Author: staff

POLITICO was not able to verify the details of the video. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Monday that the alleged attack had involved more than 90 long-range drones and warned that Moscow’s position in U.S.-led peace talks would harden as a result. Ukraine flatly rejected the claim, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “another lie from the Russian Federation” and accusing Moscow of manufacturing a provocation to derail diplomatic momentum. Residents of the nearby town of Valdai told Russian independent media Mozhem Obyasnit that they had heard no explosions or signs of an overnight attack. Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence…

Authorities are investigating damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland that occurred early on Wednesday between the capitals of Finland and Estonia. Finnish authorities seized and inspected the vessel suspected of causing the damage, the border guard said in a statement. Its anchor was lowered when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. The Fitburg ship was sailing under the flag of St Vincent and Grenadines and had departed from the Russian port of St Petersburg, a police spokesperson said. According to MarineTraffic data it was headed for Haifa in Israel. Police said 14 crew…

Moscow stuck to its guns again on Wednesday, furthering its claims of an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s dacha, in what allies have described as an apparent attempt to throw a spanner into US-led peace talks to end Russia’s all-out war. In the latest attempt at backing the Kremlin’s claims, the Russian defence ministry released a video purportedly showing a downed drone it said Kyiv launched at Putin’s residence in Novgorod overnight on Monday. The video shows a damaged drone lying in snow in a forested area at night, next to what appears to be a masked…

Auckland was the first major city to ring in 2026 with a fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower. The South Pacific nation marked the arrival of the new year as clocks in Auckland struck midnight 18 hours before the famous ball drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display sent around 3,500 fireworks into the sky from multiple levels of the 240-metre tower, while many smaller community events on New Zealand’s North Island were cancelled because of forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.

Protests triggered by Iran’s deepening inflation crisis have entered their fourth consecutive day, spreading from Tehran’s Grand Bazaar to major cities including Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Hamadan and Qeshm as tens of thousands of Iranians — from shopkeepers and bazaar merchants to university students — take to the streets across multiple provinces. Inflation has surged past 42% nationwide amid a collapsing rial, rapidly rising food and essential goods prices, and widespread economic hardship that even regime-aligned groups have tentatively voiced acknowledgement with. Food prices rose 72% and health and medical items were up 50% from December last year. “We officially recognise…

A Eurostar spokesperson told POLITICO that services were to resume at 7 p.m. Brussels time (6 p.m. London time) on Tuesday evening, after a “partial reopening of the Channel Tunnel.” Getlink, the company that operates the Channel Tunnel, said work continued through the night to fix the power issue, allowing rail traffic in both directions to restart early Wednesday, BBC reported. Eurostar apologized to passengers for the disruption and warned of possible knock-on delays and last-minute cancellations on Wednesday as services return to normal. Travelers were urged to check their journeys before heading to stations. On Tuesday, Eurostar “strongly” advised passengers to…

Climate change and the opening of Suez Canal have in recent years opened the floodgates to invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea, where they threaten biodiversity. Lionfish, with their red and orange stripes and antennae-like barbs, threaten to decimate indigenous fish stocks, wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of the roughly 150 professional fishermen in Cyprus. “It leaves nothing behind and multiplies because it has no enemies. It is very dangerous for all fish in the areas where it multiplies and stays,” says local fisherman Photis Gaitanos. The prickly fish has even made its way as far north as the Ionian…

This article is also available in: English PARIS — Pour obtenir la citoyenneté française, l’acteur américain George Clooney et sa famille ont pu compter sur l’appui de l’exécutif. Selon une lettre du ministre des Affaires étrangères, Jean-Noël Barrot, consultée par POLITICO, le gouvernement français lui a en effet accordé la nationalité française par le biais d’une procédure d’exception, dite de “l’étranger émérite”. Cette procédure a permis à George Clooney et sa famille d’être naturalisés français, par un décret publié le 26 décembre dernier. Dans son courrier en date du 20 octobre et adressé au ministère de l’Intérieur, Jean-Noël Barrot souligne que le producteur et son épouse,…

Published on 31/12/2025 – 13:12 GMT+1 As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to prepare special messages to share with friends and family as we welcome in the new year. In this comprehensive guide, you will find a selection of the best WhatsApp messages, organised by category so you can find the perfect one for every special person in your life. Pitfalls to avoid when sending your New Year’s messages Personalise the message to the recipient. Avoid forwarding the same message to all your contacts. Schedule or prepare important messages in advance so they don’t get lost at the…

Barrot underlines the Clooney family is “permanently based” in the south of France, where their children attend school, and that the couple “maintains personal and professional ties with [France].” The letter points to the Clooneys’ philanthropic work and notes that “through their life paths and commitments, they embody the values of solidarity, freedom, and creativity that France promotes around the world.” It also states that “Mr. Clooney’s professional activity generates enormous financial benefits from which the French film industry profits.” A spokesperson for France’s foreign affairs minister confirmed that the request to offer the Clooney family citizenship, which was officially…