Top World News

Dec 1, 2025 - World

Data comes as KPMG highlights soft consumer spending as one factor likely to hold back growth in 2026Shoppers held back from visiting high streets over Black Friday, data shows, amid fears weak consumer spending will put the brakes on economic growth in 2026.Visitors to all UK shopping destinations were down 2% on Friday and 7.2% compared with the equivalent days last year, according to the monitoring company MRI Software, with locations near central London offices among the few to experience a lift in visits. Continue reading...

Dec 1, 2025 - World

Residents in Batn al-Hawa have all but given up hope and blame the Gaza war which, they say, has created ‘an atmosphere of hate’ towards themThe dome of the al-Aqsa mosque gleamed in the late afternoon autumnal sun as Zohair Rajabi looked out from his balcony towards the skyline of Jerusalem’s Old City. Christian pilgrims spilled out of buses, while observant Jewish worshippers gathered outside the gate to the Western Wall.New flags now fly a few metres from Rajabi’s home. Blue and white and bearing the Star of David, they mark where residents were evicted recently from their homes by Israeli police. After more than 20 years of activism, Rajabi knows his days in Batn al-Hawa, a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood less than a mile south of the Old City, are almost certainly numbered. Continue reading...

Dec 1, 2025 - World

Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030In Mozambique, a teenage rape victim sought care at a health clinic only to find it closed. In Zimbabwe, Aids-related deaths have risen for the first time in five years. In Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), patients with suspected HIV went undiagnosed due to test-kit stocks running out.Stories of the devastating impact of US, British and wider European aid cuts on the fight against HIV – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – continue to mount as 2025 comes to an end, and are set out in a series of reports released in the past week. Continue reading...

Dec 1, 2025 - World

Refugee Council says Home Office figures show safe and legal pathways are ‘disappearing when most needed’The number of refugees allowed to settle in the UK under UN-facilitated schemes has dropped by more than a quarter in a year, according to figures released by the Home Office.Just 7,271 people were granted protection through refugee resettlement programmes in the year ending September 2025, about half of whom were Afghans whose lives were at risk after an accidental data breach by a UK defence official. Continue reading...

Dec 1, 2025 - World

Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and ‘Tree of Wisdom’ appeared in now-deleted video from singer Keli HolidayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Wiggles want to make one thing very clear: they do not condone the use of MDMA.After two of its members appeared in a controversial TikTok video, the group – which has entertained children around the world for decades – issued a statement on the weekend denying any suggestion it supports the use of drugs. Continue reading...