World

UK MPs vote to release Peter Mandelson appointment files after Starmer hands security veto to Parliament watchdog British lawmakers have approved the release of government documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the United States, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer abandoned plans to let the Cabinet Secretary decide what should be withheld on national security or foreign relations grounds. Under pressure from Labour MPs led by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Starmer agreed that the…

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has launched a hunger strike from prison to demand access to phone calls, her lawyers and family, her Paris-based attorney said, as authorities tighten restrictions on one of the country’s most prominent human rights defenders. Mohammadi, 53, was arrested on Dec. 12 in the eastern city of Mashhad and “has been on hunger strike for the last three days,” lawyer Chirinne Ardakani told AFP. “She is demanding her right to make a phone call, have access to her lawyers in Iran and…

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Ryan Routh, the 59-year-old man found hiding in the bushes along a Florida golf course with a semi-automatic rifle during an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump less than two months before the 2024 election, was sentenced to life in prison in federal court. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon imposed the punishment after a jury in September convicted Routh on five counts, including attempted assassination. “It’s clear to me that you engaged in a premeditated, calculated plot to take a human life,” Cannon…

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Peter Mandelson of “betraying our country” by leaking information to Jeffrey Epstein and said the former Labour grandee “lied repeatedly” during the process that led to his appointment as U.K. ambassador to the United States. Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister and ex–EU trade commissioner, resigned from the House of Lords on Tuesday. Hours later, British police said they were investigating “misconduct in public office offences” linked to the matter. Starmer said he regretted…

OSLO — Marius Borg Hoiby, the 29-year-old son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, admitted in court to a yearslong life of excess fueled by “an extreme need for recognition” but denied raping a woman at the royal family’s Skaugum estate in 2018. He is on trial in Oslo District Court for 38 alleged offenses, including four rapes and multiple assaults against former partners. He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious charges and faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted. Breaking down in tears as he addressed the…

U.S. F-35C downs Iranian drone near carrier as tanker confrontation tests path to nuclear talks A U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East today, the Pentagon said, in a flare-up at sea that coincided with a separate attempt by Iranian forces to detain a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is still expected “to have conversations with the Iranians late this week,” despite…

Storm Leonardo unleashed what forecasters called “extraordinary” rain across the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday, forcing thousands from their homes in southern Spain, shutting schools and crippling rail service as authorities warned of life-threatening floods and landslides. Spain’s national weather agency, AEMET, placed parts of Andalusia under its highest red alert for torrential rain, saying the storm risked triggering flash floods and landslides in already saturated terrain. The agency said some locations in the southern…

At least 14 people were killed after a Greek coast guard vessel and a boat carrying migrants collided off the Aegean island of Chios near Turkey, Greek authorities said. The crash set off an extensive search-and-rescue effort in the busy sea corridor between the two countries. The collision involved a port police patrol craft and what authorities described as a high-speed small boat transporting migrants. The Greek coast guard said two of its members were taken to a hospital, and 24 migrants were rescued from the water.…

Ukraine, Russia open Abu Dhabi talks as strikes batter energy grid ABU DHABI — Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were set to gather in the Emirati capital on Tuesday, seeking to advance talks on how to end the four-year war as a wave of Russian missile and drone attacks pounded Ukraine’s energy grid in subfreezing temperatures. The meeting, scheduled to run through Wednesday after a postponement last weekend over what the Kremlin called scheduling issues, comes amid grim omens for diplomacy. Europe’s…

At least 14 people were killed when a Greek coast guard vessel and a boat carrying migrants collided in the Aegean Sea off the island of Chios near Turkey, Greek police said. Rescue operations were underway following the crash, which happened yesterday. The collision involved a “port police patrol vessel” and a “high-speed” small boat, authorities said. The Greek coast guard said 24 migrants were rescued and two coast guard members were taken to a hospital. Seven children and a pregnant woman were among the injured, Greek…