President Vladimir Putin said Russia believed it would win in Ukraine in an address on Wednesday, as his country marked another New Year - their main holiday - at war. The almost four-year offensive in Ukraine has come at a huge human cost, with military deaths on both sides believed to be in the tens, or even hundreds, of thousands. Putin devoted
Eurostar said it plans to run a full service on Wednesday but warned of possible knock-on disruptions after a power supply issue halted Channel Tunnel train trips connecting London to the European mainland. Travellers making journeys in the busy run-up to New Year had been left scrambling to find alternatives after the operator postponed all services
France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law seen by AFP. The initiative is backed by President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier this month that parliament should start debating such a proposal in January. Australia
Israeli bulldozers began demolishing 25 buildings housing Palestinians in a refugee camp on Wednesday, in what the military said was an effort to root out armed groups in northern areas of the occupied West Bank. The buildings, home to some 100 families, are in the Nur Shams camp, a site of frequent clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli
New Year's Eve revellers toasted the end of 2025 on Wednesday, waving goodbye to 12 months packed with Trump tariffs, a Gaza truce and vain hopes for peace in Ukraine. It was one of the warmest years on record, the stifling heat stoking wildfires in Europe, droughts in Africa and deadly rains across Southeast Asia. There was a sombre tinge to party
A government building was attacked in southern Iran on Wednesday, just hours after the country's prosecutor general said that economic protests that had gripped the country were legitimate, but any attempt to create insecurity would be met with a "decisive response". "Peaceful livelihood protests are part of social and understandable realities," Mohammad
If this year was a film, it would almost inevitably be dubbed Donald Trump 2: The Revenge . To borrow the phrase made popular by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth, 2025 was truly an annus horribilis, not just for the Trump regime’s malicious and crude impact on its own citizens but also across the world. Having won 49.8% of the popular US vote in 2024, Trump
Four people were injured and around 100 were stranded atop a mountain in northwest Italy on Tuesday after a cable car accident, authorities said. No one was seriously injured following the incident on the Macugnaga cable car, which travels up to the Moro Pass at 2,800 metres (9,000 feet) altitude near the Swiss border, a spokesman for the Alpine rescue
The Spanish woman whose failed restoration of a century-old painting of Jesus Christ captured global headlines more than a decade ago has died at 94. Cecilia Gimenez rose to international fame in 2012 after her botched restoration of the Ecce Homo fresco at a church in Borja, northeastern Spain, drew worldwide media attention. Her attempt left Christ’s
The United States has hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuela drug boats, President Donald Trump said Monday, in what could amount to the first land strike of the military campaign against trafficking from Latin America. His confirmation of the incident comes as he ramps up a pressure campaign against Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas
