Relatives fear for lives of men thought to remain trapped in war after allegedly being recruited by a daughter of Jacob Zuma
Mary hasn’t heard from her son since 27 August, when he told her he was worried he was being sent to the frontlines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Since then she has been ill with worry.
“I’m honestly really sick,” she said, exhaustion in her voice. “I get anxiety attacks, I’m in and out of hospital, palpitations. It’s just a whole lot. Headaches, I’m dizzy all the time. It’s not easy for me.”
Continue reading...
© Composite: Guardian Design/AP
© Composite: Guardian Design/AP
© Composite: Guardian Design/AP
Cuban officials denounce the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Key US politics stories from 13 December 2025
Cuban officials have denounced the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday, calling it an “act of piracy and maritime terrorism”, as well as a “serious violation of international law” that hurts the Caribbean island nation and its people.
The tanker, which was reported now to be heading for Galveston, Texas, was believed to loaded with nearly 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to internal data from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, as reported by the New York Times.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: AP
© Photograph: AP
© Photograph: AP
Her delivery might be stilted – but Truss’ new YouTube show has grand ambitions: a ‘Trump revolution’ in Britain with the help of an influential US conservative ecosystem
Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, began the first edition of her YouTube show with a vow to unmask “the evil-doers” attempting to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She would, she explained, reveal how an “international network of leftists work to subvert democracy and the will of the people”.
Despite her bleak monologue, Truss pointed to hope from across the Atlantic. “We’re going to look at the Trump revolution and see how this can be achieved in Britain,” she said. “We’ll be talking to the leading lights of the Maga movement.”
Continue reading...
© Composite: Guardian Design / Getty / YouTube
© Composite: Guardian Design / Getty / YouTube
© Composite: Guardian Design / Getty / YouTube
Forget homeschooling, how about taking your family on a perpetual gap year and quitting the nine-to-five? Families who did just that share the hostel horrors and mid-trip meltdowns behind the Instagram feed
It was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. Late last year, Josy and Joe Davis decided to quit their jobs, sell their home and pull their two young daughters out of school to travel the world. Though their life in Gloucestershire was good on paper, post-pandemic it had been increasingly feeling like a grind. Josy, 35, a police dispatcher, worked shifts that swung from early morning to late night. Joe, also 35, a logistics manager, was often on call until 10pm. Neither felt as if they could ever switch off – let alone enjoy family time.
Exhausted, Josy caught herself being short with her daughters, Lola and Zara, six and four. “I felt like I spent my days off recovering, rather than actually being present,” she says. Though only in Year 1, Lola was feeling the pressure at school, fretting about where she ranked in the class.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Courtesy of Sharon Ward
© Photograph: Courtesy of Sharon Ward
© Photograph: Courtesy of Sharon Ward
Baronesses Nadine and Ariane de Rothschild at odds over future of Swiss chateau’s priceless contents
After three generations of genteel discretion bordering on secrecy, the international banking family the Rothschilds has been riven by rival claims to a multibillion-euro fortune including a vast collection of art masterpieces.
The battle now playing out in the courts and media has pitched the 93-year-old senior baroness, Nadine de Rothschild – widow of Edmond de Rothschild, the late scion of the French-Swiss branch of the family – against her daughter-in-law, Ariane de Rothschild, the current baroness.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Luc Castel/Getty Images
© Photograph: Luc Castel/Getty Images
© Photograph: Luc Castel/Getty Images
The jailing of a Sudanese militia leader is an anomaly in a world where Putin, Netanyahu and yes, Hegseth, act without fear of international law
It was a rare success for international courts struggling to resist a rising tide of official lawlessness. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, a leader of the notorious, government-backed Janjaweed militia that committed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region from 2003 to 2005, was jailed for 20 years last week by the international criminal court (ICC). He had been found guilty on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Although hundreds of militia were involved, Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, is the first person to be convicted of atrocities in Darfur, now again the scene of terrible violence in Sudan’s civil war. The ICC has charged Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s president at the time, with genocide and war crimes. Ahmad Harun, a former minister, faces similar charges. But both men have evaded arrest.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: DOD Photo/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.
© Photograph: DOD Photo/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.
© Photograph: DOD Photo/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.
You’re reluctant to discuss this with your parents – but doing so might help you shake off the feeling of injustice
I am struggling with the different way my parents have treated me and my brother. My dad started a business when I was five. Now it’s worth several million. My brother was invited by my dad to go into the business when he left university. I was not. By then, the business was well established and my dad stayed on as CEO. My dad gave my brother 80% of it. He will now sell the business and realise millions, meaning he can retire early.
My dad helped me with university fees and house purchases. He’s told me I will inherit the house and whatever money is left when my parents pass away, which is likely to be in about 20 years. I doubt there will be anything left.
Continue reading...
© Illustration: Alex Mellon/The Guardian
© Illustration: Alex Mellon/The Guardian
© Illustration: Alex Mellon/The Guardian
© Bing Guan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Numerous studies have charted our waning ability to concentrate over the past quarter century; literacy rates and reading for pleasure are simultaneously on the decline amid a proliferation of ‘brain rot’ content. Helen Coffey digs into our collective loss of focus and asks the experts how to reverse the dumbing-down process
© Getty Images/iStockphoto
The British ‘Midsommar’ and ‘Saltburn’ actor, this month named one of ‘Hollywood’s hottest young stars’, now plays a stalked musician in the eerie thriller ‘Lurker’. He talks to Tom Murray about nascent celebrity, the provocations of Emerald Fennell, and his night at Paris Hilton’s birthday party
© Shutterstock
Connexion