Author: staff

As the Iranian minister met with Lebanese and Hezbollah officials in Beirut, Israel continued to pick off top Hezbollah commanders with airstrikes. Hashem Safieddine, seen as Nasrallah’s most likely successor, was possibly among the dead in a series punishing Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut this week. Israeli officials say they are still trying to confirm whether Safieddine was in a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters near Beirut’s airport when it was struck. Along with Hezbollah leaders, Israel has also been targeting Hamas commanders based in Lebanon. On Saturday, Hamas-affiliated media reported that Saeed Atallah, one of the leaders of…

This article was originally published in Italian An entrepreneur was conducting illegal excavations at the hitherto unknown archaeological site, damaging and looting the area, which has now been seized by the Carabinieri. The rediscovered church is a rare example of medieval art of which very few models are known in the whole of Italy. Investigations by the specialist Naples’ Cultural Heritage Protection Unit have led to a rare archaeological discovery in the centre of the city after an entrepreneur carried out illegal excavations underground at an ancient medieval church.To profit from the archaeological site, the suspect is accused of using several…

A sign of regional power The Mossos d’Esquadra (its full, official name is the Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya)  was created in the early 1980s, as part of an arrangement to grant Catalonia greater regional autonomy. Its powers were broadened in the mid-1990s to take on almost all major policing duties in Catalonia except for border and passport controls. Along with the Basque Country, it is the only region to have its own force with such powers. “Having the Mossos was extremely important for Catalonia, it was an opportunity to have our own modern police,” Francesc-Marc Álvaro, a member…

“Recently, reports have come to light of heinous crimes committed in Afungi by Mozambican soldiers working for the French company TotalEnergies,” the lawmakers said in their written question.  The French energy giant had contracted a Mozambican security unit to defend the plant despite warnings that some soldiers had allegedly carried out human rights abuses.  TotalEnergies told POLITICO it had “no knowledge of the alleged events described” nor “any information indicating that such events took place.” The lawmakers are pressing the Commission to call on the Mozambican government to hold accountable and punish those responsible for the atrocities. They also seek…

The Partygate affair, as it became known, dealt a major blow to Johnson’s administration, and he resigned as prime minister in 2022 following an exodus of top ministers. Johnson was fined by police over his attendance at one gathering and was later found to have knowingly misled parliament about his knowledge of the gatherings. He rejected the findings of the committee investigating Partygate, and dramatically quit as an MP. In an interview with ITV News airing Friday night, Johnson said his “blanket apology” for Covid rule-breaking “at the beginning” of the scandal had opened the door to “accusations that then…

“Most allies were against that, pre-invasion … they were very afraid of the consequences,” he said. “I’m proud of what we have done, but it would have been a great advantage if it started earlier. “It maybe could even have prevented the invasion, or at least made it much harder for [Russia] to do what they’ve done.” Throughout the conflict, Kyiv has begged its Western allies for more advanced weapons, including long-range missiles, battle tanks and Patriot air defense systems. Some, such as Germany, eventually relented on some requests while steadfastly refusing others. Ukraine’s allies “should have given them more…

In separate comments on Friday during the annual diplomatic forum on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on Western countries to lift sanctions on the Taliban. “We once again appeal to Western countries with an urgent call to acknowledge responsibility for the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan, lift sanctions restrictions, and return Kabul’s appropriated assets,” he said during the opening remarks of the meeting, where Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had also been present. Lavrov also praised the current Afghan leadership for its fight against drugs and the Islamic State, while not expressly mentioning the Taliban. Russia has slowly…

The request comes as Europe searches for ways to keep up economically with the U.S. and China — a major focus of leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron, who said this week that the EU “could die” if its economy falls behind globally and should embrace a more protectionist agenda if it wants to survive. The three EU heavyweights want a regulatory pause for finance rules, saying the bloc should “shift gears and regain its capacity to compete in the global arena” and “put stronger emphasis on the competitiveness of the financial sector, particularly banking.”   As part of this…

The “declarations will now be introduced on 31 January 2025,” a spokesperson for the U.K.’s customs authority HMRC told POLITICO. That means the U.K. will continue waving through goods coming from the EU without safety and security certificates for another three months. Firms were told on Thursday of the delay at a meeting of the Joint Customs Consultative Committee — an HMRC forum made up of business and border groups. The delay is “not a surprise,” a senior business representative briefed on the plans said. The government “hadn’t produced much in the way of guidance” about how the new STW…

Three of the pieces are inspired by The Cure’s new album ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ – the band’s first release in 16 years, out next month. Proceeds of the auction go to Heart Research UK. The Cure are back soon, with the legendary British gloom rockers releasing their first studio album in 16 years on 1 November.While fans bide their time until the release of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, they do well to start bidding, as The Cure frontman Robert Smith is auctioning off some signed new artwork to raise money for Heart Research UK.The charity organisation funds…