Author: Agencies

‪Trump Administration Will Reexamine Green Cards Issued To People From 19 Countries “Of Concern”‬

The US will reexamine all green cards issued to people from 19 countries “of concern” at President Donald Trump’s direction, as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.

“At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Joe Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, wrote in a post on X Thursday.

Asked for additional details, including which countries are considered to be “of concern,” USCIS pointed CNN to 19 countries listed in a June presidential proclamation.

The 19 countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

USCIS said in a statement later Thursday that when vetting immigrants from those 19 countries, the agency will now take into consideration “negative, country specific factors,” which includes whether the country is able “to issue secure identity documents.”

Since officials last night identified the suspect of the shooting as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to restrict immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, said Thursday the administration is also reviewing all asylum cases that were approved under former President Joe Biden.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN, adding, “The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration.”

Lakanwal — who previously worked with the US government, including the CIA — came to the country in 2021 as part of Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome”after assisting the US in Afghanistan. He applied for asylum in 2024, and the Trump administration granted it in April 2025, CNN previously reported.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal Department of Justice

The Alliance of Afghan Communities in the United States on Thursday condemned the shooting, while also expressing concerns over the impact of Lakanwal’s actions on the immigration process for other Afghan nationals.

“A single individual’s crime must not jeopardize or obstruct the legal cases of thousands of deserving Afghans who meet all U.S. legal requirements,” the alliance said in a statement, which called for federal agencies to process Afghan immigrants as usual, without delays or suspensions.

More than 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the United States since the US military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, according to the State Department.

In a video address from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida late Wednesday, Trump blamed the Biden administration for bringing the alleged shooter to the US and argued the attack “underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.”

Trump said in the remarks, “We must now reexamine every single alien who’s entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”

Trump also lamented what he described as “20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners” who entered the US during his predecessor’s administration, casting it “a risk to our very survival.”

The administration’s latest move to reexamine green cards is in line with Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric. A green card is a document that deems its holder as a lawful permanent resident of the US. It differs from refugee and asylum programs — which the Trump administration has already sought to limit — though refugees must apply for a green card after one year of being in the US.

November 28, 2025
Epstein Victims’ Lawyers Urge Court Intervention After Unredacted Names Appear In Document Release

A law firm representing alleged victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced sex offender, has asked a federal judge to intervene after dozens of unredacted victim names appeared in documents released by the US House Oversight Committee earlier this month, media reports said on Wednesday.

Attorneys Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson said the release caused “widespread panic” among alleged victims, with several expressing shock that identifying information had been made public despite prior assurances that names would be redacted, according to ABC News.

“I thought the government had promised to redact our names and identifying material,” one alleged victim told the firm, according to a court filing.

Another said the disclosure was “just impossible,” while a third wrote, “I have been unable to mentally and emotionally function or sleep.”

The Justice Department faces a Dec. 19 deadline to release hundreds of thousands of Epstein-related files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The attorneys urged US District Judge Richard Berman to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen its review procedures to prevent another release of sensitive material.

“‘These women are not political pawns,’” the filing read, adding that victims “have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to feel safe and protected by our country, which has failed them time and time again.”

The filing states that the Oversight Committee’s documents included unredacted data for dozens of alleged victims, including minors.

One file alone contained 28 names.

The attorneys said the DOJ either “does not know the identities of all the victims” or is “intentionally failing to protect victims from public exposure.”

The lawyers noted that the DOJ has acknowledged that Epstein harmed “over one thousand victims” and asked the court to confirm whether the department had attempted to redact all corresponding names before sharing documents with Congress.

They also said victims had been unable to reach DOJ officials to prevent further breaches.

“Despite numerous pleas for assistance,” they wrote, “the Department of Justice has been the primary violator of the victims’ identity protection thus far.”

The DOJ has separately asked courts in New York and Florida to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Epstein- and Maxwell-related cases, records that are typically kept confidential.

Judge Berman responded by ordering the DOJ to provide by Dec. 1 a “detailed description” of the materials it plans to release and its redaction procedures to protect victim identities.

In a separate filing, US Attorney Jay Clayton said his office would “confer with counsel for known victims concerning names and terms for withholding and redactions” and outlined categories of material the DOJ intends to release, including witness interview notes, search warrant applications, financial records, and documents from the Epstein estate.

November 27, 2025
US Group Sues Apple Over DR Congo Conflict Minerals

A United States-based advocacy group has filed a lawsuit in Washington, DC, accusing Apple of using minerals linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda despite the iPhone maker’s denials.

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) has previously sued Tesla, Apple and other tech firms over cobalt sourcing, but US courts dismissed that case last year.

French prosecutors in December also dropped a case filed by the DRC against Apple subsidiaries over conflict minerals, citing a lack of evidence. A related criminal complaint in Belgium is still under investigation.

Apple denied any wrongdoing in response to the DRC’s legal cases, saying it had instructed its suppliers to halt the sourcing of material from the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda.

It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest complaint.

IRAdvocates, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that tries to use litigation to curtail rights abuses, said in the complaint filed on Tuesday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Apple’s supply chain still includes cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten linked to child and forced labour as well as armed groups in the DRC and Rwanda.

The lawsuit seeks a determination by the court that Apple’s conduct violates consumer protection law, an injunction to halt alleged deceptive marketing and reimbursement of legal costs but does not seek monetary damages or class certification.

The lawsuit alleges that three Chinese smelters – Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre – processed coltan that United Nations and Global Witness investigators alleged was smuggled through Rwanda after armed groups seized mines in the eastern DRC and linked the material to Apple’s supply chain.

A University of Nottingham study published in 2025 found forced and child labour at DRC sites linked to Apple suppliers, the lawsuit said.

Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The DRC – which supplies about 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt and significant volumes of tin, tantalum and tungsten used in phones, batteries and computers – did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rwanda also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple has repeatedly denied sourcing minerals from conflict zones or using forced labour, citing audits and its supplier code of conduct. It said in December that there was “no reasonable basis” to conclude any smelters or refiners in its supply chain financed armed groups in the DRC or neighbouring countries.

Congolese authorities said armed groups in the eastern part of the country use mineral profits to fund a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. The authorities have tightened controls on minerals to choke off funding, squeezing global supplies.

Apple says 76 per cent of the cobalt in its devices was recycled in 2024, but the IRAdvocates lawsuit alleged its accounting method allows mixing with ore from conflict zones.

On Wall Street, Apple’s stock was up 0.8 per cent.

November 27, 2025
What We Know About The Revised US Plan For Peace In Ukraine

The revised US peace plan was drawn up by US, Ukrainian and European officials who gathered in Geneva on Sunday. It came in response to an initial 28-point plan put forward by the US, which heavily favoured Russia, and kick-started a flurry of international diplomacy.

The 28-point plan called on Ukraine to cede territory, limit its military, and barred the eastern European nation from joining NATO. For its part, Russia committed to no more attacks on Ukraine.

The US initially warned it would withdraw support for Ukraine if it failed to accept the 28-point plan, but has since engaged in diplomatic efforts to negotiate a new deal.

Details of the revised plan agreed by the US and Ukraine have not been made public, but it is known to be shorter than the previous document and is thought to have removed Russia’s maximalist demands.

Sources briefed on the discussions in Geneva said the new plan had been pared back to 19 points, according to the Financial Times.

What are the terms of the revised peace plan?

The details of the revised plan have not been made public, but Ukraine seems broadly in favour: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday it includes “fewer points” and incorporates “many correct elements”.

“Ukraine, the US and the Europeans have made the American proposal workable,” senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told AFP, adding: “It has changed significantly for the better.”

The official added that the revised plan provides for Ukraine to keep 800,000 troops – “roughly like it (the army) is now” – compared to a 600,000 limit in the first draft of the plan.

Ukrainian and European counterproposals at talks in Geneva included leaving open the question of Ukraine’s future NATO membership and postponing discussions of territorial concessions until after a ceasefire.

It is not known if the US accepted these terms.

What ‘sensitive parts’ of the deal remain unresolved?

Even if the new plan is more favourable for Ukraine than its predecessor, there are indications that Kyiv still views the document as a work in progress.

Zelensky said Tuesday that the “the principles of this document can be expanded into deeper agreements” but that “much depends” now on Washington.

A Ukrainian official added that while Kyiv “supports the framework in essence … some of the more sensitive points remain for the discussion between presidents”.

The main sticking point is likely to be the issue of territory.

The 28-point plan required Kyiv to cede its entire eastern Donbas region, which was home to an estimated six million people before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

While Russian forces have made significant advances in the region in the past four years, a vast swath of the land remains in Ukrainian control and Kyiv has described the demand to cede the territory as unacceptable.

But the US has sought to downplay the issue. White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said that “a few delicate” details of the plan still required discussion but were “not insurmountable”.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that, if not granted the territory via a peace agreement, Russian forces were likely to seize the Donbas.

“The way it’s going, if you look, it’s just moving in one direction,” Trump said. “So eventually that’s land that over the next couple of months might be gotten by Russia anyway.”

Analysts at the independent Institute for the Study of War have estimated it would take several years for the Russian military to completely seize the territory, based on its current rate of advances.

Has Trump endorsed the revised plan?

Trump on Tuesday said the new plan is “fine-tuned” and that a deal on the war in Ukraine was getting “close”.

However, in a social media post, the US President also acknowledged that the negotiations are not yet in their final stages – the point at which he hopes to meet with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelensky and President [Vladimir] Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening aboard Air Force One, Trump said resolving the war was difficult, and described the former 28-point plan as a work in progress. “That was not a plan – it was a concept,” Trump said.

How has Russia reacted to the revised peace plan?

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russia has seen the revised plan and that it requires “serious analysis” by Moscow.

“We saw it, it was passed on to us, but there haven’t been any discussions yet,” Ushakov told a state TV reporter. “Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require specialised discussion among experts,” he added.

When asked by reporters on Wednesday if a peace deal was close, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered “it’s premature to say that yet,” the Interfax news agency reported.

Although Trump said that Moscow had agreed to some concessions on the 28-point peace plan in discussions with US negotiators, Ushakov said that Russian officials did not discuss the revised plan with US officials whom they met in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday, directly after the US-Ukraine talks in Geneva.

What is the deadline for the Ukraine peace deal?

Trump initially said he wanted the Ukraine to agree to a US-backed peace deal by Thanksgiving, on Thursday November 27.

The US president has since backed away from this deadline, saying on Tuesday: “The deadline for me is when it’s over.”

Nonetheless the US is still pressing negotiations with both sides.

Trump said his envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Putin in Moscow next week and that his son-in-law Jared Kushner was also involved. US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will meet with Ukrainian officials.

Zelensky could also visit the US in the next few days to finalise a deal with Trump, Kyiv’s national security chief Rustem Umerov said Tuesday, though there was no immediate confirmation of such a trip from the US side.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)

November 26, 2025
Kenya To Appeal Regional Court Ruling That Suspended EU Trade Deal

NAIROBI, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Kenya will appeal against a regional court ruling that halted a trade deal with the European Union, Trade Minister Lee Kinyanjui said on Wednesday, adding the ruling imperils $1.56 billion worth of annual exports to the EU.

The Tanzania-based East Africa Court of Justice suspended the implementation of the deal on Monday, Kinyanjui said, pending the outcome of a case brought by a non-governmental organisation challenging it.

Kenya signed the deal, known as an Economic Partnership Agreement, with the EU in 2023 to guarantee its goods market access to the 27-nation bloc, and setting out a schedule for European goods to access the Kenyan market over time.

A summary of the case against the agreement on the court’s website showed the NGO, the Centre for Law Economics and Policy, brought the case against Kenya on the grounds that the agreement with the EU violated some provisions of the treaty establishing the East African Community common market, of which Kenya is a member.

Now the trade ministry has initiated a legal appeal to set aside the court’s injunction, Kinyanjui said. The minister did not say when the appeal will be heard by the court.

“The Kenya-EU EPA is the lifeline of our booming exports and a source of livelihood to a large majority of Kenyans,” Kinyanjui said in a statement.

“Kenya will continue to trade with the EU and steps are being taken to ensure continuity, predictability and protection of our existing commercial arrangements.”

While Kenya exported $1.56 billion worth of goods to the EU last year, it imported $2.09 billion worth of goods from the bloc, the minister said.

African nations have been looking to increase their exports to markets such as the EU and China, after the imposition of steeper tariffs by the U.S. government this year.

The East African Community secretariat was not available immediately for a comment.

November 26, 2025
Guinea-Bissau President Arrested As Gunfire Heard, Sources Tell BBC

Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has been arrested by armed men, government sources have told the BBC, after gunfire was heard near the presidential palace.

Witnesses in the capital, Bissau, heard gunshots at around 13:00 GMT but it was not immediately clear who was involved in the shooting.

The reports come three days after a presidential election in which the main opposition candidate was disqualified.

The results were expected on Thursday – both Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias have claimed victory.

Hundreds of people on foot and in vehicles fled, seeking shelter as the shots rang out, the AFP news agency reported.

Guinea-Bissau, with a population of just under two million people, is one of the poorest countries in the world. The former Portuguese colony has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

There have been two attempts to overthrow Embalo, the latest in December 2023.

This is a breaking news story – more to follow

November 26, 2025
US Envoy Advised Kremlin On How To Pitch Ukraine Plan To Trump: Report

US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised a senior Kremlin official on how Russian President Vladimir Putin could broach a potential Ukraine peace proposal with his counterpart Donald Trump during a phone call last month, according to a report Tuesday.

Bloomberg, citing a transcript of the Oct. 14 call, said Witkoff told Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov that the Russian leader should congratulate Trump on the Gaza ceasefire agreement and suggest launching a similar 20-point peace plan for Ukraine.

“I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you,” Witkoff told Ushakov, according to the reported transcript.

He also proposed arranging a Trump-Putin call before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit that week. The Kremlin aide responded that Putin would praise Trump as “a real peace man.”

“This story proves one thing: Special Envoy Witkoff talks to officials in both Russia and Ukraine nearly every day to achieve peace, which is exactly what President Trump appointed him to do,” White House communications director Steven Cheung was quoted as saying in the report.

Asked about the report by reporters on Air Force One en route to Washington, DC from Florida, Trump described Witkoff’s approach as “a standard thing…that’s what a deal maker does.”

“You got to say, look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him of this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation,” he said.

“I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take,” he added.

The report comes as Trump on Tuesday signaled the possibility of a high-level meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin if negotiations advance.

Trump said his team made “tremendous progress” over the past week on a US-drafted 28-point peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which he said has been “fine-tuned” with input from both sides, leaving “only a few remaining points of disagreement.”

Talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva over the weekend produced an “updated and refined” framework, according to a joint statement by both countries.

November 26, 2025
Ex-Wife Of Dubai Royal Says She Fears Arrest As Custody Battle Escalates

The former wife of a member of Dubai’s ruling family has expressed concern that she could be arrested as her ex-husband has lodged a criminal complaint with local police, accusing her of kidnapping their three young daughters.

Since their divorce in 2019, Zeynab Javadli has been involved in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the nephew of the ruler of Dubai.

It has come to a head in recent weeks as the children have changed hands between the parents several times, with each accusing the other of kidnapping them.

Ms Javadli also potentially faces arrest for e-crimes – online offences – after she livestreamed the latest showdown.

In going public, she says she realised that she was taking a big risk.

“I knew that it was the last chance to be with my children as they would never let me see them again. I genuinely believed that it was my last chance, so I just opened a livestream and called for help,” she said in a video message to her British lawyer, David Haigh.

Ms Javadli was speaking from her house in Dubai, where she claims that she and her three daughters have essentially once again been isolated since she took them back with her after they’d been with their father for several weeks.

Up until then, Ms Javadli had had effective custody of the children under a deal she says was agreed with the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in 2022.

That agreement, she says, guaranteed her custody of the children until they were 18 years old, as well as a house and other assistance. Their schooling has been paid for by their father.

In return, David Haigh says she had to sign papers saying that she would – among other things – not speak to the media again about her situation, nor would she do any more livestreaming.

A subsequent court ruling granted custody to Sheikh Saeed, but Ms Javadli says she received assurances from those involved in her case that the deal with Dubai’s ruler would not be affected.

That remained the situation until two months ago.

That was when – during one of the regular visitations of the children with Sheikh Saeed – that Ms Javadli says she received a message from him through Dubai police telling her there was no need to wait as they would not be returned to her that day.

She heard nothing from them for several weeks. She was finally granted a visitation for three hours at a child protection centre and headed there with her driver on 8 November. She says that when she entered the centre, her children were not there. As she was coming out of the building, she saw them. She says they rushed towards her.

She says they were shouting “Mama, take us from here!” She told her driver to lock the doors and drive them home.

Zeynab Javadli divorced Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2019

But she claims their way was blocked by cars belonging to people working for her ex-husband. That was when she decided to open a livestream and plead for help. In doing so, she knew that she risked breaking the deal she had signed with the authorities in the UAE and that she could face arrest for doing so, but she insists that it was her only recourse.

She has been at home with her children since then and says she does not dare to go out for fear of arrest. The three girls – aged nine, seven and six – have not been going to school.

The BBC has contacted a number of officials in the UAE, who are involved in the case, for comment, but has received no reply so far. However, the perspective of Sheikh Saeed is clear from court depositions.

The most recent gives a very different version of what happened on 8 November, accusing Ms Javadli of forcibly placing the children into her car with the help of her driver and then kidnapping them. It also accuses Ms Javadli of posting videos on social media in which “she insulted and slandered” her former husband as well as defaming the state and violating state laws.

Previously, lawyers acting for Sheikh Saeed had claimed in court that Ms Javadli was an unfit mother, who had failed to send her daughters to school, was living in a place unsuitable for the children when she was in a hotel, and that she had put the health of the youngest girl at risk.

Ms Javadli rejected the accusations and her Emirati legal team submitted evidence to the contrary in court.

David Haigh says that there’ve been other similar cases involving former wives of members of Dubai’s royal family or other female members of the family. He himself has been involved in campaigning for several of the women. None of these cases involve Sheikh Saeed.

Princess Haya – the ex-wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – fled the UAE in 2019, saying that she feared for her life. Three years later, the princess won a custody battle that played out in the highest court in the UK, which gave her sole custody of their two children.

The most sensational saga was that of one of the daughters of Dubai’s ruler, Princess Latifa, who mounted a bid for freedom in 2018 from what at the time she claimed was her family’s coercive control.

The boat on which she was making her escape was intercepted in the Indian Ocean and she was forcibly returned to Dubai. She then claimed that she was being held captive in secret videos. She has since re-emerged to a limited extent in public, saying that she was well and living as she wished.

Ms Javadli and David Haigh say that Dubai portrays itself as promoting women’s rights and encouraging women – whether from the UAE or from outside – to lead fulfilling lives, both professionally and personally. For many, this is no doubt the case.

But they claim that Ms Javadli’s case shows that beneath the glittering surface of Dubai, for some women the situation can be more complicated and more uncomfortable.

November 26, 2025
Bolsonaro Ordered To Start Serving 27-Year Prison Sentence For Brazil Coup Plot

Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered that right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro begin serving his prison sentence of 27 years and three months for plotting a coup after he lost the last election.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday ruled that the case had reached its final judgement and that no further appeals were possible.

Bolsonaro, 70, was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

He will begin serving his sentence in a federal police jail cell in the capital, Brasilia, where he has been detained since Saturday after being deemed a flight risk and removed from home detention.

At a hearing on Sunday, Bolsonaro admitted trying to open his ankle monitor with a soldering iron until he “came to his senses”, court documents show.

He said he had had no intention of fleeing and blamed medicine-induced “paranoia” for damage he caused to the monitor.

Justice Moraes on Tuesday mandated that full-time medical care be given to Bolsonaro, whose medical team has previously said he is suffering from worsening health.

Supreme Court justices said in September, when Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup, that he had known of plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Moraes, who has been overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial.

The conspiracy failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília. The security forces intervened and about 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro, whose plan, they said, was for the military to step in and return him to power.

Bolsonaro was also barred from running for public office until 2060 – eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.

Justice Moraes also ordered on Tuesday that others found guilty of being Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators must begin their sentences.

They include Gen Augusto Heleno, former minister for institutional security, and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former defence minister.

November 26, 2025
One Spouse Is Enough, Vatican Tells World’s Catholics

VATICAN CITY, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Happily ever after doesn’t require any complicated maths, the Vatican said on Tuesday — for Catholics, one spouse is enough.

In a new decree approved by Pope Leo, the Vatican’s top doctrinal office told the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics they should seek to marry one spouse for life and should not have multiple sexual relationships.

Criticizing the practice of polygamy in Africa, including among members of the Church, the Vatican reiterated that it believes marriage is a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman.

Members of the clergy attend a Mass for the Jubilee of Choirs celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, in Saint Peter’s Square, at the Vatican. REUTERS

The decree, which did not discuss same-sex relationships, focused on what it called the “richness and fruitfulness” of traditional marriage. It encouraged Catholics to find one spouse and become committed to them.

MARRIAGE ‘DEMANDS EXCLUSIVITY’

“Every authentic marriage is a unity composed of two individuals, which requires such an intimate and totalising relationship that it cannot be shared with others,” said the decree.

“Since (marriage) is a union between two people who have exactly the same dignity and the same rights, it demands exclusivity,” it said.

The question of how to better enforce the Church’s teachings on marriage was debated at two Vatican summits in 2023 and 2024, which the late Pope Francis hosted to discuss the future of Catholicism with hundreds of cardinals and bishops.

Polygamy in Africa, where many Catholics take part in long-standing cultural practices of maintaining more than one committed relationship, was a topic of heated discussion at those summits.

Also discussed was the rise of polyamorous relationship structures, where individuals date multiple people at the same time, in some Western countries.

“Polygamy, adultery, or polyamory are based on the illusion that the intensity of the relationship can be found in a succession of faces,” the new decree said.

The document does not discuss divorce, which the Church does not recognise as it views marriage as a lifelong commitment.

The Church however has an annulment process, which evaluates whether marriages were properly contracted, and stresses that partners are not expected to stay in abusive relationships.

November 25, 2025
Court Seals Records In Investigation Of Teen’s Body Found In Singer D4vd’s Tesla

Records about the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 15-year-old girl whose body was found in singer D4vd’s car, have been barred from public release, officials said.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said it received a court order imposing a security hold on the case, and that no details about Ms Rivas Hernandez’s death can be released or posted on its website.

The police department said it requested the order to ensure officers “receive information from the Medical Examiner before the public”.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr Odey Ukpo said the practice of security holds is “virtually unheard of in other counties” and “has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system”.

“We are dedicated to serving our community with full transparency; however, the law precludes us from doing so while the court order remains in this case,” Dr Ukpo added.

Police discovered Rivas Hernandez’s remains inside the boot of the impounded Tesla on 8 September, after responding to reports of a foul odour at a Hollywood tow yard.

Rivas Hernandez, from Lake Elsinore in California, had been missing and was last seen in April 2024, according to a missing person flyer cited by CBS, the BBC’s US news partner.

The car, registered to D4vd, had been towed from the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood five days after it had been abandoned.

D4vd, 20, whose real name David Anthony Burke, released his debut album in April and was on tour when the remains were discovered.

He has not commented on the case, but his representatives previously said he was cooperating with police.

A police spokesperson said the case was being investigated by its robbery-homicide division. No arrests have been made.

The county’s medical examiner previously said Ms Rivas Hernandez’s body was “severely decomposed” when it was found in September and deferred making a ruling on how she died pending the death investigation.

When her remains were found in a bag in D4vd’s car on 8 September, the medical examiner said that she was wearing a tube top, size small black leggings and jewellery, including a yellow metal stud earring and a yellow metal chain bracelet.

She also had a tattoo that read “Shhh…” on her index finger – a marking nearly identical to that on the pop singer’s own index finger.

The decomposition of her body indicated that she had already been “deceased for several weeks”, investigators said.

The girl, who lived about 75 miles away from where her body was discovered – had run away from her home repeatedly.

Neighbours recognised the first-generation daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador, as as a girl who would visit the corner store almost daily to buy candy and soda, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Her family, who described her as a beloved daughter, sister, cousin and friend, has said they are “heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss”. They solicited money on a crowdfunding website to pay for her funeral, which took place in October.

The case has also derailed the aspiring career of the viral hitmaker.

His world tour was cancelled within days of the discovery, and Sony Music Publishing reportedly suspended promotion of his sophomore album.

Los Angeles police soon raided the posh Hollywood Hills mansion where the singer was living, just blocks from where his Tesla had been towed.

US retailer Hollister and footwear giant Crocs dropped D4vd from marketing campaigns and Telepatía singer Kali Uchis announced she was taking down their collaboration, Crashing.

November 25, 2025
What’s Behind Nigeria’s Kidnapping Crisis?

The abduction of hundreds of Nigerians, including almost 350 schoolchildren in just a matter of days, has reignited a pressing debate about the persistent security crisis gripping the country.

A resurgence of mass kidnappings came after US President Donald Trump threatened military action in Nigeria to stop what he calls the killing of Christians by radical Islamists.

The Nigerian government has responded that “violent attacks affect families and communities across religious and ethnic lines”.

The religiously diverse country of 230 million people is the scene of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.

AFP looks at the evolution of mass kidnappings in Africa’s most populous country.

– Origins of mass kidnappings –

One of the first mass kidnappings that drew international attention was in 2014, when nearly 300 girls were snatched from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

Since then, Nigeria has recorded hundreds more mass kidnappings, with armed gangs targeting vulnerable populations for ransom and rampaging throughout poorly policed rural areas.

In the latest Catholic school attack, survivors recounted the gang’s arrival in the dead of night. They then packed their victims into buses and vans and onto motorcycles.

– Who is behind the kidnappings? –

Both jihadists and criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” are involved in kidnapping in northern regions.

In northwestern rural areas, roaming groups of bandits stage deadly raids on villages, kidnapping people for ransom and looting cattle.

Their primary focus is money. Figures thrown around in the media range from demands of hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands per person seized.

Armed gangs target vulnerable populations for ransom and rampage throughout poorly policed rural areas

Banditry mainly grew out of land conflicts between farmers and herders. Since 2011, as arms trafficking increased and the wider Sahel region fell into turmoil, the gangs became more organised.

– Who are the main targets? –

Large congregations make for easy prey. Only 50 of the over 300 children — most of them nursery and primary school age — taken on Friday from St Mary’s school in Niger have escaped.

Schools in at least nine of Nigeria’s 36 states are either fully or partially closed for fear of further abductions.

– Is the situation getting worse? –

The total number of people kidnapped in Nigeria is difficult to determine, as many cases go unreported.

But Nigeria has faced a “continuous kidnapping epidemic for more than a decade, driven by numerous criminal and extremist groups”, said International Crisis Group’s Nnamdi Obasi, citing various estimates of “between 3,600 and 7,500” abducted annually from 2022 to 2024.

The cybersecurity organisation Beacon Security recorded a 100 percent increase in abductions between the first half of 2024 and 2025, while “armed attacks” spiked by more than 250 percent.

The government launched a safe schools initiative in 2014, but the strategy appears to have been ineffective.

Obasi pointed out that a proper solution would require improved stability generally.

“Schools are never quite going to be islands of safety in a sea of insecurity. The government must curb the wider insecurity that is plaguing many parts of the country before schools can be truly safe,” he said.

– What’s being done to curb abductions? –

The Nigerian military, considered one of the region’s most powerful, is overstretched as it also grapples with jihadist activity in the east.

The country is estimated to have around 370,000 police officers, and until President Bola Tinubu’s decision to reassign VIP police bodyguards on Sunday, nearly 100,000 of them were not engaged in core policing work.

Analysts have suggested a lack of political will to curb kidnapping.

Politicians “are mostly insulated from the fallouts with their retinue of protection assets. So, it is ordinary people that suffer,” said Chidi Odinkalu, a Nigerian professor in international human rights law at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

President Bola Tinubu postponed his trip to South Africa for the G20 Summit, staying in Nigeria to handle the kidnapping crisis instead

Governmental failure to clamp down on mass kidnapping over the years has “emboldened” the gangs, “and over time, the abduction of schoolchildren became a money-making venture for the terrorists”, said Aisha Yesufu, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement which led the campaign for the release of the Chibok girls.

– What about the Trump effect? –

There are several possible explanations behind the sudden upsurge in kidnappings, with some blaming Trump’s remarks about mass killings in Nigeria.

His statements could have “inadvertently instigated or emboldened opportunistic armed groups that are seeking to exploit international narratives by attacking soft targets”, Obasi said.

“The Trump threat has emboldened those who were saying Tinubu and his government are out to lunch,” Odinkalu said.

Some security analysts say the armed groups are trying to hold large numbers of captives as potential human shields in case the United States follows through on its threat of airstrikes.

A local government official in Nigeria’s eastern Borno state holds similar beliefs.

Abubakar Mazhinyi is the chairman of the Askira-Uba district in Borno, where the government has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for 16 years, and where 13 women and girls were kidnapped by suspected ISWAP militants on their way from a farm on Saturday.

He speculated that “they are taking them as shields” in case of an attack.

But Obasi suggests the attacks “may also be acts of defiance by some armed groups, taunting the US to make good on its threat of military action in Nigeria”.

(AFP)

November 25, 2025
Former British Soldier Wanted In Kenya For Murder Refused Bail

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – A former British soldier wanted in Kenya over the murder of a woman near a British army training camp more than a dozen years ago was refused bail on Monday pending extradition proceedings.

Robert Purkiss is accused of murdering 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru near the army training camp in 2012, with Kenyan authorities issuing a warrant for his arrest in September.

Purkiss, who was arrested this month and has been in custody since, “vigorously denies” any involvement in Wanjiru’s death, his lawyers told Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Lawyers representing the Kenyan authorities say Purkiss’ fellow soldiers allege he confessed to the crime on the night of Wanjiru’s killing and shortly after.

Wanjiru’s murder has strained relations between Britain and Kenya, where her family and rights groups say the killers were being shielded by a defence cooperation agreement that complicates prosecution of British soldiers training in Kenya.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in September it remained committed to helping Wanjiru’s family secure justice.

EX-SOLDIER WANTED OVER 2012 MURDER

Wanjiru’s body was found in a septic tank at the Lion’s Court Hotel in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki in June 2012. Wanjir had last been seen with a group of British soldiers on the night of March 31 and April 1, 2012.

Joel Smith, a lawyer representing Kenyan prosecutors, said Wanjiru had gone to the hotel with two friends, leaving her baby daughter to be cared for by a friend.

“At about two o’clock in the morning, Ms Wanjiru left with one of the soldiers and as she left (told her friends) she was going to hustle for her daughter,” Smith told the court. “She was never seen alive again.”

Smith added that Purkiss had shown one soldier the septic tank Wanjiru’s body was later found in and later told another soldier he killed Wanjiru after “sex that went wrong”.

Purkiss’ lawyer David Josse said that “there is no logical basis for saying that this man will run away”.

But Judge Paul Goldspring remanded Purkiss in custody until a hearing next month. Purkiss nodded towards his wife and brother in the public gallery as he was led back to the cells.

November 24, 2025
Saudi Arabia To Open New Alcohol Stores Despite Ban, Sources Say

Saudi Arabia plans to open two new alcohol stores, including one serving non-Muslim, foreign staff at state oil giant Aramco, as the kingdom further eases restrictions, according to people briefed on the plans.

The launch of outlets in the eastern province of Dhahran and one for diplomats in the port city of Jeddah would be a further milestone in efforts, led by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to open up the country.

The kingdom, which is the birthplace of Islam, last year opened an alcohol store serving non-Muslim diplomats in a nondescript building in the diplomatic quarter of the capital Riyadh, known to some diplomats as the “booze bunker”.

It was the first such outlet since a ban was brought in 73 years ago.

The new store in Dhahran will be set up in a compound owned by Aramco, one of the three people who talked to Reuters said.

That store would be open for non-Muslims working for Aramco, added the source, who said Saudi authorities had informed them of the plan.

Two of the sources said a third liquor store was also in the works for non-Muslim diplomats in the city of Jeddah, where many missions have honorary consuls.

Both stores were expected to open in 2026, but no timelines had been released, two of the sources said.

The government media office did not immediately reply to questions over the plans for the stores in both locations, which were previously unreported. Aramco declined to comment.

The Riyadh store’s customer base was recently expanded to include non-Muslim Saudi Premium Residency holders, two of the sources said. Premium residencies have been awarded to entrepreneurs, major investors and those with special talents.

Before the Riyadh store, alcohol was largely only available through diplomatic mail, the black market or home brewing.

Cinema, desert raves and female drivers

While alcoholic drinks are still off limits for the vast majority of the population, under bin Salman’s reforms both Saudis and foreigners can now take part in once unthinkable activities from dancing at desert raves to going to the cinema.

Other reforms have included allowing women to drive in 2017, easing rules on the segregation of men and women in public spaces and significantly reducing the power of the religious police.

The kingdom has been easing restrictions to lure tourists and international businesses as part of an ambitious plan to diversify its economy and make itself less dependent on oil.

Saudi Arabia has been aggressively expanding its local tourism portfolio with the giant Red Sea Global development, which includes plans to open 17 new hotels by next May. These ultra-luxury resorts remain dry.

In May a media report, picked up by some international media after appearing on a wine blog, said Saudi authorities had planned to allow alcohol sales in tourist settings as the country prepares to host the 2034 soccer World Cup.

The report, which was denied at the time by a Saudi official, sparked a vigorous online debate in the kingdom, whose king also holds the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – Islam’s most revered places in Mecca and Medina.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

November 24, 2025
DOGE Disbanded: Elon Musk’s Cost-Cutting Project Quietly Ended

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump’s pledge to slash the government’s size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings.

“That doesn’t exist,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month when asked about DOGE’s status.

It is no longer a “centralized entity,” Kupor added, in the first public comments from the Trump administration on the end of DOGE.

The agency, set up in January, made dramatic forays across Washington in the early months of Trump’s second term to rapidly shrink federal agencies, cut their budgets or redirect their work to Trump priorities. The OPM, the federal government’s human resources office, has since taken over many of DOGE’s functions, according to Kupor and documents reviewed by Reuters.

At least two prominent DOGE employees are now involved with the National Design Studio, a new body created through an executive order signed by Trump in August. That body is headed by Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, and Trump’s order directed him to beautify government websites.

Gebbia was part of billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team while DOGE employee Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” encouraged followers on his X account to apply to join.

The fading away of DOGE is in sharp contrast to the government-wide effort over months to draw attention to it, with Trump, his advisers and cabinet secretaries posting about it on social media. Musk, who led DOGE initially, regularly touted its work on his X platform and at one point brandished a chainsaw to advertise his efforts to cut government jobs.

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” Musk said, holding the tool above his head at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in February.

DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions of dollars in expenditures, but it was impossible for outside financial experts to verify that because the unit did not provide detailed public accounting of its work.

“President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment,” said White House spokeswoman Liz Huston in an email to Reuters.

Trump officials have been signaling DOGE’s demise

Billionaire Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 19, 2025. The Trump administration told Reuters on Nov. 23, 2025 that it has disbanded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was initially led by Musk before the Tesla founder publicly feuded with the president.
Brendan Smialowsky/AFP via Getty Images

Trump administration officials have not openly said that DOGE no longer exists, even after Musk’s public feud with Trump in May. Musk has since left Washington.

Trump and his team have nevertheless signaled its demise in public since this summer, even though the U.S. president signed an executive order earlier in his term decreeing that DOGE would last through July 2026.

In statements to reporters, Trump often talks about DOGE in the past tense. Acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason, whose background is in healthcare tech, formally became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, according to a court filing, in addition to her role with DOGE. Her public statements have largely focused on her HHS role.

Republican-led states, including Idaho and Florida, meanwhile are creating local entities similar to DOGE.

A government-wide hiring freeze – another hallmark of DOGE – is also over, Kupor said.

Trump on his first day in office barred federal agencies from bringing on new employees, with exceptions for positions his team deemed necessary to enforce immigration laws and protect public safety. He later said DOGE representatives must approve any other exceptions, adding that agencies should hire “no more than one employee for every four” that depart.

“There is no target around reductions” anymore, Kupor said.

Former DOGE employees move on to new roles

AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbia speaks at the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, on March 13, 2022. Gebbia was part of billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team before leading President Donald Trump’s recently-created National Design Studio, where he’s directed to beautify government websites.
Matthew Busch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

DOGE staff have also taken on other roles in the administration. Most prominent is Gebbia, whom Trump tasked with improving the “visual presentation” of government websites.

So far, his design studio has launched websites to recruit law enforcement officers to patrol Washington, D.C., and advertise the president’s drug pricing program. Gebbia declined an interview with Reuters via a spokesperson.

Zachary Terrell, part of the DOGE team given access to government health systems in the early days of Trump’s second term, is now chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel Riley, who had the same access according to court filings, is now chief of the Office of Naval Research, according to the office’s website.

Jeremy Lewin, who helped Musk and the Trump administration dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, now oversees foreign assistance at the State Department, according to the agency’s website.

Musk shortly after Trump’s election said he had a mandate to “delete the mountain” of government regulations. He made undoing government regulations and remaking the government with AI two key tenets of DOGE, in addition to eliminating federal government jobs.

The administration is still working toward slashing regulations. The White House budget office has tasked Scott Langmack, who was DOGE’s representative at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with creating custom AI applications to pore through U.S. regulations and determine which ones to eliminate, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Musk, meanwhile, has reappeared in Washington. This week, he attended a White House dinner for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

November 24, 2025
Trump Says Ukraine Showed ‘Zero Gratitude’ For US Efforts To End War

President Donald Trump has accused Ukraine’s leaders of showing “zero gratitude” for US efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

His comments on social media came as Ukraine and its European allies hold talks with US negotiators in Geneva over a widely-leaked set of proposals seen as strongly favouring Moscow.

During a break in the talks with Ukrainians, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We’ve had probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process.” Ukraine’s envoy said the sides were “moving to a just peace”.

President Volodymyr Zelensky later said he was “personally” grateful to Trump.

Earlier this week, Zelensky had warned that Ukraine faced the choice of “either losing dignity, or risk losing a key partner”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin – who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – has said the US plan could be “the basis” for settlement.

As Rubio met the Ukrainians on Sunday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the the Russia-Ukraine war would have never happened with “strong and proper” US and Ukrainian leadership.

Switching to capital letters, he went on to blame Ukraine’s “leadership” for not thanking the US for its peace efforts.

In his post, the US president also pointed out that Europe – where Kyiv has some of its staunchest allies – was continuing to buy oil from Russia.

Moscow relies heavily on its oil and gas exports to continue financing its war in Ukraine.

The talks in Geneva – involving senior officials from the US, Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany – began over dinner on Saturday and are expected to last all day in a variety of formats behind closed doors.

They are focusing on the 28-point draft, the leaked version of which includes a Ukrainian troop withdrawal from the part of the eastern Donetsk region that they currently control, and the de facto Russian control of Donetsk, as well as the neighbouring Luhansk region in addition to the southern Crimea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

The plan also includes freezing the borders of Ukraine’s southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions along the current battle lines. Both regions are partially occupied by Russia.

The US plan also limits Ukraine’s military to 600,000 personnel – from about 880,000 now.

The draft crucially includes a pledge for Ukraine not to seek membership of Nato. Instead, Kyiv would receive “reliable security guarantees” about which no details have been given.

The document says “it is expected” that Russia will not invade its neighbours and that Nato will not expand further.

The draft also suggests Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy”, through the lifting of sanctions and by inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 group of the world’s most powerful countries – making it the G8 again.

Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory and its troops have been making slow advances along the vast front line, despite reported heavy losses.

Before Trump’s latest comments, President Zelensky said there was an understanding the US plan may take into account “a number of elements that are based on the Ukrainian vision and are critical to Ukraine’s national interests”.

Trump had initially given Ukraine until 27 November to accept the proposals.

But he then said this was not his “final offer” for Kyiv, after Ukraine’s allies from Europe, Canada and Japan voiced concerns.

In a joint statement, the allies said the plan had elements “essential for a just and lasting peace” – but would “require additional work”, citing concerns over border changes and caps on Ukraine’s army.

There were reports that the European team in Geneva would propose to change some key points in the original US plan regarding border changes and caps on Ukraine’s armed forces.

November 23, 2025
Trump To End Temporary Protected Status For Somalis

US President Donald Trump announced he will end the temporary status protecting Somali immigrants in Minnesota from deportation, claiming on Friday that his latest cut to refugee programs was a crime prevention measure.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota,” while accusing “Somali gangs” of harming locals.

“Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!” he added.

TPS protects its holders from deportation and allows them to work. It is granted to people deemed to be in danger if they return to their home countries because of war, natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances.

The midwestern state of Minnesota hosts one of the largest Somali populations outside of the eastern African nation, which has endured decades of conflict.

According to the Congressional record, around 705 Somali individuals have approved TPS applications as of March 31, and “DHS estimated that approximately 4,300 individuals may become newly eligible for TPS” were it to be extended.

TPS was initially granted to Somalis in 1991, and most recently extended in July 2024 “due to conditions in Somalia that prevent individuals from safely returning,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.

After a brutal civil war in the 1990s, Somalia has been fighting Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group Al-Shabaab since the mid-2000s. The militants launched a new offensive early this year.

The Trump administration, which is carrying out a sweeping immigration crackdown, has also moved to strip TPS for Afghans, Haitians, South Sudan, Venezuelans and nationals of several other countries.

The immigration crackdown has faced numerous legal challenges, and Trump’s latest TPS dictate is likewise expected to go to court.

Under a separate new policy, the United States would slash the number of refugees it admits to 7,500 in fiscal 2026, down from more than 100,000 a year under Democratic president Joe Biden.

In his post targeting Somalis on Friday, Trump also slammed Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz, accusing him of “laundering activity,” without offering evidence.

Trump has also frequently mocked Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, urging the Somalia-born Democrat to “go back!” to the country.

(AFP)

November 22, 2025
Ukraine Expected To Give Up Land, Some Arms Under US Peace Plan, Sources Say

LONDON/KYIV, Nov 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, they said.

Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kyiv as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and with Zelenskiy tackling a corruption scandal, which on Wednesday saw parliament dismiss the energy and justice ministers.

The White House declined to comment on the matter. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Washington “will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”

“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” Rubio said.

A senior Ukrainian official earlier told Reuters that Kyiv had received “signals” about a set of U.S. proposals to end the war that Washington has discussed with Russia. Ukraine has had no role in preparing the proposals, the source said.

Zelenskiy, who was holding talks in Turkey on Wednesday with President Tayyip Erdogan, is due to meet U.S. Army officials in Kyiv on Thursday.

In comments on Telegram, Zelenskiy did not mention Washington’s framework but called for effective U.S. leadership to help bring the more than 3 1/2-year-old war to an end.

“The main thing for stopping the bloodshed and achieving lasting peace is that we work in coordination with all our partners and that American leadership remains effective, strong,” Zelenskiy wrote after meeting Erdogan in Ankara.

Zelenskiy said only the United States and U.S. President Donald Trump “have sufficient strength for the war to finally come to an end.”

The Ukrainian president also said Erdogan had proposed different formats for talks “and it is important for us that Turkey is ready to provide the necessary platform.”

Signs of a renewed push by Trump’s administration to end the war triggered the biggest jump in Ukraine’s government bond prices in months on Wednesday.

No face-to-face talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul in July and Russian forces have pressed on with Moscow’s nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, killing 25 people in strikes overnight.

NO CHANGE IN RUSSIA’S POSITION

Efforts to revive peace negotiations appear to be gaining momentum although Moscow has shown no sign of changing its terms for ending the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long demanded Kyiv renounce plans to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance and withdraw its troops from four provinces Moscow claims as part of Russia. Moscow has given no indication that it has dropped any of those demands and Ukraine says it will not accept them.

Russian forces control about 19% of Ukrainian territory and are grinding forwards, while carrying out frequent attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter approaches.

Turkey, a NATO member that has remained close to both Kyiv and Moscow, hosted an initial round of peace talks in the early weeks of the war in 2022, the only such talks until this year when Trump launched a new bid to end the fighting.

The Kremlin said Russian representatives would not be involved in Wednesday’s talks in Ankara but that Putin was open to conversations with the U.S. and Turkey about the results of the discussions.

LAND IN EXCHANGE FOR SECURITY GUARANTEES?

On Wednesday, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter, Axios reported that the new U.S. plan envisaged Ukraine granting Moscow part of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control in return for a U.S. security guarantee for Kyiv and Europe against future Russian aggression.

A European diplomat, commenting on the purported new U.S. proposals, said they could be another attempt by the Trump administration “to push Kyiv into a corner”, but added there could be no solution that did not take into consideration Ukraine’s position or that of Washington’s European allies.

Another European diplomat said the suggestion that Ukraine cut its army seemed like a Russian demand rather than a serious proposal.

A U.S. delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Kyiv on a “fact-finding mission”, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv said. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George is also in the delegation and he and Driscoll will meet Zelenskiy on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

November 20, 2025
Kenyan Authorities Paid Trolls to Threaten Gen Z Protesters, Amnesty Says

The Kenyan authorities paid a network of trolls to threaten and intimidate young protesters during recent anti-government demonstrations, Amnesty International has said.

A new report by the human rights organisation said government agencies also employed surveillance and disinformation to target organisers of the mass protests, which swept Kenya across 2024 and 2025.

The demonstrations were driven largely by “Gen Z” activists who used social media platforms to mobilise.

In response to Amnesty’s report, Kenya’s interior minister said the government “does not sanction harassment or violence against any citizen”.

But Amnesty said it had uncovered a campaign to “silence and suppress” the protesters.

Young women and LGBT+ activists were disproportionately targeted, with misogynistic and homophobic comment, as well as AI-generated pornographic images, the report said.

The BBC has approached the government for further comment.

One activist told Amnesty: “I had people coming into my inbox and telling me: ‘You will die and leave your kids. We will come and attack you’.

“I even had to change my child’s school. Someone sent me my child’s name, the age… the school bus number plate. They told me: ‘If you continue doing what you’re doing then we will take care of this child for you’.”

It has long been believed that the government employs a network of individuals, known as “keyboard warriors”, to push its online messages.

The report features a man who said he was part of a team paid between 25,000 and 50,000 Kenyan shillings (about $190-$390; £145-£300) per day to amplify government messaging and drown out trending protest hashtags on social media platform X.

As part of its research, Amnesty spoke to 31 young human rights defenders who had participated in the protests. Nine of these activists said they had received violent threats via X, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp.

As well as digital abuse, the authorities have also been accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown on the protests.

More than 100 people died, rights groups say, when police clashed with protesters during two waves of demonstrations – one in 2024 and one in 2025.

The authorities were also accused of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and using lethal force against the protesters.

The government accepted there had been some case of excessive force by police, but also defended the security forces in other instances.

The demonstrations railed against issues such as proposed tax rises, increasing femicide and corruption.

Amnesty chief Agnès Callamard said the organisation’s report “clearly demonstrates widespread and coordinated tactics on digital platforms to silence and suppress protests by young activists”.

“Our research also proves that these campaigns are driven by state-sponsored trolls, individuals and networks paid to promote pro-government messages and dominate Kenya’s daily trends on X,” she added.

Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said: “The government of Kenya does not sanction harassment, or violence against any citizen… any officer implicated in unlawful conduct bears individual responsibility and is subject to investigation and sanction.”

Amnesty also raised concerns about unlawful state surveillance, including allegations – denied by Kenya’s largest telecom provider, Safaricom – that authorities used mobile data to monitor protest leaders.

(BBC)

November 19, 2025
Arsenal To End Sponsorship Deal With Visit Rwanda

Arsenal have announced they will end the club’s eight-year sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.

The sleeve partnership began in 2018 and the current deal is reportedly worth more than £10m ($13.3m) per year.

But it has come under the spotlight after increased violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders Rwanda, though the framework of a peace deal between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese government was signed earlier this week.

In April, Paris St-Germain extended their sponsorship with Visit Rwanda until 2028, while Atletico Madrid signed a three-year deal to carry the logo on their men’s and women’s shirts this season.

In a statement,, external Arsenal said the club and the Rwanda development board had “mutually agreed” to end the deal.

The Gunners added it had “exceeded the original goals of the partnership”, which were to promote conservation and sustainable tourism while also supporting Rwanda’s ambition “to become an international sporting hub in Africa”.

Richard Garlick, Arsenal’s chief executive officer said the partnership had played an important role in helping the Gunners “invest in our long-term vision to win major trophies, in a financially sustainable way”.

In February, DR Congo appealed to Arsenal, PSG and Bayern Munich, who are also sponsored by Visit Rwanda, to end their “blood stained” deals amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

A campaign group named Gunners for Peace protested outside Emirates Stadium during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final tie with PSG last season, with a banner that read ‘Drop Visit Rwanda’, and distributed armbands to cover up the Visit Rwanda logo on kits.

The group also made a spoof video urging fans to ‘Visit Tottenham’, Arsenal’s north London rivals, instead, to highlight the need for a sponsor “that better fits the values of the club”.

Gunners for Peace posted on Instagram, external the news of the deal ending showed Arsenal “still has the class and the values to do the right thing”, adding: “We all know that money talks, but if fans get together and speak louder then they have to listen.”

Campaigners put up a sign that read ‘Visit Tottenham’ outside the Emirates Stadium in April

Visit Rwanda brand remains visible

The news that Arsenal’s Visit Rwanda partnership will finish by mutual agreement at the end of this season has been celebrated by campaigners as a victory for fan power.

Repeated protests by Gunners for Peace may have had an impact on the Premier League club’s decision, but whether the sums involved still added up for Rwanda is another matter.

A Rwanda Development Board spokesperson said it was “proud” of a partnership that “broke new ground for tourism boards”.

Visit Rwanda will retain a strong presence at the top of the European game over the next few years via its sponsorships of PSG and Atletico Madrid.

The brand is also making its way into markets in the United States after announcing long-term deals with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and NBA side LA Clippers back in September.

DR Congo’s government has criticised the Rwanda Development Board’s partnerships, but has followed its neighbour by agreeing its own four-year deal with FC Barcelona to promote the country.

While those high-profile deals have garnered attention, hopes are that the recently-agreed framework for peace between DRC and the M23 will end decades of conflict in the resource-rich region.

(BBC)

November 19, 2025