Paul Kirby Europe digital editor Reuters The deal is a personal victory for Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Germany’s conservative leader, Friedrich Merz, has clinched an enormous financial package to revamp defence and infrastructure, ahead of a crunch vote in parliament next Tuesday. Merz, who aims to lead a government with the Social Democrats in the … Read more
Early on Friday morning, a group of Syrian men crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights through a UN-monitored buffer zone. With no diplomatic relations between Syria and Israel, Syrians crossing here would normally risk being shot or arrested. This visit, by religious leaders from Syria’s Druze minority, signals the dramatic changes in Israel’s strategy along … Read more
Imogen Foulkes Geneva correspondent, BBC News EPA Refusing to wear the hijab in public can lead to imprisonment in Iran Iran is using drones and intrusive digital technology to crush dissent, especially among women who refuse to obey the Islamic republic’s strict dress code, the United Nations has said. Investigators say Iranian security officials are … Read more
US President Donald Trump has praised talks held with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the US-proposed ceasefire deal in Ukraine as “good and productive”. This comes after Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff met in Moscow on Thursday evening, during which they exchanged information and shared the US’s “cautious optimism” over a peace process, the … Read more
Angola is under fire after it denied entry to several senior African political figures set to attend a conference hosted by the country’s main opposition party. Unita said it had invited the politicians, including Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, Mozambique’s Venancio Mondlane and Botswana’s former President Ian Khama, to a summit on democracy. “The action … Read more
Tariff threats. Growing uncertainty about the economy. And a push for much lower oil prices. For all of their bravado about U.S. energy dominance and enthusiasm for deregulation, American energy executives are beginning to worry about President Trump’s agenda. Their concerns crept into conversations in hotel meeting rooms and over private meals this week in … Read more
Legendary avant-garde composer Sofia Gubaidulina has died in Germany, where she spent more than 30 years of her life after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Gubaidulina, who was 93, was one of a group of composers blacklisted in the Soviet Union in 1979. But her work eventually reached the West, where she was feted … Read more
Video footage captured audience members booing when the vice president and his wife took their seats for a National Symphony Orchestra concert at the Kennedy Center. In February, President Trump named himself chairman of the venue replacing some board members with his own appointees including the vice president’s wife, Usha Vance.
Two US judges have ordered several federal government agencies to reinstate the jobs of probationary employees fired en masse by the Trump administration last month. In California, District Judge William Alsup called the sacking of these employees part of a “sham” strategy that aimed to circumvent proper procedures for reducing the federal workforce. His order … Read more
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Red alerts for flooding and landslides were issued for parts of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna Flooding and landslides have been reported in parts of northern Italy amid red weather alerts affecting cities including Florence and Pisa. Torrential rain prompted the alert for parts of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, with heavy and persistent rainfall expected into the … Read more