Author: staff

Qatar has become a critical supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe as countries are reducing their reliance on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy giant, has long-term LNG supply agreements with Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Al-Kaabi, who is also the chief executive of QatarEnergy, said the EU legislation would be unworkable for companies like QatarEnergy.  The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive has drawn criticism both from within and outside the EU. Countries have to transpose the new rules into national law by 2026 and one year later, in 2027, the rules will start to…

“The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TikTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage,” Rama said. TikTok has asked for “urgent clarity from the Albanian government” on the case of the stabbed teenager, the Associated Press reported. The company, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, said it had “found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok,” according…

A far-right protest was held late on Saturday in Magdeburg the night after the attack on the Christmas market. Far-right protesters have held a rally in Magdeburg, following Friday evening’s attack on a Christmas market which left five people dead and hundreds injured.Police estimate around 1,000 protesters gathered in the city’s central square, calling for stronger controls on migration after German authorities identified the attacker as a doctor from Saudi Arabia.Protesters carried so-called ‘homeland’ flags and banners saying ‘remigration’, while chants such as “those who do not love Germany should leave Germany” and “we do not want asylum seekers’ homes,”…

Noise pollution can cause health problems including sleep disturbance and high blood pressure. As towns and cities grow noisier and more crowded every year, it is no surprise that many travellers are seeking peace and tranquillity on holiday. A growing trend for ‘quiet tourism’ could be the answer. According to a report by the social media platform Pinterest, searches for ‘quiet places’ and ‘calm places’ have increased by 50 per cent and 42 per cent respectively since 2023, with users showing particular interest in mindful activities such as forest walks, mountain cabins, and island retreats. This desire to escape to calm retreats…

Do you engage with climate deniers that come your way this Christmas? And if so, what’s the best way to do it? Climate change. Like discussions about the monarchy or world leaders, it’s one of those topics that inevitably comes up at the Christmas dinner table or after a few jolly drinks, one way or another. Uncle Jim might make an out-of-the-blue, uninformed comment about Greta Thunberg. Cousin Mary might start saying something about how renewable energy isn’t reliable. And that’s before Grandpa John starts waxing lyrical about how climate change is just weather, loudly declaring that ‘we’ve always had…

“We constantly ask for sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry,” the official said, granted anonymity to speak frankly about the sensitive row. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert “Fico is among those who block those sanctions … and is one of the key blockers of [Ukraine’s] bid to join NATO, too.” Fico, who along with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has championed closer relations with Moscow since the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, on Thursday accused Zelenskyy of offering him “€500 million of Russian assets” to support Kyiv’s application to join the military alliance. “Of course, I…

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the authorities can “say with certainty that the perpetrator was obviously Islamophobic.”  At least five people were killed, including a child, according to the premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff. | Omer Messinger/Getty Images The chief prosecutor said the suspect is in police custody and has made a statement about the motive for the crime, but he declined to give any details about that statement. The investigators “do not yet know whether it was a terrorist attack,” Nopens said. In the immediate aftermath of the attack Friday evening, right-wing parties seized on reports that the driver…

Social media users across the Arab world reacted to the attack on a Christmas market in Germany, sharing unverified allegations and reposts. The attack on the Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has sparked a strong reaction across the Arab world.Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, were quick to condemn the attack, which has so far killed at least five people and injured 200. There were mixed reactions across social media, many of which reflected the ongoing sectarian, ethnic, and political polarisation in the Arab world.Suspect’s religious views fuel debateSocial media users in Arab countries have…

The center-right Romanian National Liberal Party paid for a campaign on TikTok that ended up favoring far-right independent candidate Călin Georgescu, a new report from investigative outlet snoop.ro indicates. Georgescu was catapulted from obscurity into the lead in the first round of voting in the Romanian presidential election on Nov. 24. But the country’s top constitutional court ended up cancelling the vote due to a TikTok campaign that heavily promoted the pro-Russia Georgescu, potentially impacting election results, similar to influence operations run by the Kremlin in Ukraine and Moldova. According to the snoop.ro report, the Romanian tax agency found that the Liberals…

“If Putin attacks, we must be fit to wage war,” Pistorius said in the interview published on Saturday. The minister’s comments come amid a push for NATO members to increase their defense spending, with new NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte saying alliance members need to spend “much more” on defense than the current target of 2 percent of gross domestic product. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly told European officials he wants NATO allies to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense. In order to insure such a budgetary increase, Pistorious said he would favor a reform of Germany’s debt brake,…