World

A former Harvard Medical School morgue manager has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for stealing and selling body parts donated for scientific research, the U.S. Justice Department said, in a case that rattled one of the nation’s premier medical institutions and exposed a shadow market for human remains. Cedric Lodge, 58, pleaded guilty in May to trafficking stolen remains from 2018 through at least March 2020. Prosecutors said the items included internal organs, brains, skin, hands, faces and dissected heads…

Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela, escalating pressure campaign President Donald Trump ordered a “total and complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela, intensifying a months-long U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and sharpening Washington’s confrontation with President Nicolás Maduro’s government. “Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social…

Cambodia accuses Thailand of bombing Poipet as ASEAN, China press for ceasefire Cambodia accused Thailand’s military of bombing the border city of Poipet, a major crossing and casino hub, as international pressure mounted on both governments to halt renewed clashes along their frontier. Thai forces “dropped two bombs in the area of Poipet Municipality, Banteay Meanchey Province” at around 11 a.m. local time, Cambodia’s defense ministry said in a statement. Thailand has not confirmed any strike on Poipet. The fighting, which…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a rare prime-time address from the White House to promise an economic boom and blame Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for stubbornly high prices, even as fresh polling shows voters increasingly sour on his handling of the economy at the close of his first year back in power. “Eleven months ago I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” said Trump, 79, casting his stewardship as a course correction from the Biden era. He insisted that gas and grocery prices that have strained household…

Sydney — Hundreds of mourners overflowed a Bondi synagogue Tuesday to remember two rabbis killed in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah festival shootings as kind, curious men devoted to their families, faith and community. Funerals were held for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, who were shot dead during Sunday’s “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration organized by Chabad of Bondi. Rabbi Schlanger’s service took place a few blocks from the beachfront where the attack occurred; Rabbi Levitan, a father of four, was buried…

Brazil’s Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that could dramatically reduce the prison term of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, setting up an expected presidential veto and a fresh clash with Congress. The measure, which changes how sentences are calculated for certain crimes, passed the upper chamber 48-25 after clearing the lower house last week. It now goes to President Lula, who has vowed to reject it, saying Bolsonaro “must…

Ghislaine Maxwell has asked a U.S. federal judge to throw out her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year sentence, arguing in a habeas corpus petition that “substantial new evidence” and constitutional violations undermined the fairness of her 2021 trial. Filed in Manhattan federal court, the petition asserts that material that could have led to Maxwell’s acquittal was withheld while false evidence reached the jury, resulting in what her lawyers describe as a “complete miscarriage of justice.” In the filing,…

EU leaders face a decisive choice on how to finance Ukraine’s war effort at a crunch summit this week, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging capitals to agree a plan to tap frozen Russian assets. “There is no more important act of European defense than supporting Ukraine’s defense. The next days will be a crucial step for securing this, it is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine’s fight,” von der Leyen told lawmakers ahead of the meeting, underscoring the pressure on leaders to unlock long-term…

As investigators pieced together what happened after the Bondi Beach attack on Sydney’s Jewish community, an avalanche of misinformation — fueled by AI tools, fake news sites and sloppy analysis — spread across social platforms. The episode underscores how quickly falsehoods can outpace facts, and how AI chatbots like X’s Grok amplify risk when used for breaking-news verification. On Sunday, Dec. 14, two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more,…

Liverpool parade crash: Driver who mowed through crowd jailed for 21 years A driver who plowed through crowds at Liverpool FC’s victory parade, injuring 134 people, was jailed for 21 years and six months after a judge said he acted in “inexplicable and undiluted fury.” Paul Doyle, 54, drove his Ford Galaxy directly into fans making their way home from the Premier League title celebrations on May 26, accelerating down Water Street — closed to traffic at the time — at about 6 p.m., according to dashcam footage played in court.…