Author: staff
Iran stepped up its warnings to the US over its military presence in the region, as Tehran said it will close the Strait of Hormuz for several hours for live military exercises. Tehran announced that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) started a drill early Monday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, all crucial international shipping routes. It marked the second time in recent weeks that Iran has held a live-fire drill in the Strait of Hormuz. However, it is the first time Iran has closed the critical maritime corridor since the…
With powerful nations rolling back climate protections and temperatures soaring ever closer to dangerous thresholds, it’s hard not to feel worried about the state of the planet. As green journalists, climate anxiety, climate doom and even environmental existential dread are a daily presence. These terms all describe the negative feelings, such as stress, fear, anger and grief, that confront us when the reality of a warming Earth hits home. With almost daily stories of destruction and loss of life due to extreme weather, it’s impossible to escape the impacts of climate change. Rather than being paralysed by helplessness, though, experts…
Sébastien Lecornu lève le voile sur la programmation énergétique, un document structurant pour les filières énergétiques attendu depuis deux ans, sur lequel les quatre derniers gouvernements se sont cassé les dents. Retour sur un parcours d’obstacles. Feb 11 10 mins read
Published on 17/02/2026 – 13:39 GMT+1 Belgium summoned the US ambassador on Tuesday after a dispute unfolded on social media over accusations of antisemitic prosecution of the Jewish community in the country. The debate was sparked by the news that the Belgian authorities are investigating whether three men in Antwerp were performing circumcisions without certified medical training, according to media reports. Belgian law states that all medical procedures must be performed by licensed professionals — a rule Belgium believes extends to mohels, who perform circumcision according to Jewish rites. US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White said in a post on…
In late 2024, commuters in Stockholm gained a novel way to cross the Swedish capital: a ‘flying’ electric ferry. Just over a year later and the project has been declared a resounding success by the Swedish Transport Administration following an evaluation of its pilot route. Built across 14 islands, Stockholm is naturally suited to waterborne transport. Yet relatively slow journeys and infrequent departures lead many to navigate via the city’s more than 50 bridges instead. Still, diesel-run ferries account for nearly half of the region’s total public transport emissions. The introduction of the hydrofoiling Candela P-12 Shuttle – described by…
But Robert Jenrick is being dubbed “shadow chancellor” by Reform. He defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK last month, and leapfrogs both the party’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice and its Head of Policy Zia Yusuf for the role. Jenrick is expected to deliver a speech in the City of London on Wednesday to outline his economic agenda. At an event in London Tuesday, he decried what he called “decades of mismanagement” of the U.K. economy and pledged to “oppose the wrecking ball that is [U.K. Chancellor] Rachel Reeves. Tice, who also leads Reform’s government efficiency efforts in local authorities,…
Published on 17/02/2026 – 13:19 GMT+1 Curling has slid into scandal at the Winter Olympics. A sport built on trust, respect and self-regulation has been rocked by a cheating row at the Milano-Cortina Games. The saga began on Friday, when Oskar Eriksson of Sweden accused Canadian Marc Kennedy of breaking the rules by touching the stone again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice — a violation known as “double-touching”. Kennedy responded with an expletive-laden outburst that drew widespread attention to a sport that rarely dominates headlines outside the Olympic spotlight. In response, the sport’s governing body, World…
By David Del Valle Published on 17/02/2026 – 12:01 GMT+1•Updated 12:08 Proposed changes to the US visa waiver programme (ESTA), which would require international travellers to provide more extensive disclosure of their social media activity, could have a major economic impact on the country. New research from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), produced in conjunction with GSIQ and Oxford Economics, warns that the measure could reduce spending by international visitors by up to $15.7 billion (€13.2 billion) and affect up to 157,000 US jobs. According to the survey of several ESTA-eligible markets, 66% of travellers are already aware of…
Tuesday’s move marks the latest escalation in Sánchez’s increasingly personal confrontation with major technology companies and their billionaire owners — a campaign that has included regulatory threats, public clashes with Elon Musk and Pavel Durov, and broader calls in Madrid for tighter platform controls. In a letter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office first reported by Spanish newspaper El País, Sánchez’s government cites the abundance of AI-generated child sexual abuse material on social media platforms and requests an investigation be launched to determine if their operators have “criminal liability … due to the control they exert over content.” Sánchez also argued…
Published on 17/02/2026 – 11:23 GMT+1 Austrian prosecutors have filed terrorism-related charges against a 21-year-old defendant who they say planned to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024. Vienna public prosecutors said in a statement on Monday that the unnamed defendant had declared allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, by sharing propaganda material and videos via various messaging services. The defendant is accused of having “obtained instructions on the internet for the construction of a shrapnel bomb based on the explosive triacetone triperoxide” typically used by IS, and of having produced a small amount of the…