Author: staff
Published on 26/01/2026 – 15:08 GMT+1 Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged the EU on Monday to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation” following Tehran’s deadly crackdown on country-wide mass protests over the past weeks. Tajani said he would propose the idea “in coordination with other partners” at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday. “The losses suffered by the civilian population during the protests demand a clear response,” he wrote in a post on X, calling for the EU to levy individual sanctions against those responsible. US-based rights group Human Rights…
Leaders rubber-stamped the law on Monday, but Hungary and Slovakia — which are highly dependent on Russian fossil fuels — voted against the measure, arguing that it would send energy prices skyrocketing. Hungary said it would begin proceedings against the EU as soon as the law is formally adopted, which is likely to be in early February. Szijjártó has repeatedly threatened to sue the EU but this is the first time he has laid out a specific timeframe. He criticized the EU’s use of a “legal trick” to pass the law by presenting it as a trade measure rather than a…
By Euronews Published on 26/01/2026 – 15:18 GMT+1 Norwegian prosecutors have charged two citizens and a Norwegian-based oil company with paying around $25 million (€21.1m) in bribes to the Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family in exchange for offshore drilling rights. The alleged corruption centred on a 2016 oil licence application in which the defendants offered Sassou Nguesso and his relatives a quarter-share of the concession’s revenues, prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said Monday. “The main bribe is related to the fact that the Norwegians accepted that the president and his family would have one quarter of the…
The verdict also lands as countries such as France are actively discussing restrictions on social media platforms for children. The decision focuses particularly on WhatsApp Channels in which admins can broadcast announcements to groups of people in a feed, making it different from the messaging feature. WhatsApp’s private messaging service is explicitly excluded. WhatsApp was aware that the decision was coming as far back as August, when it reported that Channels had approximately 51.7 million users in the EU. That crossed the EU’s threshold for Very Large Online Platforms with over 45 million users in the EU. Meta now has…
Published on 26/01/2026 – 15:32 GMT+1 A global crackdown on human traffickers and migrant smugglers coordinated by Interpol led to the arrest of more than 3,700 suspects and aided over 4,400 potential trafficking victims around the world, the international law enforcement organisation said Monday. Interpol said 14,000 officers carried out Operation Liberterra III across 119 countries between 10-21 November which led to 3,744 arrests, the protection of 4,414 potential victims and the detection of 12,992 people caught in illegal migration schemes. Authorities opened at least 720 new investigations, according to the agency headquartered in France that helps police in 196…
Conservationists warn the world can “no longer afford” to delay climate action to protect and restore our planet’s natural wonders. Today (7 January), international nature charity Fauna & Flora has launched its 2026 Species to Watch list, highlighting some of the “weird and wonderful” creatures at risk of disappearing in the not-so-distant future. Kirsitian Teleki, Fauna & Flora’s CEO, says the list offers an insight into the “key challenges” facing some of the world’s most vulnerable species, including habitat loss, deforestation, the illegal wildlife trade and the climate crisis. “It also shines a spotlight on the weird and wonderful plants…
“It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect. The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy,” the spokesperson said. The backlash came quickly. A Reform spokesperson said: “It’s gutter politics, a sign of what the Conservative Party has become.” At a press conference in Westminster Monday night, Farage said of the Tories: “Their reaction to Suella’s defection has been pretty abusive. Don’t please ask any questions about that. We will not lower ourselves to their level.” The backlash was not confined to Reform. Government minister Mike…
Published on 26/01/2026 – 17:30 GMT+1 Finland will establish a new maritime surveillance mechanism to prevent further damage to undersea cables, according to officials. The mechanism will be set up in cooperation with other Baltic Sea states and is part of the European Commission’s plan to boost the security of data and telecom infrastructure. Mikko Hirvi, head of maritime safety at the Finnish Border Guard, said Monday that it will include hubs around the region that would “exchange information, risk analyses, threat assessments and real-time information”. “This also involves the development of surveillance capabilities, including sensors, related technology and exercises,”…
By Derek Gatopoulos with AP Published on 07/01/2026 – 14:13 GMT+1 As Orthodox Christians around the world attended Epiphany ceremonies on Tuesday to commemorate the baptism of Christ, worried officials in Greece used the moment to highlight growing water scarcity. A priest cast a wooden cross into the visibly depleted waters of Lake Marathon, an artificial reservoir north of Athens. Water stored there and in the other three reservoirs supplying Athens has dropped from more than 1 billion cubic metres in 2022 to about 390 million cubic metres. The dramatic decline prompted authorities in November to declare a water emergency in the capital.…
Le secrétaire général en a fait tiquer plus d’un lorsqu’il a appelé Donald Trump “daddy”, un commentaire sur lequel il a tenté de revenir. Le cabinet de Mark Rutte n’a pas répondu à une demande de commentaire pour cet article. “Je comprends parfaitement la difficulté de sa tâche [maintenir l’unité de l’Otan], mais c’est tellement pénible de le regarder”, confie un diplomate chevronné de l’UE, sous couvert de l’anonymat pour pouvoir s’exprimer librement, comme d’autres personnes dans cet article. Le secrétaire général, Mark Rutte, en a fait tiquer plus d’un lorsqu’il a appelé Donald Trump “daddy“, un commentaire sur lequel…