Thailand and Cambodia agree on ceasefire, Cambodia Defence Ministry says
BREAKINGBREAKING, Agreement follows talks aimed at ending weeks of deadly clashes along the Thailand-Cambodia border. Published On 27 Dec 202527 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Thailand and Cambodia said they have signed a ceasefire agreement to end weeks of fierce fighting along their border which has killed more than 100 and forced the displacement of more than half a million civilians in both countries. “Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement,” the Thai and Cambodian defence ministers said in a statement on Saturday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” the ministers said. The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect at noon local time (05:00 GMT) and extends to “all types of weapons” and “attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”. The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ends 20 days of fighting, the worst between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in years. This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli settler runs over Palestinian man praying near Ramallah
NewsFeed An Israeli settler ran over a Palestinian man while he was praying by the roadside near Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah. In a separate incident the same day, armed settlers attacked homes in the village, injuring another man and firing live ammunition, as Israeli forces entered the area. Published On 26 Dec 202526 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Court finds Malaysia’s former PM Najib Razak guilty of abuse of power
BREAKINGBREAKING, Malaysian high court finds former PM Najib guilty in trial related to the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal. Published On 26 Dec 202526 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty in his second major trial involving the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. The ruling was handed down by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday, where Najib, 72, faced four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering over the illegal transfer of about 2.2 billion Malaysian ringgit ($539m) from 1MDB. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Prosecutors say Najib abused his position as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move large amounts of money from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund to his personal accounts more than a decade ago. Najib was previously found guilty and sentenced in 2020 to 12 years’ imprisonment for misappropriating about $9.9m in 1MDB funds. His sentence was later commuted to six years. This trial, Najib’s second, was widely considered the most significant to date because it directly involved 1MDB entities and much larger sums of money. The marathon legal proceedings have spanned seven years and saw lawyers call 76 witnesses to the stand, including Najib himself. “The trial has had a lot of delays, and it’s a very complicated thing to understand,” said Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate with the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia. “These financial crimes are multi-layered, and it’s been a long, extensive process,” Welsh told Al Jazeera. Najib apologised last year for mishandling the 1MDB scandal, but during his recent trial maintained that he had been led astray by the fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, who has been wanted by Interpol since 2016 and whose current whereabouts are unknown. Advertisement During legal proceedings on Friday, Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah told the court that evidence indicated Najib had an “unmistakable bond and connection” with Low, who served as the prime minister’s “proxy and intermediary”, Reuters reported. The judge also challenged Najib’s defence that he believed some of his ill-gotten funds were “donations” from the Saudi royal family, Reuters said. This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon. Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Nigeria confirms US strikes on ISIL targets in its northwest
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Nigeria says US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts by Nigerian authorities to safeguard religious freedom. Published On 26 Dec 202526 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Palestine Action: Prison hunger strikes that shaped history
Four members of the advocacy group Palestine Action have pledged this week to continue their hunger strike amid grave medical warnings and the hospitalisations of their fellow protesters. The group’s members are being held in five prisons in the United Kingdom over alleged involvement in break-ins at a facility of the UK’s subsidiary of the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire. They are protesting for better conditions in prison, rights to a fair trial, and for the UK to change a July policy listing the movement as a “terror” group. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Palestine Action denies charges of “violent disorder” and others against the eight detainees. Relatives and loved ones told Al Jazeera of the members’ deteriorating health amid the hunger strikes, which have led to repeated hospital admissions. Lawyers representing the detainees have revealed plans to sue the government. The case has brought international attention to the UK’s treatment of groups standing in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Thousands of people have rallied in support of Palestine Action every week. Hunger strikes have been used throughout history as an extreme, non-violent way of seeking justice. Their effectiveness often lies in the moral weight they place upon those in power. Historical records trace hunger strikes back to ancient India and Ireland, where people would fast at the doorstep of an offender to publicly shame them. However, they have also proved powerful as political statements in the present day. Advertisement Here are some of the most famous hunger strikes in recent world history: A pigeon flies past a mural supporting the Irish Republican Army in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, September 9, 2015 [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters] Irish Republican Movement hunger strikes Some of the most significant hunger strikes in the 20th century occurred during the Irish revolutionary period, or the Troubles. The first wave was the 1920 Cork hunger strike, during the Irish War of Independence. Some 65 people suspected of being Republicans had been held without proper trial proceedings at the Cork County Gaol. They began a hunger strike, demanding their release and asking to be treated as political prisoners rather than criminals. They were joined by Terence MacSwiney, the lord mayor of Cork, whose profile brought significant international attention to the independence cause. The British government attempted to break up the movement by transferring the prisoners to other locations, but their fasts continued. At least three prisoners died, including MacSwiney, after 74 days. Later on, towards the end of the conflict and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, imprisoned Irish Republicans protested against their internment and the withdrawal of political prisoner status that stripped them of certain rights: the right to wear civilian clothes, or to not be forced into labour. They began the “dirty protest” in 1980, refusing to have a bath and covering walls in excrement. In 1981, scores of people refused to eat. The most prominent among them was Bobby Sands, an IRA member who was elected as a representative to the British Parliament while he was still in jail. Sands eventually starved to death, along with nine others, during that period, leading to widespread criticism of the Margaret Thatcher administration. India’s Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was later popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, used hunger strikes as a tool of protest against the British colonial rulers several times. His fasts, referred to as Satyagraha, meaning holding on to truth in Hindi, were considered by the politician and activist not only as a political act but also a spiritual one. Gandhi’s strikes sometimes lasted for days or weeks, during which he largely sipped water, sometimes with some lime juice. They achieved mixed results – sometimes, the British policy changed, but at other times, there were no improvements. Gandhi, however, philosophised in his many writings that the act was not a coercive one for him, but rather an attempt at personal atonement and to educate the public. Advertisement One of Gandhi’s most significant hunger strikes was in February 1943, after British authorities placed him under house arrest in Pune for starting the Quit India Movement back in August 1942. Gandhi protested against the mass arrests of Congress leaders and demanded the release of prisoners by refusing food for 21 days. It intensified public support for independence and prompted unrest around the country, as workers stayed away from work and people poured out into the streets in protest. Another popular figure who used hunger strikes to protest against British rule in colonial India was Jatindra Nath Das, better known as Jatin Das. A member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, Das refused food while in detention for 63 days starting from August 1929, in protest against the poor treatment of political prisoners. He died at the age of 24, and his funeral attracted more than 500,000 mourners. Palestinian kids wave their national flag and hold posters showing Khader Adnan following his death on May 2, 2023 [Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo] Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons Palestinians held, often without trial, in Israeli jails have long used hunger strikes as a form of protest. One of the most well-known figures is Khader Adnan, whose shocking death in May 2023 after an 86-day hunger strike drew global attention to the appalling treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Adnan, who was 45 when he starved to death at the Ayalon Prison, leaving behind nine children, had repeatedly been targeted by Israeli authorities since the early 2000s. The baker from the occupied West Bank had once been part of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group as a spokesperson, although his wife later stated publicly that he had left the group and that he had never been involved in armed operations. However, Adnan was arrested and held without trial multiple times, with some estimates stating that he spent a cumulative eight years in Israeli prisons. Adnan would often go on hunger strike during those detentions,
Five people killed in firefight on Tajik-Afghan border, Tajikistan says
The incident is the third of its kind in recent weeks in which Tajik border guards and civilians have been killed. By News Agencies Published On 25 Dec 202525 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Five people have been killed in a firefight between border guards and intruders on Tajikistan‘s border with Afghanistan, the Tajik border protection agency says. Heavily armed raiders from Afghanistan crossed into Tajikistan at the village of Kavo in the Shamsiddin Shokhin district on Tuesday and were located on Wednesday, according to a statement by the border agency published by Tajik news agency Khovar. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The border agency said the men attacked a guard post, killing two border guards, and three of the intruders died in the ensuing gun battle. The agency said the incident was the third of its kind in recent weeks in which Tajik border guards and civilians were killed. The border guards secured the weapons and ammunition used by the intruders, including grenades, three M-16 rifles, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, three foreign-made pistols with silencers, 10 hand grenades, a night-vision scope, explosives and other ammunition at the scene, the agency said. “The terrorists refused to obey orders from Tajik border guards to surrender and offered armed resistance. They intended to carry out an armed attack on one of the border posts of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan,” the statement said. Chinese citizens working for a mining company in the region have also been among those killed. The latest incident demonstrated “the Taliban government’s failure to fulfil their international obligations and repeated commitments to ensuring security and stability along the state border with the Republic of Tajikistan and to combating members of terrorist organisations, reflecting serious and recurring irresponsibility”, the statement added. Advertisement It agency said that it expected an apology from the Afghan leadership. Tajikistan will defend its territorial integrity against “terrorists and smugglers” by all means, it added. Afghanistan has not yet commented on the incident. Drugs from Afghanistan are smuggled into Central Asia across the largely unsecured 1,340km (830-mile) border. Russian forces are stationed in Tajikistan and have in the past participated in joint exercises with Tajik forces to help secure the border. Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri dies at 72
Celebrated director of ‘Jenin, Jenin’ documentary leaves behind legacy of artistic resistance. Published On 25 Dec 202525 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri has died in northern Israel, ending a five-decade career that established him as one of the most influential voices in Palestinian cinema. Bakri died on Wednesday at Galilee Medical Centre in Nahariya after suffering from heart and lung problems, hospital officials said. Recommended Stories list of 2 itemsend of list His passing removes a towering figure whose work directly challenged Israeli narratives and whose decades-long legal battles over censorship became a defining chapter in Palestinian cultural resistance. The 72-year-old was best known for his 2002 documentary, Jenin, Jenin, which captured testimonies from Palestinian residents following a devastating Israeli military operation in the refugee camp that killed 52 Palestinians. The film ignited years of controversy in Israel but elevated Bakri’s status as a creative and would overshadow the remainder of his life. Israeli authorities banned the documentary from screening in 2021, with the Supreme Court upholding the prohibition in 2022, deeming it defamatory. “I intend to appeal the verdict because it is unfair, it is neutering my truth,” Bakri told the Walla News website at the time. Five soldiers sued Bakri, and courts eventually fined him hundreds of thousands of shekels while ordering all copies seized and online links removed. In an interview with the British Film Institute earlier this year, Bakri said, “I don’t see Israel as my enemy … but they consider me their enemy. They see me as a traitor … for making a movie.” Advertisement Born in 1953 in the Galilee village of Bi’ina, Bakri was a Palestinian citizen of Israel who studied Arabic literature and theatre at Tel Aviv University. He made his striking film debut at age 30 in Costa-Gavras’s Hanna K, playing a Palestinian refugee attempting to reclaim his family’s home. His role as a Palestinian prisoner in the 1984 Israeli film Beyond the Walls earned international acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for the production. But it was Bakri’s commitment to telling Palestinian stories that defined his career. He appeared in more than 40 films and directed several documentaries examining the experiences of Palestinians living under occupation and within Israel. His solo theatrical performance of The Pessoptimist, based on Emile Habibi’s novel about Palestinian identity, was performed more than 1,500 times worldwide and cemented his status as a cultural icon. Bakri is survived by his wife Leila and six children, including actors Saleh, Ziad and Adam, who have followed him into cinema. His funeral was held the same day in Bi’ina. Adblock test (Why?)
Syria says key ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi captured near Damascus
Syrian officials confirm the arrest of ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi in a security operation near Damascus. Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Syria’s Ministry of Interior has announced the arrest of Taha al-Zoubi, a leading figure in the ISIL (ISIS) group, in the Damascus countryside, the country’s SANA news agency reported. The report said a “tightly executed security operation” was carried out that led to the arrest of al-Zoubi, adding that “a suicide belt and a military weapon were seized in his possession”. SANA quoted Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, as saying the raid targeted an ISIL hideout in Maadamiya, southwest of Damascus, and was carried out “in cooperation” with an anti-ISIL alliance that includes the United States-led coalition fighting the group. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not publicly confirmed the operation. Al-Dalati said al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, served as the group’s “wali”,or governor, of Damascus and that several alleged aides were also detained. The official added that the arrest dealt a “crippling blow” to ISIL networks in the capital region and showed the “readiness of the security apparatus”. “We send a clear message to anyone who dares to engage in the project of terrorism or lend support to ISIS: The hand of justice will reach them wherever they are,” al-Dalati said. ISIL, which views the new government in Damascus as illegitimate, has mainly concentrated its activities against Kurdish forces in the north. At its peak, ISIL ruled an area half the size of the United Kingdom, spanning across Iraq and Syria, with Raqqa in the latter being the capital of the armed group’s self-declared “caliphate”. Advertisement The group was notorious for its brutality, carrying out massacres of Syrians and Iraqis and beheadings of foreign captives. ISIL was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but its fighters and cadres of armed group members still carry out deadly attacks in both countries and elsewhere, including in Africa and Afghanistan. Adblock test (Why?)
Explosion rocks crowded mosque in Nigeria, killing several people: Reports
The blast tore through a mosque in Maiduguri as worshippers gathered for evening prayers, witnesses say. By News Agencies Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share An explosion has ripped through a mosque in northeastern Nigeria as worshippers gathered for their evening prayers, killing and wounding several people, according to media reports. The blast took place at about 6pm on Wednesday (17:00 GMT) in the city of Maiduguri in Borno State, the Reuters and AFP news agencies reported, citing witnesses. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Police spokesman Nahum Daso confirmed the explosion and told AFP that an explosive ordnance team was already on site at the mosque in Maiduguri’s Gamboru market. There was no official word on casualties. But mosque leader Malam Abuna Yusuf told the AFP at least eight people had died, while a militia leader, Babakura Kolo, put the figure at seven. Another witness, Musa Yusha’u, told AFP that he saw “many victims being taken away for medical treatment”. The cause of the blast was not immediately known, but it occurred in a city that has been at the heart of an armed rebellion waged by Boko Haram and ISIL’s (ISIS) offshoot in the region, the Islamic State West Africa Province, for nearly two decades. The conflict has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced about two million from their homes since 2009, according to the United Nations. Though the violence has waned since its peak about a decade ago, it has spilt into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Concerns are also growing about a resurgence of violence in parts of the northeast, where armed groups remain capable of mounting deadly attacks despite years of sustained military operations. Advertisement Maiduguri itself – once the scene of nightly gun battles and bombings – has been calm in recent years, with the last major attack recorded in 2021. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump-backed conservative Nasry Asfura wins Honduras election: Authorities
Asfura says he is ready to govern after narrow vote as the US urges ‘all parties to respect the confirmed results’. Nasry Asfura, a conservative candidate backed by United States President Donald Trump, has won the closely contested presidential elections in Honduras, the country’s election council has said. The final results, announced on Wednesday – more than 20 days after the vote took place – are likely to lead to challenges in the Central American nation. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list According to the electoral authority, known as the CNE, Asfura won 40.3 percent of the vote, edging out centre-right Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla, who received 39.5 percent. In a brief social media post, Asfura thanked the CNE on Wednesday. “Honduras: I am prepared to govern. I will not fail you,” he wrote. Trump had come out strongly in support of Asfura, attacking Nasralla and left-wing candidate Rixi Moncada, who ended up garnering less than 20 percent of the votes. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quick to congratulate Asfura on Wednesday, saying that Washington looks forward to working with him. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” Rubio wrote in a social media post. In a separate statement, Rubio urged “all parties to respect the confirmed results” of the elections. Earlier this month, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez – a member of Asfura’s National Party – who was serving a lengthy prison sentence in the US for drug trafficking. Asfura, the former mayor of Honduras’s capital, Tegucigalpa, is of Palestinian descent. But his National Party is staunchly pro-Israel. Advertisement Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday that he spoke to Asfura and the officials agreed to “strengthen bilateral relations” between the two countries. “I conveyed our warm wishes to the people of Honduras, wished him success in his role, and invited him to visit Israel,” Saar said in a statement. “Honduras has a long history of friendship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” Under Hernandez in 2021, Honduras became only the fourth country to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in breach of international law. Asfura has also aligned himself with Trump and other right-wing leaders in the Americas, including Argentina’s Javier Milei. The Argentinian president hailed Honduras’s election results on Wednesday, calling it a victory against “narcosocialism”, although the National Party’s Hernandez is a convicted drug trafficker. “The Honduran people expressed themselves with courage at the ballot boxes and chose to end years of authoritarianism and decay,” Milei wrote in a social media post. “From Argentina, we celebrate the triumph of freedom and reaffirm our commitment to democracy, the popular will, and the unrestricted respect for institutions in the region.” Asfura’s victory marks another win for right-wing candidates in Latin America over the past year. Chile and Bolivia have also elected ultraconservative presidents in 2025, and last year, El Salvador’s right-wing leader Nayib Bukele comfortably won re-election. The results appear to reverse the “Pink Tide” – the wave of left-wing leaders who rose to power in the region in the early 2020s. The rise of right-wing governments in the region coincides with a US pressure campaign against Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and amassed US troops and military assets near the country. Adblock test (Why?)