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Mumbai facility is part of Reliance Industries, owner of world’s biggest oil refinery and funder of controversial mega-zooThe Prince of Wales’s Earthshot prize will host its forthcoming annual awards ceremony at a venue owned by the billionaire Ambani family conglomerate, drawing criticism from conservationists over their fossil fuel businesses and their foundation’s controversial mega-zoo.A spokesperson for the Earthshot prize, which awards £1m to five winners every year to invest in conservation work, confirmed to the Guardian and the news outlet Mongabay that this year’s ceremony will be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on 17 November. Continue reading...

Activists fear Bangkok will give in to pressure from Beijing despite reports of torture and human rights abuses against the mostly muslim ethnic minorityThe deportation of two more Uyghurs to China from Thailand would put their lives in grave danger, activists have said, with one of the men saying he would be “like a slave” if he was sent back.Last year, Thai authorities forcibly deported 40 Uyghur men to China despite pleas from the men themselves and the UN. The US and Canada had reportedly offered to resettle them, but Bangkok appeared to want to avoid upsetting Beijing. The UN has said the returnees’ whereabouts remain unknown. Continue reading...

National party will be largest in parliament but ultimate shape of next government won’t be settled for some timeNew Zealand could be facing a weeks-long wait to know the shape of its next government, after its nail-biting election failed to hand a decisive victory to either the incumbent rightwing coalition or opposition left bloc.On preliminary results, the centre-right National party, led by the prime minister, Christopher Luxon, managed to secure enough seats to govern alongside its traditional coalition partners, the libertarian Act and populist New Zealand First parties. Continue reading...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid down a stern warning to his top deputies behind closed doors, according to a new report.Rubio told senior State Department officials in a meeting last week that unethical conduct would get them fired no matter how well connected they were, Reuters reported Saturday, citing four people familiar with the matter. The meeting came after Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as U.S. ambassador to Greece in mid-October, following news reports that raised concerns she had traded access to Trump administration officials for money, gifts and favors.Guilfoyle has denied those reports and said on social media that she would defend her reputation.According to the people who spoke to Reuters, the meeting included many of the department's roughly two dozen assistant secretaries. Rubio complained that too many officials were pushing their own policy agendas without coordinating, and he told them major decisions needed approval from him or Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.The State Department declined to comment on the meeting.Shortly afterward, policy chief Jeremy Lewin was pushed out of his post, three of the sources told Reuters, partly over concerns that he was working on issues beyond his portfolio. One source said department leadership had grown frustrated with his "freelancing." None of the sources tied his exit to ethical misconduct.Lewin, who came to government through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, disputed that account in a statement to the outlet."The suggestion that I was fired is false," he said, adding that he left to take a private sector job and plan his wedding.Rubio's office now also has to sign off on all political travel after he grew frustrated with how often political staff were traveling overseas, one of the sources said.The crackdown arrives as Republicans regroup after Tuesday's midterm losses handed Democrats control of Congress. Democrats have vowed to investigate dealings between Trump aides and foreign officials once they take power in January. The Trump administration has denied allegations of self-dealing.Rubio has played down speculation about a 2028 presidential run but has not ruled one out, and Reuters noted his handling of the department could become a campaign issue if he jumps in.

Hollywood star turned right-wing commentator Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assault by a London jury.Jurors at Southwark Crown Court returned guilty verdicts Thursday on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, TMZ reported. The jury found him not guilty of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand, 51, had denied all the charges.The judge signaled that prison time is all but certain. “Obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result,” the judge told Brand after the verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.Best known for Hollywood comedies like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Get Him to the Greek," Brand reinvented himself in recent years as an online commentator popular on the right, building a massive following with anti-establishment videos. Deadline described him as a “MAGA outrider,” and after he was charged last year, Fox News host turned podcaster Tucker Carlson called on the Trump administration to “rescue” him from what Carlson called “political and absurd” charges.The trial featured testimony from several women who accused Brand of sexual misconduct, according to TMZ. One accuser, recalling an alleged 1999 assault, described his behavior as “lizard-like.” Another told jurors that after Brand raped her, he said he wanted to “push [her] further.”During the trial, the judge ordered a not-guilty verdict on one count of indecent assault, and prosecutors then brought a new charge of attempted indecent assault, on which the jury acquitted him.TMZ reported that Laura Brand, his wife, backed him throughout the proceedings and took the stand in his defense. She described him as a wonderful father and an “amazing, attentive husband.”

The massive electoral wipeout Republicans suffered on Tuesday did not go unnoticed by Iran’s leadership.According to Politico, Tehran took a victory lap as voters dealt a resounding blow to President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X as the results came in.Ghalibaf, who has played a prominent role in negotiations to end the monthslong war, also threatened retaliation if Washington resumes all-out fighting, Politico is reporting.“If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare,” he wrote.Tehran had been anxiously watching the midterms for weeks. According to Politico, Iranian negotiators reportedly even stalled recent talks to keep gas prices high and fuel voter frustration with the Trump administration over affordability.Iranian state media also had a field day as Democrats flipped both the House and the Senate, according to the report.“War on Iran Emerges As Major Factor in Republicans’ Midterm Defeat,” read one headline from Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.State-run IRNA led with a headline announcing a “heavy defeat for Trump and his supporters,” citing “an unprecedented level of dissatisfaction with US President Donald Trump,” driven in large part by the war.Some anti-war voices in Washington also declared the vote a win for Tehran, Politico also reported.“The Democrats didn’t win the midterms,” wrote Trita Parsi, co-founder of the anti-interventionist Quincy Institute. “Iran did.”

Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade took to Fox Business Tuesday to question President Donald Trump’s supposed decision to “cut off” all U.S. aid to Israel by the end of this year, accusing the president of giving in to the demands of some Democrats.Earlier on Tuesday, Trump ignited an international firestorm after claiming that he’d reached an agreement to end all U.S. aid to Israel within the next two months, potentially putting the roughly $4 billion in annual U.S. aid to Israel in jeopardy. Talks on phasing out such aid have been underway for months, but they’ve centered on a 10-year phaseout, not a cutoff by the end of 2026.“[Trump] went on to say the $4 billion, we’re gonna be cutting off to not give the Democrats a talking point... I don’t know,” Kilmeade said, speaking with Fox Business’ Stuart Varney. “I know their GDP is growing at a pretty good rate, and I know that economically they’ve been a miracle story even while fighting this war for the last four years, but I have no idea why you would give in to Democrats who want to cut off aid to Israel, our number-one ally in the region!”Varney echoed Kilmeade’s alarm, taking it a step further.“He seems like he is accommodating the anti-Israel feeling that is clearly growing in this country — and the president is accommodating it on Election Day!” Varney said.The announcement reportedly caught Israeli officials by surprise. The Israeli Finance Ministry, according to Fox News’ Jonathan Hunt, reporting live Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel, said it was “entirely unaware of any intention by the U.S. to cancel that $4 billion in aid.” Israeli politician Yair Golan said Trump’s announcement was a “severe blow to Israel’s security and the quality of life within the country.”“It really caught me by surprise,” Kilmeade continued. “And I’ll tell you, I have no patience for any antisemitism in this country and any anti-Israel sentiment. They’re not perfect, but they’re a democracy and they’re our ally and they’re literally surrounded by enemies — they have no choice!”

President Donald Trump ignited an international firestorm Tuesday after casually claiming that U.S. aid to Israel would be “cut off” by the end of this year, leaving Israeli officials scrambling to make sense of the surprise announcement.“Let’s get to that breaking news that is causing a political and financial earthquake here in the region,” said Fox News’ Jonathan Hunt, reporting live Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel. “The president saying it’s not just about Israel’s needs, but it’s also about taking away a talking point that Democrats have been using against Republicans.”Israel is by far the greatest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, receiving more than $300 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1948. The aid has come under scrutiny in recent years as Israel has carried out its ongoing military bombardment of Gaza, which countless human rights groups and a United Nations committee have labeled a genocide.Earlier on Tuesday, Trump called into “Fox & Friends” and casually dropped the announcement, confusing Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, who pressed the president for answers.“We were giving them $4 billion [annually] — we are — but it gets cut off at the end of the year,” Trump told Kilmeade.“Why?” Kilmeade asked, to which Trump said the decision was made “because they don’t need it.”Trump’s announcement came one day after Iran fired surface-to-air missiles at U.S. aircraft flying over the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the U.S. military to carry out strikes on Qeshm Island, which sits in the middle of the strait. The announcement also confused Israeli officials, who said, according to Hunt, that the revelation came as a complete surprise.“The Israeli Finance Ministry now reportedly telling local media here that they were entirely unaware of any intention by the U.S. to cancel that $4 billion in aid, so it really is a political and financial earthquake here in the region,” Hunt said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported a plan to phase out U.S. aid to Israel, but over a period of 10 years. However, he’s also backed a plan to integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries in such a manner that critics warn would be difficult to reverse.