Author: staff
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 04/07/2025 – 20:17 GMT+2Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promises continued trade and investment in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday in an address to the nation’s parliament.”It’s time for us to work together to give the global south its rightful seat at the table,” Modi said. “For us there are no limits to our cooperation with you.”The two-day trip was Modi’s first official visit to the diverse, twin-island Caribbean country that shares longstanding ties with India.The visit was expected to boost investment in energy, health, security and other sectors.In his speech, Modi said that he saw “great potential” in…
This week’s walkout was called by France’s second-largest air traffic controllers’ union, UNSA-ICNA; it was joined by the USAC-CGT, the third-largest union. According to AFP, some 270 controllers out of 1,400 participated in the strike on Thursday. The airlines also accused France of failing to protect planes flying over the country during these actions, which cause disruption throughout Europe. “It is indefensible that today that I’m canceling flights from Ireland to Italy, from Germany to Spain, from Portugal to Poland,” O’Leary said. The budget airline chief blamed the European Union, and specifically European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for the…
A temporary power outage hit parts of Prague and other areas of the Czech Republic on Friday, bringing public transport and trains to a standstill, officials said.Prague’s entire metro network was inoperative starting at noon, the capital city’s transport authority said. But the A and C lines were restored in about 15 minutes while the B line was back in about 30 minutes, it said.Most trams on the right bank of the Vltava River in Prague were halted, while those on the left bank were not affected. Some trains near Prague and in other regions were unable to operate.The Václav…
Despite the intensive talks, a landing zone for an agreement remains potentially difficult for von der Leyen, with divisions lingering between EU countries over how to approach the negotiations. All options — including no deal — remain on the table, according to three diplomats. Before confirming the provisional agreement, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to consult individually with EU leaders over the weekend to decide on the way forward, said one of the officials, who like the others cited in this story was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Trump was due to consult with his…
The ex-wife of Hungary’s opposition leader Péter Magyar has repeated accusations of domestic violence and blackmail against her former husband after a court hearing in Budapest.Judit Varga was the justice minister of Hungary for years and a close ally of Viktor Orbán. After their divorce, her ex-husband founded the opposition party Tisza, which is now leading Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in polls ahead of crucial parliamentary elections next year.Judit Varga was summoned to a court hearing as a witness in Budapest on Thursday related to a bribery case in her ministry, in which her former deputy is an accused. After the hearing,…
The fracas over these patrols has strong political implications, and could pile pressure on Tusk’s increasingly fragile centrist coalition. While the government is telling the vigilantes to go home, conservative nationalist President-elect Karol Nawrocki is praising them. “Only the Border Guard has the right to control our borders,” government spokesperson Adam Szłapka said after a hastily convened security meeting in Warsaw. “Anyone impersonating officers or hindering their work will face consequences.” Videos circulating online show masked men stopping cars, asking for identification and attempting so-called “citizen arrests” of those they suspect of illegal entry. Regional officials have warned the actions…
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 04/07/2025 – 17:58 GMT+2Russia is increasing its use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the World War I-era poison gas chloropicrin, Dutch and German intelligence agencies said on Friday.Dutch military intelligence and security service, together with the German intelligence service, found that the use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian military had become “standardised and commonplace” in Ukraine.According to the findings, the Russian military uses chloropicrin and riot control agent CS against sheltering Ukrainian soldiers, who are then forced out into the open and shot.Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for more sanctions against Moscow…
In a move sparking significant backlash, Russia became the first country in the world to recognise the Taliban as the ruling government of Afghanistan.”We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.The Taliban, an Islamist militant group, seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, toppling the Western-backed government. Neither the US nor the EU have formally recognised the group, and…
Reports of wolf attacks on livestock in France have risen over the past decade and a half, with more than 10,000 reported annual deaths in recent years. European lawmakers in May greenlit a proposal amending the European Union Habitats Directive, moving the wolf from the list of “strictly protected” to “protected” species. That makes it easier for farmers in the EU to shoot wolves that threaten their herds. The directive will enter into force on July 14, giving countries until January 2027 to implement the change in national law. The highly-political push was led by the conservative European People’s Party as part of a…
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 04/07/2025 – 16:21 GMT+2•Updated 16:28Family and friends of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva gathered on Friday at a church where their bodies had been brought for a wake and funeral, after the Portuguese football players were killed in a car crash in Spain.Some hugged and wept before entering the Capela da Ressurreição São Cosme, where the funeral for the siblings is planned to take place on Saturday.Jota, 28, and his 25-year-old brother were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain after the Lamborghini they were in crashed on an isolated stretch of highway…