Author: staff

LONDON — The joy of Keir Starmer’s landslide victory in the U.K. general election wasn’t meant to sour this quickly.  But rows over Taylor Swift tickets, welfare cuts and an internal power struggle — on top of Starmer’s gloomy prescription for fixing the nation’s finances — mean the U.K. prime minister will spend his 100th day in office Saturday falling short in the eternal popularity contest that is electoral politics. Starmer has already hit the reset button once, parting ways with his most senior adviser days before reaching his centenary. The problem is, worse is still to come. New MPs are…

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column. Being a politician is a tough life. When the phone rings it’s likely either your boss (bad), the press (worse), or a disgruntled member of the public (unthinkable). So it’s understandable that when an actual celebrity comes a-calling, you pay attention. That happened in the United Kingdom when Taylor Swift’s mother (who is at least a celebrity by association) got London police to give her daughter the full blue-lights-flashing-get-out-of-the-way treatment usually reserved for members of the royal family (when, for example, King Charles has run out of organic muesli or Prince Andrew needs…

Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while working in Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna has died in Russian captivity, according to Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Coordination Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Speaking on Ukrainian television today, Yatsenko confirmed her death, noting that the exact circumstances remain under investigation. Roshchyna would have turned 28 this month.Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while working in Russian-occupied territories. RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service reported that she had travelled from Ukraine to Poland on 27 July last year before entering eastern Ukraine. Her last known communication was on 3 August…

LONDON — It’s not about the kind of weapons a military has anymore; it’s the software on which it runs. That’s the pitch with which European artificial intelligence champion Helsing is taking the defense-tech sector by storm, at a time when European governments are hurrying to funnel cash into new military systems and weaponry. “Defense is turning more and more into a software problem,” the company’s co-founder and co-chief executive officer Gundbert Scherf told POLITICO in an interview.  Helsing, headquartered in Munich, Germany, was valued at €4.9 billion in July, just four years after its inception. Its motto, “artificial intelligence…

Zelenskyy has yet to publicly present his proposals for victory but the timing of his efforts to lock in European support appear to have November’s US presidential election in mind. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been on a tour of European capitals to promote his ‘victory plan’ that he says “aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war” against Russia.It details the proposals to European allies after a scheduled summit involving US President Joe Biden was derailed by Hurricane Milton which has caused devastation across Florida.His third stop of the day brought him to Italy and…

PARIS — When Emmanuel Macron came to power in 2017, he was hailed as the business-friendly former Rothschild banker who would turn France into a world-beating investment destination by slashing public spending and lowering taxes. Seven years later, the French president’s economic credentials are in the dock. Thursday’s eye-watering budget adjustment — €19.4 billion in tax increases and €41.3 billion in spending cuts — is a stark sign that France’s money management has veered off the rails on Macron’s watch. The president’s political opponents are relishing his sudden fall from grace on fiscal helmsmanship — and are sharpening their knives.…

Rue Américaine 95 What’s good? The food is delicious, the selection of cocktails is vast, the vibe is fun and convivial. Gigi Amor is the perfect place for a chatty night out with friends or a romantic date. We indulged in plates of pasta and pizza. The traditional Rigatoni all’amatriciana — with spicy tomato sauce, guanciale and Pecorino cheese — was incredibly tasty, while the Gigi Amor pizza — with beetroot cream, mozzarella, spicy salami and roasted sweet potatoes — was absolutely unforgettable. The choice of the desserts is original, and their presentation is very well curated. We couldn’t pick one…

The baffling advert, released by state-owned Korea International Travel Company, is the latest attempt to attract tourists to North Korea. A North Korean tourism advert with low production values, near-empty beaches and cloudy skies has caught the internet’s attention.The newly released advert features young, attractive people, who appear to be Russian, frolicking on a beach. It’s clearly aimed at potential tourists from Russia – but what’s not clear is whether or not it would attract any visitors. The isolated Asian nation, not on many people’s travel bucket list, opened up to Russians earlier this year. In February, around 100 tourists from Russia…

Mass protests are expected across Serbia this weekend in response to the new EU and Serbian lithium mining deal, signed a few weeks ago. Is history just repeating itself for Serbia? Has the German government learned its lesson from North Steam 2? Apparently it has. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz paid a surprise visit to Belgrade just a few weeks ago to sign a major lithium mining deal with Serbian President Aleksander Vucic, in a bid to reduce the EU’s dependency on China.China produced the most electric cars in 2023, and some experts are worried that the cheap cost of these vehicles…

Wimbledon will introduce Live Electronic Line Calling, replacing human line judges, aiming for maximum accuracy in officiating. Fans and line callers express mixed feelings. Line judges hold the role of calling “out” or “fault” during a match and their courtside projections can be the cause for celebration or anguish at often the most nail-biting moments. Yet, after 147 years poised at the side of the court, Wimbledon has announced plans to replace its famous line judges with electronic line calling (ELC) during the tournament.In a statement released on Wednesday, Sally Bolton, the All England Club’s Chief Executive, said: “The decision to…