Author: staff
Published on 26/01/2026 – 18:30 GMT+1 Hundreds of migrants may be missing at sea or feared dead following reports of multiple deadly shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean in recent days, the UN’s migration agency warned on Monday. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it was “deeply concerned” by the reports, which it is currently verifying. “Several boats are believed to have been involved over the past 10 days, with preliminary information suggesting that hundreds of people may be missing at sea or feared dead,” a statement said. The agency warned that severe weather was significantly hampering search and rescue…
By Euronews Published on 26/01/2026 – 18:51 GMT+1 Top political and business figures gathered at Euronews’ Davos hub for a high-level dinner discussion on Europe’s future. The event brought into focus the continent’s urgent need to invest smarter, reconcile competitiveness with sustainability, and rethink regulation to foster innovation. Comments from guests on the sidelines of the dinner at the World Economic Forum, shown in the video above, underline a common theme: Europe must act decisively to secure its position in a rapidly changing global economy. On the agenda were pressing questions for the EU. How can Europe scale up investment in…
Environmental experts are warning that the US push to revamp and boost Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could worsen decades of ecological damage. It could also increase planet-warming pollution in a country already struggling with the legacy of a long-declining petroleum industry. The warnings come as Washington has intensified pressure on Venezuela following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro last weekend. Since then, the United States has moved to assert control over Venezuelan oil exports, the country’s main source of revenue, seizing tankers it says were transporting crude in violation of US sanctions and signalling plans to redirect Venezuelan oil…
Portuguese authorities said on Monday that they had seized a record haul of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Azores archipelago. The nearly nine tonnes of the drug is “the biggest seizure of cocaine ever in Portugal,” a police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency. At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, the director of the National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking (UNCTE), Artur Vaz, said that bales of cocaine had been recovered “in an overall quantity that we estimate at approximately nine tonnes.” Vaz said that the drugs being transported on the vessel could bring in “hundreds…
Published on 13/01/2026 – 12:26 GMT+1 Microplastics are infiltrating green spaces, often considered a respite from polluted cities, as experts sound the alarm on “potential health risks”. New research from the University of Leeds warns that tiny plastic fragments have been found in greater quantities in rural environments than urban locations. Scientists say trees and other vegetation are capturing microplastic particles from the atmosphere and depositing them in woodlands. Published in the journal Environmental Pollution, the three-month study detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square meter per day in an area of woodland – almost twice as…
Update: US-Verteidigungsstrategie, NATO und Grönland – wie geht es weiter? – POLITICO Skip to main content
After a dramatic week spent fretting over Greenland’s future, Europe is shifting its political focus back to the crisis that risks redefining its security architecture for generations to come: Russia’s war on Ukraine. Europeans are hoping that the preliminary deal that convinced Donald Trump to abandon his attempt to seize Greenland through punitive tariffs will allow the two sides of the Atlantic to resume their common efforts to end the full-scale invasion, which the unprecedented row over the mineral-rich Danish territory briefly threatened to derail. With the full-scale Russian invasion nearing the fourth-year mark, European leaders are throwing their weight…
Images posted on social media show the moment lightning struck near a demonstration by supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, injuring 89 people, according to the fire department. Thousands gathered on Sunday in the rain in Brasilia to support Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison last year for leading a failed coup d’etat following his narrow re-election loss. Footage shared online shows crowds with colourful umbrellas and plastic ponchos stunned by a sudden flash of light and rumbling sound. Ambulances and firefighter vehicles rushed to the scene after several people were hit by lightning.
Published on 13/01/2026 – 14:18 GMT+1 •Updated 14/01/2026 – 10:24 GMT+1 EU-wide protections against ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water have officially come into effect, but experts argue more action is needed. The crackdown, which came into force on 12 January, marks the first time levels of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are being “systematically monitored”. It means that all EU nations are now required to test contamination levels to ensure compliance with new limit values set out under the recast Drinking Water Directive, which sets the legal standard that water for human consumption must meet to be classed as safe…
Yet in acting ruthlessly, the usually-cautious Starmer — who is officially citing the additional costs of fighting a mayoral race — has already sparked a fierce internal backlash. Five Labour MPs told POLITICO a letter is being organized calling on Starmer to allow the wider 39-strong NEC to have another say. The move would allow a rethink among a wider group of officers, ranging from senior union figures to MPs and constituency parties that are less under No.10’s control. There would, however, be no guarantee that they’d reach a different conclusion — and the move would be bound to extend…