Author: staff

STRASBOURG — The International Criminal Court has won this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded by the European Parliament, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The €50,000 prize honors defenders of human rights and freedom of thought, with past winners including Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, Belarusian journalists, and the people of Ukraine. The Socialists and Democrats group nominated the ICC following U.S. President Donald Trump’s sanctions on the court, announced on Oct. 9. “We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work. We must guarantee that the ICC is able…

Published on 22/10/2026 – 10:47 GMT+2•Updated 11:25 Critical security flaws have been discovered in PHP, a widely used programming language that helps power around 70% of the world’s websites. Developers released emergency fixes on Wednesday, while cybersecurity authorities urged organisations to update affected systems immediately or take them offline until they could be secured. The warning prompted governments, companies and major online services in several countries to temporarily shut down websites and other systems as a precaution. The vulnerabilities were uncovered with the help of artificial intelligence. Security firm Calif identified one of the flaws in August during an OpenAI-funded…

Published on 22/10/2026 – 11:23 GMT+2 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets of around €2.1 trillion, reported an investment loss of 278 billion kroner (€26.4 billion) on Thursday, as it was weighed down by higher interest rates. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, reported a negative return of 3.5% on its fixed income investments, which account for just over one quarter of its portfolio. Around 70% of these investments are in government bonds. The third quarter saw a global bond sell-off, with government bond yields rising to levels not seen since the financial crisis,…

“Foreign volunteers themselves also vary enormously in experience, capability and motivation. Ukraine has learned a tremendous amount since 2022 about what makes a foreign volunteer genuinely valuable, and those lessons should shape what comes next,” Mobbs said. Family complaints As well as red tape linked to residence status, foreign fighters also complain about not being paid, not being given adequate medical care, the lack of official combatant status that gives social benefits and protections, and inadequate provision of food and military supplies, the military ombudsman’s office said. There is also criticism over how Ukrainian bureaucracy deals with the families of…

Colombian authorities have seized 7.6 tonnes of cocaine destined for the Netherlands at the port of Cartagena, in what President Abelardo de la Espriella described as the country’s largest drug seizure in the past 10 years. Speaking in Cartagena on 20 October, the president said the joint operation was carried out in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). De la Espriella said the shipment was worth 43 billion Colombian pesos domestically and would have been worth more than $200 million once it reached the Netherlands.

Meta shares rose about 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, as the tech company delivered strong growth and said its AI investments were paying off. Meta’s core advertising business delivered a strong quarter, with the company reporting a 26% increase in total revenue to $64.6 billion, helped by AI recommendations, more ads being shown and rising ad prices. And investors are eyeing promising new businesses around Muse, the personal artificial intelligence agent the company launched in September. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta’s Muse agent could eventually generate more revenue per user than apps like Instagram and Facebook. According to Zuckerberg,…

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music Sky News Can the government find more cuts across Whitehall to fund its NATO defence commitments? With less than a week to go until the budget, Treasury minister Emma Reynolds says squeezing more efficiency out of the government could free up cash for defence. But with public services already under pressure, where can the cuts be made without making things worse? Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy crunch the numbers, look at which sectors are already flashing the warning signs, and which policies the prime minister could scrap to score a political win. Elsewhere,…

Carrying Serbian flags and burning torches, the marchers were greeted by cheering crowds who filled the streets of the capital. The atmosphere was festive, with students and supporters singing, dancing and applauding as the procession made its way into the city. Some demonstrators held signs declaring “Students win!”, while others displayed symbols of the student movement. Images showed young demonstrators dancing together and carrying banners, including one featuring a crossed-out portrait of a man resembling former president Aleksandar Vučić. The gathering marked the arrival of students who had travelled from different parts of Serbia to take part in the final…

Greece has called for a measure suspending asylum applications in emergency situations — something that could amount to pushbacks, which are banned under international law. Several countries have thrown their support behind the idea, while others question whether this type of measure should be taken at the level of the EU, rather than in national capitals. In its report, the agency said any emergency measure should comply with EU and international law, both of which guarantee the right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement — a “cornerstone of refugee protection,” it added. At a meeting of EU leaders last week,…

Published on 22/10/2026 – 8:28 GMT+2 Russia and Ukraine have exchanged major drone and missile attacks overnight, despite renewed diplomatic efforts involving the United States. The attacks came shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian president Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg for talks on ending the war. In Ukraine, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that strikes had wounded 15 people in the capital, eight of whom had been taken to hospital. In another post that strikes had damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge, which officials said had restricted traffic between parts of the city. Ukraine’s…