worldnews

Nestlé plans to close its factory in Germany at Neuss, near Düsseldorf, by mid-2026. The Swiss food giant also plans to sell its Conow plant, near the Polish border, early next year.

• Israeli military forces caused deaths and unnecessary suffering of Palestinian patients while occupying hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the current hostilities, amounting to war crimes.
• The Israeli military’s denial of water and electricity left sick and wounded people to die, while soldiers mistreated and forcibly displaced patients and health workers, and damaged and destroyed hospitals.
• Israeli authorities have not investigated Israeli forces' horrific abuses. Those responsible, including senior Israeli officials, should be held to account.

Last Monday, a shocking accident occurred in Berlin, Germany, which once again highlighted the inhumane living conditions of the homeless of the city.

A 33-year-old man, apparently seeking refuge from the freezing temperatures, was sleeping between layers of paper and cardboard in a waste bin when it was emptied in the early hours of the morning.

Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights defenders, journalists, singers and other activists demanding equality or who defy compulsory veiling using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging, and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, Amnesty International said today.

Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza overnight, bringing an end to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire after two months.

Harassment, Violence, New Restrictions Since Crocus Concert Hall Attack

• Central Asian labor migrants in Russia have experienced increased xenophobic harassment and violence, since the deadly attack attributed to Central Asians on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024.
• Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on migrant labor. Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a new generation of ultranationalists has emerged.
• Russian authorities should condemn any expression of xenophobia, including by their own officials, and work to ensure full compliance with the rights of migrants.

In Kenya, women eager for new opportunities in Saudi Arabia often face dire conditions instead. Promised decent wages, many encounter abuse, unpaid wages, and dire living conditions. Kenya and Uganda continue sending workers, despite increasing deaths and abuse cases. Authorities profit from the system, overlooking the exploitation and neglecting vital protections for the workers.

How do you check to make sure your childcare centre is safe?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shook up his military leadership, replacing the chief of the General Staff, while a top Russian official said Moscow will insist Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO and remain “neutral” in any peace deal -- conditions Kyiv has long rejected.

According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

Thousands of Hungarians rallied in Budapest to protest Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the leader of the surging opposition Tisza party vowed to end Orban's 15-year rule.

Tens of thousands of people jammed the streets of central Belgrade, the largest in a wave of student-led demonstrations demanding Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's government be held accountable for a deadly canopy collapse at a railway station in November.

At least 59 people have been killed and more than 155 injured in a fire in the Puls discotheque in Kočani, North Macedonia, government officials stated.

Two and a half years after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests began in September 2022, the Government of Iran continues to ramp up efforts to restrict the rights of women and girls, and others demanding human rights as part of a concerted effort to crush dissent, the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran warned in a new report today.

Locations cast doubt on Trump's goal of resettling Palestinians in a 'beautiful area'

Saudi Arabia’s construction of its megacity project NEOM is projected to cost almost $9 trillion and take over five decades to complete, an internal audit has revealed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have held on for more than seven months in one of the most important battles of the war.

A Luhansk woman received 10 years in Russia for donating $12 to what she said was a humanitarian cause.

In court: “No other place where you can wake up and be a foreigner in your home. Was I supposed to take the passport of a country that isn’t mine?”

A senior aide to President Vladimir Putin has rejected any temporary cease-fire with Ukraine just hours before a US delegation was expected to land in Russia for talks with Moscow where they will urge the Kremlin to agree to a 30-day cease-fire proposal or face sanctions.

• Everything You Need to Know About 'Scam Empire'.
• Diamonds, Dior and Dubai Vacations: The Luxurious Lives of Georgia's Call-Center Scammers.
• Celebrities Voice Anger And Frustration Over Online Scam Ads That Target Fans.
• Scam Operations Relied on Third-Party Marketing Companies for Steady Stream of Potential Victims.

• Financial records in the leak show that, in four years, two groups of call centers based in Israel, Europe, and the country of Georgia raked in about $275 million from would-be investors.
• These operations have all the hallmarks of a massive scam: The call center agents use false identities, forged paperwork, and deceptive advertising; “investors” were systematically prevented from withdrawing their money; and almost all of the investment “products” on offer were unlicensed and had official warnings from authorities.
• Over 20,000 hours of leaked phone calls between scammers and their victims across dozens of countries give unprecedented insight into the brutality, efficiency, and global reach of the investment scam industry.
• Many victims are left penniless; some express suicidal thoughts. But the scammers — who adopt false identities and use software that can be manipulated to create illusory profits — keep coming back for more.
• The leaked files show the call centers are professionally run, with HR departments, corporate parties, and offices in slick office buildings. Marketing firms, payment service providers, and software companies enable their operations.
• The call centers have twisted corporate strategies, running leaderboards for top scammers and issuing performance-related bonuses — including a Rolex watch awarded after a particularly lucrative swindle.

This investigation reveals how forged export licences and fictitious ownership documents have been used in the trafficking of smuggled Egyptian antiquities in both Europe and the US.

In the winter of 2022–2023, an armed unit operated in the Kherson region of Ukraine for several months, striking fear into Russian career officers. It was also Russian: with its own insignia and numbering at least 60 members, the group was officially part of the 10th Company, “Sokol” battalion, 108th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment. In reality, however, they were loyal only to Senior Sergeant Dmitry Mayborodin, known as May. A former mercenary, Mayborodin seized control of two platoons, leading them like his own private army. Under his command, one soldier was tortured to death.

In response to the imposition of new, unjustified US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imports, the Commission has launched swift and proportionate countermeasures on US imports into the EU.