EU asylum applications down but Iran concerns mount

Asylum applications to the EU dropped by almost 20 percent in 2025, the bloc’s asylum agency said yesterday -- warning however that a crisis in Iran could result in refugee movements of “unprecedented magnitude”.
4 March 2026, 02:01 AM

Who's who in the new Dutch cabinet

Here is a run-down of some of the main faces in the new cabinet
23 February 2026, 08:25 AM

King Charles' brother Andrew released after arrest over misconduct relating to Epstein

Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on Thursday, had been questioned all day by detectives from Thames Valley Police
20 February 2026, 12:53 PM

Epstein scandal: Former UK prince Andrew arrested

King Charles’ younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested yesterday on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein.
20 February 2026, 02:51 AM

Laser-written glass can store data for millennia

Thousands of years from now, what will remain of our digital era? The ever-growing vastness of human knowledge is no longer stored in libraries, but on hard drives that struggle to last decades, let alone millennia.
20 February 2026, 02:38 AM

German FM slams France over defence spending

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticised French defence spending yesterday, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete capabilities.
17 February 2026, 02:00 AM

12 Italians convicted for trying to revive Fascist party

Twelve members of Italy’s fringe group CasaPound have been jailed for seeking to revive the Fascist Party, which ruled from 1922 to 1943 under dictator Benito Mussolini.
14 February 2026, 04:02 AM

Canadian fossil reveals one of the first plant-eating animals

Scientists have unearthed in Canada’s province of Nova Scotia the skull of a creature dating to about 307 million years ago that is one of the oldest-known plant-eating land vertebrates, representing a pivotal juncture in animal evolution.
13 February 2026, 03:26 AM

UK couple held in Iran ‘caught’ in geopolitical tensions: son

The son of a British couple held in Iran said Wednesday his parents were “caught in the middle” of geopolitical tensions as he urged the British government to act on their case.
13 February 2026, 00:48 AM

Russian ‘shadow fleet’ in Danish waters almost daily: Denmark

Tankers from Russia’s “shadow fleet” circumventing European sanctions navigated through Denmark’s waters at a rate of almost one a day in 2025, data compiled by the Danish Maritime Authority showed yesterday.
12 February 2026, 03:04 AM

Top Russian general shot, hospitalised

A top Russian military intelligence general was shot in a Moscow apartment building yesterday and hospitalised, Moscow said, in what it said was an assassination attempt orchestrated by Ukraine.
7 February 2026, 05:11 AM

Diego Garcia Base: US, UK to work closely to keep the base operating

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have agreed to work “closely” to maintain the key Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean following recent criticism by Trump of UK action, the prime minister’s office said Tuesday.
5 February 2026, 02:32 AM

France tightens infant formula rules after toxin scare

France plans to impose stricter limits on the acceptable level of a toxin called cereulide in infant formula after potentially contaminated products were recalled over 60 countries.
1 February 2026, 03:44 AM

Russia says two crew members from US-seized tanker released

Moscow said yesterday two Russian crew members of a tanker seized earlier this month by the United States in the North Atlantic had been released and were on their way home.
29 January 2026, 05:11 AM

Spain to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants: Minister

Spain's left-wing government will on Tuesday approve a decree that will regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants, the migration minister said, the country's latest break with harsher policies elsewhere in Europe
27 January 2026, 15:24 PM

US withdraws from WHO

The United States officially left the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the US and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the UN health agency’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
24 January 2026, 02:38 AM

EU chief vows 'massive' Greenland investments

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc plans "massive" investments in Greenland
20 January 2026, 18:43 PM

Russia hits energy system in 5 regions of Ukraine

Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight yesterday, cutting off power in five regions across the country amid freezing temperatures and high demand, Ukrainian officials said.
20 January 2026, 00:00 AM

Avoid Iranian airspace

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency on Friday advised airlines to avoid Iranian airspace, after threats of US attacks that have put the Islamic republic on guard.
18 January 2026, 00:00 AM

US approves $1.5bn deal for Peru naval base

The United States said Thursday it had approved a $1.5 billion deal for the expansion of a naval base in Peru, where China has funded a separate mega-port.
17 January 2026, 00:00 AM