Author: staff
Yes, France is now a different size. Presumably, after causing a distraction by wearing those sunglasses, Emmanuel Macron was able to take over parts of Belgium and Spain without anyone noticing. Alas, he simultaneously lost a couple of eastern regions (albeit ones that were basically German anyway). At least that’s the version of France presented by the National Basketball Association, which introduced French superstar Victor Wembanyama at its All-Star Game by showing a very outdated map of France. “I want to reassure our neighbors, we did not provide the map,” Macron tweeted in response to the NBA’s gaffe. The NBA…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:48 GMT+1•Updated 8:02 On today’s show: An interview with Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our Maïa de La Baume brings us an update on the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace yesterday. Geopolitical expert Tomi Huhtanen elaborates on whether rising tensions in Iran could turn into a direct confrontation between the US and the mullahs’ regime. Our Aïda Sánchez takes a look at the game of thrones unfolding over who will succeed European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Tokunbo Salako reports from London on the latest developments surrounding the…
By Seth Borenstein with AP Published on 19/02/2026 – 12:27 GMT+1•Updated 20/02/2026 – 7:04 GMT+1 The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy – ideal to spark extreme wildfires – has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows. And more than half of that increase is caused by human-caused climate change, researchers calculated. What this means is that as the world warms, more places across the globe are prone to go up in flames at the same time because of increasingly synchronous fire…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots often refuse to answer political questions or echo official state narratives, suggesting that they may be censored, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, compared how leading AI chatbots in China, including BaiChuan, DeepSeek, and ChatGLM, responded to more than 100 questions about state politics, benchmarking them against models developed outside of China. Researchers flagged responses as potentially censored if a chatbot declined to answer or provided inaccurate information. Questions related to the status of Taiwan, ethnic minorities or those about well-known pro-democracy…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:21 GMT+1 Every year Spain celebrates one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century for studies on Leonardo da Vinci. On 13 February in 1967 the National Library of Spain conserved among its collections two original manuscripts of the Renaissance artist and engineer that had remained unnoticed for more than a century. The so-called Madrid I and II codices (source in Spanish),identified as Mss. 8937 and Mss. 8936, are part of a set of scientific notebooks written by da Vinci between the end of the 15th and the start of the 16th century. They…
“What happened to Quentin, it feels like it could have happened dozens of times to our supporters in recent years,” said National Rally MEP Pierre-Romain Thionnet. “Of course, those are not the same circumstances,” Thionnet said of the Kirk comparison. “But there are similarities in the way it resonates.” Deranque was, unlike Kirk, unknown to the general public before he died Saturday after taking several blows to the head during a fight that broke out near a university where MEP Rima Hassan was attending an event. The events leading up to the fight that cost Deranque his life remain unclear.…
By Jerry Fisayo-Bambi with AP Published on 20/02/2026 – 6:41 GMT+1•Updated 7:00 US President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal, warning of bad things to happen if Tehran does not heed his call. Trump’s latest threat comes as tensions ramp up and as the second US carrier nears the Mideast. “It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday. And just as Trump ramped up his threats, Iran…
Scientists have highlighted just how high the stakes are as human-made climate change continues to rapidly warm Antarctica. A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, models the best- and worst-case scenarios for global warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the mainland. Researchers warn that the continent’s future “depends on the choices we make today”, arguing that cutting emissions could avoid the most “important and detrimental” impacts of the climate crisis. “Though Antarctica is far away, changes here will impact the rest of the world through changes in sea level, oceanic and atmospheric connections…
Friedrich Merz muss sich in Stuttgart der Wiederwahl als CDU-Vorsitzender stellen. Nach großen Reformversprechen ist die Unzufriedenheit in Teilen der Partei spürbar. Wie stark fällt sein Ergebnis aus – und welche Rolle spielt Angela Merkel bei ihrem seltenen Parteitagsauftritt? Rixa Fürsen und Rasmus Buchsteiner analysieren das vorab. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview geht es um strengere Regeln gegen Vetternwirtschaft im Bundestag. Nach der AfD-Affäre zeigt sich Merz offen für gesetzliche Verschärfungen. Sonja Eichwede, stellvertretende SPD-Fraktionsvorsitzende, erklärt, wo sie Handlungsbedarf sieht. Außerdem: Die geplante Beschaffung von Kamikaze-Drohnen für die Bundeswehr sorgt im Haushaltsausschuss für Kritik – unter anderem wegen eines umstrittenen Investors. Das Berlin…
“We expect the Commission to present ambitious, quantified proposals as a direct input for ongoing negotiations on the next MFF, including on an EU administrative system that reflects the challenges of our times,” reads the letter, which was signed by ministers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. “In this context, the proposed increase [from the Commission] of 2,500 posts as well as the overall significant increase of heading 4 (administration) runs counter to the stated objectives of efficiency, restraint and reform, and risks undermining the credibility of the broader MFF proposal.” Heading…