World

A Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on Indonesia's death row tearfully reunited with family members Wednesday after arriving in Manila, where she now awaits a hoped-for pardon in a women's prison.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso landed at daybreak, then was immediately transferred to prison following a repatriation deal between the two countries over a decade in the making.

Bashar al-Assad's overthrow has cleared the way for US strikes against the Islamic State group in areas previously shielded by Syrian and Russian air defenses -- but the jihadists may also try to exploit the vacuum left by his fall.

The militant group, often referred to as ISIS or IS, rose out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to seize swathes of territory there and in neighboring Iraq, prompting a U.S.-led air campaign starting in 2014 in support of local ground forces who ultimately defeated the jihadists.

Famed Australian broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones said Wednesday he is "certainly not guilty" of alleged historical sex crimes, after his first court appearance.

The 83-year-old is a household name across Australia and for years he held immense sway through his conservative radio talk show.

by Marchio GORBIANO

Tsunami-hit nations will next week commemorate the more than 220,000 people who died in the Boxing Day disaster two decades ago, when huge waves tore into coastal communities around the Indian Ocean.

by Tomohiro OSAKI

Japan's government voiced dismay on Wednesday over the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson after Danish authorities refused Tokyo's extradition request.

The prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson was released Tuesday from prison in Greenland after Danish officials rejected a request by Japan to extradite him.

Watson was arrested in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, in July due to a warrant issued by Japan in 2012, which alleged that Watson had interfered with a Japanese whaling vessel and caused injury to a crew member in 2010, according to The New York Times. He could have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration is in "maximum chaos" as one of his most trusted allies, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, essentially bailed on him and put his political future into question, Bloomberg News reported in an interview with Brian Platt, the agency's reporter in Ottawa.

It's already a volatile moment for Trudeau with the changing of U.S. leadership and a public dispute with incoming President Donald Trump, who threatened him over tariffs, flippantly suggested Canada should become a U.S. state and led to Trudeau even considering resignation himself.

Syria's new rulers stepped up engagement on Tuesday with countries that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah, with the French flag raised at the embassy for the first time in over a decade.

Assad fled Syria just over a week ago, as his forces abandoned tanks and other equipment in the face of a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quietly defied mounting calls for his resignation on Monday, asking Dominic LeBlanc to serve as finance minister after Chrystia Freeland resigned from the post with a scathing letter that sounded the alarm about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose economically devastating tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Ahead of a Liberal caucus meeting, some members of Trudeau's own party joined Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre, and New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh in urging him to step aside. Federal elections must be held by October but some want them called immediately.

Mexico is scrambling to prevent a crisis at its border with the United States ahead of another Donald Trump presidency during which he has vowed mass deportations.

US authorities estimate that there are around 11 million unauthorized people living in the United States, mostly from Mexico and Central America.

Politician Gerry Adams, whose Sinn Fein party was once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, will stand trial in 2026 in a civil case brought by IRA bomb victims, England's High Court ruled Monday.

The case will go to trial between February and June 2026 and the former republican leader will defend himself, it was confirmed at a case management hearing at London's Royal Courts of Justice.

A UK court will Tuesday hand down its sentences on the father and stepmother of a British-Pakistani girl, who died from prolonged and horrific abuse in a case which shocked the UK.

Sara Sharif was just 10 when she was found dead in her bed in August 2023, her body covered in bites and bruises, with broken bones and burn marks.

by Jastinder Khera and Johanna Lehn

As Germany heads for elections, its security services warn that Russia and its sympathizers may step up meddling and disinformation to boost extremist parties and sow doubt about the democratic process.