The Guardian·Thursday, December 25, 2025

The Guardian - Thursday, December 25, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

Hundreds of thousands newly displaced as Islamic State insurgency expands in Mozambique

Rising numbers of people flee jihadists, as violence against civilians increases and foreign aid dwindles More than 300,000 people have been displaced by an Islamic State insurgency in Mozambique since July, amid growing fears that authorities lack a workable plan to end the fighting. With wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan attracting more attention and foreign aid falling, the grinding conflict in Mozambique has been largely ignored or forgotten. More than 1 million people have been displaced, man

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Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation a crime

France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 to 1962 is marked by mass killings and large-scale deportation Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime and demanded an apology and reparations. Lawmakers, standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag, chanted “long live Algeria” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Al

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Libya’s army chief dies in plane crash in Turkey

Libyan PM says Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad died after aircraft lost radio contact above Ankara The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has been killed in a plane crash after leaving Turkey’s capital, Ankara. The prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed on Tuesday evening that Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad had died and that four others were on the jet with him. Continue reading...

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Freed Nigerian schoolchildren to be reunited with families

Month-long ordeal ends but no details released on how they regained their freedom or who was behind abduction A final group of 130 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren freed by the government on Sunday are expected to be reunited with their families in the central Niger state on Monday, ending a month-long ordeal that drew global concern. Last month, unknown gunmen took hundreds of schoolchildren and 12 teachers from St Mary’s Catholic school, Papiri community in Niger state, which runs west from t

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Another 130 kidnapped schoolchildren released in Nigeria

Presidential spokesperson says all those abducted from a Catholic school in Niger state last month are now free Nigerian authorities say they have secured the release of a further 130 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic school in November, after 100 were freed earlier this month. “Another 130 abducted Niger state pupils released, none left in captivity,” presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said on X, in a post accompanied by a photo of smiling children. Continue reading...

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‘They’re scared of us now’: how co-investment in a tropical forest saw off loggers

Low-cost tech and joined-up funding have reduced illegal logging, mining and poaching in the Darién Gap – it’s a success story that could stop deforestation worldwide There are no roads through the Darién Gap. This vast impenetrable forest spans the width of the land bridge between South and Central America, but there is almost no way through it: hundreds have lost their lives trying to cross it on foot. Its size and hostility have shielded it from development for millennia, protecting hundreds

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‘It’s the wildest place I have walked’: new national park will join up Chile’s 2,800km wildlife corridor

Government poised to officially protect 200,000 hectares of remote Patagonian coastline and forest Chile’s government is poised to create the country’s 47th national park, protecting nearly 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of pristine wilderness and completing a wildlife corridor stretching 1,700 miles (2,800km) to the southernmost tip of the Americas. The Cape Froward national park is a wild expanse of wind-torn coastline and forested valleys that harbours unrivalled biodiversity and has playe

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Trump-backed candidate Asfura declared new president of Honduras

Winning margin of 28,000 votes announced a month late but before review of all ‘inconsistent’ ballots was completed Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president. The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, again

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60 Minutes episode on brutal El Salvador prison, pulled from air by CBS, appears online

Segment that Bari Weiss had removed provides in-depth look at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison A 60 Minutes episode investigating a brutal prison in El Salvador, which CBS News’s editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, pulled from the air on Sunday, appeared online on Monday after appearing on a Canadian TV app. The segment, which runs for nearly 14 minutes and was viewed by the Guardian, provides an in-depth look at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Cecot) prison in El Salvador.

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Bolsonaro supporters ‘cancel’ Havaianas flip-flop brand over television ad

Son of jailed former Brazilian president says spokesperson for ‘national symbol’ sandals is ‘openly left wing’ Leaderless since its figurehead was jailed for attempting a coup, Brazil’s far right has found a new nemesis: the flip-flop brand Havaianas, which has been “cancelled” by Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters over a television advert. The controversy stems from the actor Fernanda Torres – the star of I’m Still Here, the Brazilian film that won an Oscar for best international feature – saying in t

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