Author: staff
A Finnish pair won the annual UK Wife Carrying Race held in Dorking, Surrey, where competitors race while carrying their partners on their shoulders. Firefighter Teemu Tuovinen and laboratory scientist Jatta Leinonen, both 28, took first place after travelling from Finland to compete. The race, now in its 18th year, features teams running up and down a hill, jumping over hay bales and passing through water obstacles while the carried partner wears a crash helmet. Participants said the experience was physically demanding but entertaining. Race director Ian Giles said the quirky event, inspired by a Finnish tradition, attracts competitors looking…
By Cristina Giner Published on 09/03/2026 – 15:19 GMT+1 Thanks to generative processes and virtual companions, the French multinational company Dassault Systèmes is pushing the boundaries of industrial innovation with the launch of AI-driven virtual companions designed to revolutionise the way industry customers approach design and manufacturing engineering. Dominic, Leo, and Marie are some of the names of the virtual companions that the Paris-based software giant has developed. Marie can answer scientific questions. Leo is built to reply to any engineering questions, and Dominic, displayed at the screens of the Dassault Systèmes booth at the Mobile World Congress, can answer any…
The 98th Academy Awards are this weekend, and whether we like it or not, that eight-and-a-half-pound gold-plated trophy for Best Picture remains the grandest prize of every year’s awards season. The Oscar for Best Picture is a distinction that cements a film’s place in history, and while it’s easy to second-guess the Academy on its laureates, putting these prize winners into context remains an interesting exercise – specifically to ascertain which ones have stood the test of time. And how only a handful truly deserved the award. Not long to find out who will be joining the winners list… Will…
Macron told reporters at a military base in Cyprus that he discussed the potential mission with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulides. Macron’s visit to Cyprus Monday comes after the island suffered drone attacks last week following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that plunged the region into conflict. “When Cyprus is attacked, it is Europe that is attacked,” Macron said as he pledged to uphold Franco-Cypriot defense agreements. France has already sent air defenses to Cyprus and deployed its only aircraft carrier to the region. Macron said France was looking to “take a strictly defensive stance…
Published on 09/03/2026 – 14:59 GMT+1 Washington and Beijing are both trying to weaken Europe because it constitutes an “unknown variable” in their power struggle, France’s foreign minister said on Monday, urging the European Union to stop doubting itself and assert itself on the global stage. “The main geopolitical challenge is the growing rivalry between two powers, two superpowers,” Jean‑Noël Barrot told the annual European Union Ambassadors Conference on Monday, citing the US and China. The two countries’ increasingly confrontational stances, coupled with their common desire to reshape the international order to their advantage, Barrot said, could see the world…
It has now become a global campaign. Major cultural institutions, from Rome to Seattle via Lyon, have reacted to Timothée Chalamet’s comments about opera and ballet, which the actor described as “stuff” that “nobody cares about any more”. The explosive remark was made during a public conversation (source in French) between the Franco-American actor and his Hollywood colleague Matthew McConaughey, organised by Variety and CNN at an event at the University of Texas on 24 February. Just over 50 minutes into the discussion, Timothée Chalamet was asked about cinema attendance and the way audiences’ attention spans are shrinking, with some…
Kapranos wrote: “These warmongering murderers are using our music without our consent. This makes us both nauseous and furious. Kind of typical though, isn’t it? To strut up and take what isn’t theirs with a vile arrogance.” Last month, Israel and the U.S. launched joint strikes against Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation from Tehran and setting off a broader regional conflict. Franz Ferdinand (the band) have long been political. In 2016, they released a track called “Demagogue” about the first U.S. presidential campaign by Donald Trump.
Published on 09/03/2026 – 14:28 GMT+1 Ukraine’s Oschadbank is demanding the immediate return of cash and gold confiscated by Hungarian authorities last week, lawyers representing the bank in Hungary told Euronews. The incident triggered a diplomatic row after Hungarian police raided a convoy of cash carriers near Budapest and seized $40 million, €35 million and 9kg of gold. Hungary expelled seven Ukrainian nationals accompanying the transport the following day and opened an investigation into suspected money laundering. Horváth Lawyers, a law firm representing Oschadbank and its seven employees in Hungary, told Euronews that the Ukrainian vehicles were carrying out a…
By Rebecca Ann Hughes Published on 19/02/2026 – 13:10 GMT+1•Updated 09/03/2026 – 13:58 GMT+1 Brussels Airport is bracing for severe disruption this week as some of Belgium’s largest trade unions plan industrial action. A strike notice has been issued for Thursday 12 March, lasting 24 hours. The walkout will see widespread flight cancellations and delays. Here’s what travellers need to know. Brussels Airport cancels all departures on 12 March Key Belgian trade unions, including FGTB/ABVV, CSC/ACV, and CGSLB/ACLVB, are staging a nationwide strike on 12 March, protesting against unpaid labour and pension reforms. The walkouts will affect various sectors, including public…
At a dinner last week attended by the European Commission president’s chief of staff, Bjoern Seibert, EU ambassadors rejected the possibility of allowing in new members with limited privileges. Kallas’ words offer heavyweight backing to the idea that enlargement isn’t simply a bureaucratic process by which candidates fulfill EU criteria but a geopolitical choice — as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested. “Enlargement has been described as the union’s most successful foreign policy, extending the area of stability, peace and prosperity,” Kallas said, citing Eurobarometer data showing wide support for expanding the 27-member bloc. But, she added, “it…