Author: staff
“All politicians are, you know, receiving these pressures and these challenges, but I did everything right,” Burnham said during a visit to Wolverhampton. “There was a minimal exchange of information of zero consequence, and it was quickly reported,” he added. “I realized that this needed to be reported, and I did so. So I handled it in the right way,” he also said. The incident has raised questions about potential national security vulnerabilities when it comes to the communications of senior politicians. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting was among three Cabinet ministers whose numbers were found online by POLITICO on Monday.…
Published on 18/08/2026 – 15:16 GMT+2•Updated 15:18 Eight non-EU countries have agreed to align themselves with the European Union’s latest sanctions against Belarus due to Minsk’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, and Ukraine will ensure that their national policies conform to the measures adopted by the EU Council on July 23, the bloc announced on Tuesday. The EU welcomed their decision. The sanctions expand restrictions on goods and technology that could enhance Belarus’s military, technological, defense, or security capabilities. Additionally, they impose further limitations on imports of goods that…
A landmark trial against Meta opened on Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, in what Kentucky’s attorney general has called the largest consumer protection lawsuit in American history. The case could reshape how Facebook and Instagram operate and how social media is experienced more broadly. Who is suing Meta, and why The trial is being litigated by four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — representing a wider coalition of 29 states that first filed the lawsuit in 2023, following a multi-state investigation into Meta’s safety practices. The four states were selected to argue the case at…
The remains of an ancient Roman bridge have resurfaced from the Tiber as water levels in Rome fall sharply after weeks without rain. The bridge, traditionally known as Pons Neronis, or Nero’s bridge, is located near St Peter’s Basilica. Archaeologists say the structure may actually be older than Emperor Nero’s reign. Antonella Bonini, an archaeologist at Rome’s cultural heritage superintendence, explains the history of the bridge: “The bridge passes near the villa of Agrippina, the circus of Caligula and then the circus of Nero and traditionally takes the name of Nero, because objectively Nero is the most famous person linked…
“Ben-Gvir’s inhumane remarks can only be condemned,” Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union parliamentary group, told POLITICO. “The EU should sanction him as a sign of the universal validity of human dignity and human rights.” Hardt went further, saying he was convinced an Israeli government without Ben-Gvir or fellow far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would bring Europe and Israel closer together. Germany’s Social Democrats struck a similar tone. Adis Ahmetović, the party’s foreign policy spokesperson, said the two ministers had shocked international opinion well before their latest statements, and urged the German government to…
Published on 18/08/2026 – 15:14 GMT+2 British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the United Kingdom will continue to offer its full and unwavering support to Ukraine despite Russian threats of “consequences.” His remarks came after the Russian Embassy in London on Monday warned Westminster would “pay” after UK-made drones were reportedly used in Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil. The embassy accused the UK of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis” and of “acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator” in Ukrainian attacks. Responding to the embassy’s statement during a trip to Wolverhampton on Tuesday, Burnham said: “This…
Teenagers, the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence, are already using ChatGPT for schoolwork, questions about daily life and even companionship. Now OpenAI is launching a version of the chatbot designed specifically for them. The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens, which launches Tuesday, is tailored for those aged 13 to 17 and includes stronger protections including content restrictions around issues such as suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than simply produce answers and school essays for them. The aim is to guide…
Published on 18/08/2026 – 13:55 GMT+2 In 2018, a Picasso print was stolen in broad daylight from a Milwaukee art gallery, leaving art dealer Bill DeLind convinced that the valuable work was gone for good. The rare “Torero” print, one of only 30 known to have been signed by Picasso, was valued at upwards of $50,000 (€43,000) at the time. It had been commissioned for sale through DeLind’s gallery. Eight years later, DeLind received an unexpected call from Milwaukee police asking him to come and identify an artwork that had been recovered. A local landlord, Tim Dertz, had found the…
PARIS — The Paris prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into disinformation efforts targeting two prominent candidates in France’s upcoming presidential election, according to Agence France-Presse. Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, two former prime ministers who are high-profile contenders for the 2027 race, were reportedly the subject earlier this summer of fake news reports posted on social media aimed at undermining their campaigns. Fabricated videos posted on X that used branding from leading French news platforms claimed Philippe, who suffers from alopecia, was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, while fake reports on X and TikTok alleged Attal had Parkinson’s disease…
Germany has opened a new drone security research centre as the country steps up efforts to protect airports and critical infrastructure from hostile and unauthorised aircraft. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Research Minister Dorothee Bär and Saxony-Anhalt’s state premier Sven Schulze officially opened the facility on Tuesday in Cochstedt, around 40 kilometres south of the eastern state’s capital Magdeburg. The Drone Security Technology Centre forms part of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which has been operating at the former Cochstedt airport since 2021. “Together with the DLR we are creating, with the new technology centre, a facility that is unique nationwide,…