Top World News

Jan 1, 2026 - World

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penaltySaudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year.Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Continue reading...

Jan 1, 2026 - World

While last year’s 8.6% increase isn’t likely to be repeated, economists expect growth across the country as demand continues to outstrip supplyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian residential property values are expected to rise by at least 5% over the next 12 months – on top of the 8.6% increase seen in 2025 – exacerbating a housing affordability crunch across the country.Every state and territory capital city recorded increases last year, according to Cotality data, led by a dramatic 18.9% rise in Darwin, 15.9% in Perth and 14.5% in Brisbane. Continue reading...

Jan 1, 2026 - World

Afghanistan and Yemen excluded from list of 17 priority countries chosen by Trump administration to receive aid laden with demandsThe $2bn (£1.5bn) of aid the US pledged this week may have been hailed as “bold and ambitious” by the UN but could be the “nail in the coffin” in changing to a shrunken, less flexible aid system dominated by Washington’s political priorities, aid experts fear.After a year of deep cuts in aid budgets by the US and European countries, the announcement of new money for the humanitarian system is a source of some relief, but experts are deeply concerned about demands that the US has imposed on how the money should be managed and where it can go. Continue reading...

Jan 1, 2026 - World

Turkmenistan has officially legalized mining and exchanging cryptocurrency, marking a major shift for its tightly-controlled economy

Jan 1, 2026 - World

During the final months of his life, the late conservative Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) wasn't shy about attacking U.S. President Donald Trump over his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. McCain viewed Putin as a dangerous authoritarian and believed that Trump was allowing himself to be manipulated by the former KGB agent.Rob Dannenberg, former chiefs of operations for the CIA Counterterrorism Center and an ex-CIA station chief in Moscow, during the 1990s, has similar views.In an interview with the UK-based iPaper published on New Year's Day 2026, Dannenberg emphasized that Putin is great at identifying one's weaknesses and was trained to be a master of manipulation.Dannenberg told the iPaper, "Those of us who served in Moscow understood Putin maybe a little bit better early on than others did…. I dealt with the KGB my entire life. I understand how this guy thinks."Trump's ego, Dannenberg argues, is a vulnerability that Putin knows how to exploit —and Trump, the CIA veteran fears, is "incredibly naïve" where the Russian president is concerned. Danneberg told the iPaper, "Putin looks at Trump and sees a weak guy, vain, with huge ego…. He's being manipulated in the way that a good case officer like Putin would manipulate this guy. He's not monogamous, he's greedy, he's fascinated by gold — all these are things that, if I were a case officer, I would be leveraging to get this guy to do what I want him to do. When that happens to align with Trump's ambition to get a Nobel Peace Prize, so much the easier, right? You're pushing on an open door."Read the iPaper's full interview with Rob Dannenberg at this link.