Author: staff
It’s also linked to a wide range of illnesses including cardiovascular disease and depression, all of which are adding pressure to stretched health systems. The WHO said governments should target alcohol consumption to protect people from its ill effects. Increasing the cost of booze through taxes is one of the most effective measures governments can take, the WHO said. Yet, some EU countries have minimal or no taxes on certain types of alcohol. The fact that more than half of EU countries don’t tax wine at all is “unusual” by international standards, WHO economist Anne-Marie Perucic said. She pointed out…
Published on 13/01/2026 – 20:11 GMT+1 Estonia said on Tuesday it had banned 261 Russians who fought in Ukraine from entering the country, promising it was “just the start.” The interior ministry said in a statement those who had committed atrocities in Ukraine had “no place in the free world.” Estonia, which shares a border with Russia, has advocated for a Europe-wide visa ban on Russian veterans of the Ukraine war for months and has gained support from Baltic and Nordic countries. The ministry estimates as many as 1.5 million Russians have taken part in the full-scale invasion, about half…
“I’ve been saying for years now: With Greenland, we can’t see it as a small country. It might be a small country population-wise, but it is a geopolitical giant that’s getting hotter by the day,” he said. Menezes urged ministers to prioritize free trade talks with Greenland. “It’s one thing we can do to demonstrate that, you know, we take it seriously. It is action, and not just words.” Nathanielsen said she was meeting a trade minister from the Labour government, Chris Bryant, later on Tuesday, as part of “very early discussions” on a possible free trade agreement between the two countries. “Of course, when hopefully all of this cools…
Published on 13/01/2026 – 21:01 GMT+1 Israel’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was severing ties with three international organisations, including two UN agencies, following the United States’ withdrawal from 66 global bodies last week. The ministry added that its chief, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, had also instructed it to review Israel’s continued cooperation with an unspecified number of other organisations. In a statement on X, it said that “Sa’ar has decided that Israel will immediately sever all contact with the following UN agencies and international organisations.” It goes on to list UN Energy, the UN Alliance of Civilisations and…
If the initiative receives a million signatures from at least seven EU counties — a likely outcome given the popularity of the issue — the Commission will be forced to state which actions, if any, it will take in respond to the initiative. “The EU pretends everything is back to normal, but we will not turn a blind eye to what is happening in Gaza,” said MEP Manon Aubry, the leader of La France Insoumise, adding the “EU is helping to finance genocide” by not suspending trade relations with Israel. More than 100 children have been killed since the ceasefire agreement…
The gravest exestential threat to Iran and the Islamic Republic has never been external, it has always come from within. At the heart of this threat lies a long-standing policy of dividing citizens into “insiders” and “outsiders,” a strategy the Iranian state has pursued with considerable success. The first group consists of those loyal to the system: individuals and networks who depend economically on the state, present themselves as guardians of Islam and religious values, and have imposed an anti-imperialist and anti-democratic ideology on society. They envision a country governed by what they call “pure Islamic values.” While this group…
The World Economic Forum, which takes place next week in the Alpine ski resort, comes as the world hangs on Trump’s words. Since the start of the month, Trump has captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, threatened to invade Greenland, hinted he could take action in Iran over violent crackdowns on protesters, announced a temporary cap on credit card interest rates that has stoked fears of a credit crunch, and opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Brende said the meeting will take place “against the most complex geopolitical backdrop since 1945.” According to the…
Revolutions throughout history have often had a charismatic central figure at their core, such as Lenin, Mao or Castro. But beginning in the late 20th century, a wave of protests and revolutions emerged that neither began with concrete leadership or had an emerging central figure as the revolution proceeded. This phenomenon, described in political science literature as horizontal movements or leaderless resistance, is one of the most important developments in contemporary political history. But can leaderless revolutions be victorious? And if so, how exactly do they succeed? What is meant by a “leaderless revolution”? A leaderless revolution does not necessarily…
Le Pen had for months protested innocence and framed the case against her as politically motivated, but her comments and stoic behavior Tuesday differed markedly from the combative face she wore at the start of the initial trial in 2024. When the judge asked Le Pen why she was appealing, she insisted that any criminal act they may have committed had not been intentional — a departure from her impassioned claims of innocence throughout the initial trial. “I would like to say to the court right now that if a crime has been committed … so be it, but I…
Published on 13/01/2026 – 10:50 GMT+1 A top aide to Cyprus’ president has resigned after a video circulated online appearing to show him and others offering political influence to would-be investors in exchange for cash. President Nikos Christodoulides said he accepted the resignation of Charalambos Charalambous — who is the director of the presidential office and his brother-in-law — describing it as “an act of self-confidence” and “not of pressure or guilt”. Charalambous had earlier posted on Facebook that he would never allow his government job to be “converted into a tool of manipulation” to harm Cyprus or the president.…