Author: staff

Published on 09/12/2025 – 14:55 GMT+1 Japan is on alert after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck its northern regions late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and a rare government advisory about the possibility of a “megaquake” over the next week. The warning comes as Hokkaido enters its busy winter tourism season, with ski resorts now welcoming early-season visitors before the holidays. What does the ‘megaquake’ warning mean? The earthquake hit off the eastern coast of Aomori – the northernmost prefecture on the main island of Honshu – at around 11:15 pm, registering an upper 6 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale,…

He said he has already written a draft text which is also backed by Le Pen. Brothels were banned in France in 1946. Under French law prostitutes can still offer their services, but a 2016 law pushed by the Socialist Party punishes clients with a €1,500 fine. The proposal has reignited debate in France over legalizing prostitution. A similar debate has emerged in other EU countries. In Italy, for instance, politicians from Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, are also in favor of reopening brothels and regulating prostitution but, for now, those proposals have not been implemented. French daily Le Monde first…

Published on 09/12/2025 – 14:57 GMT+1 The UK’s domestic spy service MI5 knew that a British double agent in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had committed murders and then tried to hinder a police investigation and “conceal the truth”, an official report found on Tuesday. The nine-year £40 million (€46 million) probe — known as Operation Kenova — investigated actions of “Stakeknife”, a senior IRA member who was passing information to British intelligence during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Ex-intelligence agents had described Stakeknife as Britain’s most centrally placed mole in the IRA. He was allegedly…

Asked by POLITICO to respond to Trump’s withering assessment, the European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho mounted a spirited defense of Europe’s leaders.   “We are very pleased and grateful to have excellent leaders, starting with the leader in this house, president of the European Commission von der Leyen, who we are really proud of, who can lead us in the many challenges that the world is facing,” Pinho said.   Pinho also lauded the “many other leaders at the head of the 27 member states that are part of this European project, of this peace project, who are leading the EU with all the challenges that it is…

Published on 09/12/2025 – 12:18 GMT+1 It’s fast approaching and with Christmas comes the annual assault on your ear canals courtesy of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, and, of course, Mariah Carey’s yearly airwave domination with ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. Euronews Culture previously handpicked music antidotes to the clichéd holiday tracks which radios will be blaring out until you’ve reached the point of no return. However, not everyone got the memo, and Americans are feeling the Scrooge-like temptation to reach for the earplugs. As evidenced by FinanceBuzz, which compiled the 10 most annoying Christmas songs…

Lithuania on Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency over a surge in contraband-carrying balloons flying over the border from Belarus.“It’s clear that this emergency is being declared not only because of disruptions to civil aviation, but also due to national security concerns and the need for closer coordination among institutions,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said during a government meeting Tuesday.Kondratovič added that the government had asked the parliament to grant the military additional powers to work with the law enforcement authorities during the state of the emergency. “By introducing a state of emergency today, we are legitimizing the…

Published on 09/12/2025 – 13:01 GMT+1 Got a painkiller? Because Brussels has a new migraine. First it was Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Then Robert Fico in Slovakia. Today, Andrej Babiš returns as the prime minister of the Czech Republic. Following Babiš’ electoral victory, President Petr Pavel blocked his appointment until he agreed to transfer his massive chemical and food empire, Agrofert, to independent administrators. To rule, Babiš invited the Motorists, a fierce climate sceptic party, and the SPD, which openly opposes the EU and NATO. Hungarian prime minister’s critics have been wondering, is Babiš Orbán 2.0? Not quite. Orbán is…

Published on 09/12/2025 – 13:09 GMT+1 A suspect has been arrested after more than a dozen pieces of art, including works by French artist Henri Matisse, were stolen by armed men from a library in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, authorities said. A pair of thieves stole eight engravings by Matisse and five pieces by Brazilian painter Cândido Portinari from the Mário de Andrade Library on Sunday morning, according to officials. The suspects held up a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the library, broke a glass display case and put the artworks in a canvas bag before…

Daniel Ek’s departure as CEO of Spotify marked the end of an era for the music-streaming industry. His investment in Helsing, one of Europe’s most promising AI startups, could mark the beginning of another — this time for the continent’s defense sector.  The 42-year-old Swedish billionaire’s major injection of capital this summer into the German firm signaled both a personal pivot after two decades running Spotify and a broader shift in how Europe’s technology ambitions — and its military security — might be financed.  Founded in Munich in 2021 by former DeepMind and NATO engineers, Helsing develops battlefield simulation and reconnaissance software powered by AI.…

Posts have recently gone viral online saying that Italy has just become the first country in the world to ban “lab-grown meat”, reigniting a debate about its safety and consumption. This image posted on Instagram and X, for example, features a picture of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and says that Italy has banned “Bill Gates lab-grown meat”, hinting at a conspiracy linked to the US businessman. Yes, Italy did pass a law in 2023 banning cultivated or lab-grown meat and “meat-related” labels such as “steak” and “salami” for plant-based products, with non-compliant companies facing fines of as much as €60,000.…