Top World News

Feb 9, 2026 - World

Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, responds to criticism in the Munich Security Conference reportJimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison for national security offencesIn its section on Europe, the Munich Security Conference report has also warned that the continent was entering “a prolonged era of confrontation, as Russia’s full-scale war of aggression and expanding hybrid campaign dismantle the remnants of the post-cold war cooperative security order.”It also added that:“Washington’s gradual retreat from its traditional role as Europe’s primary security guarantor – reflected in wavering support for Ukraine and threatening rhetoric on Greenland – is heightening Europe’s sense of insecurity and exposing its unfinished transition from security consumer to security provider.”“Analysts widely view these operations as deliberate efforts by Moscow to probe Europe’s defences, sow division, intimidate publics, and weaken support for Ukraine by diverting attention toward domestic security. Europe now faces the challenge of proactively deterring further provocations while avoiding inadvertent escalation.”“European leaders have long refrained from overt criticism of US policies. Instead, they have pursued a dual strategy: striving to keep Washington engaged at almost any cost while cautiously preparing for greater autonomy. …Recent confrontations over Greenland, in turn, suggest that Europe’s strategy of accommodation may be reaching its limits.”“Given the urgency of these tasks and the limits of consensus-based decision-making, progress will depend on courageous leadership coalitions. Smaller avant-gardes, such as the Weimar Plus countries (France, Germany, Poland, and the UK) or the European Group of Five (the former plus Italy), will be essential to drive defense industrial consolidation, articulate a coherent European vision for Ukraine, and prepare the EU for enlargement. These steps will involve sharing costs and political risk. Continue reading...

Feb 9, 2026 - World

US president not challenged over false claims climate change is ‘hoax’ and parts of London have sharia lawThe UK’s media regulator Ofcom has been accused of abandoning “any pretence” of guarding against misleading and biased television coverage, after it refused to investigate a series of complaints about a GB News interview with Donald Trump.During the interview with the rightwing network, broadcast last November, the US president falsely claimed human-induced climate change was “a hoax” and that London had no-go areas for police. He said parts of the capital had “sharia law”. Continue reading...

Feb 9, 2026 - World

Journalist arrested after covering anti-ICE protest says it was ‘very frightening’ to experience government overreachThe former CNN anchor Don Lemon has warned the US must “keep fighting” for its right to a free press, calling it “the breath in the lungs of democracy” following his arrest alongside another journalist by the Trump administration.Lemon was arrested late last month, days after covering an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service. Continue reading...

Feb 9, 2026 - World

Tom Homan suggested that a widespread approach to immigration operations would lose public supportTom Homan – the Trump administration’s “border czar” sent to Minnesota in January after federal agents fatally shot two US citizen protesters – warned last year that the government’s aggressive, widespread approach to immigration enforcement would cost it public support.Homan made the observation in an interview with NBC in June for the forthcoming book Undue Process, by the network’s homeland security correspondent, analyzing the immigration policy of mass deportation that Donald Trump has pursued during his second presidency. Continue reading...

Feb 9, 2026 - World

Ghislaine Maxwell, co-conspirator to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, decided to invoke her 5th Amendment rights and refused to answer any questions Monday as the Department of Justice released a new video revealing her life behind bars. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said that Maxwell declined to answer lawmakers' questions when she came before the committee Monday, and has asked for clemency from President Donald Trump. Her attorney said in his opening statement that neither Trump nor former President Bill Clinton were blameless in Epstein's crimes. Her attorney also told lawmakers that she has a habeas corpus petition pending. Comer told reporters he did not think Maxwell should be granted any clemency, pointing to comments from Epstein survivors who had called her a "very bad person." In the new prison video released by the DOJ on Monday and filmed on July 5 2020, Maxwell was seen in an orange jumpsuit exercising in her cell, and eating lunch on her bed with her legs crossed, according to the BBC. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BBC News (@bbcnews)