Author: staff

Tina, a white stoat chosen by public vote in 2024, represents the Winter Olympics and their Alpine roots. Ayo, a young lion from Senegal whose name means joy in Yoruba, arrived for a friendly visit before the Youth Olympic Games. The pair posed in Piazza del Duomo and by Castello Sforzesco, drawing families and tourists. Tina will stay in the spotlight until the Winter Olympics close on Sunday. Ayo now looks ahead to Dakar, where the Youth Olympic Games run from 31 October to 13 November 2026.

Published on 20/02/2026 – 11:32 GMT+1 Chart-topping French rapper Naps has been sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a young woman while she was asleep in October 2021 in a Paris hotel room. The 40-year-old artist from Marseille, whose real name is Nabil Boukhobza, was convicted by the Paris criminal court, which cited an “absence of consent” in its ruling. Judges noted that the complainant had consistently maintained she was asleep and said the “pain of vaginal penetration” woke her. Boukhobza, who has more than three million subscribers on YouTube, and best known for his 2021 hit “La…

Former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s sudden departure from No. 10 in 2016 after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union triggered a period of unprecedented churn in British politics. None of his successors — Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak — served a full parliamentary term. Three were ousted from high office by their own side. It wasn’t always this way: Prime ministers used to last. Margaret Thatcher completed 11 years at the top, spending the whole of the 1980s in No. 10. Her successor John Major lasted six-and-a-half years, and Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair enjoyed…

Canada recently signed up to the EU’s Security Action for Europe agreement (SAFE) — a loan scheme aims to speed up procurement for defence equipment across the bloc — becoming the first non-European member state to do so. On X, allegations that the European Union asked Canada for a €10 million participation fee to participate in SAFE fully, while demanding €6 billion from the UK have gained traction. One post viewed more than 139,000 times, claimed that the EU is treating the UK unfairly and offering it a rough deal compared to Canada, sparking a debate over the difference in…

Frankfurt and Brussels are abuzz with speculation over the future leadership of the European Central Bank, after indications that ECB President Christine Lagarde may be weighing an early departure. Lagarde is said to be considering an earlier-than-planned exit to ensure a successor is in place ahead of France’s next elections, where the far right is polling strongly and could reshape the political landscape in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. An ECB spokesperson told Euronews on Wednesday that no decision has been made and that Lagarde remains focused on her mission, but the response stops short of an explicit denial of a…

Christine Lagarde said her “baseline” is that she will stay at the European Central Bank until her term as president ends in October 2027. “I think that we have accomplished a lot, that I have accomplished a lot,” she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published on Friday. “We need to consolidate and make sure that this is really solid and reliable. So my baseline is that it will take until the end of my term.” Her comments come two days after a report in the FT, sourced to a single person “familiar with her thinking,” suggested…

The EU’s envoy to Ukraine on war, resilience — and Nordic walking – POLITICO Skip to main content

At a busy mall in western Beijing, three humanoid robots are dancing their way into the Lunar New Year. Among lion dances and pop hits, the robots move with uncanny precision. One even lies down for a quick ‘rest’ before springing back to life, a small moment that gets big laughs. Attendees say the improvement is striking: last year, these machines could only shuffle awkwardly; now their movements are smooth and almost human. Visitors see them as more than entertainment. Some hope robots will help in fields like elderly care. For now, though, the trio’s show captures the spirit of…

Participating in food experiences is one of the best ways to learn about the culture, community and history of a destination. And in Europe, myriad hyperlocal specialities can also lead you off the (b)eaten track and away from the crowds. From a newly developed blackcurrant trail in France to a historic route used by fishermen in Spain, here are five food roads to follow for a mouthwatering trip in Europe. Discover Burgundy’s ‘black gold’ The Burgundy region of France is renowned for its grapes, but another fruit also has deep roots in the area. Blackcurrants have grown here since the…

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…