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Japan’s cabinet approves record defence budget amid escalating China tensions

Japan’s cabinet has approved a record high defence budget as tensions with China continue to spiral, with Beijing this week accusing Tokyo of “fuelling a space arms race”. The draft defence budget for the next fiscal year – approved on Friday – is more than ¥9tn ($58bn) and 9.4% bigger than the previous budget, which will end in April. The increase comes in the fourth year of Japan’s five-year program to double its annual arms spending to 2% of GDP. The budget plan focuses on fortifying strike-back capability and coastal defences with surface-to-ship missiles and unmanned arsenals. To defend the coasts, Japan will spend ¥100bn yen to deploy “massive” unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defence under a system called “Shield” planned for March 2028, defence ministry officials said. The budget boost comes amid escalating hostilities between the Chinese and Japanese governments. Beijing has consistently objected to Japan’s strengthening defensiveness, but relations imploded last month when Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said Japan would probably become militarily involved if China attacked Taiwan as part of Beijing’s plans to annex the territory. Takaichi’s remarks sparked a furious reaction from Beijing, which launched a range of diplomatic and economic retaliatory moves. Takaichi refused to withdraw her comments, and the government has maintained they represented no change to Japan’s defence policies. Chinese government officials have continued to publicly rail against Tokyo, seizing on any military-related announcement. On Thursday China’s defence ministry told a regular press briefing that Japan’s recent space technology developments – some of which are in cooperation with the US – were “accelerating the weaponisation and militarisation of space, and fuelling a space arms race”. Tokyo has launched several rockets since March 2023, carrying cargo spacecraft and satellites for GPS systems and intelligence gathering, according to Japanese media. “Given that Japan’s vicious militarists once launched sneak attacks and that the country is now taking an offensive space policy, it is hardly surprising that there are growing concerns of another Pearl Harbor scenario,” defence ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said on Sunday. Japan’s postwar constitution forbids it from using force as a means of settling international disputes but a 2015 amendment – passed when Takaichi’s mentor, Shinzo Abe, was prime minister – permits it to exercise collective self-defence in certain situations, even if it is not directly under attack. Japan’s current security strategy identifies China as the country’s biggest strategic challenge and calls for a more assertive role in its security cooperations with the US. On Thursday, China’s defence ministry also blasted the US over its continued support for Taiwan, a week after it approved a massive US arms sale to Taipei of more than $10bn. The US doesn’t recognise Taiwan diplomatically but is Taiwan’s most significant supporter in resisting Chinese annexation threats, and is mandated under US law to provide it with the means to defend itself. Last week the US senate also passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes authorisation to spend up to $1bn in 2026 on Taiwan-related security cooperation. Zhang accused the US of “emboldening Taiwan independence” activity and undermining peace and stability. China is in the midst of a years-long overhaul and modernisation of its military, geared in large part towards being able to take Taiwan by force. Beijing claims Taiwan is a province that must be “reunified” with the mainland, but an overwhelming majority of Taiwan’s people reject the prospect. Its rapidly growing navy and air force are venturing further out beyond their borders, and have been involved in multiple incidents with other militaries. Earlier this month Chinese aircraft locked their radar on Japanese aircraft during drills near south-western Japan, prompting Tokyo to protest. Locking radar is considered one of the most threatening acts a military aircraft can take because it signals a potential attack, forcing the targeted aircraft to take evasive action. Zhang said China’s defence expenditure was reasonable and moderate, and its activities were “fully in compliance with international law”. Additional research by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu

‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure

Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions. Senioruniversitet, a national university that collaborates with Sweden’s adult education institution Folkuniversitetet, has about 30 independent branches around the country which run study circles, lecture series and university courses in subjects including languages, politics, medicine and architecture. The Stockholm branch, which is Sweden’s largest, has become so popular since it was founded in 1991 that it is now run across multiple venues across the capital by about 100 volunteers. Its most popular event, the Tuesday lectures, gets about 1,000 people each week. Recent Stockholm lectures have included “The art of awarding Nobel prizes” by a former member of a Nobel committee, “Disinformation and AI – the threat we invented ourselves” and “From soap to cultural heritage/canon and vice versa.” Inga Sanner, chair of Senioruniversitetet in Stockholm, said membership nationally was at an all-time high. “We had a dip during the pandemic, of course, but we have come up again to the same number and increased even more. Our membership is the highest ever.” In 2023 there were 2,099 events held across Sweden attended by 161,932 participants, according to Folkuniversitetet. This year, that number is projected to increase to 177,024 participants across 2,391 events. Gunnar Danielsson, secretary general of Folkuniversitetet, said: “The desire to learn for pleasure’s sake, or for the sake of learning as such, is a joy to experience in a society which is increasingly obsessed with learning and education as preparation for work.” The increasing popularity of Senioruniversitetet was not reflected by the level of government funding, though, he said, which had “significantly decreased” over the past few years. “More likely it reflects a desire to actually meet other people in real life rather than on the internet.” Sanner, a retired history professor, said older people were “more and more alert” and that there is a “fantastic hunger for education”. She added: “It’s totally fascinating that there are so many who want to learn more and learn more about the world. It is so very needed in our time.” The wider societal role that Senioruniversitetet plays is becoming increasingly important, she said, and the learning and wellbeing of its members has a knock-on effect to their families and beyond. “It is to do with democracy issues and education. Senior citizens don’t live in a vacuum. If nothing else, it has an effect on children and grandchildren,” she said. “You are an example. Not just sitting rocking in a rocking chair, but you are out and want to learn more. Then you can share that with your grandchildren and children.” She added: “The lectures are fantastic. You become completely fulfilled when you have been to an event and then it bubbles over when you meet others.” For many of their volunteers, their office in central Stockholm is like a workplace. “It is very meaningful work, but also you have such a lovely time and meet others.” Sanner said the demographic of its membership does, however, tend to be “too homogenous”, adding that they need to do more to extend their reach to a more diverse audience. Susanne Abelin, 66, a former journalist from Norrtälje, near Stockholm, volunteers on the university’s newsletter and is learning Italian. Ageism is rife in Sweden, she said, and palpable in day-to-day life. “You are seen more or less as an idiot. Maybe it’s because we have had it so materially well over generations that we don’t need each other so much – for good and for bad.” But Senioruniversitetet, where over-55s can learn for a relatively low fee, is “a bit of the Swedish welfare system that is still left”. Her Italian class has a WhatsApp group so they can stay in touch outside lessons and last year she went to Italy with one of her classmates. “I’m absolutely not fluent in Italian and will never be, but it is inspiring and it keeps your mind alert. Instead of doing crosswords and suduko you can study some verbs.” Joachim Forsgren, 71, a former physician who now volunteers for the Stockholm branch, has given lectures on “man and drugs” and tuberculosis. Volunteering, he said, gives people a “sense of meaning and that they are contributing still”. He added: “People can get the feeling that they are not contributing once they leave their jobs. Pensioners is a word I hate.” By volunteering, he said, “we are contributing to some kind of democracy project. This is really trying, especially in this day and age, to get people interested in what is going on”. Amid the rise of online disinformation and populism, the university helps people to “look critically at the amount of information we are almost drowning in every day”.

Why has Trump ordered strikes in Nigeria and what has it got to do with the persecution of Christians?

After spending weeks accusing Nigeria’s government of failing to tackle the persecution of Christians, Donald Trump announced a series of strikes on the west African country on Christmas Day. The strikes, targeting Islamic State militants in the country’s north, mark the latest overseas military intervention from Trump, who campaigned on a promise to extradite the US from decades of “endless wars” during his 2024 run for president. What do we know about the strikes? In his announcement, Trump said the strikes were aimed at Islamic State militants who have been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” A Defense Department official told the Associated Press that the US worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes, and that they’d been approved by that country’s government. Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs said the cooperation included exchanges of intelligence and strategic coordination. Why has Trump targeted Nigeria? Parts of the US right have for years been amplifying claims that Christians are facing persecution in Nigeria. In September, Republican senator Ted Cruz pushed to sanction Nigerian officials who “facilitate violence against Christians and other religious minorities, including by Islamist terrorist groups”. Claims that Christians face religious persecution overseas have become a major motivating force Trump’s base – and the US president counts evangelical Christians as among his most enthusiastic supporters. Earlier this year he appeared to act on some of these concerns by designating Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the US International Religious Freedom Act, which followed weeks of lobbying by American lawmakers and conservative Christian groups. Soon after, he ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in the country. At the time, the president said he might go in “guns-a-blazing” if the Nigerian government continued to “allow the killing of Christians”. Is there religious persecution in Nigeria? In the past, Nigeria’s government has responded to Trump’s criticisms by saying that people of many faiths, not just Christians, suffer at the hands of extremists groups who operate throughout the country. Nigeria is officially secular but almost evenly divided between Muslims (53%) and Christians (45%), with the remaining population practising African traditional religions. Violence against Christians has drawn significant international attention, and is often framed as religious persecution, but most analysts argue the situation is more complex and attacks can have varying motivations. For example, deadly clashes between itinerant Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities are rooted in competition over land and water but exacerbated by religious and ethnic differences. Meanwhile, the kidnappings of priests is seen by many analysts as a trend driven more money than religious hatred, as they are viewed as influential figures whose worshippers or organisations can mobilise funds quickly. What does the Nigerian government say? After Thursday’s strikes, Nigeria’s foreign ministry praised the cooperation with the US, but pointedly refused to acknowledge America’s actions had anything to do with the persecution of Christians. “Terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security,” the ministry said in a statement. Successive Nigerian governments have struggled to get a hold on the nation’s deteriorating security crisis, with thousands of people killed and hundreds more abducted in the past few years. In the north-east, Boko Haram and its splinter groups such as Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) have waged an insurgency since 2009, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. In the north-west, heavily armed criminal gangs – often labelled “bandits” – carry out mass kidnappings and raids that affect both Muslim and Christian communities. Nigeria’s government has previously said in response to Trump’s criticisms that people of many faiths, not just Christians, have suffered at the hands of these groups. Last month, Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the characterisation of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country did not reflect reality. “Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so … Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv hits Russian oil refinery with British Storm Shadow missiles

Ukraine used British Storm Shadow missiles to attack a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, the country’s military said. The Novoshakhtinsk refinery was hit by the missiles and “numerous explosions” were recorded, the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff said in a social media post. It has already used the British missiles to attack targets inside Russia. The military also said the Novoshakhtinsk plant was one of the main suppliers of petrol products in southern Russia “and is directly involved in supplying the Russian Federation’s armed forces”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he had “very good” talks with Donald Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about how to end the war. “It was a really good conversation: many details, good ideas, that we discussed,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram. “There are some new ideas on how to bring the real peace closer, and it concerns formats, meetings, and, certainly, the timeline.” Zelenskyy’s post came a day after he said Ukraine had won some limited concessions in the latest version of a US-led draft peace plan, which is being reviewed by Moscow. A court in Russia has convicted a pro-war activist and critic of Vladimir Putin of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison. Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front movement that opposes the Russian president and is affiliated with the Communist party, was arrested last year. According to Russian independent news site Mediazona, the charges against him stem from an article Udaltsov posted online in support of another group of Russian activists accused of forming a terrorist organisation. Those activists were convicted earlier this month and given sentences from 16 to 22 years in prison. Udaltsov has rejected the charges against him as fabricated. On Thursday, he denounced the verdict as “shameful” and said he was going on a hunger strike, Mediazona reported. The Kremlin has said it is in contact with the French authorities over the fate of a French political scholar serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage. Russia has made “an offer to the French” regarding Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow last year and convicted of collecting military information, and “the ball is now in France’s court”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. He refused to provide details. French president Emmanuel Macron is following Vinatier’s situation closely, his office said in a statement. A French foreign ministry spokesperson said all government services were fully mobilised to provide consular support to Vinatier and push for his liberation as soon as possible The Mariupol Drama Theatre that was destroyed in a 2022 Russian airstrike while hundreds of civilians were sheltering in its basement is to open its doors again, with Russian occupation authorities heralding the reconstruction as a sign of renewal, while former actors at the theatre denounced the reopening as “dancing on bones”. The Kremlin has made the reconstruction of Mariupol a calling card of its rule in occupied Ukraine, but Moscow’s oversight is accompanied by arrests or exile of critics, along with property seizures that have stripped thousands of Ukrainians of apartments they legally owned, report Shaun Walker, Pjotr Sauer and Artem Mazhulin. The Mariupol theatre is due to reopen by the end of the month with a performance of Russian fairytale The Scarlet Flower after being rebuilt almost from scratch over the past two years.

‘Not for the people’: Myanmar junta prepares for elections designed to legitimise grip on power

Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”. “This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar after the military seized power. “They [the ruling junta] are looking for a way out of the trap they are [in].” When polls open on Sunday, almost five years after the military seized control of the country, the generals will be hoping the vote legitimises their grip on power – and allows them to repair their image of international pariahs. The military has rejected criticism of the vote, saying the election was not being conducted through coercion and that it has public support. “The election is being conducted for the people of Myanmar, not for the international community,” said the junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun. “Whether the international community is satisfied or not, is irrelevant.” Many western governments, and the United Nations, have dismissed the vote as a sham. However, the junta’s most important ally, China, which has helped the military claw back from the brink on the battlefield, is backing the election, which is being held in three phases. Commentators say that China views the vote as the country’s best path back to stability. Analysis shows the conflict has only intensified over the past year. From 1 January to 28 November 2025, military air and drone strikes increased by about 30% compared with 2024, according to Acled, which tracks conflicts around the world. Civic infrastructure such as schools and medical facilities have been hit in near-daily strikes. This month, dozens were killed in a military strike on a hospital in Rakhine state, which is mostly controlled by the Arakan Army, an opponent of the military. Conscription-related abductions increased by 26% compared with 2024, with the military snatching people from the streets and their homes and forcing them to serve, in a desperate attempt to boost their dwindling ranks. Young people who have the means to do so have fled military-controlled areas such as the former capital Yangon, fearing they could be forced to serve. ‘Sham elections’ There is such intense paranoia among Myanmar’s ruling military that a new election protection law has been passed, under which any criticism of the election can lead to a minimum sentence of three years in prison, and even the death penalty. Since July more than 200 people have already been arrested, including for merely liking social media posts criticising the vote. In cities such as Yangon residents report the authorities going door-to-door instructing people to vote. People may have little choice but to obey, activists say. “Everybody knows well how this military is ruthless and will continue to be very ruthless. Anyone who’s seen as disapproving of the junta’s sham election are at a very high risk,” says Khin Ohmar, a pro-democracy activist who lives in exile, citing the use of repressive laws to arrest those who criticise the vote or the military’s rule. There will be 57 parties on the ballot on Sunday, but the majority are perceived as being linked to or dependent on the military. Analysts say they create only the illusion of choice, but do not represent any true opposition to military rule. Only six parties are running at a nationwide level, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party, which has fielded the largest number of candidates and is effectively running uncontested in dozens of constituencies. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in the 2020 election, was dissolved after it refused to comply with a demand to register with the junta-backed Union Election Commission. Dozens of ethnic parties were also dissolved. According to election monitoring group Anfrel, 57% of the parties that ran in the 2020 general election no longer exist, even though they received more than 70% of votes and 90% of seats. Large strips of territory will be excluded from the elections, illustrating how much ground the junta has lost since the coup – even as it has regained momentum on the battlefield. The military has said there will be no voting in 56 of 330 townships. Voting has also been cancelled in an additional 3,000 wards and village tracts, with analysts estimating about a third of the country will be excluded from the vote. Many areas are in the midst of intense fighting, or under the control of opposition groups. The country has been locked in a fierce conflict since the 2021 coup, when the military imprisoned then de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and opened fire on protesters calling for the return of democracy. Communities took up arms and formed people’s defence forces to fight against military atrocities, while older, ethnic armed groups that have long fought for independence also launched attacks, leaving the military desperately overstretched. Despite relentless airstrikes and violence that UN experts have described as likely war crimes, the junta lost vast areas of territory along its borders. Some began to speculate the military could even be overthrown. Support from Beijing has allowed the generals to fight back. China, which feared even greater instability were the junta to collapse, cut off cross-border supplies to some of the military’s most formidable enemies in northern Shan state. Two of these powerful ethnic armed groups, the TNLA and MNDAA, handed territory back. The military, freed up to fight elsewhere, has also adapted its tactics, enforcing mandatory conscription, making better use of drones and reforming its chain of command to allow it to deploy airstrikes more quickly. In the run-up to the election, it has intensified its bombardments, seeking to cement its power in areas where it plans to hold voting. That is unlikely to ease after the vote, said Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser at the Crisis Group. The military may seek to agree to ceasefires with some groups after the election, he said, but any such deals will be tactical in nature, to give the military respite in certain areas so that it can target its force elsewhere. “They are determined to continue pressing their advantage and clawing back as much of the territory that they’ve lost since the coup as possible,” said Horsey. “This isn’t about a new civilian government shifting to a more soft approach.”

Handwritten letters are still a powerful force for good | Letter

Your editorial (22 December) declares that the “writing’s on the wall” for letter writing. In the month of Amnesty International’s annual Write For Rights campaign, I would like to suggest that the pen can still be powerful. Last year’s event generated 4.7m handwritten letters to human rights defenders and their oppressors. Every letter takes time, attention and physical effort. Leaders will always be more impressed by real letters than by easy clicks, and activists under pressure will always feel uplifted when they read personalised messages of solidarity. Frankie Meehan Singapore • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Letter: Ros Howells obituary

Ros Howells, later Lady Howells of St Davids, chaired a committee of British Caribbean representatives at the then Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London, when it was promoting a year-long Caribbean Focus cultural and educational programme in 1986. A highly consequential enterprise, it was supported by 50 Caribbean communities round the country, with a Caribbean Express touring an art and educational show around 21 railway stations; a Caribbean Music Village in nearby Holland Park; a pan-Caribbean Theatre Company; a literary conference and much else. Ros helped us negotiate the trickier moments with calm diplomacy and Caribbean understanding. She remained my friend, and all who worked with her then recall her with affection.

British campaigner launches legal challenge against Trump administration after deportation threat

A British anti-disinformation campaigner close to Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has launched a legal challenge against the Trump administration after being told he could face deportation from the US in a row over freedom of speech. Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), has filed a complaint against senior Trump allies including the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the attorney general, Pam Bondi, in an attempt to prevent what he says would be an unconstitutional arrest and removal. The court filing, lodged in the southern district of New York, claims Ahmed is being targeted over his organisation’s work scrutinising social media companies – including Elon Musk’s X – in violation of his first amendment rights. It also argues there is no credible basis for the detention and expulsion of Ahmed, who lives lawfully in Washington DC with his American wife and child, and is a friend of Morgan McSweeney, the No 10 chief of staff. The CCDH has previously incurred the wrath of Musk over reports chronicling the rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on X since he took over the platform. Musk tried unsuccessfully to sue the organisation last year before calling it a “criminal organisation”. Ahmed is one of five Europeans targeted by the US state department in the past week. They have been accused of leading efforts to pressure technology firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints. Rubio accused the five – who also include the former EU commissioner Thierry Breton – of leading “organised efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetise and suppress American viewpoints they oppose”. Sarah Rogers, an official at the state department, posted on X: “Our message is clear: if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil.” The sanctions are being seen as the latest attack on European regulations that target hate speech and misinformation. Campaigners in the UK have warned the British government could be targeted further if the Trump administration steps up its attacks on tech regulation. In a statement, Ahmed said: “My life’s work is to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media and AI and fight the spread of antisemitism online. That mission has pitted me against big tech executives – and Elon Musk in particular – multiple times. “I am proud to call the United States my home. My wife and daughter are American, and instead of spending Christmas with them, I am fighting to prevent my unlawful deportation from my home country.” Roberta Kaplan, Ahmed’s legal counsel, added: “The state department’s actions here are unjustified and blatantly unconstitutional. “Imran is proud to call the United States his home. Instead of spending Christmas with his wife and child, he has been forced to spend the holiday fighting to prevent his unlawful deportation. It is hard to think of anything more un-American than that.” Ahmed was sanctioned alongside UK-based Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). Musk has also called for the GDI to be shut down over its criticism of rightwing websites for spreading disinformation. A British government spokesperson said: “While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the internet free from the most harmful content.” On Thursday evening, a US district judge granted Ahmed a temporary restraining order preventing Rubio and others “from arresting or detaining the plaintiff pending further order of the court”. Ahmed and Kaplan both welcomed the move, with Kaplan saying the order had been granted so quickly “because it is so obvious that Marco Rubio and the other defendants’ actions were blatantly unconstitutional … We look forward to the hearing before the court on Monday.”