German Foreign Minister Baerbock travels to Syria to meet new leaders

German Foreign Minister Baerbock travels to Syria to meet new leaders

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is travelling to the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday on an unannounced visit, is setting conditions for Syria’s new de facto rulers for a resumption of relations with Germany and the European Union. “A political new beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible,” the Green…

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Ukraine is investigating its special French-trained brigade after reports of mass desertion and command problems

Ukraine is investigating its special French-trained brigade after reports of mass desertion and command problems

Ukraine’s investigators are probing the 155th Mechanized Brigade, a unit partially trained by France. Nicknamed “Anne of Kyiv,” the highly publicized brigade was an effort by France to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. But it’s come under scrutiny after a Ukrainian reporter said 1,700 of its troops had deserted. Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation is probing a…

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Clip shows Pakistan doctor bemoaning cruelty towards anti-France protesters, not supporters of ex-PM Khan

Clip shows Pakistan doctor bemoaning cruelty towards anti-France protesters, not supporters of ex-PM Khan

After Pakistan police arrested 1,000 Imran Khan supporters who marched to the country’s capital demanding the jailed ex-leader’s release in November 2024, an old video resurfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it shows a doctor speaking out about the government’s “cruelty” towards the protesters. In fact, the video is from 2021 and the man…

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Slovakia threatens to cut benefit for Ukrainians

Slovakia threatens to cut benefit for Ukrainians

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to cut financial support for more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees as a dispute with Ukraine over Russian gas supplies escalates. On 1 January, Kyiv shut off a pipeline that for decades was used to supply Central Europe with Russian natural gas. Slovakia had been the main entry point…

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Israel army says it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon

Israel army says it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon

The Israeli army said Thursday it struck Hezbollah medium-range rocket launchers at a military site belonging to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon. The army said Hezbollah rocket launchers adjacent to a military site in the area of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, were also struck. The Israeli army said that as part of understandings…

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Rosita Missoni, co-founder of Italian label, dies aged 93

Rosita Missoni, co-founder of Italian label, dies aged 93

Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the eponymous Italian knitwear label Missoni, has died aged 93. The news was confirmed by the president of Italy’s Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, who praised the brand’s iconic “multicoloured textures”. He described her death as “a great loss for Italy, Lombardy and for the province of Varese where she was born…

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Israel’s judiciary reins in far-right police minister

Israel’s judiciary reins in far-right police minister

Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday thwarted a bid to enlarge the powers of far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir in a further showdown between the country’s top judges and the government. The court struck down as ineffective a clause in controversial legislation that had been intended to give Ben-Gvir great influence over police investigations,…

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