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Security camera video shows the moment suicide bombers attacked a security complex in Pakistan. Six people were killed in total, including two attackers who were shot dead.
Published On 24 Nov 202524 Nov 2025
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Nov. 24 (UPI) — Canadian conservation officials continue their search for three grizzly bears that attacked a group of elementary students injuring four people, including a teacher, last week in rural British Columbia.
Since the Thursday attack in Bella Coola Valley, located about 620 miles north of Vancouver, B.C. conservation officers have been searching the region for the mother grizzly bear and two cubs.
On Sunday, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service has been rotating teams to search for the bears, including during the night.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police air assets with thermal imaging cameras have been deployed to assist, the BCCOS said in a statement, while urging members of the public to not aid in their search efforts.
Additional officers arrived a day prior, and trapping efforts were ongoing.
Residents are being urged to avoid the 4 Miles subdivision of Bella Coola Valley where the attack occurred and to remain indoors.
Any bears captured amid the search will be assessed by wildlife biologists as well as federal veterinarians “to determine next steps,” the BCCOS said.
On Thursday, local authorities were notified of a bear attack involving a school group. Three students and an adult were injured, BCCOS Insp. Kevin Van Damme said in a recorded statement posted on Facebook.
The group had stopped along a trail when the bear, emerging from the woods, attacked. A teacher, armed with pepper spray and a bear banger, successfully repelled the animal, he said.
The four injured were transported to a hospital in Vancouver for further treatment.
The bear may have been previously injured, Van Damme said.
B.C. Premier David Eby thanked the teachers for their “heroism.”
“The conservation officers, I’m assured, are working hard to identify and find the bear, and I know for all of us in the province [this is] just a terrible story and terrible outcome and we wish a quick recovery and the best for everyone who was injured,” he said during a press conference following the attack.
According to the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, grizzly bear attacks in the province are uncommon but occasionally turn fatal.
We compare and contrast Trump’s earlier criticism of NY Mayor-elect Mamdani with his recent praise at the White House.
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, seen here during a meeting with South Korean residents in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, said that reunification with North Korea remains Seoul’s ultimate goal.
President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday reunification with North Korea remains South Korea’s ultimate goal and a constitutional duty, vowing to pursue it through dialogue rather than unilateral action.
Lee, in Johannesburg for the Group of 20 summit, made the remarks in a written interview with Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, published ahead of his state visit to Ankara.
“Reunification remains our ultimate goal and is not merely an ideal but a constitutional duty. Our government will not pursue reunification through a unilateral approach,” Lee said in the translated interview.
“Our government seeks gradual and phased reunification through peaceful coexistence and mutual development, reflecting the democratic will of all people on the Korean Peninsula,” he added.
Since taking office in June, Lee has repeatedly expressed his intent to resume talks with North Korea, saying his government respects the North’s political system and will not seek reunification by absorption.
Lee reiterated that restarting dialogue with Pyongyang is his top priority as inter-Korean communication channels remain frozen.
“We are ready to talk with North Korea through any channel,” he said. “The door to dialogue will always remain open.”
He added that Seoul has been coordinating closely with Washington and that he asked U.S. President Donald Trump to play the role of “peacemaker,” while also offering his diplomatic support for renewed U.S.-North Korea dialogue.
Asked whether South Korea plans to develop its own nuclear weapons, Lee reaffirmed his commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and stressed the strengthening of extended deterrence with the United States, which refers to Washington’s commitment to use the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear forces.
“Amid the persistent threats by North Korea’s nuclear and missile program, the extended deterrence between South Korea and the U.S. is strengthening to more effectively counter any provocation,” he said.
Addressing the escalating U.S.-China rivalry, Lee underscored the need to maintain stable relations with China, South Korea’s largest trading partner, while cautioning against a heightened arms race in Northeast Asia.
On relations with Turkey, Lee said South Korea aims to deepen cooperation with Turkey in the defense and nuclear energy industries to advance the strategic partnership between the two countries.
He noted that South Korea’s strengths in tanks, artillery and naval systems, combined with Turkey’s leadership in drone technology, create “significant potential” for joint defense projects.
He cited Turkey’s Altay main battle tank program equipped with Korean engines as a “strong example” of bilateral defense ties, expressing hope to step up collaboration in joint production, technology partnership and personnel training.
Lee added that discussions are under way on Korean participation in Turkey’s planned Sinop nuclear power plant on the Black Sea coast, as well as cooperation on small modular reactors.
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Snapchat has begun asking children and teenagers in Australia to verify their ages, including with software owned by the country’s banks, according to a company spokesperson.
The move on Monday comes as Australia prepares to enforce a world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 starting on December 10.
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The law, which threatens social media platforms with a fine of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($31.95m) for noncompliance, is one of the world’s toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.
In addition to Snapchat, the ban currently applies to YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch and Kick.
In a statement on Saturday, Snapchat said users will be able to verify their age through the ConnectID application, which links to their bank accounts, or by using software owned by Singapore-headquartered age-assurance provider, k-ID.
ConnectID, which is owned and used by most major Australian banks, said it would send the tech platform a “yes/no” signal about whether the person was over 16 based on their account details, without making them upload sensitive information.
“The goal here is to protect young people online without creating new privacy risks,” said ConnectID managing director Andrew Black in a statement.
In the k-ID option, users can upload government-issued identification cards to verify their ages or submit photos, which the application will then use to estimate an age range.
Snapchat has previously said it believes about 440,000 of its users in Australia are aged between 13 and 15.
Snapchat added that it “strongly disagreed” with the Australian government’s assessment that it should be included in the social media ban, claiming its service provides a “visual messaging app”.
“Disconnecting teens from their friends and family doesn’t make them safer – it may push them to less safe, less private messaging apps,” it warned.
Some other apps have been able to secure an exception from the ban, including Discord, WhatsApp, Lego Play and Pinterest. But Australian authorities have reserved the right to update the list of banned platforms as required.
A number of young people and advocates have expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the new ban, including 18-year-old journalist and founder of youth news service 6 News Australia Leo Puglisi, who told an Australian Senate inquiry that the ban will affect young people’s access to information.
UNICEF Australia has also expressed concerns about implementation, saying the changes proposed by the Australian government “won’t fix the problems young people face online”.
“Social media has a lot of good things, like education and staying in touch with friends,” UNICEF Australia said in a statement.
“We think it’s more important to make social media platforms safer and to listen to young people to make sure any changes actually help.”
Katrina Lines, the CEO of children’s therapy provider Act for Kids, said that parents should start having conversations with children as soon as possible about how they can stay connected as the ban comes into effect over the coming weeks.
“It’s important to keep the lines of communication open in the lead up to and even long after these changes take effect,” Lines said.
Act for Kids said it surveyed more than 300 Australian children aged 10 to 16, and found 41 percent would prefer to connect with family in real life compared to only 15 percent who preferred to spend time online. But Lines said families still need to work out how to improve in-person connections.
“One way of starting this conversation could be by asking them how they would like to stay connected to friends and family outside of social media,” she said.
The Australian ban comes amid growing global concern over the effects of social media on children’s health and safety, and companies including TikTok, Snapchat, Google and Meta Platforms – the operator of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – are facing lawsuits in the United States for their role in fuelling a mental health crisis.
Regulators around the world are closely watching whether Australia’s sweeping restrictions can work.
Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Sunday that the Malaysian government also plans to ban social media for users under the age of 16, starting from next year.
He said the government was reviewing the mechanisms used in Australia and other nations to impose age restrictions for social media use, citing a need to protect youths from online harms such as cyberbullying, financial scams and child sexual abuse.
“We hope by next year that social media platforms will comply with the government’s decision to bar those under the age of 16 from opening user accounts,” he told reporters, according to a video of his remarks posted online by local daily The Star.
In New Zealand, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is also planning to introduce a similar bill to restrict children’s social media use, while Indonesia, too, has said it is preparing legislation to protect young people from “physical, mental, or moral perils”.
In Europe, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece are jointly testing a template for an age verification app, while the Dutch government has advised parents to forbid children under 15 from using social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat.
Nov. 23 (UPI) — Authorities in Canada have arrested an associate of a former Olympian snowboarder accused by the United States of being a drug kingpin on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
The FBI confirmed on X that Rasheed Pascua Hossain, 32, was arrested in Vancouver by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s federal law enforcement agency. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Hossain was detained Friday.
On Wednesday, U.S. federal authorities announced at a press conference that they were intensifying their manhunt for Ryan Wedding, 44, whom FBI Director Kash Patel called a “modern-day iteration” of Pablo Escobar and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, two of the most infamous drug cartel leaders.
Wedding is believed to be in Mexico, receiving protection from the Sinaloa Cartel.
He is accused of flooding U.S. streets with drugs and of being Canada’s main distributor of cocaine.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday alleged that he was involved in orchestrating the execution of a witness working with authorities to secure his extradition to the United States. Wedding was first charged in the United States in October 2024. He is facing an array of charges that include murder and drug trafficking.
More than 35 people have been indicted in Operation Giant Slalom, with the announcement that 10 people, seven in Canada and three from Colombia, have been arrested made public on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said Hossain was one of four people, including Wedding, who law enforcement was continuing to search for.
Hossain was charged in the indictment announced Wednesday over his alleged involvement in money laundering for what U.S. federal authorities have called the Wedding Criminal Enterprise.
He has been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to export cocaine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
A $15 million reward is being offered by the United States for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Wedding.
Rasheed Pascua Hossain, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in money laundering facilitation for the Wedding Criminal Enterprise, the subject of Operation Giant Slalom, was arrested in Vancouver by the Royan Canadian Mounted Police. @rcmpgrcpolice
Hossain was charged with… pic.twitter.com/eqMSx0bhdP— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) November 22, 2025
Nov. 23 (UPI) — Talks between the United States and Ukraine in Switzerland have been the “most productive and meaningful so far,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.
Officials from both countries are meeting in Switzerland as the United States works to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine in the latest chapter of war between the two counties, which has dragged on since early 2022.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have presented the draft of a 28-point plan aimed at ending the war. President Donald Trump has said he wants Ukraine to agree to the deal by Thursday, the BBC reported.
The plan suggests that Russia could be given more Ukrainian territory than it currently holds, puts limits on Ukraine’s army and prevents Ukraine from even becoming a member of NATO. These conditions hew very closely to Moscow’s demands for peace.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a social media post Sunday that European leaders stand ready to reach a deal “despite some reservations,” but said “Before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”
A bipartisan group U.S. Senators told reporters that Rubio told them the deal was not authored by the United States, nor was it the sole position of the Trump administration, but a proposal drafted by Russia and given to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, NBC News reported.
Sen. Angus King, I-Me., said the plan appeared to be a “wish list of the Russians.”
Later, the U.S. State Department countered that claim, called King’s words “patently false,” and said the plan was indeed, the position of the Trump administration.
“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.,” Rubio wrote on social media Saturday night. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
The plan proposes that areas of Ukraine’s Donbas region still under Ukrainian control are ceded to Russia, that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk are recognized as Russian territory by the United States and that Ukraine will reduce the number of troops in the region to 600,000.
Perhaps most controversially, the proposals also calls for Russia “to be reintegrated into the global economy” and be invited to rejoin the G8, an international forum for leaders of the world’s eight most industrialized nations.
Here are the key events from day 1,369 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 24 Nov 202524 Nov 2025
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Here’s where things stand on Monday, November 24.
Nov. 23 (UPI) — Police are searching for Morgan Geyser, one of two people convicted in the 2014 Wisconsin Slender Man stabbing, after Geyser cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and walked out of a group home Saturday night, the Madison Police Department said.
Geyser was last seen at around 8 p.m. CST Saturday with an “adult acquaintance” in the area of Kroncke Dr., the same street where hte group home is located, police said.
Officers said her whereabouts are unknown. MPD was notified of her disappearance on Sunday morning, local media reported.
Police released recorded security footage with images of Geyser that was captured earlier this month, and requested the public’s assistance in finding her, requesting that they call 911 with any information.
MPD confirmed to MMTV in Madison that Geyser has been living at a local group home, which the Department of Health Services confirmed.
Geyser had previously lived at and previously lived at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh for several years before being transferred to the Madison facility.
Earlier this year, the state approved Geyser’s transfer to a group home in Sun Prairie, but the facility declined her admission in August.
Documents from the facility said that staff “could not provide the level of supervision that she required,” and “were not equipped to manage her needs.”
In 2014, Geyser, who was 12 at the time, and her accomplice, Anissa Weier stabbed their classmate, Payton Leutner, nearly 19 times in a near fatal attack as part of a plot based on the fictional character known as Slender Man.
Sinisa Karan wins 50.89 percent of the vote, while his main rival Branko Blanusa gets 47.81 percent, preliminary results show.
A close ally of Bosnia’s former Serb Republic leader Milorad Dodik, who was ousted from office over his separatist policies, has won the territory’s snap presidential election, according to electoral authorities.
Sinisa Karan of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party (SNSD) won 50.89 percent of the vote in Sunday’s poll, the election commission’s president Jovan Kalaba told reporters.
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Opposition candidate Branko Blanusa of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) won 47.81 percent, he said.
The results were based on 92.87 percent of counted votes, the election commission said, adding that 35.78 percent of some 1.2 million eligible voters had turned out for the election.
The presidential mandate will last for less than a year since a general election is scheduled next October.
Dodik, speaking at the SNSD headquarters in Banja Luka, the capital of Bosnian Serb statelet Republika Srpska, called Karan’s win “unquestionable”.
Karan, who currently serves as the Serb Republic minister of scientific and technological development, pledged to continue Dodik’s policies “with ever greater force”.
“As always, when the times were difficult, the Serb people have won,” he added.
The SDS, meanwhile, said it would request the repetition of the vote at three polling stations, citing major election irregularities.
The election was called to replace Dodik after he was stripped of his office and banned from politics for six years.
Dodik was ousted in August after a Bosnian court convicted him of disobeying the orders of the international High Representative for Bosnia, who oversees the implementation of the 1995 Dayton Accords, which ended the bloody three-and-a-half-year Bosnian war.
He had repeatedly clashed with High Representative Christian Schmidt, declaring his decisions illegal in Republika Srpska, which is controlled by Bosnian Serbs.
The other half of the country is run jointly by Bosniaks, who are mainly Muslims, and Croats. The two entities are bound together by a central administration.
Dodik, who still advocates eventual separation of Republika Srpska from Bosnia, paid a fine to stay away from jail and stepped aside as president while staying at the helm of his governing SNSD party.
Prior to the vote, Karan said that democratic elections were “a way to strengthen our peace and stability” and to “strengthen the institutions of our Republika Srpska and our entire republic”.
But Dodik appeared to be intent on remaining in the driving seat, telling voters that “I will remain with you to fight for our political goals”, and Karan’s “victory will be my victory too”.
Bosnia’s complex political structure was established 30 years ago by the United States-brokered Dayton peace agreement, ending the 1992-95 ethnic conflict that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless.
The war started when Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia and the country’s Serbs took up arms to carve up their own territory, hoping to join with neighbouring Serbia.
1 of 2 | A gold pocket watch owned by Isidor Straus, a first-class passenger who died with his wife when the famed ship sank, has sold for $2.3 million at auction. Photo courtesy of Henry Aldridge and Son
Nov. 23 (UPI) — A gold pocket watch owned by Isidor Straus, a first-class passenger who died with his wife when the famed ship sank, has sold for $2.3 million at auction.
Straus, a German-born American businessman and politician who co-owned the department store Macy’s, had been offered a seat on a lifeboat because of his age but chose to let others go first as his wife, Ida, stayed arm-in-arm by his side.
The Strauses were depicted in James Cameron‘s fictional retelling of the shipwreck, played by Lew Palter and Elsa Raven.
The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen watch was purchased in 1888 to mark Straus’ 48th birthday, the same year he and his brother became co-owners of Macy’s.
Isidor and Ida Straus, co-owners of Macy’s, were offered spots on a lifeboat during the Titanic sinking in 1912. Isidor refused to board before other men, and Ida refused to leave his side, telling him, “Where you go, I go.” Both lost their lives together in the disaster. pic.twitter.com/duQJCNUoyc— Past Preserved (@PastPreserved) August 13, 2025
“The watch quite simply represents one of the finest and rarest objects from the Titanic story in existence, a piece which was a treasured personal possession from one of the most respected and high-profile men from the Titanic story,” the Henry Aldridge and Son auction house said in a statement.
“At the turn of the 20th century, a pocket watch was one of the closest things to the heart of a gentleman of the era, and this watch embodies this as a gift from one half of the most famous couple on the Titanic to the other.”
The watch was recovered from Straus’ body after the ship sank and remained in the family for more than a century before its sale Saturday at the auction house, which is located in the British town of Devizes. Ida’s body was never recovered.
The lot had been listed with a high estimate of more than $1.3 million but ultimately sold for nearly double that, becoming the highest price ever paid for Titanic memorabilia, according to the auction house.
While the watch sold at auction, it is currently being exhibited at The Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Other items auctioned Saturday include a letter written by Ida aboard the Titanic, as well as a passenger list and other memorabilia.
The incoming NYC mayor says he still believes the US president is a fascist, two days after they had a friendly meeting.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he still believes United States President Donald Trump is a fascist, despite a surprisingly warm meeting between the two politically polarised men at the White House this week.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past; I say it today,” Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, said about the Republican president in an interview aired on NBC News on Sunday.
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Mamdani’s comments came two days after he met with Trump, setting aside months of mutual recriminations and promising to cooperate on the city’s future.
Trump, who grew up in New York, called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post following the incoming mayor’s election victory, and Mamdani has said Trump was attacking democracy.
During their meeting, Trump, who had previously suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported, even came to his rescue as the two addressed reporters at the White House.
When a journalist asked Mamdani if he continued to view Trump as a fascist, the president stepped in.
“That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier,” Trump told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
Mamdani elaborated his stand further in the NBC interview.
“[What] I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that have brought us to this moment,” he said.
“I found the meeting that I had with the president a productive one and a meeting that came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran: the cost of housing, cost of childcare, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities.”
After threatening to cut federal funding to the US’s biggest city and to send in the US National Guard, Trump praised Mamdani’s historic election win during their meeting, saying he could do a “great job”.
“We’ve just had a great … very productive meeting. We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” he said later. “We are going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on the CNN news programme State of the Union that Trump wants to work with everybody who cares about the future of the American people.
“We’re at times disagreeing about policies,” Hassett said, “but I think that the objective of making life better for everybody is something that a lot of people share on the Democratic and Republican side.”
Nov. 23 (UPI) — A group of 50 schoolchildren who were kidnapped from St. Mary’s School in Niger state Friday have escaped, the Christian Association of Nigeria reported Sunday. More than 250 people remain in captivity.
The students range in age from 15 to 18 and escaped between Friday and Saturday, the Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of CAN said Sunday.
Some of the students hid in bushes to escape their captors, Bloomberg reported. Local farmers helped the children escape, according to Daniel Atori a St. Mary’s schools spokesperson.
School abductions have become more frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, and symbolic of growing insecurity and fear in the region, led by armed gangs targeting schools and demanding ransom for captured students.
The latest round of kidnappings has prompted international concern, and focused scrutiny on broader issues such as government-backed security, access to education and the vulnerability of communities in northern Nigeria.
The latest incident happened as the world’s political and religious leaders, as well as top entertainment personalities, have spoken out against the lack of safety for children in the region, including President Donald Trump, Pope Leo XIV and hip hop artist Nicki Minaj.
In the latest incident, gunmen entered the boarding school early on Friday and took 315 people — 303 students and 12 teachers and staff, remain captive, CAN reported.
The St. Mary’s incident was the second mass kidnapping in the past week, which has increased scrutiny on Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to better police the issue and offer better security for school children.
Brazil’s former president, convicted of a foiled coup, is under arrest after taking a soldering iron to the monitoring device.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has told a judge that “hallucinations” provoked by a change in his medication led him to tamper with his angle tag while under house arrest for an attempted coup.
In a custody hearing on Sunday following his detention the previous day over the incident, the far-right former leader told a Supreme Court judge that he experienced a medicine-induced “paranoia” that led him to take a soldering iron to the device.
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“[Bolsonaro] said he had ‘hallucinations’ that there was some wiretap in the ankle monitoring, so he tried to uncover it,” said Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino in a court document published shortly after the online hearing with the former president.
Bolsonaro was under house arrest while appealing his conviction for a botched military coup after his 2022 election loss, but had been taken into custody on Saturday after police reports he had attempted to violate the ankle tag rendered him a potential flight risk.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest hours after receiving information at 12:08am [03:08 GMT] on Saturday that the tag had been violated.
Bolsonaro denied he was trying to escape, telling Sorrentino that a mix of medicines prescribed by different doctors had led to the episode. He said he began taking one of them only four days before his detention on Saturday morning.
“The witness stated that, around midnight, he tampered with the ankle bracelet, then ‘came to his senses’ and stopped using the soldering iron, at which point he informed the officers in charge of his custody,” the court document said.
Sunday’s meeting was procedural in nature, but provided an opportunity for Bolsonaro’s lawyers to argue that the former president should remain under house arrest due to poor health. De Moraes has previously rejected similar requests.
A panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled in September that Bolsonaro tried to stage a coup and keep the presidency after his defeat by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022, sentencing him to 27 years and three months in prison.
On Monday, the same panel will vote on the pre-emptive arrest order.
President Lula made his first comments about his predecessor’s jailing at a meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) bloc of nations in South Africa. “The court ruled, that’s decided. Everyone knows what he did,” Lula told journalists.
Nov. 23 (UPI) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa brought the G20 summit in Johannesburg to a close Saturday, and rejected a proposal by the United States for him to pass control for next year’s meeting in Florida to a junior U.S. embassy official.
Ramaphosa depicted the two-day summit as a win for multilateralism but said it was marred by a U.S. boycott. The United States has repeatedly accused South Africa, without proof, of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners
“We’ve met in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa said in his closing remarks.
As he closed the conference, Ramaphosa said “We shall see each other again next year” in the United States. It was his only mention of the United States during the summit.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”
“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and robust U.S. objections, underscored the fact that they have weaponized their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” Kelly said.
As part of the conference Saturday, the G20 declared a need to address climate change and achieve “gender equality” among participating countries.
While not making any specific reference to President Donald Trump and the United States during the G20 summit, references were made to his administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his second term and its undoing of policies aimed at eliminating sexism, racism and homophobia.
South Africa offered to provide an equivalent junior diplomat to hand over the G20 presidency to the United States at his foreign ministry. Country officials said it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass the torch to a U.S. acting ambassador.
China, Russia and Mexico were also no-shows at the Johannesburg G20.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has routinely delegated attendance at such events to Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin is wanted by the international court and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum was not in attendance.
The 2026 G20 summit is scheduled to be held at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.
Gulf expert Gregory Gause explains what Saudi Arabia wants from Washington and what Washington wants from Riyadh.
United States President Donald Trump “looks at Saudi Arabia like a piggy bank or an ATM machine” and that’s why the recent Saudi-US summit focused on deals instead of strategic regional issues, such as Sudan, Palestine, Iran and Syria, argues political scientist Gregory Gause, professor emeritus of international affairs at Texas A&M University.
Gause tells host Steve Clemons that if Riyadh can seal a deal to house a joint AI data centre, “that’s the best guarantee of US security.”
He adds that China may be Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer but the US is Riyadh’s “preferred partner on security, AI, economics and defence cooperation”.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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President Umaro Sissoco Embalo wants a second term and is challenged by a relatively unknown candidate who is backed by a former prime minister.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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Voting stations are open in Guinea-Bissau, where the government has been afflicted by repeated coup attempts and where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo is seeking a rare second term in office amid fierce backlash from the opposition.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to vote on Sunday as the West African country faces a challenging election in a region where civilian administration has been undermined by military rulers who have taken power by force over the past several years.
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The winner needs more than 50 percent of the votes, or there will be a run-off election. Nearly half of the country’s 2.2 million residents are registered to vote.
There are 12 candidates, but the main race is believed to be between the president and Fernando Dias da Costa, a little-known 47-year-old who is backed by former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira.
Pereira, the runner-up in the 2019 presidential election, leads the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, but the politician and the top opposition party have been banned from taking part in Sunday’s election.
Embalo, 53, is a former army general who has served as president since February 2020. He was also the prime minister between November 2016 and January 2018.
The barred opposition maintains that Embalo’s term should have ended earlier this year, and the Supreme Court previously ruled that it should run until early September. The election was delayed until November.
Embalo dissolved the parliament, which was dominated by opposition figures in legislative elections held in 2019 and 2023, and has not allowed it to convene since December 2023.
He has promised to develop the small country’s infrastructure and modernise its main airport, among other things.
But Guinea-Bissau remains one of the world’s impoverished countries, with half its population considered poor, according to the World Bank.
The country has experienced numerous coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago.
There have been at least two attempts since Embalo took power. The latest was at the end of October, when the country’s army announced that a group of military officers had been arrested for allegedly planning a coup.
The administration of President Donald Trump has considered dropping leaflets on Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro turns 63 on Sunday. File Photo by Miguel Guiterrez/EPA-EFE
Nov. 23 (UPI) — The administration of President Donald Trump has considered dropping leaflets on Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro turns 63 on Sunday, reports said.
Trump administration officials “recently” discussed dropping the leaflets but the operation has not yet been authorized, as first reported by the Washington Post citing anonymous sources and confirmed by CBS News.
The leaflets would possibly include information on a $50 million reward for assistance leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction following a 2020 indictment charging him with narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, among other criminal offenses, sources who spoke to the news outlets said.
Dropping such leaflets is a common psychological warfare technique used globally, including by the U.S. military ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as in Syria and Afghanistan.
The possibility of a leaflet drop comes as Trump has increased military pressure with strikes on alleged drug boats and a buildup of military in the region. Such strikes have been regularly publicized on social media by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump also recently confirmed that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
Trump, who notified Congress that he was engaged in conflict with drug cartels, has said he is considering whether to allow strikes inside Venezuela to combat the cartels and weaken Maduro’s administration.
But the strikes have raised concerns of escalating a conflict that could lead to war with Venezuela and Colombia, according to reports.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a bipartisan bill last month that aimed at preventing the Trump administration from entering a full-throated war with Venezuela. Critics of the Trump administration’s actions have expressed that only Congress can declare war.
The strikes on alleged drug boats have been condemned by the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has said that they violate international law and amount to extrajudicial killings.
“Some schools do not have early warning systems.”
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1 of 3 | Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, pictured speaking at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil in 2021, has been arrested for allegedly attempting to flee before he is jailed for attempting a coup after the 2022 presidential election.. EPA-EFE/Joedson Alves
Nov. 22 (UPI) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained early Saturday in Brasilia because of a possible “attempted escape” to an embassy days before he was to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.
Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a preventive arrest warrant that had been sought by police for Bolonaro, 70, who had been under house arrest with an ankle monitor since early August.
Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday, the BBC reported.
He is scheduled to begin serving his sentence as the court reviews his appeals.
There was the possibility of “relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation,” the court said.
In August, police obtained a document during a raid that Bolsonaro had planned to seek asylum in Argentina last year. And days after the operation, he spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil in an apparent bid for asylum.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers planned to appeal the arrest, denying that Bolsonaro was attempting to flee.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who wrote the order, said “new facts” had come to light about the far-right former president.
His intention was “to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape” that would be “facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son” outside his apartment complex.
The judge described it as a “high possibility of an attempted escape.”
The vigil planned for Saturday night was organized by his oldest son, Flavio, a senator.
“Are you going to fight for your country or just watch everything on your phone on your couch at home?” he asked his followers in a social media video.
The court also said it was informed that there was a violation of Bolsonaro’s electronic monitoring equipment early Saturday.
“The information confirms the convict’s intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet in order to ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration,” the court said.
Bolsonaro’s sentence was to begin next week after all appeals were exhausted.
“The fact is that the former president was arrested at his home, with an electronic ankle monitor and under police surveillance. Furthermore, Jair Bolsonaro’s health is delicate and his imprisonment may put his life at risk,” his lawyers said in a statement.
And they noted the protest is protected by law.
On Sept. 11, Bolsonaro was sentenced and convicted in a plot to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Four of five justices convicted him on all five counts.
Aside from the coup attempt, Bolsonaro was found guilty of taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging protected public property after his supporters stormed government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023.
He is barred from running for public office until 2060, eight years after his sentence would end, when he would 105 years old.
On Friday, Bolsonaro’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring. He would be able to leave for medical treatment, including for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Earlier this month, high-ranking military officials and a federal police officer were sentenced to prison after the Supreme Court justices found them guilty of attempting a coup and plotting to kill Lula da Silva.
“The message to Brazil, and to the world, is that crime doesn’t pay,” Reimont Otoni, a Workers’ party congressman and backer of Otono.
Otoni noted Bolsonaro’s plot included a conspiracy to assassinate Lula.
Also, high court justices knew about plans to assassinate Lula’s vice presidential running mate, and to arrest and execute de Moraes.
The conspiracy failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders, and Lula was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2023.
One week later, supporters stormed and vandalized government buildings in the capital, Brasilia.
Bonsonaro, who has been referred to as the “Trump of the tropics,” has contended it was a “witch hunt.” U.S. President Donald Trump also calls it a “witch hunt” and punished the nation for the “disgrace” of how Bolsonaro has been treated, as well as for an “unfair trade relationship.”