The proliferation of illegal firearms from the United States has fueled a spike in gun violence in Canada, where most guns used in crimes are smuggled across the border.
Seized guns at the Toronto Police Service. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, which includes Toronto, 91 percent of handguns recovered from crimes in 2024 came from the United States.
PHOENIX — After three straight days of MAGA infighting here at Turning Point’s AmericaFest, top Republicans — including Vice President JD Vance — tried to find agreement on Sunday afternoon, shifting their focus to countering the opposition.
“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance told the crowd to loud applause, adding later: “We have far more important work to do than canceling each other."
In his speech, Vance ripped into “far left” Democrats, casting their policies as toxic to Americans and blaming them for Charlie Kirk's September killing, which has loomed large over the gathering. He touted the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, vaccines and transgender issues, while calling for the crowd to engage ahead of next year’s midterms.
“If you miss Charlie Kirk, do you promise to fight what he died for? Do you promise to take the country back from the people who took his life?” Vance asked the crowd.
His speech at the Phoenix Convention Center is the culmination of a weekend-long festival for 30,000 of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. But until Sunday, much of the weekend was clouded by an intra-party schism that kicked off during night one on Thursday, when conservative commentator Ben Shapiro ripped into a number of fellow MAGA-verse influencers, especially Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Steve Bannon.
“The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said, especially from some “charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.”
Those themes carried through on Friday and Saturday, with presidential-hopeful turned Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy casting the moment as “a time for choosing in the conservative movement.”
Like Shapiro, Ramasawamy focused significant time on Carlson and his interview with far-right influencer and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, listing some of his most inflammatory remarks and saying they “have no place in this movement.”
Then, Bannon hit the stage and reversed course, comparing Shapiro to a “a cancer, and that cancer spreads.”
“Ben Shapiro is the farthest thing from MAGA,” Bannon told the crowd.
The sold-out annual meeting is the group’s first since founder Charlie Kirk was gunned down in September. It has featured a broad array of figures from within the conservative movement, including top commentators, elected officials, candidates and religious leaders, culminating with Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday.
Johnson called the weekend an “epic and faithful battle that truly will determine the future of our great republic” while stressing the importance of keeping control of the House ahead of next year’s midterms.
Vance also spent much of his speech talking about the midterms, bashing Democratic Senate candidates Graham Platner of Maine and Jasmine Crockett of Texas, who are both running in competitive primaries.
“We are gonna kick their ass next November,” Vance said of Democrats as the crowd immediately burst into “USA” chants. Outside of Johnson and Vance, a number of other speakers on Sunday sought to bridge the divisions that emerged in the prior days.
"I choose to build a movement, be part of a movement, that stands on principle, on strength, that loves the people in the movement, even sometimes when they piss you off,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who is running for governor. "You can't form a winning unit if you can't stay focused on the mission at hand.”
Donald Trump Jr. also sought to shift the focus to Democrats.
“The real enemy? It’s not Steve Bannon or Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro, it’s the radical left that murdered Charlie and celebrated it on a daily basis,” Trump Jr. told the crowd.
The political beliefs of alleged Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson, who is facing multiple charges including aggravated murder, aren’t easily defined.
Durante dos décadas, luchó contra incendios forestales para el gobierno de EE. UU. Ahora se enfrenta al cáncer, a las deudas y a la amenaza de separarse de su hijo de 11 años.
A crowd in Sydney, Australia, sings “Waltzing Matilda” on Sunday in honor of Matilda, the youngest victim of the Dec. 14 attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.
The election agent for Nigel Farage in Clacton Peter Harris said the complaint had been "politically motivated".
"The facts are clear, the process has been properly followed, and there is no basis for any further allegation, inference, or repetition of these claims," Mr Harris added.
In a letter, the commission said it had "not identified any omissions of expenditure that ought to have been declared" in Farage's campaign for his Clacton constituency.
It added: "We did not identify credible evidence of potential offences of electoral law.
"Therefore, our decision is to close our consideration of the matter following initial enquiries and take no further action."
The claims of wrongdoing against Nigel Farage and his party were made by ex-Reform campaigner Richard Everett.
He alleged the party failed to declare spending on some leaflets, banners, utility bills and the refurbishment of a bar in the Clacton constituency office.
Documents were passed to the Metropolitan Police, which transferred the case to Essex Police.
Earlier this week an Essex Police spokeswoman said: "Any prosecution for such an offence must commence within one year."
She said an "allegation around misreported expenditure by a political candidate" in July 2024 was made on 5 December.
"It has been concluded that this report falls outside of the stated statutory time limit, and no investigation can take place," the spokeswoman added.
Farage took over as leader of Reform UK in June 2024, about a month before the general election.
He went on to win the seat of Clacton in Essex from the Conservatives with a majority of more than 8,000.
An army patrol in Bekkersdal township - file photo
South African police say a manhunt is under way after a shooting at a tavern left nine people dead and another 10 injured in a township near Johannesburg.
They say about 12 unidentified gunmen arrived in two cars in Bekkersdal, "opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene".
The shooting happened at about 01:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT Saturday). The police added that the tavern was licensed.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, at 45 people per 100,000 according to 2023-24 figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” took in $88 million over the weekend, a sizable No. 1 total that nonetheless fell 34 percent behind the opening for its franchise predecessor.
在拉巴特（Rabat）举行的新闻发布会上，非洲足球联合会（CAF）主席Patrice Mostepe宣布，从2028年起，非洲国家杯（CAN）将改为每四年举办一次。调整后的举办频率将与其它重大赛事，比如世界杯（Coupe du monde）或欧洲足球锦标赛（Championnat d'Europe de football）的相同。国际足球联合会（FIFA-Fédération internationale de football）此前也曾表达过把非洲国家杯（CAN）改为每四年举办一届的愿望。这一想法将于2028年成为现实。
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler himself, proposed the move
Israel's security cabinet has approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank as the government continues its settlement expansion push.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who proposed the move alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, said the decision was about blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
Saudi Arabia condemned the move. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion fuels tensions, restricts Palestinian access to land, and threatens the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, further heightening fears that settlement expansion could entrench Israel's occupation and undermine a two-state solution.
The two-state solution refers to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, broadly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Since taking office in 2022, the current Israeli government has significantly increased the approval of new settlements and begun the legalisation process for unauthorised outposts, recognising them as "neighbourhoods" of existing settlements.
The most recent decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to Smotrich.
The approvals come just days after the United Nations said settlement expansion had reached its highest level since 2017.
The latest approvals include the re-establishment of two settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled nearly 20 years ago.
In May, Israel approved 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank - the biggest expansion in decades.
The Israeli government also approved plans in August to build more than 3,000 homes in the so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, which had been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition internationally.
Smotrich at the time said the plan would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".
About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. It is land Palestinians seek for a future independent state.
Settlement expansion has angered Arab nations who have consistently said it undermines prospects for a two-state solution.
It has also raised concerns about the possible annexing of the occupied West Bank.
US President Donald Trump had warned Israel about such a move, telling TIME magazine that Israel would lose all its support from the US if it happened.
In September, the UK - along with other countries including Australia and Canada - recognised a Palestinian state, a significant although symbolic change in government policy.
Israel opposed the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a Palestinian state "will not happen".
Thousands of revellers gathered at Stonehenge in Wiltshire on Sunday morning to welcome the sunrise on the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year.
Wearing Celtic clothing and elaborate, nature-inspired headdresses, druids and pagans danced around the Neolithic stone circle in Wiltshire thought to have been built by distant ancestors to align with the movements of the Sun.
EPA
Druids and pagans danced near the Neolithic stone circle to mark the winter solstice
EPA
There was also singing before sunrise on the shortest day of the year
PA Media
Several pagans wore elaborate, nature-inspired headdresses
PA Media
Traditional morris dancers also welcomed the sunrise
EPA
As did a collection of drummers
Getty Images
People also gathered on Glastonbury Tor to see in the shortest day
Getty Images
Things can only get brighter from here: people celebrate the winter solstice as it marks the start of daylight hours getting longer instead of shorter
It’s a rare thing for a museum to talk about what it doesn’t know. But unanswered questions and archival silences are at the heart of the new Africa Hub at Manchester Museum, north-west England, which is inviting people around the world to help fill the gaps.
The museum holds more than 40,000 items from across Africa, many of which were traded, collected, looted or preserved during the era of the British empire.
As a result, the names of makers, the cultural significance of objects and the people to which they once belonged are largely unknown to curators in Manchester; in many cases, only the name of the donor or the collection from which an item came is recorded.
The new Africa Hub will display “beautifully crafted” items that have been in storage for years, the museum says.
It is inviting visitors to the collections on Oxford Road, in the city’s university district, as well as those exploring the collections online, to share stories about the objects’ provenance.
Curators say this could lead to the restitution of items, as well as new partnerships in the African diaspora. And community collaboration has already begun. A display at the heart of Africa Hub draws on the knowledge of Manchester’s Igbo community, one of the oldest Nigerian diaspora communities in the UK.
Lucy Edematie, the curator of African collections from colonial contexts at Manchester Museum, worked with the Igbo Community Greater Manchester (ICM) organisation to research objects and celebrate Igbo heritage.
Sylvia Mgbeahurike, the vice-chairof ICM Women, said: “Some of these objects were given, some were stolen, some were taken forcefully out of conquest. It is important that we start bringing them together again. It shows inclusiveness. It shows there is strength in diversity. It shows we are one people, irrespective of our colour or where we are from.”
Edematie said: “Unlike most galleries or exhibitions, which represent the culmination of years of research and collaboration, Africa Hub is the beginning. It builds on work the museum has already been doing to engage with both diasporic communities and communities in Africa but provides an opportunity to extend this even further.
“It is a chance to do our thinking in public, with honesty and transparency, and to involve people in that process from the start.”
The museum says the Africa Hub will be an “evolving space for reflection, dialogue and shared learning and its future direction will be shaped by public contribution”.
A spokesperson added: “We’re supposed to know everything there is to know about the collections we care for, ready to communicate the wisdom of the world through a series of carefully written object labels.
“Well, sometimes the reality is slightly different. And, on this occasion, we need your help, as visitors and communities, to uncover the stories that museum records cannot tell or have suppressed.
“Mostly, Africa Hub means being honest about what we don’t know. Manchester Museum holds over 40,000 objects from across Africa, cultural heritage items, plants, animals and minerals … much of their story remains untold.
“We’re laying our lack of knowledge bare and extending an invitation to you, to come and view these collections, either in person or online, and share your own knowledge, experience and perspectives to create richer narratives.”
The notion of humanitarian aid being used to combat poverty and hunger is being replaced in Europe with geopolitical “games” as states redirect aid to Ukraine and to defence spending, analysts warn after recent announcements by Sweden and Germany.
Earlier this year, humanitarian groups called for European donors to fill the gap as President Donald Trump dismantled the USAID programme, but instead other nations are further pulling back from their commitments around the world.
“I think we are losing a consensus of solidarity and responsibility which has been established for a while now,” said Ralf Südhoff, director of the Berlin-based Centre for Humanitarian Action.
“Germany this year has started to phase out Latin America, decreased engagement in Asia and say they want to focus now on crises which have an impact on Europe,” he said, noting that while Ukraine was in need of funding because of Russia’s invasion, its location in Europe meant it was saved from the cuts developing countries have experienced.
“It’s a broader geopolitical trend and there’s a misleading belief by European actors that they have to play this game now in the same way as Moscow, Beijing, Washington,” said Südhoff, suggesting aid will be more “transactional” and directed to where donors see direct benefits for themselves. “The reaction now is not to fill the gap or attempt to do so but to follow the [American] cuts.”
Analysis of Germany’s 2026 aid budget by Venro, a coalition of German NGOs, shows that the country is slashing funding to traditional development and poverty-reduction programmes, with a 20% cut for the World Food Programme and 33% for the Gavi vaccine alliance.
One of the few elements of the budget not cut is Germany’s partnerships with the private sector in developing countries.
Anita Kattakuzhy, director of policy at Near, a coalition of civil society groups in the global south, said a wider pattern is emerging among donors.
“Budgets are being reshaped under political pressure, and the communities who bear the consequences have no way to shape those decisions,” said Kattakuzhy.
“Cutting funding in this way may meet short-term priorities in donor capitals, but it destabilises the local systems that are keeping crises from getting worse.”
Among the countries most affected by aid cuts is Mozambique, which has suffered from cyclones and droughts as well as a resurgent conflict in the country’s Cabo Delgado province that has displaced more than 300,000 people since July.
The cutting of development funding by Sweden will directly hit programmes used to rehabilitate and provide healthcare and education to people displaced by the insurgency in the Cabo Delgado region, which began in 2017.
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Tanzania are among six countries, along with Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia – that could bear the brunt of cuts to health programmes tackling HIV/Aids, according to analysis by the Boston Consultant Group.
Ilaria Manunza, country director for Save the Children Mozambique, said aid cuts have already made 2025 very difficult: “Every cut compounds the risk of long-term developmental setbacks, particularly in education and child protection,” said Manunza. “If current trends continue, 2026 will be extremely challenging … there is a real risk that progress made over the past decade could be reversed.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler himself, proposed the move
Israel's security cabinet has approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank as the government continues its settlement expansion push.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who proposed the move alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, said the decision was about blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
Saudi Arabia condemned the move. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion fuels tensions, restricts Palestinian access to land, and threatens the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, further heightening fears that settlement expansion could entrench Israel's occupation and undermine a two-state solution.
The two-state solution refers to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, broadly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Since taking office in 2022, the current Israeli government has significantly increased the approval of new settlements and begun the legalisation process for unauthorised outposts, recognising them as "neighbourhoods" of existing settlements.
The most recent decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to Smotrich.
The approvals come just days after the United Nations said settlement expansion had reached its highest level since 2017.
The latest approvals include the re-establishment of two settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled nearly 20 years ago.
In May, Israel approved 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank - the biggest expansion in decades.
The Israeli government also approved plans in August to build more than 3,000 homes in the so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, which had been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition internationally.
Smotrich at the time said the plan would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".
About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. It is land Palestinians seek for a future independent state.
Settlement expansion has angered Arab nations who have consistently said it undermines prospects for a two-state solution.
It has also raised concerns about the possible annexing of the occupied West Bank.
US President Donald Trump had warned Israel about such a move, telling TIME magazine that Israel would lose all its support from the US if it happened.
In September, the UK - along with other countries including Australia and Canada - recognised a Palestinian state, a significant although symbolic change in government policy.
Israel opposed the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a Palestinian state "will not happen".
总部位于伦敦的国际海事组织原计划于10月17日就海运净零排放框架提案(Net Zero Framework NZF)进行正式投票表决，虽然该提案在今年四月的初步表决大会上已经获得通过，然而，由于来自美国政府的压力，包括制裁投票支持的国家的外交官，拒绝入境美国的签证等等，与会代表最终决定将表决程序延期一年。联合国秘书长古特雷斯对这一“错失的契机”表示遗憾。
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