Author: staff
South Korea is seeing large winter crowds gather in the county of Hwacheon for the annual Sancheoneo Festival, known for its freezing water challenges. Tens of thousands of visitors travel to the northeast to try catching live mountain trout by hand. Wearing shorts and gloves, participants step into icy pools and clutch the slippery fish to their chests once caught. Others choose a calmer option, lowering fishing lines through holes cut into the ice and waiting for a bite. Nearby grills fill the air with the smell of trout cooked on the spot, following the rule that you eat what…
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is set to meet his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington on Monday to discuss the issue. That meeting comes ahead of a high-level meeting between officials from Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. set for Wednesday. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned last week that a U.S. invasion of Greenland would spell the end of NATO. Members of Merz’s government have taken a rhetorically softer approach in a bid to prevent the alliance from rupturing, depicting Trump as raising legitimate security concerns. “We simply want to work together to improve the security…
The European Commission has publicly raised the prospect of engaging in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, while cautioning that Moscow’s relentless bombing campaign makes such a move impossible at this stage. “We’re working very, very hard for peace in Ukraine,” Paula Pinho, the chief spokesperson of the European Commission, said on Monday afternoon. “Peace in Ukraine depends on one single person. That person is, as you know very well, President Putin. So obviously, at some point, there will have to be talks also with President Putin. In the meantime, a lot of…
US President Donald Trump has referred to himself as “acting president of Venezuela” in an image of a mock-up of a Wikipedia page on his Truth Social account on Monday morning. The post, which has been liked more than 24,000 times, is the latest in a string of claims that Trump and Washington are in charge of the South American country following the 3 January capture of Nicolás Maduro. In a lightning overnight military operation led by US special forces, Maduro and his wife were taken from their Caracas compound and flown back to the United States. Last Thursday, Trump…
Sitting beside Farage Monday, Zahawi denied that his move was careerist, or that he thought Farage was racist: “If I thought this man sitting next to me in any way had an issue with people of my colour or my background who have come to this country, who have integrated, assimilated, are proud of this country, worked hard in this country, paid millions of pounds in taxes in this country, invested in the country, I wouldn’t be sitting next to him.” Zahawi was also the U.K. vaccines minister during the Covid-19 pandemic — but deflected what he called “stupid” questions…
The appeals trial of Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, begins on Tuesday, and the outcome could significantly affect the country’s next presidential election. Le Pen was found guilty of misappropriating public funds and barred from running for office for five years “with immediate effect,” a Paris court ruled in March. Eight MEPs for the RN and their 12 assistants were also found guilty and barred from running for office. The party was fined €2 million. The prosecutor also demanded that Le Pen be fined €300,000 and serve up to 10 years in prison. The…
The move comes after a secretly recorded video was posted on X on Thursday evening, just a day after Cyprus officially assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU, triggering a political crisis. It was not immediately possible to find public and verifiable information confirming the real identity of the person behind the account that posted the video. The video includes a montage of senior figures filmed apparently describing ways to bypass campaign spending caps with cash donations, and seemingly discussing a scheme allowing businesspeople to access the president and first lady. One segment made reference to helping Russians avoid EU sanctions.…
Tens of thousands of households in southwest Berlin were left without electricity, heating and, in some cases, mobile communications after a suspected arson attack on 3 January damaged high-voltage cables on a bridge over the Teltow Canal. It took four days to authorities to start reconnecting houses to electricity, making it the longest blackout in the German capital since World War II. A far-left group calling itself the “Vulkangruppe” claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter published online, a claim German prosecutors are now investigating as suspected arson and sabotage. As repairs dragged on in freezing winter conditions, frustration…
By Rafael Salido & Euronews Published on 12/01/2026 – 14:08 GMT+1 Spanish police announced Monday the largest cocaine seizure at sea in the force’s history after intercepting a Europe-bound container ship in the Atlantic Ocean carrying almost 10 tonnes of the drug hidden in salt shipments. Officers from the Special Operations Group (GEO) boarded the Cameroon-flagged merchant vessel last week after it departed Brazil, seizing 9,994 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in 294 packages, police said in a statement. The 13 crew members were arrested and a firearm used to protect the stash was seized during the operation involving the special anti-drugs prosecutor’s office,…
By Pascale Davies with AP Published on 12/01/2026 – 13:24 GMT+1 The United Kingdom’s media watchdog is investigating Elon Musk’s social media platform X over the use of the Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, which has come under scrutiny for being misused to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual images. In a statement, Ofcom said there had been “deeply concerning reports” of the chatbot being used to create and share undressed images of people, as well as “sexualised images of children”. The AI platform was blocked in Malaysia and Indonesia over the weekend after authorities said it was being misused to generate non-consensual sexual…