Author: staff
Stunning examples of colour, texture, vibrancy and movement are key components among the winners of the Sony World Photography Awards. To mark its 19th edition, the competition judge, Ruby Rees-Sheridan, Assistant Photography Curator, at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery, chose pictures taken in the past year across 10 categories: Architecture, Creative, Landscape, Lifestyle, Motion, Natural World & Wildlife, Object, Portraiture, Street Photography and Travel. According to the organisers, each single shot was judged on its “power to pique curiosity, spark imagination, and reveal a wider narrative.” More than 430,000 thousand entries were received from over 200 countries. The Open Photographer of…
Though Ciotti is not part of the National Rally, his victory in Nice would reverberate far beyond the city’s pristine beaches. Nice, one of France’s biggest cities, is nearly three times more populous than the largest city currently administered by a far-right mayor, Perpignan. Ciotti’s strong performance in the survey, conducted by Cluster17 and the first publicly released poll of its kind, comes as far-right candidates look to make gains across southern France in big cities such as Nîmes and Toulon. Other polls show nearby Marseille, France’s second-largest city, is also in play for the National Rally. A personal contest…
By Jacob Dutkiewicz Published on 17/02/2026 – 17:56 GMT+1 The indefinite postponement of the inaugural Eurovision live tour to celebrate the contest’s 70th anniversary has unleashed a storm of anger online from fans of the world’s biggest song contest. While reactions to the cancellation have ranged from disappointment, despondency or celebrations for some, one of the most prevalent topics online has been the price of tickets for the event. One user on X wrote: “Wonder if the ‘unforeseen challenges’ were the awful lineup and the £200 ticket prices.” The reply sections below the official announcement have been filled with hundreds of…
The Swedish assessment comes after Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service last week described Russia as “dangerous despite its incompetence” in its own annual review. But the Estonian review also cautioned against “panic,” saying it saw no evidence that Russia intended to attack it or NATO in the coming year and projecting that it was unlikely to do so in the near future, given Europe’s ramped-up defense measures. During a background briefing last week attended by POLITICO, a senior NATO official echoed that view. “What protects us is the strength of the alliance and the faith that we and Russia have…
Published on 17/02/2026 – 18:23 GMT+1 Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne made a special appearance at this week’s meeting of 21 ministers from the euro area, with the goal of discussing global macroeconomic imbalances. With relations with the United States at an all-time low, Canada is looking for new global ties, including with the European Union. In the discussion in Brussels, Champagne and the eurozone partners agreed to coordinate policy actions to promote rebalancing while at the same time containing geo-economic threats. “As the rules-based international order is fading, Canada’s government is firmly committed to deepening our relationship with the…
“Si les prix de l’énergie sont élevés, abandonner les principes de l’ETS, c’est comme pisser dans son pantalon : ça soulage à court terme, mais à long terme, on se punit nous-mêmes”, a illustré l’eurodéputée centriste suédoise Emma Wiesner. “Maintenir notre dépendance au pétrole et au gaz est vraiment le moyen le plus efficace de maintenir l’industrie dans un piège de prix élevés et de grandes vulnérabilités.” Pourtant, le prix du carbone dans l’UE étant le plus élevé au monde, un nombre croissant d’entreprises et de pays affirment que l’ETS désavantage l’industrie du Vieux Continent face à ses concurrents. L’ETS…
Published on 17/02/2026 – 17:08 GMT+1 Syria has begun evacuating the remaining residents of Al-Hol camp — home to the relatives of suspected fighters from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group — as authorities move to clear the formerly Kurdish-controlled facility, according to officials. Al-Hol, which is located in a desert region of the northeastern Hasakeh province, had been Syria’s largest camp housing family members of suspected IS militants. Government forces captured the camp from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) last month as Damascus extended its control across swathes of Syria’s northeast. Since then, thousands of relatives of foreign…
Published on 17/02/2026 – 15:57 GMT+1•Updated 15:57 France said on Tuesday that it had released an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s sanctioned “shadow fleet” after its owner paid a fine worth millions of euros. The vessel — named the Grinch — was seized by French forces in the Mediterranean Sea on 22 January on suspicion of shipping oil in violation of sanctions against Russia. It had set sail from Murmansk in northern Russia and was flying under a false Comoros flag, according to French authorities, which diverted the ship to the port city of Marseille. On Tuesday, French…
By Mohammad Shayan Ahmad with AP Published on 17/02/2026 – 15:08 GMT+1 Chinese tech firm ByteDance has said it will place restrictions on a controversial AI (artificial intelligence) powered video creation tool, following copyright complaints from major media companies. Seedance 2.0, the latest model of the AI video generator released on February 12, which is only available in China, went viral and allows users to create realistic images and videos of famous actors and cartoon characters in short text prompts. One of these images showed Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a fight. The AI has been praised by many online for its…
The EU executive suspects the marketplace breached the law because it didn’t properly assess and mitigate the risks of illegal goods being sold on the platform, a senior Commission official said in a briefing with journalists. These goods also include unsafe toys and cosmetics. The Commission is also investigating the addictive design of Shein’s platform — specifically its bonus point programs and the gamification of the shopping experience — which may harm consumers’ mental and physical wellbeing, the official said. The scrutiny also extends to Shein’s recommender system and its transparency. Shein takes its “obligations under the Digital Services Act…