Author: staff

Published on 21/04/2026 – 19:54 GMT+2 The Israeli military said on Tuesday that two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon. The decision comes after widespread condemnation of a photo shared online showing an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross. The sculpture was located in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel. Publishing the conclusions of an inquiry into the…

The Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most prominent art exhibitions, is set to host Russia for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — a move that has sparked widespread criticism across Europe. Latvia’s Culture Minister Agnese Lāce, who had spearheaded a joint position by 25 European countries calling for Russia’s exclusion, said she will boycott the Biennale’s May 9 opening if Moscow takes part. In a statement, Latvia’s Ministry of Culture argued that allowing Russia to participate would give “legitimacy through a major European cultural platform supported by European funding” to a sanctioned aggressor…

Published on 21/04/2026 – 19:17 GMT+2 EU foreign ministers rejected calls to end preferential trade with Israel in connection with allegations of war crimes, highlighting persistent divisions within the bloc over the Middle East. However, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said further discussions would take place, including consideration of a proposal by France and Sweden to impose tariffs on goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. “We cannot lose sight of Gaza and the West Bank,” Kallas told journalists at a press conference. Ahead of the meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, the governments of Spain,…

Published on 21/04/2026 – 19:04 GMT+2 Six hotel staff and pest control workers went on trial in Turkey on Tuesday, charged with causing the deaths of a family of four from Germany poisoned by insecticide while on holiday in Istanbul, media reported. The Turkish-German Böcek family were staying at the Harbour Suites Old City hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district when they fell ill on 12 November, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. They took a taxi to a hospital complaining of nausea and vomiting before returning to the hotel. The following day they were taken to hospital by ambulance, where…

“We should also revisit long-blocked decisions including opening negotiations with Ukraine,” the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas told a news conference, also citing sanctions and blocked funding for Ukraine under the EU’s Peace Facility, its mechanism for funding military assistance for Kyiv. One of the EU diplomats present for closed-door discussions between foreign ministers said: “There was a totally new mood in the room … One after the other, the ministers gave their analysis of the situation … There’s a sense that on so many of these files, perhaps now there is a way forward.” Some of the diplomats spoken…

Published on 21/04/2026 – 18:09 GMT+2 This year’s European Heritage Awards, bestowed by Europa Nostra, have been won by 30 projects from 18 countries. The projects were competing in five categories, ranging from conservation and adaptive reuse to research, education and awareness-raising. “From pioneering AI-based risk prevention to hands-on training in traditional building techniques, these projects show that heritage is not just about the past, it is a living force for progress,” said Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport. President of Europa Nostra Cecilia Bartoli stated that in a world marked by conflicts, geopolitical tensions…

The pipeline, which stopped transporting oil from Russia to Central Europe after it was damaged in a Russian strike in January, became the focus of a bitter dispute between Ukraine and Hungary. Budapest, which receives the vast majority of its oil from Moscow, accused Kyiv of slow-walking repairs and subsequently vetoed a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine, initially approved by the bloc’s leaders at a summit in December. Zelenskyy’s announcement paves the way for Hungary to finally lift its veto on the loan, which is intended to prop up Ukraine’s war-battered economy and help fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.…

Published on 21/04/2026 – 17:03 GMT+2 Qatar has urged an end to the Iran war and a return to negotiations on Tuesday, saying it is in contact with all parties as uncertainty surrounds US-Iran talks in Islamabad. “The crisis is ours, and the crisis of our region. That’s why we have direct contacts,” foreign ministry spokesperson Dr Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference in Doha. Al-Ansari added that Qatar supports maintaining the ceasefire as uncertainty remains over whether talks are moving forward. “Our call has only been to end this war and return to the negotiation table,” he said.…

Published on 21/04/2026 – 17:14 GMT+2 Kazakhstan, one of the biggest and greenest countries in the world, has announced plans to expand its national parks. This move is expected to add around 20,000 square kilometres of protected land by 2035, bringing the total to approximately 332,000 square kilometres – bigger than in either Poland or Italy. Believed to be where the apple originated, Kazakhstan is also famed for its massive steppe landscapes, vibrant red Charyn Canyon, dramatic Altai Mountains and the Kaindy Lake, with its submerged forest. The Central Asian country is also known for its nomadic culture, especially eagle…

This is particularly wounding for Starmer because Doyle, like Mandelson, has since been embroiled in a scandal over his past association with a pedophile. (Mandelson resigned over the depth of his friendship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in September, while Doyle campaigned in 2017 for a friend who had been charged with child sex offenses, and was later convicted.) It was in March 2025, when Robbins was making large numbers of career civil servants redundant in a restructure. He told MPs he was “under strict instruction” from No. 10’s private office not to discuss the offer with then-Foreign…