Author: Justin M. Larson
Adam EastonBBC News Warsaw correspondentReutersZbigniew Ziobro says he is a victim of political persecutionHungary has granted political asylum to Poland’s former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro who is facing charges of embezzlement.Ziobro is facing 26 charges related to embezzling money from a fund meant to be spent on crime victims and rehabilitating criminals.Instead, he is accused of authorising the purchase of spyware that was allegedly used to hack political opponents’ phones. He says he is a victim of political persecution.Granting asylum to a citizen of a fellow EU member state goes against the spirit of EU standards.But in the case of…
Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into X’s AI tool, Grok, over it being used to create sexualised imagery of women and children.The media watchdog said it contacted the social media platform on Monday last week and set a firm deadline of last Friday to “explain what steps it has taken to comply with its duties to protect its users in the UK”. The company replied by the deadline, and Ofcom has since carried out an “expedited assessment of available evidence as a matter of urgency”. It added the formal investigation will look into whether X, owned by tech titan…
Michelle Roberts and Sophie HutchinsonBBC NewsBBC NewsNicki says the results have been life-changingDoctors say they have achieved the previously impossible – restoring sight and preventing blindness in people with a rare but dangerous eye conditon called hypotony. Moorfields hospital in London is the world’s first dedicated clinic for the disorder and seven out of eight patients given the pioneering treatment have responded to the therapy, a pilot study shows. One of them – the first-ever – is Nicki Guy, 47, who is sharing her story exclusively with the BBC. She says the results are incredible: “It’s life-changing. It’s given me…
Since an interim government began the releases last week, at least 41 people have been let go, according to Foro Penal. Source link
EPA/ShutterstockJacques and Jessica Moretti, French owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, say they are co-operating with the investigationA judge in Switzerland has ordered that one of the two co-owners of the ski resort bar where 40 people died in a fire on New Year’s Eve be kept in detention for 90 days.Swiss prosecutors have argued that Jacques Moretti, a French national, is a potential flight risk. He and his wife Jessica, who is also French, are suspected of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.The blaze at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana also left 116…
Bathers found five decapitated heads displayed on a beach in Ecuador in what appears to be a warning to gang members who have been threatening local fishermen.The gruesome discovery was made on Sunday on the beachfront in Puerto López, a town which has been wracked by gang violence.Next to the body parts, locals found a sign threatening those stealing from and extorting fishermen with the same fate.Ports and towns by the Pacific Ocean are among those worst hit by gangs which smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to the US and Europe.Police have identified the remains as those of five men who…
The European Commission allowed carmakers to volunteer limits on their imports from China instead of paying tariffs, an arrangement that could help Volkswagen. Source link
The US has announced the seizure of two oil tankers: the Marinera formerly known as the Bella 1 in the North Atlantic and the Sophia in international waters near the Caribbean. Source link
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his risky US gamble on Argentina’s currency has paid off. Bessent said American financial support had been repaid and the US no longer held any Argentine pesos in its exchange stabilisation fund.The US had purchased the then-plunging currency last year in an effort to stave off further turmoil and boost the party of President Javier Milei, a key ally of President Donald Trump, in the run-up to national midterm elections.The move sparked criticism from Democrats, who accused Bessent of risking taxpayer money on a country with a long history of financial turmoil. In the…
This week, Donald Trump repeated his desire to take over Greenland and make it part of the United States, potentially by using military force. The BBC’s Europe Editor Katya Adler visited the Arctic island’s capital, Nuuk, to ask locals what they thought of the US president’s renewed threats. One Greenlander said she thought Trump was “crazy”, while another said residents “just want to be left alone”. It comes against a background of global superpowers scrambling for the Arctic for its strategic defence capabilities, as well as for rare earths and other minerals, which are newly accessible due to melting ice.…
The comments came after President Trump said he was “ looking at some very strong options” to curb Iran’s harsh repression of anti-government protests. Source link
Getty ImagesDonald Trump has urged Cuba to “make a deal” or face consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would now stop.The US president has been turning his attention to Cuba since US forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro in a 3 January raid on its capital, Caracas.Venezuela, a long-standing ally of Cuba, is believed to send around 35,000 barrels of oil a day to the island.Cuba’s foreign minister responded by saying his nation retained the right to import fuel “without interference”, while its president said: “No one dictates what we do.”The Trump administration’s tactic of confiscating…
A shopkeeper arranges Santa Claus decorative items displayed at a market ahead of the Christmas celebrations in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on December 9, 2025. (Photo by Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesIndia’s consumer inflation rose to 1.33% in December accelerating from 0.71% in the prior month.The headline inflation number was below economists’ expectations of a 1.5% increase in the consumer price index, according to a Reuters poll.The increase in headline inflation and rising food prices was mainly due to “increase in inflation of personal care and effects, vegetables, meat and fish, egg, spices and pulses…
Footage recorded by Spanish skier Ares Masip shows the moment she was caught up in an avalanche on Pic de l’Hortell, a mountain in the Andorra.The skier was out with her dog Cim when she was surprised by the snow.”Today was a shock and a good lesson on a personal level”, Masip said on Instagram, adding that she knew the area well and thought it would be safe. “It’s good to remember that risk 0 simply doesn’t exist”, she added. Source link
Norberto ParedesBBC Mundo, CaracasBBCRamón Guanipa says he has only been allowed to visit his father once since his arrestThe son of a jailed Venezuelan opposition leader has warned Donald Trump to “not be fooled” by the country’s government, amid accusations it has not kept its promise to release a significant number of political prisoners.Ramón Guanipa, the son of Juan Pablo Guanipa, said he believed the US president was unaware that only about 40 of the total of more than 800 political prisoners had reportedly been released so far.On Saturday, Trump thanked the Venezuelan authorities, saying they had “started the process,…
The Venezuelan regime had high-powered air defense systems from its allies in the Kremlin, but failed to set much of it up. Source link
In the wake of the devastating fire at a bar in Crans-Montana, many Swiss citizens are asking themselves whether their political system is fit for purpose. Switzerland, often praised for its efficiency, has a very devolved system of government, in which villages and towns are run by local officials elected from and by the community.It is a system the Swiss cherish because they believe it ensures accountability. But there are inherent weaknesses: hypothetically, the official approving a bar licence or passing a fire-safety check is the friend, neighbour, or maybe even cousin of the bar owner.When the news of the…
A commonly used gel has restored sight to people suffering from a rare and untreatable condition that causes blindness, scientists have said.HPMC – hydroxypropyl methylcellulose – a low-cost gel used in most eye surgeries – restored vision for seven out of eight patients with hypotony, researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London found. Hypotony, which affects about 100 people in the UK each year, is abnormally low pressure in the eyeball, which usually results in a change to its shape.After 12 months of fortnightly HPMC injections in people with the condition, researchers found the shape of the eye was restored.The…
Thousands of tourists have been stranded in Finland’s Lapland as a severe cold spell has grounded flights out of one of its airports.Departures from Lapland’s Kittila airport that would have ferried winter travellers back to places like London, Bristol, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam were all cancelled on Sunday as temperatures did not go above -35C on Sunday.The issue is expected to continue on Monday as a low of -39C is forecast by Finland’s meteorological agency. The first flight out of Kittila has already been cancelled.The extreme cold makes it hard to de-ice planes, while maintenance and refuelling equipment on the…
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes’s X account has been hacked, the club said, after a post on Sunday was critical of the club’s co-owners. A message appeared on Fernandes’s social media account, which has more than 4.5m followers, that read: “let’s get rid of INEOS”. Ineos, the global chemical company, is owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the minority owner of United and in charge of football operations. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use…
Ian YoungsandSteven McIntoshTimothée Chalamet, Teyana Taylor & Adolescence — Highlights from the 83rd Annual Golden GlobesTimothée Chalamet was among the main winners as Hollywood’s finest gathered for this year’s Golden Globe Awards.Chalamet, 30, continued his pursuit of greatness, and an Oscar, by beating stars including Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney to the award for best actor in a musical or comedy for table tennis caper Marty Supreme.Despite DiCaprio missing out, his film One Battle After Another won the most awards overall, with four prizes including best musical or comedy film and best director.Irish actress Jessie Buckley was named best drama…
A British man has died in an avalanche in the French Alps.The man, believed to be in his 50s, was skiing with a group off-piste at La Plagne, a statement from the resort said. Rescuers were alerted to the avalanche at 13:57 (12:57 GMT) on Sunday and went immediately to the area, it added.The man was discovered under 2.5 metres (8ft) of snow after a 50-minute search. He had been skiing without an avalanche transceiver or a professional instructor, the resort said.La Plagne said its thoughts were with the man’s family.BBC News has asked the Foreign Office for comment. The…
Steffan MessengerWales environment correspondentTerraDat GeophysicsThe scans revealed a villa within a defensive enclosure and an aisled building, possibly used as a barn or meeting hallArchaeologists have discovered the largest Roman villa ever found in Wales in an “amazing discovery” which they say has the potential to be “Port Talbot’s Pompeii”.”My eyes nearly popped out of my skull,” said project lead Dr Alex Langlands, after ground penetrating radar revealed the “huge structure” in Margam Country Park.The location, in a historical deer park, is significant because the land has not been ploughed or built on, meaning the villa’s remains – less than…
A snow-cleared asphalt road outside Sisimiut, Greenland, on Monday, March 31, 2025.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesGreenland has been thrust into a geopolitical firestorm as U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to annex the self-governing Danish territory.But, while Trump says the U.S. needs the huge Arctic island for its national security, and European leaders have responded that security is a collective endeavor, independence for the island of just 57,000 people remains a long-term goal.Opinion polls have shown that Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose U.S. control, while a strong majority support independence from Denmark.The White House has said Trump and his national…
