Author: staff

The accusation comes after M23 seized more territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have killed children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s second largest city, the UN human rights chief has said. The major city of Bukavu fell to the rebels on Sunday, just weeks after they succeeded in capturing Goma to the north. In a statement on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said his office had “confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week.” “We are…

The new world order Preparing for possible Ukrainian peace negotiations is being portrayed in the Russian media almost as secondary in the bigger picture of Putin and Trump coming together to decide the shape of a new multipolar world order.  The coverage gives some hint as to what the Kremlin will prioritize in these opening rounds of diplomacy — namely, to set the stage for the two men’s meeting of minds. In the Russian narrative it is the Americans who are at last catching up with a prescient Putin and coming round to his way of thinking. “All things on…

“Japan will soon begin importing historic new shipments of clean American liquefied natural gas in record numbers,” the American president declared.  Trump is similarly pressing the EU to buy more American LNG, threatening to impose severe tariffs if the bloc doesn’t meet that and other demands. Brussels has dispatched envoys to Washington to negotiate and is keen to strike an LNG deal. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has touted it as a way to finally quit Russian LNG. However, any move to follow Japan’s lead would likely face opposition from climate activists and green groups, who have long argued…

“It is, of course, the dominant issue,” Holm told POLITICO before his speech. After the attacks in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg, he added, “that is also the dominant thing that you hear [from voters] at information stands — that things can’t go on like this, they can’t come to terms with this migration issue.” Speaking to supporters, Holm described the arrival of migrants in Schwerin and the surrounding areas — including at a refugee center in the city — as posing long-term risks to the area’s identity and security. “We have cities that have already shifted so much that you can…

The measures have sparked controversy, with critics labelling the proposal a “hijab ban,” warning it would disproportionately target women of Muslim faith. French lawmakers are debating a ban on “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols in French sporting competitions.The proposal — backed by the conservative Les Républicains party and to be discussed on Tuesday and Wednesday — would apply to competitions organised by official sports federations and other bodies, including professional leagues and swimming pools. Until now, federations have had free rein on rules regarding any overtly religious symbols worn by competitors in their disciplines. While the French football and rugby…

As the Delta crash in Toronto adds to a recent spate of accidents, we look at the safety of flying and find cause for hope. A Delta Airlines flight carrying 80 people crash landed in Toronto yesterday (17 February), becoming the latest in a string of aviation incidents in 2025.Luckily no one was killed in Monday’s crash, which happened when the Delta jet crashed and apparently flipped while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The plane, which had departed from the Minneapolis in Minnesota, was carrying 76 passengers and four crewmembers, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Of them, 18 people were…

Negotiations between Russia and the United States led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two delegations’ bilateral talks lasted about 4.5 hours, and according to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s top aide Yuri Ushakov, the negotiations “went well.” “There was a very serious conversation on all the issues we wanted to raise,” Ushakov told journalists after the meeting, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. The issues included the future of Ukraine, where Russia has been waging a full-scale war for three years. According to Ushakov, the two…

Next month will mark three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in which it has deliberately targeted critical infrastructure, caused mass civilian casualties and repeatedly struck schools and hospitals. The apparent support for Kyiv’s self-determination comes as the United States and Russia host bilateral talks on Ukraine’s future, without Ukrainian representatives at the negotiating table. Peskov added that this stance does not apply to Ukraine’s involvement in military alliances — as Ukraine’s desire to join NATO is seen as a clear threat in the eyes of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  “Of course, our position on issues related…

A long-running crisis of overstuffed jails and backlogged courts has reached a critical level. Hundreds of inmates are soon to be released from jail in Scotland as new legislation designed to relieve prison overcrowding comes into force.Nearly 400 prisoners will walk free over the next six weeks under the law, which makes some inmates serving sentences of less than four years eligible for release after 40% of their time has been served.However, prisoners serving time for domestic abuse and sexual offences will not be eligible.The Scottish Parliament passed the law last year to address what has become a chronic prison…

A new study has uncovered the “woody,” “spicy,” and “sweet” scents of ancient Egyptian mummies, shedding light on the mummification process and its evolution over time. Researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana have made history with a groundbreaking study, the first to systematically analyse the smells of mummified bodies. Using a combination of high-tech tools like an electronic ‘nose’ and trained human sniffers, they studied nine mummies on display and in storage at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. The results, published in ‘Journal of the American Chemical Society’, offer a fresh perspective on ancient embalming materials and the way museums…