Author: staff
A rare 15th-century illuminated Bible, the Borso D’Este Bible, went on display in Rome on Thursday as part of the Vatican’s Holy Year events. The two-volume manuscript, known for its gold and lapis lazuli miniatures, is usually kept in a secure library in Modena and is rarely shown to the public. Transported under heavy security, it is now exhibited in a humidity-controlled case, while visitors can view high-resolution digital pages on touch screens. The display runs until January 16.
By KAREL JANICEK with AP Published on 17/11/2025 – 10:17 GMT+1 The eight huge cooling towers of the Dukovany power plant overlook a construction site for two more reactors as Czechia pushes ahead with plans to expand its reliance on nuclear energy. Mobile drilling rigs have been extracting samples 140 metres below ground for a geological survey to make sure the site is suitable for a $19 billion (€16.4 billion) project as part of the expansion that should eventually at least double the country’s nuclear output and cement its place among Europe’s most nuclear-dependent nations. South Korea’s KHNP beat France’s EDF in a…
Published on 17/11/2025 – 9:38 GMT+1 You’ll soon be able to make your own AI content on Disney+ … and the overwhelming response is that the House of Mouse needs to remember that creative fields are being threatened by the misguided fervour to embrace artificial intelligence. Disney CEO Bob Iger sparked the online backlash in a recent earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2025, saying that the company was going to allow AI-generated content to appear on Disney+. Iger said the company was “in the midst of rolling out the biggest and the most significant changes – from a…
Following a briefing war and a budget U-turn last week, can the home secretary get the government’s agenda back on track? Sam and Anne discuss Shabana Mahmood’s plan to overhaul the asylum system — inspired by the Danes — and whether it will cut through with voters. Plus, they also consider the implications of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision not to raise income tax and where the ‘smorgasbord’ of other tax rises will come from.
Hundreds of tonnes of illegally dumped waste have formed a huge rubbish mountain in a field near Kidlington in Oxfordshire. Footage shows a pile at least 60 meters long and 10 meters high, with local authorities warning that removal costs may exceed their budget and that its proximity to a river poses an ecological threat. MP Calum Miller urged the government to intervene, while charity Friends of the Thames said the dump was created by an organised crime group. Environmental groups call the site “a massive ecological disaster.”
Earlier this month the human rights group Liberty coordinated a statement from almost 300 organizations — from homeless charities to veterans groups — calling for a “full-throated” defense of the ECHR and the Human Rights Act, and warning that the way the convention had been used as a political scapegoat over recent years had had “devastating real world consequences.” One of those signatories, Naomi Smith, chief executive of the Best for Britain campaign group, said the group plans to reconvene after Mahmood’s speech. Best for Britain was set up after Brexit and unsuccessfully campaigned for a second referendum. “We’re certainly…
Léa Seydoux helped launch the Christmas lights on the Champs Élysées on Sunday, drawing thousands to the avenue as Paris eased into its festive season. The actress stood beside two children from the Les Petits Princes association and Mayor Anne Hidalgo for the countdown. Nearby were committee head Marc-Antoine Jamet and Swarovski’s Myriam Batoni. The switch-on ended with a sharp, lively set by Canadian singer Charlotte Cardin. This year’s display uses programmable LED technology for a new sound and light show that will brighten central Paris until January.
The UAE ordered more than €21 billion worth of weapons from France between 2015 and 2024, ranking the country among the top purchasers of French arms, according to a government report released earlier this year. Both the SAF and the RSF have been accused by the U.N. and human rights organizations of serious abuses — including mass killings of civilians, torture and sexual violence. | Stringer/Getty Images A UAE government official told POLITICO that Abu Dhabi “categorically rejects any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war,” adding it “condemns atrocities committed by both” sides in the conflict. “There is…
Der Konflikt um das Rentenpaket bringt Friedrich Merz in Bedrängnis. Nach dem Deutschlandtag der Jungen Union steht der Kanzler noch mehr unter Druck. Rasmus Buchsteiner und Gordon Repinski analysieren, warum Merz die Stimmung in Rust unterschätzt hat, welche Fehler in der Kommunikation entstanden sind und warum der Streit das Vertrauen in seine Führungsrolle erschüttert.Parallel reist SPD-Co-Chef Lars Klingbeil als Vizekanzler und Finanzminister nach China. Der Besuch soll Vertrauen schaffen, birgt aber neue Spannungen zwischen Berlin und Peking.Im 200-Sekunden-Interview erklärt Steffen Krach, SPD-Spitzenkandidat für Berlin, wie er Vertrauen in seine Partei zurückgewinnen will, welche Lehren er aus dem Rentenstreit zieht und…
While European countries have not yet aligned on a common definition of digital sovereignty — something many see as crucial for real progress — there are signs that Paris and Germany are closer on positioning than they were five years ago. “I admit, I struggled with the term [digital sovereignty] before. I didn’t think it was necessary, but the global situation has changed so dramatically that we Europeans now have to become more sovereign,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday. At the summit, Merz said, “We’ll explore all the possibilities, together with industry representatives, of what we can do not…