Author: staff

Myanmar heard accusations that it is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority at the top court of the United Nations, as long-awaited hearings began in The Hague on Monday. The West African country The Gambia first filed the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019, arguing a so-called “clearance operation” by Myanmar’s military in 2017 violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. The Southeast Asian country, which has since been taken over by the military, has denied the allegations. In his opening statements, Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said his country brought the case out of “a…

X did not comment on Ofcom’s investigation when contacted by POLITICO, but referred back to a statement issued on Jan. 4 about the issue of deepfakes on the platform. “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” the statement said. Big test   The OSA came into force last summer, and until now Ofcom’s enforcement actions have focused on…

Published on 12/01/2026 – 18:49 GMT+1 The simplification of rules in the upcoming EU budget in the field of research may put undermine the bloc’s ability to control how allocated funds are spent, the European Court of Auditors said in a report published on Monday. The court, which is responsible for auditing how EU funds are collected and spent, has conducted an assessment of the next EU budget for competitiveness and research, which as written totals €409 billion – about one-fifth of the overall €2 trillion EU budget for 2028-2034. The auditors’ report stresses that the field of research is…

Der Iran erlebt die heftigsten Proteste seit Jahren und sie werden immer brutaler. Menschenrechtsorganisationen sprechen von mehr als 500 Toten und über 10.000 Festnahmen, während das Regime versucht, das Land vom Internet abzuschneiden. Die Parolen richten sich längst nicht mehr auf Reformen, sondern offen gegen das Ende der Islamischen Republik. Rixa Fürsen spricht mit Aras-Nathan Keul vom Nahost-Friedensforum NAFFO über ein Regime, das intern geschwächt ist, außenpolitisch an Einfluss verliert und dennoch mit harter Gewalt reagiert. Es geht um die Rolle der Revolutionsgarde, gezielte Sanktionen, den Einsatz von Starlink als Lebensader für die Proteste und die Frage, was Deutschland, Europa…

All the Iranian diplomats and representatives will be banned from the European Parliament’s premises as a response to Iran’s crackdown on protesters, the Parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, announced on Monday. “This House will not aid in legitimising this regime that has sustained itself through torture, repression, and murder”, Metsola wrote on X. The ban will apply to all the Parliament’s premises in Brussels, Strasbourg, and Luxembourg, and will remain in place until revoked by another president’s decision. In the meantime, the European Union is prepared to push for fresh sanctions on the country after the repression of the protesters. Earlier…

About 100 participants, mostly men wearing white loincloths and a few women in white robes, stepped into tubs of ice cold water in the shrine courtyard. After warm up runs and chants to the purification goddess Haraedo no Okami, they poured water over themselves with wooden buckets, shouting to steady their nerves. Drums and flutes accompanied the ceremony, now in its 71st year. The rite is rooted in Shinto beliefs that physical hardship cleanses the spirit and protects against misfortune. Once limited to shrine members, the event now accepts public applications, which filled quickly this year as onlookers watched from…

Asked if this meant cuts to programs or pushing them back, Knighton said: “All of those things are options under consideration, but so is the level of ambition we might take and these are straightforward facts.” The Ministry of Defence is currently locked in a battle with the Treasury over the Defense Investment Plan (DIP), which was originally meant to be published in the fall last year.  The DIP is intended to build on the strategic defense review (SDR) and put hard numbers against the government’s plans before an uplift to defense spending from 2027. The Times reported that military…

South Korea is seeing large winter crowds gather in the county of Hwacheon for the annual Sancheoneo Festival, known for its freezing water challenges. Tens of thousands of visitors travel to the northeast to try catching live mountain trout by hand. Wearing shorts and gloves, participants step into icy pools and clutch the slippery fish to their chests once caught. Others choose a calmer option, lowering fishing lines through holes cut into the ice and waiting for a bite. Nearby grills fill the air with the smell of trout cooked on the spot, following the rule that you eat what…

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is set to meet his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington on Monday to discuss the issue. That meeting comes ahead of a high-level meeting between officials from Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. set for Wednesday. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned last week that a U.S. invasion of Greenland would spell the end of NATO. Members of Merz’s government have taken a rhetorically softer approach in a bid to prevent the alliance from rupturing, depicting Trump as raising legitimate security concerns. “We simply want to work together to improve the security…

The European Commission has publicly raised the prospect of engaging in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, while cautioning that Moscow’s relentless bombing campaign makes such a move impossible at this stage. “We’re working very, very hard for peace in Ukraine,” Paula Pinho, the chief spokesperson of the European Commission, said on Monday afternoon. “Peace in Ukraine depends on one single person. That person is, as you know very well, President Putin. So obviously, at some point, there will have to be talks also with President Putin. In the meantime, a lot of…