World

U.S. Judge Margaret Garnett on Thursday barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of gunning down United Healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York in December 2024. In a ruling that reshapes the federal case, Garnett dismissed two death-eligible counts against Mangione — murder and using a gun with a silencer — effectively taking capital punishment off the table. Mangione still faces two federal counts of stalking, and he remains charged with murder at the…

Analysis: Blocked USAID cables on Gaza reveal a deeper struggle inside Biden’s policy apparatus In early 2024, a set of internal USAID cables describing northern Gaza as an “apocalyptic wasteland” collided with a diplomatic gate. The U.S. ambassador to Jerusalem, Jack Lew, and his deputy, Stephanie Hallett, blocked wider distribution, arguing the documents lacked balance, according to interviews with former officials and documents described to Reuters. The decision offers a rare window into how humanitarian warnings can be…

Ukraine says it will halt long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities if Moscow stops hitting its grid, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after U.S. President Donald Trump raised hopes for a short pause in attacks on Kyiv and other cities amid a brutal cold snap. Zelensky welcomed Trump’s announcement and set a clear condition: “If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure, generation facilities or any other energy assets, we will not strike theirs.” He said he is counting on Washington to help secure the pause,…

U.S. eases some Venezuela oil sanctions, opening trade for American firms WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry to make it easier for U.S. companies to move and process the country’s crude, even as broader restrictions on production remain in place, according to the Treasury Department. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license authorizing U.S. entities to buy, sell, transport, store and refine Venezuelan-origin oil. The measure is intended…

Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have reached a sweeping agreement to fold Kurdish security units and their autonomous administration into the central state, capping weeks of clashes that culminated in a cease-fire, according to statements released today by both sides and broadcast on Syrian state television. The accord follows a period of fighting in which Kurdish forces lost control of swathes of territory to pro-government units, leaving them confined largely to Kurdish-majority pockets in…

Panama’s Supreme Court has annulled the concession framework underpinning Panama Ports Company’s long-running contracts at the Panama Canal’s Atlantic and Pacific gateways, casting immediate uncertainty over who will control the Balboa and Cristóbal container terminals and complicating CK Hutchison’s proposed $23 billion sale of its global ports business to a consortium led by BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Company. In a ruling issued after what it called “extensive deliberation,” the court found the laws and state…

ROME — Six members of Italy’s police and coastguard went on trial Tuesday over the 2023 shipwreck off the Calabrian coast that killed at least 94 migrants, including 35 children, in one of the country’s deadliest maritime disasters in a decade. The case, heard in the southern city of Crotone, centers on allegations that authorities failed to mount a timely search-and-rescue operation for a wooden boat that had sailed from Turkey carrying people from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria. Around 80 survived when the vessel…

BRUSSELS — Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday he is “more optimistic” after technical talks with the United States on Greenland began in Washington, the first senior-level engagement since tensions flared over the Arctic territory. Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of an EU meeting that Danish, Greenlandic and U.S. officials held “the very first meeting at senior official level in Washington yesterday regarding the Greenlandic issue.” “It went well in a very constructive atmosphere and tone, and new…

President Donald Trump said he plans to speak with Iran even as the United States dispatches another warship to the Middle East, signaling a dual track of pressure and potential diplomacy amid a volatile regional standoff. “I am planning on it, yeah,” Trump told reporters when asked about possible discussions with Tehran. “We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.” He did not elaborate on timing, scope or who might lead any U.S. outreach. The…

Israel transferred the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza in what officials said was the final exchange under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire with Hamas, days after the country recovered the remains of its last Israeli hostage. The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said the bodies were received and taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it helped facilitate the handover. Under the terms of the cease-fire struck in October, Israel agreed to…