Author: staff
Published on 07/08/2026 – 16:03 GMT+2 Celebrated British musician and prolific record producer William Orbit has died aged 69. On a statement posted to social media today, William Orbit (born William Wainwright) was announced to have died at home on 23 July. “We are deeply saddened by his passing,” the statement reads. “He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness.” No cause of death was given. Orbit worked with a number of musicians including Madonna, Blur, U2, Britney Spears, All Saints, Beth Orton, Robbie Williams and more…
The EU has added five individuals to its Russia sanctions list. The move was driven by Moscow’s “intensified strikes deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine, according to a press release. The press release does not refer to a specific attack, but earlier this week Russia carried out one of its deadliest barrages on the Ukrainian capital, killing 17. In July, a similar attack in Kyiv killed 12. Among those included in the new sanctions is Ramil Badgutdinov — the head of a company that helps produce the Iskander-M ballistic missiles — and Aleksandr Dyukarev, head of the KrasMash…
Published on 07/08/2026 – 15:06 GMT+2 Five people have been arrested in the UK this week after anti-immigration protests broke out in the county of Norfolk in East Anglia. Violence erupted in the town of Thetford on Tuesday, with properties damaged and fences broken as some tried to force their way inside homes, Norfolk Police said. The disorder reportedly began after a list of properties alleged to have links to landlords with government contracts to house asylum seekers was published online. It comes amid pushback over a government proposal to turn the former military air base RAF Barnham – which…
Published on 07/08/2026 – 6:54 GMT+2•Updated 14:58 The suspect in a school shooting in Thailand killed a total of eight people on Friday, police said. First he shot his grandparents dead using his grandfather’s handgun, then went to his school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, national police said in a statement. The shooter was identified as a teenage student of the school and also reported dead, according to local media reports citing authorities. Some reports said police officers had shot and killed the suspect, while others said he had died by suicide. “It’s such a…
The Embassy of Israel in Portugal has criticised Kanye West’s concert, scheduled for this Friday in the Algarve, and has called for the show to be cancelled, citing the artist’s public statements, deemed antisemitic and supportive of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. “Someone who glorified Hitler, promoted antisemitism and claimed that slavery was a choice, a remark that deeply offended millions of descendants of slavery’s victims. This is not provocation, it is hate speech,” says ambassador Oren Rozenblat in a video posted on social media. In a statement, the ambassador recalled comments by the musician in which he said he “liked…
In addition to slamming Rome for imposing border controls that inconvenienced thousands of passengers by creating legal uncertainty in the middle of the summer holiday season, Madrid also took Italy to task for criticizing Spain’s handling of migrants while failing to protect its own borders. Even though “Italy is the EU member state that has recorded the highest number of irregular crossings in recent years, with figures that have at times been twice those of Spain … Spain has never introduced controls on travelers from Italy,” the Spanish government said. Madrid has now given the Italian government two days to…
Summer is holiday time for many people in Europe, but stays away are also a privilege that many cannot afford. In 2025, almost three in 10 EU citizens aged 16 or older were unable to afford a week of annual holiday away from home, according to the latest Eurostat figures. This share increased by 0.5 percentage points compared with 2024. However, when compared to a decade ago, the share decreased significantly by 7.7 percentage points. Last year, the highest proportions of people unable to afford a week of annual holiday were recorded in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary. In addition,…
Published on 07/08/2026 – 8:29 GMT+2 South Korean authorities have collected 15 landmines believed to have washed over into their coastal territory from the inter-Korean border on monsoon deluges, officials said on Friday. The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), splitting the Koreas since their 1950-53 war ended with an armistice, is one of the most heavily mined places on Earth. Some 800,000 are estimated to be buried around the area, according to military data cited by the Yonhap news agency, many from the war but mine-laying has continued in recent years. Choi Young-ran, head of civil defence for South Korea’s northwestern border…
The English Channel is one of the busiest stretches of water in the world, and one of the most carbon-heavy. But one company is pioneering passenger ferry crossings between the UK and France that are much kinder on the environment – powered almost exclusively by wind. SailLink currently runs one sail-powered ferry between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Now, it is launching a one-week pilot route between Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex and Fécamp in Normandy. If the trial crossings go well, a permanent second route could follow. The crossing is a far cry from the usual car ferry services. Instead of duty-free…
Published on 07/08/2026 – 13:56 GMT+2 The White House has made an enemy out of Marvel fans. A recent post on its official Instagram account sees Spider-Man imagery being used as part of media campaign to promote Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Accompanied by the caption “Your friendly neighbourhood ICE agents”, the four-part post shows Spider-Man firing a web which ends up in the final image, showing a group of men caught in the web. The final caption reads: “Criminal illegal aliens will be caught and deported.” This sort of thing is not usual for Donald Trump and his administration,…