UK foreign secretary plays down idea of Trump taking control, in speech exposing differences with president-elect
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said a US military seizure of Greenland is not going to happen, as he played down Donald Trump’s threats to seize the territory from Denmark.
“No Nato countries have gone to war [with each other] since the establishment of Nato, and I do not envisage that,” he said, adding: “It is not going to happen.”
Continue reading...Cross-party Senedd report finds Wales is third from bottom in spending on culture and sports, with Iceland biggest spender
It is known as the land of song and as one of the world’s most passionate sporting nations.
But a report has concluded that despite its proud heritage, Wales is languishing behind almost all other European countries in terms of spending on recreational, sporting and cultural services.
Continue reading...Family seeks to show a united front as French minister condemns ‘shameful’ celebrations of his demise
The death of Jean-Marie Le Pen looked likely to reignite rivalries in his family over who is the rightful heir to the far-right political dynasty, as the French government condemned as “simply shameful” crowds of people who took to the streets to celebrate the politician’s demise.
Marine Le Pen, daughter of the co-founder and leader of the far-right National Front party, which she has rebranded as the anti-immigration National Rally, on Wednesday paid tribute to her father, who died the previous day at the age of 96.
Continue reading...The boy and his mother as well as dozens of others were rescued off the coast of Lanzarote, Spain
A baby boy has been born on a small, crowded boat carrying 60 people on the deadly Atlantic migration route from Africa to the Canary Islands.
The boat was spotted off the coast of Lanzarote on the feast of the Epiphany, the day when Spanish children receive presents from the Three Wise Men.
Continue reading...The US president-elect has refused to rule out military force to take control. This is why it is important – and what Greenlanders think
Hours after his son Donald Trump Jr touched down in the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, on Tuesday in a Trump-branded plane, the US president-elect, Donald Trump, held a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he refused to rule out using military force to make Greenland part of the US, and threatened to impose “very high” tariffs on Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it gets in his way.
Continue reading...Sala, who had been held since 19 December, greeted by family members and Italian PM at Rome airport
Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was held in solitary confinement for almost three weeks in Iran, has returned home after being freed from prison.
A plane carrying the 29-year-old landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Wednesday afternoon, where she was greeted by family members and politicians including the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Continue reading...Sánchez accuses X owner of inciting hatred as country marks 50 years since start of its return to democracy
Pedro Sánchez has hit out at Elon Musk and his allies for “openly attacking our institutions, inciting hatred and openly calling for people to support the heirs of nazism”, saying the politics of division, disinformation and hatred risk ushering in a new age of authoritarianism.
Speaking in Madrid on Wednesday as Spain prepares to mark the 50th anniversary in November of the death of General Franco and the country’s subsequent return to democracy, the Spanish prime minister said hard-won, basic freedoms could not, and should not, be taken for granted.
Continue reading...Airline seeking €15,000 in damages over ‘inexcusable’ behaviour it says forced plane to divert to Portugal
Ryanair is suing a passenger it claims disrupted a flight between Dublin and Lanzarote, seeking €15,000 (£12,500) in damages to cover expenses incurred when the plane was diverted to Portugal.
The airline said on Wednesday it had filed proceedings in Dublin’s circuit court against the passenger, whose behaviour on the flight last April it described as “inexcusable” and “completely unacceptable.”
Continue reading...US treasury accuses Antal Rogán, a close aide of leader Viktor Orbán, as key to ‘system of corruption’
The United States has imposed sanctions on a senior member of the Hungarian government for alleged corruption, in a move which Budapest said it would challenge as soon as Donald Trump takes office.
The US treasury accused Antal Rogán, a close aide of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, of using his role to secure financial benefits for himself and his political allies.
Continue reading...Message came after northern city of Ghent posted tips for recycling the conifer as a dish
At a time when most people have probably polished off their holiday leftovers, Belgium’s food agency has issued a surprising seasonal health warning: don’t eat your Christmas tree.
The message on Tuesday came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s northern Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table.
Continue reading...In ‘potentially trailblazing’ decision, European court of human rights finds country engaging in illicit deportations
The European court of human rights has found Greece guilty of conducting “systematic” pushbacks of would-be asylum seekers, ordering it to compensate a woman forcibly expelled back to Turkey despite her attempts to seek protection in the country.
In a judgment described as potentially trailblazing, the Strasbourg-based tribunal awarded the complainant damages of €20,000 (£16,500), citing evidence that the frontline EU state was engaging in the illicit deportations when she was removed.
Continue reading...President-elect has pledged to ‘make Greenland great again’ as Danish PM says autonomous territory is ‘not for sale’
Donald Trump Jr touched down in Greenland on Tuesday, hours after his father reiterated his interest in taking control of the Arctic autonomous territory, pledging to “make Greenland great again”.
After arriving in the Greenlandic capital in a Trump-branded plane, the US president-elect’s son told a waiting crowd in the Nuuk airport arrivals hall – some wearing red Make America Great Again caps – that he was “very excited to be here”. It was, he said, “a little colder here than it is in Florida”, adding that his father “says hello to everyone in Greenland”.
Continue reading...Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, were ‘planning on going off-grid’ during holiday in the Dolomites
A search is under way for a pair of British hikers in the Dolomites in northern Italy who have been missing since New Year’s Day.
Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, last sent messages home on 1 January from the Trentino region. They have not been heard from since. The pair, who are both from London, did not check in to their flight home on 6 January.
Continue reading...Herbert Kickl’s move could pave way for anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Freedom party to govern country
The leader of Austria’s anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Freedom party has said he intends to invite the mainstream centre-right party for coalition talks, potentially paving the way for the far right to rule the country for the first time since the second world war.
Herbert Kickl, whose party won the most votes in September’s election, was tasked with building a ruling coalition by the Austrian president on Monday after the collapse of talks between mainstream parties aimed at forming an alliance that would have blocked the Freedom party (FPÖ).
Continue reading...Germany will elect a new Bundestag on 23 February. Find out who is ahead in opinion polls and what coalitions are possible
Germany is preparing for a general election to the Bundestag, the lower house of its parliament, on 23 February, after its “traffic-light” coalition of social democrats, liberals and greens collapsed. The country’s electoral system is highly proportional, so polls give a good indication of what shape of government might be possible after the election.
Continue reading...Former paratrooper led National Front party for decades and courted controversy, being repeatedly fined for contesting crimes against humanity
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front party, who sent shock waves through the country when he made it to the second round of the presidential election in 2002, has died aged 96.
The former paratrooper, who led the party from 1972 to 2011, was repeatedly convicted over comments about the Holocaust, which he once dismissed as “merely a detail of history”.
Continue reading...Comments by Bruno Retailleau, who is known for his hardline views, comes as country marks decade since attack that killed 12 people
The threat of a terrorist attack on France is being fuelled by social media and has never been greater, the country’s interior minister has said, 10 years after gunmen killed 12 people in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper.
Speaking on the anniversary of the massacre at the paper’s offices, Bruno Retailleau said French intelligence had foiled nine planned attacks last year – three targeting the Olympic Games – and the country “could be hit tomorrow”.
Continue reading...First real-world test finds approach has higher detection rate without having a higher rate of false positives
The use of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening increases the chance of the disease being detected, researchers have found, in what they say is the first real-world test of the approach.
Numerous studies have suggested AI could help medical professionals spot cancer, whether it is identifying abnormal growths in CT scans or signs of breast cancer in mammograms.
Continue reading...Jordan Maclachlan, 26, died on Friday while serving on the frontline in Ukraine, his family says
A Scottish man has been killed while serving on the frontline with the Ukrainian army, his family has said.
Jordan Maclachlan, 26, from Ardnamurchan in the Scottish Highlands, died on Friday while serving as a medic with the Ukrainian army, his family told the BBC.
Continue reading...Design shows intent to keep control of Faroe Islands and Greenland – which Trump says he would like the US to buy
The Danish king has shocked some historians by changing the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature Greenland and the Faroe Islands – in what has also been seen as a rebuke to Donald Trump.
Less than a year since succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe, after she stood down on New Year’s Eve 2023, King Frederik has made a clear statement of intent to keep the autonomous Danish territory and former colony within the kingdom of Denmark.
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