Author: staff

There is nothing I love more than travelling solo. You can get up as early – or as late – as you want, potter around a museum without ever being pressured to move on to the next room, and eat whenever, and whatever, you fancy (girl dinner, always). A solo trip certainly isn’t for everyone – while I have some friends who have traversed south east Asia alone, I have others who would be nervous taking the train to another part of the UK. The biggest barrier is safety, which is incredibly difficult to gauge. As the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth…

Deutlich mehr als gedacht muss Gesundheitsministerin Nina Warken sparen, um ein Defizit bei den Krankenkassen und damit weiter steigende Beiträge zu verhindern. Gleichzeitig sind die Reformvorschläge ihrer Finanzkommission deutlich umfangreicher als erwartet. Joanna Lehner und Jürgen Klöckner sprechen über die wichtigsten und größten der 66 Ideen und analysieren, ob und wie es Warken gelingen kann, sich damit in der Koalition durchzusetzen. Im Policy Talk erklärt dann die Vorständin des Dachverbands der Betriebskrankenkassen, Anne-Kathrin Klemm, für wie realistisch sie die Vorhaben hält, wie viel Kraft sie der Gesundheitsministerin zutraut und wo sie trotz aller Hoffnung skeptisch bleibt. Außerdem ist Frida Preuß…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 15:19 GMT+2 After the United States Embassy in Albania warned that Iran-linked groups could target Americans and US-affiliated entities in the Western Balkan country, authorities in Tirana stated that security institutions are on high alert, with all mechanisms “active and functional”. In a statement issued Thursday, Albanian President Bajram Begaj’s office said he was in daily contact with the National Security Council and is being continuously briefed on all potential threats. Albania’s National Security Council brings together top state officials to assess risks and recommend measures, but does not take binding decisions. “The president is informed…

“The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it,” Trump said. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.”While Trump’s remark was clearly targeted at European and Asian countries, the president took a more measured tone than he has on social media of late, where he has criticized NATO allies for not aiding the U.S.’s efforts in Iran.The speech comes one month into Trump’s stated…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 14:04 GMT+2 Sweden’s government announced on Thursday that it was investing $916 million (€796 million) in air and drone defence capabilities. The investment would cover multiple systems, such as radar and anti-aircraft weapons systems as well as electronic warfare platforms. The defence package accounts for more than half of money set aside to increase the country’s defence capabilities, as per a government announcement in January. Swedish Defence Minister Pal Johnson said in a statement it was “more important than ever to invest in air defence capabilities,” a stance all countries in the NATO military alliance endorse.…

Published on 25/03/2026 – 17:27 GMT+1•Updated 02/04/2026 – 13:05 GMT+2 The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, has issued a fresh warning over the fate of heritage sites in Iran amid the ongoing US-Israeli war. A recent meeting between UNESCO and Lebanon’s Directorate General of Antiquities discussed “immediate measures to strengthen the protection of vulnerable cultural properties across the country,” UNESCO said in a statement. Last week, UNESCO confirmed that “several sites of cultural significance” in the region have been reported as impacted and damaged in the war. They renewed their call for maximum restraint to spare the “social foundation of…

Lebanon was hit by another deadly Israeli strike overnight when a building in Zebdine, near Nabatieh in the south, was reduced to rubble, sending first responders and residents scrambling to search for victims. The attack came just hours after an Israeli raid in Beirut’s Jnah area killed at least five people and wounded 21 others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. These strikes underline how the conflict is widening inside Lebanese territory, with civilians increasingly exposed even in areas far from the traditional front lines. On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had launched drones and rockets at northern Israel, prompting sirens across…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 12:25 GMT+2 Germany has revealed plans to set up a body to repatriate artworks and artifacts, and human remains acquired in a colonial context. The anticipated ‘Coordination Council for Returns of Cultural Property and Human Remains from Colonial Contexts’ will include representatives from the central government, the country’s 16 states, and various municipalities. “The aim is to make returns processes as transparent as possible and to coordinate communication with international partners,” reads the statement released by the German Federal Foreign Office. The statement follows a top-level meeting held in Berlin last week. Owing to an agreement…

Updated: 02/04/2026 – 12:00 GMT+2 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this April 2nd, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More

But, he added, “it is clear that once the civil war ended, the time for return has come and the grounds for protection cease to apply.” He declined to provide specific numbers. Approximately 1.23 million people of Syrian origin were registered in Germany at the end of 2024. Of those, 246,320 had acquired German citizenship, leaving close to a million Syrian nationals in Germany at risk of being affected by the proposed large-scale return policy. ‘Indignity and anger’ While the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic regime in late 2024 sparked jubilation among large segments of the Syrian diaspora across Europe,…