World

President Donald Trump on Monday granted a full and unconditional pardon to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who had been facing federal charges in a bribery and conspiracy case, saying on his Truth Social platform that the justice system had been "weaponised" by his predecessor. "I am hereby announcing my full and unconditional PARDON of beloved Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar ... I don't know you, but you can sleep well tonight - Your nightmare is finally over!" Trump wrote. The move ends a high-profile prosecution in which…

PARIS — French health authorities have isolated two people infected with the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) after they returned from a joint tour of the Arabian Peninsula, the health ministry said late Tuesday. Both patients are in a “stable” condition in a French hospital, the ministry said in a statement, and all measures have been put in place to limit the risk of transmission to their entourage and to health-care staff. The ministry said those measures include contact tracing, “barrier…

“Japa” is Yoruba slang for “to leave” — a word that has become shorthand across Nigeria for a mass movement of people seeking lives abroad. The exodus is not only a migration trend; it is a cultural phenomenon, a catchall for frustration and hope in a nation where a booming headline economy sits uneasily beside entrenched poverty and insecurity. Nigeria is young and vast: more than 230 million people, a median age of about 18, and roughly two‑thirds under 30. Economists predict growth this year and next, yet everyday…

Ireland is weighing whether to bar children and young people from social media — a so-called "digital age of majority" — as governments worldwide watch Australia’s landmark under-16 ban for lessons on enforcement, rights and technical feasibility. Officials in Dublin told reporters the country prefers a coordinated European Union approach, noting the issue should be considered “by the EU and EU member states together” and that any move must respect the rights of children and young people. The European Commission has…

BEIJING — President Emmanuel Macron told President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that France and China must overcome their "differences" as he pressed Beijing on both Ukraine and trade during a three-day state visit to China. "Sometimes there are differences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the greater good," Macron said at the start of talks in the Great Hall of the People, as he sought to put the Macron China visit on a cooperative footing. Xi echoed the sentiment, calling for "more stable" ties and saying…

Malaysia's transport ministry said the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will resume Dec. 30, more than a decade after the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 vanished in one of aviation's most enduring mysteries. The renewed operation, announced in a ministry statement on Friday, will be carried out “in targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft,” but officials did not disclose a precise search location. MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with…

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders reached an overnight agreement to ban imports of Russian gas by autumn 2027, a landmark step aimed at severing a major revenue stream for Moscow and marking, in the words of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, "the dawn of a new era" of energy independence from Russia. The compromise, struck between EU capitals and the European Parliament, sets a staggered timetable: long-term pipeline contracts will be prohibited from Sept. 30, 2027 — provided EU gas storage levels are…

Former EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini Accused in EU Procurement Fraud Probe BRUSSELS — Federica Mogherini, the EU's former high representative for foreign and security policy, has been formally accused of procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and violating professional secrecy, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) said Friday. EPPO said three people were the subject of the accusations. They were detained during raids linked to an investigation into suspected fraud connected to EU-funded…

BRUSSELS — NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels on Tuesday amid growing unease over a draft peace plan to end the war in Ukraine and concern that U.S.-led diplomacy with Moscow could sideline the alliance. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters that only U.S. President Donald Trump, he believed, might be able to break the current deadlock over the conflict — a remark reflecting frustration among some allies about the slow pace and informal channels of negotiations. “The peace talks are ongoing, that’s good, but…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday launched a forceful attack on Somali immigrants, saying they should be unwelcome in the United States and accusing Somali Americans of contributing "nothing" amid a sprawling fraud investigation in Minnesota tied to phantom social services. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump described Somalia as a failed state and said Somali immigrants "just run around killing each other" and that "their country's no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don't want them in our…