10 Things Global News - 16th December 2025
Interesting and important news from around the world
Ukraine Claims First Underwater Drone Sub Strike
Peace Talks Near Deal, Territory Still Unresolved
Dozens Killed In Morocco Flash Floods
MI6 Warns Of Conflict Between Peace And War
ICC Keeps Gaza Probe Open, Israel Warrants Stand
Bondi Attack Probe Focuses On Philippines Trip
Trump Sues BBC Over Edited January 6 Speech
Ford Takes $19.5bn Charge As It Reworks EV Strategy
EU Set To Ease 2035 Combustion Engine Ban
Korea Zinc Plans US Refinery Backed By Washington
On this day …..
On this day in 1773, American colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in protest against taxes imposed without political representation - an act which became known as the Boston Tea Party.
The act followed years of mounting economic pressure and political exclusion under British rule. Rather than easing tensions, London responded with punitive laws designed to reassert control, narrowing the space for compromise.
The confrontation helped transform protest into rebellion and accelerated the path toward the American Revolution.
The episode illustrates how fiscal policy and political legitimacy are tightly linked, and how resistance can emerge when authority is exercised without consent.
History suggests that when governments raise burdens without representation, instability often follows rather than compliance.
Ukraine said it had knocked a Russian Kilo-class submarine out of operation in Novorossiysk using underwater Sea Baby drones, marking the first claimed strike of its kind. The Security Service of Ukraine said the vessel suffered critical damage while docked at the port, a key base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Russia did not immediately comment on the claim.
The announcement came as diplomatic activity intensified around a United States plan to end the war, with talks involving US, European and Ukrainian officials in Berlin. Ukraine has sought to demonstrate its ability to inflict losses after President Donald Trump said Kyiv did not “have the cards” in negotiations.
Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the operation marked another turning point in naval combat. However, he added that repairs would be difficult because they would need to be carried out above water, leaving the vessel exposed to further attack.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Independent
Senior US officials said the United States, Ukraine and major European countries have reached consensus on about 90 percent of terms for a deal to end Ukraine’s war with Russia, after intensive talks in Berlin with President Volodymyr Zelensky. They said the remaining gaps centre on territorial control, which may be left to bilateral talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Meanwhile, US officials said Washington has agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees, described as “Article 5-like”, and the administration plans to put the guarantees to the Senate. They also said no US troops would be deployed in Ukraine.
European leaders said they and the US committed to work together on “robust security guarantees”, including a European-led multinational force operating inside Ukraine and a peacetime Ukrainian army at 800,000.
Further talks are expected this weekend in Miami or elsewhere in the United States, US officials said.
Sources: Associated Press, The Hill
Flash floods have killed at least 37 people in Morocco’s Atlantic coastal province of Safi after torrential rain hit on Sunday, according to state media. Cars and mounds of rubbish were swept through the port city, while local authorities said dozens were treated in hospital and at least 70 homes in the old city were inundated.
Meanwhile, access to and from the city was blocked on some roads because of damage and debris, and residents described heavy losses. Moroccan authorities said search and rescue operations were continuing as teams secured affected areas and provided support.
Experts said the climate crisis is partly responsible for extreme weather fluctuations after seven consecutive years of drought depleted reservoirs. Last year was the hottest on record, and the weather service warned further heavy rain on Tuesday, along with snowfall across the Atlas mountains.
Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera
Britain’s MI6 chief has warned that the UK and its allies are now operating in a space between peace and war, as Russia uses tactics just below the threshold of open conflict. In her first public speech since taking office, Blaise Metreweli said Moscow was testing the West through hybrid activity including cyberattacks, drone incursions and disruption of infrastructure.
However, Metreweli said Russia’s approach should be understood as deliberate rather than accidental, describing the export of chaos as a feature of its international engagement. She said the UK would continue to apply pressure on President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, even as diplomatic efforts to end the war intensify.
Meanwhile, Metreweli said responding to these challenges requires MI6 to adapt rapidly to technological change. She told officers they must become as fluent in computer code as they are in human intelligence, arguing that power is becoming more diffuse as control of technology shifts away from states.
Sources: Associated Press, BBC
Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court rejected an Israeli legal challenge seeking to halt the court’s investigation into conduct during the Gaza war. Judges refused to overturn a lower court decision allowing the prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes that include events after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
As a result, the ICC’s Palestine investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence chief Yoav Gallant remain in place. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the ruling showed the court’s disregard for the sovereign rights of countries that are not members of the ICC.
However, judges also rejected Israel’s argument that a fresh notification was required before investigating post-October 7 events, ruling that the original notification issued in 2021 already covered later events. There is no timeline for the court to rule on Israel’s other challenges to jurisdiction in the case.
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera
Australian police are investigating why a father and son who opened fire at Bondi Beach visited the Philippines last month, as authorities pursue new leads into one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the pair appeared motivated by Islamic State ideology after targeting Jewish crowds gathered for Hanukkah on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.
Meanwhile, police said a car registered to the younger man was found near the beach and contained improvised bombs and two home-made Isis flags. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the reasons for the Philippines trip and where they went remain under investigation.
Philippine immigration officials said the pair spent almost all of November in the country, listed Davao as their final destination, and left on November 28 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila with Sydney as their final destination.
Sources: South China Morning Post, Times of India
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the BBC, seeking up to $10bn in damages over the editing of his January 6, 2021 speech in Washington before supporters stormed the US Capitol. He alleges the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” edited the remarks in a Panorama programme aired last year.
The suit says the edit spliced together two parts of the speech almost an hour apart, and it seeks $5bn on each of two counts, alleging defamation and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The case was filed in federal court in Miami.
However, the BBC has said the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologised, while insisting there is no legal basis for defamation. Trump’s filing argues Florida jurisdiction applies because the BBC does business in the state, including through its website and BritBox, even though the episode never aired in the US.
Sources: The Guardian, RFI
Ford Motor said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and scale back plans to produce electric vehicles, as it pivots toward gas and hybrid models. The company said it had overestimated demand for battery-powered vehicles, and said the shift also reflects policies that “yanked federal support for EVs” and eased tailpipe-emissions rules.
As a result, a new factory in Tennessee that had been expected to produce an electric pickup will instead produce a gasoline model, and Ford is scrapping a next-generation electric truck codenamed the T3. Ford also said it will cancel plans for an electric commercial van and replace the fully electric F-150 Lightning with a new extended-range electric model that uses a gas-powered engine to recharge the battery.
However, Ford said it expects profit before interest and taxes of about $7 billion for 2025, and said its global mix of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs will reach 50% by 2030.
Sources: New York Times, Reuters
The European Commission is set to propose scrapping the EU’s 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars on Tuesday, replacing it with a 90% emission-reduction target and allowing limited sales after the deadline. The original rules would have forced combustion-engine output to fall to zero by 2035.
As a result, carmakers could be allowed 10 per cent of 2021 emissions levels if they meet conditions that officials said may include using green steel, and the bloc may allow range extenders. Any change would need endorsement by EU governments and the European parliament.
However, the proposal has split member states. Germany and Italy have criticised the ban, while France and Spain argue it “must not be called into question”. Carmakers cite slow EV take-up and patchy charging infrastructure, even as batteries accounted for just over 16% of new vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2025.
Sources: FT, Japan Times
Korea Zinc said it will build a $7.4 billion critical minerals refinery in Tennessee that will be funded largely by Washington and help cut U.S. reliance on China.
An existing zinc refinery in Clarksville, Tennessee - bought from Trafigura’s Nyrstar - will be torn down and replaced by a larger facility that will open in 2029 and grow to annual output of 540,000 metric tons of critical minerals, including 300,000 tons of zinc and 35,000 tons of copper, officials said.
As a result, Korea Zinc will sell shares worth $1.9 billion to a joint venture controlled by the U.S. government and unnamed U.S.-based strategic investors. The U.S. Department of Defense will hold a 40% stake in the venture, and the project is expected to recruit retiring soldiers for 420 new jobs.