Author: staff
At least 14 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, officials in the Strip have said, adding that bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble had also been destroyed.Israel’s 18-month offensive against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, raising fears that much of the enclave may never be rebuilt.The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also needed to rescue people from the rubble after Israeli strikes and to clear vital roads.A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on a…
Global financial markets have been turned upside down so far this year with uncertainty running high due to US President Donald Trump’s trade tariff announcements. Tariffs are one of the major geopolitical risks, listed in the IMF’s latest Global Financial Stability Report, including wars, sanctions and diplomatic stand-offs that are directly affecting the financial markets. The report warns that the impact of geopolitical risk events can spill over to sovereigns and firms in other countries through trade and financial linkages, increasing the risk of financial contagion, and resulting in volatility on the markets. For the first few months of this…
The temporary truce in Ukraine that Russia declared for Easter was a “charm operation” intended to appease US President Donald Trump, France’s top diplomat said on Tuesday.Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced a 30-hour ceasefire on Saturday, and Ukraine said it was ready to reciprocate any genuine pause in the fighting. However, both sides accused each other of attacks that violated Moscow’s truce. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Putin had declared the ceasefire to appeal to the Trump administration, which is pushing for peace in Ukraine and has threatened to walk away from its efforts unless there are signs…
Not all roads lead to Cracow. In fact, getting to this town in the heart of the Outback requires careful preparation. Halfway there, the GPS signal disappears. And, as there are no petrol stations along the route, you need to bring an adequate supply of fuel if you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Cracow, however, rewards the traveller’s effort. After a long, pothole-laden journey, you finally see a town that — although it does not resemble Kraków, the better-known Polish city — has its own subtly charming, albeit austere, character.The town’s ties to Poland remain…
“There are turbulent developments in international politics and in the alliance field … The speed with which this is happening and the potential effect on our security is unprecedented,” he added. The MIVD revealed several recent Russian operations in the Netherlands, including the first known cyber sabotage attack by a Russian hacker group targeting an unspecified Dutch public facility’s digital systems in 2024. According to the report, the impact of the attack was minimal and did not lead to any damage. The agency also detected a Russian cyber operation targeting critical infrastructure in the Netherlands, potentially in preparation for future…
Updated: 22/04/2025 – 12:12 GMT+2The Vatican has shared the first images of late Pope Francis, showing him lying in a wooden coffin, dressed in red liturgical garments and wearing his bishop’s mitre. … More Footage filmed on Monday captured the ritual to confirm the death in the chapel of Domus Santa Marta, where the Pope had lived. The ceremony was led by Camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell, joined by the Vatican Secretary of State and senior Church officials.Francis passed away on Monday at the age of 88, after suffering a stroke. He had recently returned home after five weeks in hospital…
Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who visited the Vatican several times, has said he was lucky to have known Pope Francis, who died yesterday at the age of 88. “There is so much that can be said about the significance of Pope Francis and everything he meant to the world, to the church, to the papacy I will leave that to others,” Scorsese said in a statement to Variety. “He was, in every way, a remarkable human being. He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom. He radiated goodness. He had an ironclad commitment to the good.” Scorsese added: “He knew in his soul that ignorance was…
Russia’s Easter truce with Ukraine was a “charm operation” to appeal to United States President Donald Trump, France’s top diplomat said Tuesday. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told broadcaster FranceInfo that the temporary ceasefire, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday — and which Kyiv accused Moscow of breaking immediately and repeatedly — was only for appearances. “The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” Barrot told FranceInfo. As Trump’s push for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine has stalled, the…
Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CET, the Vatican said Tuesday in a statement. A slew of world leaders and foreign dignitaries are set to attend the funeral at St. Peter’s Square, including United States President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reportedly considering attending. The pontiff passed away on Easter Monday after a months-long battle with illness. His cause of death was reported by Vatican doctors as a stroke. According to tradition, his successor will be elected in a conclave 15 to 20 days after his death.
“There is a real sense that people are very understandably disillusioned with a political guard, and just feel that successive Labour and Conservative governments have failed them,” he said, though he insists there is a “stark choice” between the offer being presented by the Greens and Farage’s Reform UK. The four MPs the Greens now have in parliament are “crucial,” he said — and make a difference to the party’s “credibility.” Labour’s answer to this should involve burnishing its soft-left credentials, according to McTernan. Prime Minister Keir Starmer with his deputy Angela Rayner, one of those from the “soft left”…