump shot back at a reporter who asked a question about the killing.
“You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial,” the US president said.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
“But he [the Crown Prince] knew nothing about it,” Trump added. “You don’t have to embarrass our guests.”
The crown prince added that Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate the murder, which he called “painful” and a “huge mistake”.
A US intelligence report made public in 2021 under President Joe Biden’s administration determined that the crown prince had approved of a plan to “capture or kill” Khashoggi in Istanbul. During his first administration, Trump White House officials declined to release the report.
While dozens of Saudi officials faced sanctions in the wake of the assassination, none directly targeted the crown prince.
Reacting to Trump’s comments, Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan, told BBC Newsnight the US president’s defence of the crown prince did not match up with bin Salman’s own acknowledgment of responsibility for her husband’s murder.
“The crown prince himself, in 2019 and 60 Minutes interview, he did take accountability about and hold responsibility about this horrible crime,” she said.
In a post on X, she also called for a meeting with the crown prince and an apology along with compensation for her husband’s murder.
Granted political asylum in the US, she lives in the Washington DC area.
Tuesday’s meeting between Trump and Mohammed bin Salman was expected to include deals on civilian nuclear power, artificial intelligence and Saudi investment in the US, which the crown prince said was being upped to $1tr (£761bn) from $600bn pledged earlier this year.
Echoing Trump’s own words, bin Salman said that the US was the “hottest country on the planet” and praised the US president for creating “long-term opportunity”.
The two men also discussed the potential sale of advanced F-35 fighter aircraft to the Saudis.
Trump said that while export licences were still being announced, he expected a deal between the Saudis and US defence giant Lockheed Martin.
The potential sale has caused alarm among some Israeli officials, who have said that it could potentially hurt the country’s “qualitative military edge” in the Middle East, where it is so far the only nation to have F-35s.
The US president said the model sold to the Saudis would be broadly similar to the one the Israelis operate.
“This [Saudi Arabia] is a great ally, and Israel is a great ally,” Trump said. “I know they’d like you to get planes of reduced calibre.
“But as far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line,” he added.
The crown prince’s visit to Washington continues with a gala dinner on Tuesday night, followed by an investment summit on Wednesday.
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo – who plays in the Saudi professional league was also present at the dinner.
Biden did not host the crown prince and vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights record. In 2022, however, Biden visited the kingdom to reach agreement on other issues.
Aid agencies have reiterated calls for Israel to allow more tents and urgently needed supplies into Gaza after the first heavy winter rainfall, saying more than a quarter of a million families need emergency help with shelters.
“We are going to lose lives this winter. Children, families will perish,” says Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
“It’s actually so frustrating that we’ve now lost so many crucial weeks since the adoption of the Trump peace plan, which said humanitarian aid would flow and the Palestinians would not needlessly continue to suffer.”
With a majority of the population displaced by two-years of a devastating war, most Gazans now live in tents – many of them makeshift.
They have been clearing up after widespread flooding due to a winter storm that began on Friday.
There are fears that diseases could spread as rainwater has mixed with sewage water.
“My children are already sick and look at what happened to our tent,” said Fatima Hamdona, crying in the rain over the weekend, as she showed a BBC freelance journalist the ankle-deep puddle inside her temporary home in Gaza City.
“We don’t have food – the flour got all wet. We’re people who’ve been destroyed. Where do we go? There’s no shelter for us to go to now.”
The story was the same in the southern city of Khan Younis.
“Our clothes, mattresses and blankets were flooded,” said Nihad Shabat, as she tried to dry out her possessions there on Monday.
Her family has been sleeping inside a shelter made of sheets and blankets.
“We’re worried about getting flooded again. We cannot afford to buy a tent.”
According to the NRC – which has long led the so-called Shelter Cluster in Gaza, made up of some 20 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – about 260,000 Palestinian families, or about 1.5 million people, are in need of emergency shelter assistance, lacking the basics to get through winter.
The NGOs say they have been able to get only about 19,000 tents into Gaza since the US-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect on 10 October.
They say they have 44,000 pallets of aid – containing non-food items, including tents and bedding – blocked from entering. Supplies that have been bought are currently stuck in Egypt, Jordan and Israel.
Jan Egeland blames what he calls “a bureaucratic, military, politicised quagmire” running “counter to all humanitarian principles” for the hold-up.
In March, Israel introduced a new registration process for aid groups working in Gaza, citing security reasons. It requires that they give lists of their local Palestinian staff.
However, aid groups say that data protection laws in donor countries prevent them from handing over such information.
Many items, including tent poles, are also classed as “dual-use” by Israel, meaning they have a military as well as civilian purpose, and their entry is banned or heavily restricted.
Cogat, the Israeli defence body that controls the border crossings, told the BBC that “over the last few months” it had coordinated the entry of “close to 190,000 tents and tarpaulins directly to the residents of the Gaza Strip”.
It said that “in accordance with the terms of the agreement” of the ceasefire, it was allowing “hundreds of trucks carrying food, water, fuel, gas, medicines, medical equipment, tents, and shelter supplies [to] enter the Gaza Strip every day, in coordination with the UN, international organizations, donor countries, and the private sector”.
On Sunday, Cogat wrote on X: “We call on international organizations to coordinate more tents and tarpaulins and other winter humanitarian responses.”
It said it was working with the new US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) that had been set up in southern Israel and other international partners to plan “a catered humanitarian response for the upcoming winter”.
International aid groups are hoping that the CMCC – which will oversee implementation of President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan – will help ease restrictions on their work.
With a foreign donor conference on reconstruction in the Palestinian territory expected to take place in Egypt soon, they say basic shelter supplies must be allowed to enter while longer-term plans are developed.
“It would not be a good thing if all these nations meet in Cairo to discuss long-term reconstruction for Palestinians in great need if they die before their high-rise buildings can be reconstructed,” says Mr Egeland, who was previously the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“They need a tent today, they don’t need a promise of a beachfront structure in five years.”
US President Donald Trump has urged House Republicans to vote to release all government-held files on the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying “we have nothing to hide.”
Trump reversed his earlier opposition on Sunday night after House Democrats released a small batch of Epstein-related emails, some referencing him.
He has long denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes and dismissed renewed attention as a Democrat-driven “hoax.”
Republicans increasingly appear ready to support the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would force the Justice Department to publish all unclassified records.
The bill is expected to pass the House this week, though the Senate outcome is uncertain.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump said the Justice Department had already released “tens of thousands of pages” and insisted, “the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!” He urged Republicans to “get BACK ON POINT.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Trump’s position, saying Democrats were using the issue as a political weapon.
“Trump has clean hands… He’s not worried about it,” Johnson told Fox News.
Democrats last week released three email exchanges between Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, including a 2011 email in which Epstein wrote: “that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump… [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.”
The White House said the victim was Virginia Giuffre and that the emails do not allege wrongdoing by Trump.
Republicans later published 20,000 additional files, accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” to “slander” the president.
The push for transparency has sparked a feud between Trump and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who accused him of abandoning “America First.”
Trump called her “wacky” and a “traitor” and suggested she should be unseated.
Survivors and Giuffre’s family urged lawmakers to support full disclosure, writing: “Imagine if you yourself were a survivor. What would you want for yourself?”
The Justice Department has confirmed it is also examining Epstein’s ties to major banks and prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
US President, Donald Trump says he will take legal action against the BBC over how his speech was edited by Panorama, after the corporation apologised but refused to compensate him.
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump said: “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1bn [£759m] and $5bn, probably sometime next week.”
On Thursday, the BBC said the edit of the 6 January 2021 speech had unintentionally given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” and said it would not be broadcast again.
The corporation apologised to the president but said it would not pay financial compensation.
The BBC released that statement after Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn in damages unless the corporation issued a retraction, apology and paid him compensation.
“I think I have to do it,” Trump told reporters of his plan to take legal action. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
The president said he had not raised the issue with Sir Keir Starmer but that the prime minister had asked to speak to him. Trump said he would call Starmer over the weekend.
A search of public court record databases confirmed that no lawsuit had been filed in federal or state court in Florida as of Friday evening.
In a separate interview on Saturday recorded before his comments on Air Force One, Trump said said he had an “obligation” to sue the BBC, adding: “If you don’t do it, you don’t stop it from happening again with other people.”
He called the edit “egregious” and “worse than the Kamala thing”, a reference to a dispute he had with US news outlet CBS over an interview on the 60 Minutes programme with his 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris.
In July this year, US media company Paramount Global agreed to pay $16m (£13.5m) to settle a legal dispute over that interview.
The controversy stems from the way in which Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech was edited by Panorama for a documentary which aired in October 2024. During his address, he told supporters: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In the Panorama programme the clip shows him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
Controversy around how Trump’s speech was edited has led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.
In its Corrections and Clarifications section, published on Thursday evening, the BBC said the Panorama programme had been reviewed after criticism of how Trump’s speech had been edited.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the statement said.
Lawyers for the BBC have written to Trump’s legal team, a BBC spokesperson said this week.
“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme,” they said.
They added: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
In its letter to Trump’s legal team, the BBC set out five main arguments for why it did not think it had a case to answer.
First it said the BBC did not have the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama episode on its US channels.
When the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.
Secondly, it said the documentary did not cause Trump harm, as he was re-elected shortly after.
Thirdly, it said the clip was not designed to mislead, but just to shorten a long speech, and that the edit was not done with malice.
Fourthly, it said the clip was never meant to be considered in isolation. Rather, it was 12 seconds within an hour-long programme, which also contained lots of voices in support of Trump.
Finally, an opinion on a matter of public concern and political speech is heavily protected under defamation laws in the US.
The BBC’s apology came hours after a second similarly edited clip, broadcast on Newsnight in 2022, was revealed by the Daily Telegraph.
A Gabonese court has sentenced former First Lady Sylvia Bongo and her son Noureddin Bongo Valentin—son of ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba—to 20 years in prison for embezzlement and corruption after a two-day trial held in their absence.
They were fined 100 million CFA francs ($177,000; £135,000), and Noureddin must pay an extra 1.2 trillion CFA francs ($2.1bn; £1.6bn) in damages to the state.
Prosecutors said they exploited Ali Bongo’s 2018 stroke to control government affairs and enrich themselves but both had called the trial “a legal farce.”
The sentencing comes after Ali Bongo’s ouster in the August 2023 coup led by Brice Oligui Nguema, now president.
Sylvia and Noureddin were detained for 20 months before being released in May and allowed to travel to London on medical grounds.
Ali Bongo, who ruled for 14 years after succeeding his father’s 42-year rule, is not facing prosecution.
Prosecutor Eddy Minang said he was “surprised” they did not appear in court.
Trials for nine other accused, including ex-Bongo allies, continue until Friday.
The Bongo family, who ruled Gabon for over 50 years, have long faced corruption and wealth-hoarding accusations, which they deny.
Despite its oil wealth, a third of Gabon’s population lives in poverty, according to the UN.
US President Donald Trump says he has an “obligation” to sue the BBC over an edited version of his January 6, 2021 speech shown in a Panorama documentary.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump accused the BBC of having “butchered” his words and “defrauded” viewers, claiming his remarks were “calming,” not inciting.
“They actually changed it… I have an obligation to sue because you can’t allow that,” he said.
Trump’s lawyers have demanded a retraction, apology, and $1 billion (£759m) in damages by Friday 22:00 GMT.
BBC chair Samir Shah earlier apologised for an “error of judgement,” while the corporation said it would respond “in due course.”
The controversy stems from a Panorama episode aired before the 2024 US election, which spliced two parts of Trump’s speech, implying he urged the Capitol riot.
A leaked BBC memo revealed that adviser Michael Prescott warned the edit was misleading.
The fallout led to Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness resigning.
Downing Street declined comment, calling it a BBC matter.
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy promised accountability in the BBC’s upcoming charter renewal talks.
The Culture Committee will question Shah, Prescott, and other BBC board members.
A suicide attack outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has killed 12 people and injured at least 27 more, the country’s interior minister said.
Mohsin Naqvi said a bomber was planning to attack the district courthouse but was unable to get inside.
Naqvi said authorities would prioritise identifying the bomber, and that those involved would be brought to justice.
Suicide blasts in Islamabad have been rare in recent years.
Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the remains of a burnt out car and a police cordon in place.
The 27 people injured are receiving medical treatment, Naqvi said.
He added that the attacker detonated the bomb close to a police car after waiting for up to 15 minutes.
Footage of the aftermath showed plumes of smoke rising from a charred vehicle behind a security barrier. The incident occurred at 12:39 local time (07:39 GMT).
Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari said he “strongly condemned the suicide blast”.
A lawyer who said he was parking his car outside the court at the time described hearing a “loud bang”.
Rustam Malik told AFP news agency “it was complete chaos”.
“Lawyers and people were running inside the complex,” he added. “I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire.”
The last time Pakistan’s capital was targeted by a suicide bombing was three years ago when a police officer was killed and several others injured.
There have been suicide attacks in other parts of the country in the years since but not in Islamabad.
A deal aimed at ending the US government shutdown has passed the Senate, paving the way for the record-breaking impasse to be broken.
After a weekend of negotiations in Washington, a minority of Democrats joined with Republicans and voted in favour of an agreement.
The vote is a procedural first step towards passing a compromise to fund the government since it ran out of money 1 October.
It will need to clear several more hurdles – including a vote from the House of Representatives before federal employees and services return, but it is the first serious sign of progress after 40 days of deadlock.
The current shutdown is the longest on record in the US, and until this weekend it appeared that Republican and Democratic lawmakers were locked in a stalemate.
Many government services have been suspended since October, and around 1.4 million federal employees are on unpaid leave or working without pay.
The shutdown has had wide ranging impacts on a variety of services, including US air travel and food benefits for 41 million low-income Americans.
The agreement was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House, with Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate – needed the measure to clear a 60-vote minimum threshold.
They were able to attract eight votes from the other side of the aisle, while losing just one in Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who voted against after saying the bill would increase national debt.
The deal includes an agreement for a vote in December on extending healthcare subsidies that are due to expire this year, a key issue Democrats had been holding out for concessions on.
Democratic Party leaders had said that they would not lend their support to new funding for government operations until Congress addressed the subsidies that help tens of millions of Americans pay for health insurance purchased through government-run exchanges.
“I’m thankful to be able to say we have senators, both Democrats and Republicans, who are eager to get to work to address that crisis in a bipartisan way,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said ahead of the vote.
“We also have a president who is willing to sit down and get to work on this issue. So I’m looking forward to seeing what solutions might be brought forward.”
Thune did not say exactly what that bill would contain, which frustrated many Democrats in the House and the Senate, who argued that the Democrats who negotiated the deal did so without getting enough in return.
“For months and months Democrats have been fighting to get the Senate to address the healthcare crisis,” said Chuck Schumer, the party’s leader in the Senate.
“This bill does nothing to ensure that that crisis is addressed,” he said as he confirmed he would vote against the deal.
Some high-profile Democrats have been highly critical of colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown without concrete guarantees on healthcare, with California Governor Gavin Newsom calling the decision “pathetic”.
The measure also includes three appropriations bills to fund agencies like veterans affairs and agriculture, as well as a continuing resolution to finance the rest of the government until 30 January – meaning another government shutdown could be on the horizon early next year.
It also includes guarantees that all federal workers will be paid for time during the shutdown, and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), an essential food safety net for one in eight Americans until next September.
A vote on the deal would only be the first procedural step in the new funding agreement and it would still need to be approved by the US House of Representatives, where it is likely to see its own challenges.
Dozens of people are missing and one person has died after a boat carrying migrants sank near the border between Thailand and Malaysia.
The vessel is believed to have capsized near the southern Thai island of Ko Tarutao on Thursday, the Malaysian Coast Guard said.
Ten people have been rescued and the body of a woman was found floating in the sea.
Maritime officials believe the victims are part of a group of about 300 people who had been travelling on a larger vessel before splitting onto small boats as they approached Malaysia.
Those rescued near the Malaysian resort of Langkawi include three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men and one Bangladeshi man, according Malaysia’s state-run agency Bernama quoting a police chief.
The body found in the water was that of a Rohingya woman, the report added.
Efforts to look for more survivors are under way.
The mostly-Muslim Rohinga community has fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar in huge number in recent years to escape persecution.
Conflict and conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh have also continued to push vulnerable people onto overcrowded vessels as they seek a better life in Malaysia.
Officials say many of those fleeing would have paid more than $3,000 (£2,300) for passage.
More than 900,000 people have been evacuated in the Philippines ahead of Typhoon Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall on Sunday evening.
The storm was upgraded to super typhoon with sustained winds around 185 km/h (115mph) and gusts of 230km/h (143mph), according to the country’s meteorological service.
The eastern Bicol region was the first part of the Philippines to be directly hit by the storm on Sunday morning, with Luzon – the country’s main population centre – expected to be hit by Sunday night.
Fung-wong – known locally as Uwan – comes days after an earlier storm, Kalmaegi, left a trail of destruction and nearly 200 people dead.
Several schools have either cancelled classes on Monday or moved them online, while nearly 300 flights have been cancelled.
Fung-wong is expected to weaken after making landfall somewhere between the districts of Baler and Casiguran, but it is likely to remain a typhoon as it travels over Luzon.
Over 200mm of rain is forecast for parts of Luzon, even 100-200mm in the Metro Manilla area. This is expected to cause severe flooding and landslides.
Eastern parts of the Philippines have already begun experiencing heavy rains and winds, a weather official said on Saturday evening.
While much of the country is expected to be affected, there are particular concerns about those areas that could take a direct hit, including Catanduanes, an island in the east of the Bicol region, where extreme conditions were reported on Sunday morning.
Residents there, as well as in other low-lying and coastal areas, had been urged to move to higher ground by Sunday morning.
In central Aurora more than 200 people arrived at a shelter in a sports centre. Many parents have brought young children, too young to remember Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people when it struck the Phillipines in 2013.
Fung-wong has also forced the suspension of rescue operations following the passage of Kalmaegi, one of the strongest typhoons this year.
Heavy rainfall sent torrents of mud down hillsides and into residential areas. Some poorer neighbourhoods were obliterated by the fast-moving flash floods.
At least 204 people are now known to have died in the Philippines as a result of the earlier storm, while more than 100 are still missing.
Five people also died in Vietnam, where strong winds uprooted trees, tore off roofs, and smashed large windows.
The Filipino government declared a state of calamity across the country after Typhoon Kalmaegi and in preparation for the coming storm.
It has given government agencies more power to access emergency funds and fast-track deliveries of essential goods and services.
China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has entered service days after a grand commissioning ceremony overseen by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state media said.
The Fujian, the country’s third warship, is equipped with electromagnetic catapults which will allow planes to be launched at higher speeds.
Its launch marked a significant step forward for Beijing, which now has the world’s largest navy in terms of sheer number of ships.
China has been expanding its navy at breakneck speed under Xi, putting pressure on the United States and its allies to keep up.
The Fujian can launch three different types of aircraft with its electromagnetic catapult and flat flight deck, according to state media.
The domestically-built vessel can carry planes with heavier weapons and fuel loads so they can strike enemy targets from a greater distance, making it more powerful than China’s first two carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong both built by the Russians.
State media hailed the Fujian as a “major milestone” in the development of China’s navy.
The US is the only other country in the world to have an aircraft carrier with the same electromagnetic catapult system as Fujian.
The Fujian’s commissioning ceremony was held in southern Hainan province on Wednesday, during which Xi toured the ship’s deck to hear more details about its performance at sea.
State media claimed Xi had personally made the decision to adopt electromagnetic catapult technology.
The reports also said Xi spoke to sailors who lined up along the flight deck and dock, saluting and shouting in unison: “Follow the party’s command, fight to win, and uphold fine conduct!”
A Malaysian high court has ruled the state responsible for the 2017 abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh, a landmark judgment for the country.
The court found the government and police liable for Koh’s “forcible disappearance” and ordered damages of at least 31 million ringgit (£5.7m; $7.4m), a record sum.
Koh was seized in broad daylight by masked men.
His wife, Susanna Liew, called the ruling a “vindication,” though her husband remains missing.
The judgment follows official investigations that concluded “rogue cops” from the police’s Special Branch likely abducted Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, viewing them as threats to mainstream Islam.
Reports add that Malaysia’s Attorney General has stated it will appeal the ruling.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a national state of calamity after Typhoon Kalmaegi caused severe flooding and killed at least 114 people.
The storm, one of the year’s strongest, flooded entire towns on the populous island of Cebu, which reported 71 fatalities.
Officials confirmed an additional 127 people are missing and 82 are injured.
President Marcos Jr. stated the declaration was due to the extensive damage and in anticipation of another incoming storm.
The decree grants government agencies expanded powers to access emergency funds and accelerate relief efforts.
The national disaster agency reported that over 400,000 people were displaced.
Local officials and rescuers described the flooding as “unprecedented” and “overwhelming,” noting that most deaths were due to drowning.
