Author: News Desk

Much remains unclear days after the Ukrainian army’s latest  surprise offensive in the Russian region of Kursk. Kyiv has so far remained silent, as it did at the beginning of August 2024 when Ukraine advanced into the Russian region for the first time. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday that an “attempted advance” by Ukrainian forces towards the area of Bolshesoldatsky, some 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) southwest of the regional capital Kursk, had been reported. According to Moscow, four tanks, two infantry combat tanks, 16 armored combat vehicles and a mine clearance vehicle were destroyed. It is not possible…

Germany pushing EU to ease sanctions on Syria   Germany is at the helm of efforts within the European Union (EU) to ease sanctions on Syria following President Bashar Assad’s ouster, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Berlin is pushing for the move within the bloc, provided it is met with progress on social issues, the FT said. The French AFP news agency also reported that Germany is seeking to reduce EU sanctions on Syria, citing diplomats. What else do we know about the German proposal? Shortly before Christmas, Berlin circulated two documents among EU capitals with suggestions for where the…

Turkey threatens offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters   Turkey threatened on Tuesday to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition after the demise of President Bashar Assad. “We will do what’s necessary” if the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) fail to agree to Turkish demands, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told CNNTurk television. When asked what that might entail, he said a “military operation.” Turkey considers the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist outfit linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish…

Known for never backpedaling his scandalous statements, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the co-founder of France’s right-wing National Front party who died on Tuesday aged 96, amassed a series of controversies throughout his time in the political arena — from calling the infamous Nazi gas chambers a “detail” of World War II, to publicly hurling homophobic slurs at political opponents. From Holocaust denial to homophobia: Jean-Marie Le Pen’s controversies

Accused of belonging to the Palestinian group Hamas, which was then Bashar Al-Assad’s bête noire, Mohamar Ouda was arrested by the Syrian army in Yarmouk in 2015. He spent seven years in prison, where his executioners inflicted all kinds of torture on him that still haunt him day and night. Seven years of torture by Assad’s executioners: ‘I will never forgive them’

A fast-moving wildfire broke out Tuesday northeast of Los Angeles hours after another blaze tore through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood along the coast, prompting evacuation orders for tens of thousands.  High winds spread second Los Angeles wildfire as tens of thousands evacuated

Iran slams Macron’s ‘deceitful’ remarks on its role as a regional security threat Iran’ foreign ministry on Wednesday rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s claim that Iran posed the main security threat in the Middle East. Macron on Monday said Iran was accelerating its nuclear programme, which the West suspects is aimed at making a nuclear bomb. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described the comments as “baseless, contradictory, and speculative,” and called for France “to reconsider its non-constructive approaches to peace and stability”.  Iran slams Macron’s ‘deceitful’ remarks on its role as a regional security threat

Much of Wednesday’s newspapers continue their front page coverage of the ongoing spat between the UK and Elon Musk – and the latest from the Trump inner circle. 

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza, including 7 children Israeli forces have killed at least 49 Palestinians in Gaza in the past day, according to medical officials. A wave of Israeli strikes hit Gaza’s southern district of Khan Younis on Tuesday evening, killing a dozen people, seven of them children, officials said. At least five strikes targeted parts of Khan Younis, including one in the Al-Mawasi area where thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in tents along the coast. Four children were killed when a drone strike hit their tent in the Al-Mawasi area, the territory’s health ministry reported. A…

The cheapest supermarket of 2024 has been named – and it’s not Lidl The cheapest supermarket in 2024 has been revealed by consumer website Which?. Using an independent price comparison website, the research tracked thousands of grocery prices across eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose – to find out how much each shop was charging for everyday items throughout the year. And the winner is… Aldi. The German discounter beat its supermarket rival Lidl as the cheapest. The results showed a December shopping list of 56 groceries cost £100.29 on…