Europe
Ukraine: Hegseth defends Trump’s phone call to Putin
US secretary of state Pete Hegseth has defended Donald Trump’s push for peace talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine, insisting it was not a betrayal of Kyiv. Speaking before a NATO meeting in…
Sweden: woman sentenced for war crimes against Yazidis
Lina Ishaq, a 52-year-old Swedish woman, has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for genocide and war crimes against Yazidis in Syria. She enslaved three Yazidi women and six children in Raqqa…
Austria: coalition government talks collapse
Talks to form Austria’s first far-right-led coalition collapsed after negotiations between the Freedom Party (FPO) and the conservative People’s Party (OVP) failed. The FPO, which won the most votes in September’s election, has…
Sweden: ten dead after school shooting
A mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro has left ten people dead, including the suspected gunman, in what prime minister Ulf Kristersson called ‘the worst mass shooting in Swedish history’.…
Germany / Ukraine: Scholz criticises Trump’s demand for rare earth resources
Olaf Scholz has criticised Donald Trump’s proposal to make US military aid for Ukraine conditional on access to the country’s rare earth resources, calling it ‘selfish and self-centred’. A Ukrainian source has said…
Germany: huge protest against collaboration with far-right
Tens of thousands of Germans have protested in Berlin against perceived political collaboration with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The demonstrations followed votes in which the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led…
Ukraine: what the North Korean soldiers are experiencing
North Korean soldiers are reportedly fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, employing brutal, near-suicidal tactics. Western intelligence estimates up to 12,000 North Koreans have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region since November, with…
Italy: PM being investigated by ICC for releasing Libyan suspect
Giorgia Meloni has revealed she is under judicial investigation after her government released Libyan police officer Osama Elmasry Njeem, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity, including murder,…
Italy: social media tourists overwhelm ski resort
A surge of ten thousand unexpected day-trippers overwhelmed the Italian ski resort of Roccaraso after viral social media posts promoted the area’s heavy snowfall. Influencer Rita De Crescenzo’s videos encouraged budget tour companies…
Trade: EU’s desire to negotiate with Trump
The EU has signalled its readiness to negotiate with Donald Trump, hoping to avoid a damaging trade conflict. Ursula von der Leyen highlighted growing global competition and warned against trade policies that disrupt…
