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38+ min ago (2008+ words) Having just released a fascinating new memoir, in a hugely compelling interview, veteran broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan discusses the Troubles, personal loss, scandals, encounters with cranky musicians, and a whole lot more. "I think my life doesn't get any less busy," says a voice down the phone with familiar South Dublin elocution. "But I'm delighted, because I have a strong view that this is our one and only life, and we should live it to the full." It might sound like a sentiment you'd find on your aunt's kitchen wall, but in Miriam O'Callaghan's case, she means it. Few have packed as much into one lifetime. She's been witness and narrator to modern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement. Nation-shaping referendums. She's had ministers come out as gay live on air, befriended the Clintons, and been responsible for making sense of the…...

41+ min ago (529+ words) Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee urges the public to come out and vote amid expectations of a low turnout. Voters in Hong Kong are heading to the polls to elect new lawmakers under China's "patriots only" rules, though government efforts to drive turnout have been overshadowed by anger over the city's handling of a major deadly fire. Polls opened early on Sunday across the autonomous Chinese city to select 90 legislators, though only 20 of those seats are directly elected. The election is only the second time since the city overhauled the electoral system to ensure that only those deemed "patriots" can run for office. Political campaigning for the polls was abruptly paused in late November, after a blaze tore through the housing blocks of Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong, killing at least 159 people. Al Jazeera's Laura Westbrook, reporting…...

49+ min ago (28+ words) Group of soldiers announce the removal of President Patrice Talon and all state institutions. Group of soldiers announce the removal of President Patrice Talon and all state institutions....

51+ min ago (739+ words) From Madrid to Lima, and Buenos Aires to Brisbane, supporters gather to celebrate the opposition leader's Nobel Peace prize win. Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado have rallied in countries around the world to celebrate her Nobel Peace Prize win ahead of Wednesday's award ceremony Thousands of people marched through Madrid, Utrecht, Buenos Aires, Lima, Brisbane and other cities on Saturday in support of 58-year-old Machado, who won the Nobel award for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in Venezuela. The crowd in Peru's capital, Lima, carried portraits of Machado and demanded a "Free Venezuela. With the country's yellow, blue and red flag draped over their backs or emblazoned on their caps, demonstrators clutched posters that read, "The Nobel Prize is from Venezuela. Veronica Duran, a 41-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Lima for eight years, said…...

1+ hour ago (1072+ words) Inside the New Jersey State Prison, a dual economy thrives underground. There's an old saying in Urdu: Zaroorat ijaad ki maa hai (necessity is the mother of all inventions). I would often hear it as a child growing up in Pakistan. I've always been fascinated by how some phrases leap across languages without losing their truth. You see, survival has a universal dialect, and here, behind the castle walls of New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), necessity isn't just a mother, it's a warden, a foreman, and a constant whisper in your ear. Like the chains and hooks once used for corporal punishment in the basement of the "Warden's House" at NJSP, prison labour is a relic of another time. It is a system that still smells faintly of chain gangs and sweat-soaked fields. Here at NJSP, we work because we're…...

1+ hour, 44+ min ago (90+ words) A neo-Nazi march has been held in Sweden's capital for the first time in 15 years. Resurgent neo-Nazis march against multiculturalism in Sweden's capital A neo-Nazi march has been held in Sweden's capital for the first time in 15 years, bringing together far-right white supremacist groups. Police gave permission for the rally to go ahead, to commemorate the killing of a 17-year-old with extremist ties, that used to be held annually in the early 2000s. Al Jazeera's Nils Adler was there....

1+ hour, 56+ min ago (859+ words) US defense secretary Pete Hegseth under siege over mishandling of classified military intelligence and Caribbean boat attacks. Key US politics stories from 6 December 2025 Pete Hegseth is facing the most serious crisis of his tenure as defense secretary, engulfed by allegations of war crimes in the Caribbean and a blistering inspector general report accusing him of mishandling classified military intelligence. But Hegseth shows no signs of stepping down and still holds Donald Trump's support. The twin crises have engulfed the former Fox News personality in separate but overlapping allegations that lawmakers, policy experts and former officials say reveal a pattern of dangerous recklessness at the helm of the Pentagon. Democratic legislators have reignited calls for his ouster after revelations that survivors clinging to wreckage from a September boat strike were deliberately killed in a "double-tap" attack, while a defense department investigation…...

1+ hour, 57+ min ago (339+ words) An impressive display of world-class scientists recently (Nov. 27th) held a UK National Emergency Briefing, informing the world of impending climate change disaster scenarios that can no longer be ignored. A wartime footing is necessary. Ten of the UK's leading experts briefed politicians, business leaders, faith leaders, sports, and the media in a marathon session. The original video of the event d/d November 27th runs 3:05. Herein, a sampling of excerpts of the first five speakers suffices to emphasize the critical nature of the subject prompting this emergency briefing. These excerpts are a combination of direct quotes as well as summaries of statements. Excerpts of First Four Speakers: Tim Lenten, Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter: Tipping Points. An upcoming example of the most dangerous tipping point is AMOC, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is already showing signs of slowing. Paleoclimate…...

2+ hour, 11+ min ago (364+ words) Greek coastguard says two survivors in critical condition have been hospitalised. The bodies of at least 17 migrants and asylum seekers have been found in a partially deflated boat off the Greek island of Crete, according to the country's coastguard. The victims, as well as two survivors, were discovered on Saturday, some 26 nautical miles (48km) southwest of Crete. A spokeswoman for the Greek coastguard told'the AFP news agency that all of the victims were men. "Two survivors in critical condition have been hospitalised," the spokeswoman added. "Autopsies have to be carried out as the circumstances of the sinking are not known." The Athens News Agency reported that the boat was spotted by a Turkish cargo ship, which alerted the authorities. The Greek coastguard rushed two vessels to the scene, while the European Union's border agency Frontex sent a boat, an aircraft and…...

2+ hour, 44+ min ago (273+ words) President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can't be solved "via executive fiat' President Trump is slumping in the polls, said Joshua Green on Bloomberg, and he may drag the Republican Party down with him. He is now receiving a negative approval rating from every major pollster. But the "most stinging" numbers came in a recent Fox News survey, in which only 41% of respondents approved of Trump's job performance " his lowest rating in the poll since October 2017. It didn't have to be like this. Voters would have given Trump "loads of slack" had he tried to clean up the "inflationary mess" left by Biden. Instead, he squandered that goodwill on tariffs, and helped Democrats up off the mat. Trump has clawed his way back up the polls before, said Ross Douthat in The New York…...