10 Things Global News - 15th December 2025
Interesting and important news from around the world
Father And Son Responsible For Bondi Beach Terror Attack
Britain Warns Russia Has Already Brought War Home
Hamas Warns Israel Strike Threatens Gaza Ceasefire
Zelenskyy Signals Nato Concession In Push For Ukraine Peace
Thailand Weighs Fuel Pressure As Cambodia Fighting Spreads
Chile Elects Kast In Sharp Rightward Shift
IS Ambush Kills Three Americans In Central Syria
UN Condemns Drone Attack Killing Peacekeepers In Sudan
Machado Backs Trump Pressure Campaign On Maduro
Jimmy Lai Convicted In Landmark Hong Kong Security Trial
On this day …..
On this day in 1970, the Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 became the first human-made object to land on and then transmit data from the surface of another planet.
After surviving a descent through Venus’s extreme atmosphere, the probe landed and sent back temperature readings before failing.
The achievement came at the height of the Cold War, when space exploration was as much about technological prestige as scientific discovery.
While lunar missions captured public attention, Venera 7 quietly expanded humanity’s reach beyond Earth’s orbit.
The success of the voyage showed how far man’s ambitions could reach and was a rung in the ambition of mankind to reach far into space and extend earthbound rivalries to new frontiers.
Australian authorities say a father and son carried out a mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration, killing 15 people aged between 10 and 87 and injuring dozens more. Police said the attack took place on Sunday evening as crowds gathered for a Jewish community event, prompting a large emergency response and the closure of the area.
One gunman, aged 50, was shot dead by police at the scene. His 24-year-old son was arrested and taken to hospital in a critical condition. Investigators have started to focus on how the attackers were able to operate in a country with strict gun laws. Police said the older man held a firearms licence and that multiple weapons were recovered.
However, authorities said there was no indication thus far that the attack had been planned in advance. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the shooting as an antisemitic act of terrorism and said it struck at the heart of the nation, while New South Wales leaders signalled likely changes to gun laws following the attack.
Sources: Associated Press, The Guardian
Britain is already on the front line of conflict with Russia, the head of MI6 will warn, arguing that traditional ideas of warfare no longer apply. In her first public speech, Blaise Metreweli is expected to say the UK faces an age of uncertainty driven by disinformation, cyberattacks and sabotage backed by Moscow.
Speaking at MI6 headquarters in London, Metreweli will describe Russia as aggressive, expansionist and revisionist, and say the export of chaos is a deliberate strategy rather than an accident. She will argue that these methods mean the British public already experiences the front line directly, rather than through distant battlefields.
Meanwhile, senior military leaders are expected to reinforce the message. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton will warn that the price of peace is rising and that Russia’s war aims have not changed. As a result, he will argue that national security now requires a whole-of-society response, extending beyond armed forces to broader national resilience.
Sources: The Times, CNN
Hamas says Israel’s killing of a senior commander in Gaza risks undermining the fragile ceasefire agreed in October, accusing Israel of violating the truce. The group confirmed that Raed Saed was killed on Saturday alongside three associates, prompting large funeral rallies in Gaza City that underscored Hamas’s continued presence.
In a televised address, chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the assassination was the most high-profile killing of a Hamas figure since the ceasefire began. However, Israel said Saed had been actively working to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities, including weapons manufacturing, which it described as a serious breach of the agreement.
As a result, tensions have sharpened over the next phase of the truce. Israeli forces remain in control of eastern Gaza, while Hamas has reasserted authority in the west. The sides remain divided over disarmament, troop withdrawal and the role of an international stabilisation force, leaving the ceasefire vulnerable to further escalation.
Sources: Reuters, Washington Post
Ukraine’s president has said he is willing to drop the country’s ambition to join Nato as part of efforts to end the war with Russia, marking a significant shift in Kyiv’s long-held position. Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the offer during more than five hours of talks in Berlin with US envoys seeking progress on a peace deal.
Zelenskyy said the move would be a compromise, arguing that Nato membership had been Ukraine’s preferred security guarantee but lacked full backing among US and European partners. However, he said legally binding guarantees from the United States, Europe and other allies could prevent a renewed Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, the talks underscored how far the sides remain apart. Russia has long demanded that Ukraine renounce Nato aspirations and accept neutrality, while Kyiv has resisted ceding territory it still controls. As a result, negotiations now hinge on whether security guarantees and a ceasefire along current front lines can bridge those competing demands.
Sources: The Guardian, New York Times
Thailand’s military said it is considering blocking fuel exports to Cambodia, including asking the navy to be vigilant against ships carrying strategic supplies and designating maritime zones near Cambodian ports as high-risk. The discussion comes as fighting spread to coastal areas of a disputed border region two days after President Donald Trump said the sides had agreed to a new ceasefire.
Thailand is weighing additional pressure even as it says there are no orders yet and the measures will be discussed at a security meeting on Monday. The energy ministry said Thailand has halted exporting oil to Cambodia since June, after exporting 2.2 billion litres last year. Thailand also announced a curfew in Trat province after BM-21 rockets fired by Cambodia killed a soldier and a civilian.
Thai forces said they destroyed a bridge used to deliver heavy weapons and targeted pre-positioned artillery in Koh Kong. Cambodia accused Thailand of striking civilian infrastructure, while Thailand said it targeted only military targets.
Sources: South China Morning Post, Reuters
José Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidential runoff on Sunday, a decisive turn to the right after a campaign dominated by fears over crime, migration and economic uncertainty. With more than 98 percent of ballots counted, the Republican Party leader had more than 58 percent of the vote, while Jeannette Jara, a Communist Party candidate, had about 42 percent.
Kast framed his mandate around security and order, pledging to restore peace, order, growth and hope. He said Chile would be free from crime again, and said he would chase criminals and lock them up.
Kast is set to take office on March 11, 2026, and he has pledged to give undocumented migrants until that date to leave the country, warning that those who remain would face deportation or prosecution. The result reverses the path of the current left-wing administration of President Gabriel Boric, and aligns Chile with other nations in the region where security and migration have become decisive electoral issues.
Sources: NPR, New York Times
Three Americans were killed in Syria after an ambush by a lone Islamic State gunman, according to the US military, underscoring the persistent threat posed by the group despite years of counterterrorism operations. Two US service members and a US civilian interpreter died in the attack, while three other American personnel were injured.
The ambush occurred near Palmyra in central Syria while US and Syrian forces were conducting a meeting, the Pentagon said. The gunman was engaged and killed at the scene. Meanwhile, Syrian officials said several Syrian security personnel were also wounded during the clash.
US President Donald Trump described the incident as an ISIS attack and warned of serious retaliation. US officials said the investigation is ongoing and no group has formally claimed responsibility. The attack took place in an area outside the Syrian president’s control, highlighting continued instability as the United States maintains a military presence in Syria as part of efforts to combat remaining IS fighters.
Sources: BBC, Associated Press
A drone attack on a United Nations peacekeeping facility in Sudan has killed six peacekeepers and wounded eight others, drawing strong condemnation from the UN secretary-general. The strike hit a UNISFA logistics base in Kadugli, in South Kordofan, with all the victims identified as Bangladeshi nationals serving with the mission.
UN chief António Guterres described the attack as horrific and said assaults on UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. However, there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Sudan’s army blamed the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group it has been fighting in a civil war for more than two years.
The attack has intensified calls for accountability and a renewed ceasefire. Guterres urged the warring parties to halt hostilities and return to an inclusive political process. The strike came just a month after the UN Security Council renewed UNISFA’s mandate, as violence continues to devastate Sudan and deepen its humanitarian crisis.
Sources: Al Jazeera, UN News
María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, said she “absolutely” supports President Donald Trump’s strategy toward Nicolás Maduro, speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation. She said she recently left Venezuela to collect her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, her first public appearance in almost a year after living in hiding.
The U.S. has increased pressure on the Maduro regime with strikes on alleged drug boats off Venezuela’s coast, new sanctions on Venezuelan individuals and vessels, and the seizure of an oil rig. In recent months, the U.S. has killed at least 80 people in strikes targeting small vessels in the Caribbean Sea, and seized an oil tanker it accused of transporting sanctioned oil shipments from Venezuela and Iran.
Machado said she would “welcome more and more pressure” so Maduro understands “that he has to go”, and called for “every legal action” through a law enforcement approach.
Sources: The Independent, CBS News
Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday found Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and of conspiracy to publish seditious material in the city’s highest-profile trial under a national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020. Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, had pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The court ruling could see him jailed for life, and a pre-sentencing hearing where he can plead for lenience is scheduled for January 12. Lai has already spent five years in jail, and his family say his health has worsened after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement.
The case has drawn international scrutiny of Hong Kong’s judicial independence, with countries including the U.S. and Britain, as well as rights groups, calling for Lai’s immediate release. China’s national security office in Hong Kong called him a “pawn of external anti-China forces”.