Author: staff
Published on 11/09/2026 – 17:14 GMT+2 Norway’s Princess Astrid, the older sister of the late King Harald, died on Friday at the age of 94, the Norwegian Royal Palace said in a statement. “Aunt Astrid was an important source of support for King Harald and the rest of our family. We learned a great deal from her, and she was never afraid to speak her mind,” King Haakon VIII said in the statement. “Her passing is a great loss to us. We will miss her.” The King added that Princess Astrid had stepped into the role of First Lady at…
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis took control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Friday, after capturing an island located in the middle of the crucial Red Sea waterway, a local government official and eyewitnesses said. “Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island after government forces withdrew from it yesterday,” the official said, referring to a rocky volcanic island also known as Perim that divides the narrowest part of the strait into two shipping lanes. “The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb area and Mayyun Island, which is located in the middle of the strait,” he added, speaking on…
Incidents of Russian-orchestrated hybrid war attacks across NATO territory are entering a new dangerous, kinetic phase, leaders across the continent agree. At a meeting in early September, EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim is to “scare us away from supporting Ukraine.” “He will not succeed,” she told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. However, others in European diplomatic circles have told Euronews that the lack of a powerful deterrent response is leaving the continent vulnerable to an escalation in Russian attacks. Germany’s decision to formally blame the Kremlin for planting an explosive-laden…
A quarter of a century after hijacked planes struck New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, the attacks of 11 September 2001 remain lodged in the American psyche more firmly than almost any other event of the past 25 years. A new Ipsos poll finds that roughly half of US adults, unprompted, name 9/11 among the most significant events of their lifetime — ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and Hurricane Katrina of 2005. Nine in ten say the attacks changed the country “a great deal” or “quite a bit,” and most Americans can still…
Published on 07/03/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1•Updated 11/09/2026 – 22:42 GMT+2 France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and lawmakers, skipping translation into the bloc’s 24 official languages, according to several sources. The slow ratification of the contentious EU–Mercosur trade deal has frustrated the Commission, which wants to accelerate negotiations and bring deals into force more quickly as it seeks new markets amid rising geopolitical tensions. Translating the agreements into every official EU language can take months due to the legal scrubbing required…
Chalk artists have gathered at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to draw portraits of the 40 passengers and crew members killed on September 11, 2001. The group of 20 artists is creating the portraits ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, with each drawing offering a personal tribute to those who died aboard United Flight 93. Among the works is a portrait of one of the passengers remembered for taking part in the attempt to regain control of the hijacked plane. Another artist is drawing the youngest person aboard the flight, saying the work has a…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 22:02 GMT+2 Police in southern England have banned face coverings at an anti-immigration rally as well as in a counter-protest planned in Portsmouth on Saturday, amid concerns over potential unrest. The demonstration, organised by protesters calling themselves “patriots”, is expected to begin at around noon. Hampshire Police, which has responsibility for Portsmouth, said the mask ban was to “reduce opportunities for violence, intimidation and criminality”. It said the move followed “recent incidents of violence and intimidation by a minority of those who have been intent on disrupting peaceful protest”. A separate order will allow police to…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 21:00 GMT+2•Updated 21:04 The United States on Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with a solemn ceremony in New York. The anniversary was marked by commemorations across the country, including wreath-laying ceremonies, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims’ names, as well as volunteer initiatives. On 11 September 2001, hijackers from al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, seized four commercial jets and crashed them into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people. US President Donald Trump attended a ceremony at the…
A veteran of Italy’s fight for civil and women’s rights, Bonino played a key role in the campaigns that led to the legalization of divorce and abortion in the country during the 1970s. In 2017, she co-founded the liberal More Europe party, which paid tribute to her on Friday. “Activist, parliamentarian, minister, European commissioner. Always radically free,” party leader Riccardo Magi wrote on X. “Her life was a long struggle against everything that denies freedoms.” Carlo Calenda, leader of the liberal Italian Action party, said: “The last great protagonist of the civil battles that led to the modernization of this…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:15 GMT+2 UK lawmakers on Friday rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives. Following an impassioned four-hour debate in the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected by 286 votes to 270. The outcome marked a notable reversal from last year, when an almost identical bill passed with a majority of 23 votes. The bill would have allowed adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to…