Author: staff

Three men were arrested in Berlin on Wednesday on suspicion of procuring firearms for the Hamas militant group to carry out attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in Germany, federal prosecutors said. The suspects — identified under local privacy laws as German nationals Abed Al G. and Ahmad I., and Lebanese-born Wael F. M. — are accused of acting as “foreign operators” for Hamas, according to the prosecutors. They face charges of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state. Hamas is banned in Germany and is classified as a terrorist organization.

The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, set sail in August and has pro-Palestine activists from around the world on board, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and MEPs. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Tuesday that the flotilla’s actions could throw U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza into jeopardy. “With the Middle East peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, there is finally hope for an agreement to end the war and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and stabilize the region,” Meloni wrote on social platform X. “This hope rests on a fragile…

Asked about the possibility of further defections, Badenoch sounded a defiant note: “Some people just jump wherever they think the wind is blowing. We need MPs who are going to stay the course and stay true to our values, not just people who want to be MPs.” Speaking for the first time after Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage traded blows over immigration during Labour’s conference week, the Conservative leader said: “I think that they are both as bad as each other. They are both squabbling like children; the country needs the grown-ups back in the room. We are the grown-ups.”…

“I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done,” said the pope, a Chicago-area native. “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion,’ but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he added. “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.” The pope was speaking on Wednesday at a conference commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Laudato Si, a 2015 formal doctrinal letter issued by his predecessor, Pope Francis, that called for the protection of…

France has launched an investigation into a Russian-linked oil tanker for “serious offences,” President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday. Authorities have opened a probe into the Benin-flagged Boracay vessel, which is named on a list of shadow fleet ships and subject to EU sanctions. “There were some very serious offences committed by this crew, which justify the current judicial procedure,” Macron said at an EU leaders’ defence summit in Denmark. Part of the investigation will look into whether the Boracay was used as a launchpad for a drone incursion into Denmark’s airspace last week which forced the closure of its airports.…

“The allegedly sighted drones were of different types and sizes. The state police were on-site and documented these sightings, which are currently being evaluated by the State Criminal Police Office.”  Sütterlin-Waack added that several of the sightings were later determined not to have been illegal drone overflights. Some, however, including those over critical infrastructure, remain unexplained. “The recent incidents in our neighboring country Denmark as well as in other European countries primarily aim to unsettle the public and destabilize the situation in Europe,” the minister said. In the past few weeks, drones have violated Polish, Romanian, Norwegian and Danish airspace,…

Unions in Greece staged a nationwide 24-hour strike on Wednesday to oppose new labour laws. The reforms aim to introduce greater flexibility, permitting shifts as long as 13 hours under a weekly ceiling of 48. Unions, however, denounce the plan as a threat to fundamental rights, warning it will expose workers to unfair practices. The protest brought Athens to a halt: ferries were tied up in port, taxis stayed off the streets and public transport ran on a reduced timetable. Schools, courts and hospitals also faced widespread disruption. While the strike saw thousands marching and services heavily disrupted, police confirmed…

Low-cost Icelandic airline Play announced its immediate closure on Monday. The carrier wrote on its website that it has “ceased operations, and all flights have been cancelled”. Passengers have been advised to seek flights with alternative airlines. Here’s what travellers need to know about their rights to refunds and compensation if a flight company goes bankrupt. Low-cost carrier Play goes bust Play began operating in 2019 and flew between Keflavik International Airport – outside Reykjavik – and destinations in Europe, including London Stansted, Amsterdam, Paris CDG, Alicante and Faro. It also offered connections to Baltimore-Washington International in the US. On…

Traditionally, leadership positions in the National Assembly are meant to reflect the body’s political composition. But after centrist and left-wing parties worked together during last year’s snap legislative elections to block the far right from victory, the two sides once again teamed up to deny the National Rally top positions in the National Assembly. Over the summer, Together for the Republic, the largest parliamentary group supporting Macron, reversed its previous stance on the far right’s exclusion, arguing that the firewall had led to the disproportionate representation of left-wing groups. Yaël Braun-Pivet, the Macron-allied president of the National Assembly, endorsed the far…

Published on 01/10/2025 – 16:54 GMT+2 Seven men who abused and raped two girls in northern England were jailed on Wednesday in the latest case involving so-called “grooming gangs” in the UK. The gang members were sentenced to a total of 174 years in prison for multiple sex offences against two teenage girls in Rochdale between 2001 and 2006. The abuse started when each of the girls were aged 13, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Both victims were from vulnerable backgrounds and were known to social services, according to prosecutors. One girl was living in the care system. They…