Author: staff
For more than two decades, Venezuelan oil functioned less as a commodity and more as a diplomatic instrument, circulating through bilateral agreements, guaranteed loans and barter deals that bypassed traditional market mechanisms. From 1999 onwards, successive governments promoted a strategy linking foreign policy, state financing and management of the country’s main industry. The result was a network of bilateral alliances that channelled much of Venezuela’s crude outside conventional buying and selling circuits. The model consolidated amid high oil prices and mounting financial constraints. Cuba, China, Russia, and Iran became central partners in an architecture that combines energy supply, credits, technical…
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, combined with constant pressure from the US have left the European Union with the single choice of addressing its defence and security capacity. The stakes are high, as here is no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. At the same time, trust is low because Europe appears vulnerable, and both militarily and diplomatically unprepared. Europe’s main imperative is protecting itself while supporting Ukraine. EU leaders agreed last December on a new €90 billion loan for Ukraine, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new defence initiatives in October, presenting them as…
Updated: 13/01/2026 – 7:20 GMT+1 A geologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland discussed potential difficulties of mining rare earth minerals in Greenland. Diogo Rosa said: “Everyone talks about the rare earths again and that doesn’t mean they are the most feasible to be extracted.” … More
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US President Donald Trump has been briefed on strong options as he weighs whether to order a US military response against the Iranian government over a violent crackdown on protests that have left more than 600 people dead across the country but is holding off for now, after receiving messages from Tehran, the White House said on Monday. Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration finds the Islamic Republic is using deadly force against anti-government protesters, a red line Washington says Iran is “starting to cross” and has left Trump and his national security team weighing…
Pahlavi has sought to encourage foreign financial support for workers who will disrupt the state by going on strike. He also called for more Starlink internet terminals to be shipped into Iran, in defiance of a ban, to make it harder for the regime to stop dissidents from communicating and coordinating their opposition. Amid the latest internet shutdowns, Starlink has provided the opposition movements with a vital lifeline. As the protests gathered pace last week, Pahlavi stepped up his own stream of social media posts and videos, which gain many millions of views, encouraging people onto the streets. He started by…
Hristo Rusev/Getty Images Just a year ago, Putin signed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran. Now the regime — which supplied Russia with killer Shahed drones for its fight in Ukraine — is in danger of being toppled by protesters whom Trump has indicated he could intervene militarily to defend. Russians have taken notice. “An entire era is coming to an end,” wrote a pro-war military blogger under the pen name Maxim Kalashnikov on Sunday, reflecting growing criticism of the Russian leadership. Russian authorities, he argued, had spent too much time trying to create an image that the country…
Last week, NATO countries asked the alliance to look into options for securing the Arctic, including shifting more military assets to the region and holding more military exercises in Greenland’s vicinity. The U.K. and Germany are reportedly in talks to send troops to the self-ruling Danish territory in an attempt to assuage Washington’s concerns. Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Monday also said the territory would “increase its efforts to ensure that the defense of Greenland takes place under the auspices of NATO.” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, speaking alongside Rutte, said that “allies have to respect each other, including the U.S.…
Kubilius’ words mark the first time a top EU official has publicly backed Frederiksen’s position, although EU diplomats privately agree with her. “I will also make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO, and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War,” Frederiksen said in a Jan. 5 interview with broadcaster TV2. The statement contrasts, though, with that of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who today insisted the alliance is not in crisis. Trump was asked in a two-hour interview with the New…
La chute du couple Instagram le plus influent de la scène politique italienne, à la suite d’un scandale de fraude sur des ventes de pandoro (un gâteau de Noël), émeut la Botte. Une histoire dans laquelle la présidente du Conseil des ministres Giorgia Meloni et son vice-président Matteo Salvini font partie des figurants. Chiara Ferragni, auparavant visage de la mode italienne sur les réseaux sociaux et coqueluche de la gauche, risque une peine de prison cette semaine dans l’affaire dite du “Pandoro gate”. Elle est accusée d’avoir trompé les consommateurs en 2023 en encourageant la vente, à des prix bien…