Ukraine strikes deepen Belgorod blackout crisis as energy war escalates
A Ukrainian missile barrage has severely damaged energy facilities in Russia’s Belgorod region, plunging parts of the border city and surrounding districts into fresh power, water and heating outages in the middle of winter. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the overnight attack as massive, saying it hit key energy infrastructure......
Somaliland and Somalia compete for US partnership over bases and minerals
Somaliland has moved to deepen its ties with Washington by offering the United States exclusive access to its mineral resources and potential military facilities, intensifying a rivalry with Somalia for American strategic favor in the Horn of Africa. Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency, said the self-governing......
Moroccan influencer Soukaina Benjelloun released after defamation sentence
Moroccan influencer Soukaina Benjelloun, widely known on social media as “the woman behind the most expensive divorce in Morocco,” has been freed from Oukacha prison in Casablanca after serving a three month sentence for defamation against her former husband. Her release closes a chapter in a case that shifted from family court......
Oil prices slip as diplomacy advances and tariff fight clouds outlook
Oil prices retreated as traders weighed signs of progress in United States–Iran nuclear diplomacy against a fresh layer of uncertainty from President Donald Trump’s new across‑the‑board import tariffs. Brent crude futures slipped to around 71 dollars a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate hovered near 66 dollars, giving back......
Rob Jetten to be sworn in as Netherlands prime minister
The Netherlands is set to inaugurate a new government on Monday, with centrist leader Rob Jetten poised to become the country’s youngest prime minister at 38 and its first openly gay head of government. Jetten, leader of the D66 party, secured a narrow but decisive victory in October’s snap election, overtaking Geert Wilders and......
Putin signals new nuclear era as last US Russia treaty expires
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the buildup of Russia’s nuclear arsenal an “absolute priority” after the collapse of the last remaining arms control treaty with the United States, signalling a more dangerous phase in great power rivalry. In a video address released for Defender of the Fatherland Day, Putin said......
Iranian Kurdish parties seek unified front as alliance launches amid unrest
Five Iranian Kurdish opposition parties have unveiled a new political alliance aimed at consolidating their long-fractured movement against Tehran at a moment of mounting domestic turmoil and renewed pressure from the United States on Iran’s leadership. The coalition, formally titled the Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan,......
Nobel laureate’s desert device pulls drinking water from dry air
The Palestinian American chemist Omar Yaghi, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering metal organic frameworks, has turned a childhood shaped by water scarcity into a technology that can draw drinking water directly from the air, even in some of the driest places on Earth. His company, Atoco, has developed container sized......
Researchers push safer eco-friendly batteries from lab concept to reality
Scientists in China and the United States have unveiled a wave of new battery designs that aim to reduce fire risk, cut reliance on scarce metals and limit environmental damage, marking a significant step toward safer, more sustainable energy storage. The latest results span organic lithium cells, water-based chemistries, gel electrolytes......
Xi launches sweeping purge of Chinese military after Wagner revolt
Chinese President Xi Jinping has embarked on a far-reaching overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army, reshaping its top ranks in a campaign unmatched since the Mao era. The effort, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing sources close to the Chinese Communist Party leadership, was partly spurred by the 2023 Wagner mutiny......
European powers link Ukraine peace to firm security guarantees
Defence ministers from five of Europe’s leading military powers have warned that any eventual peace agreement in Ukraine must be underpinned by binding security commitments, insisting that a simple halt in fighting would leave the country exposed to renewed Russian attack. Meeting in Krakow on 20 February, the E5 group of Britain, France,......
Inde, Brésil, Chine India and Brazil seal critical minerals pact to diversify supply chains
India and Brazil have concluded a framework agreement to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths, in a move aimed at reducing dependence on supply chains dominated by China. The accord was announced in New Delhi after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who......
Ukraine’s battlefield gains reshape southern front but diplomacy stalls
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country’s forces have retaken around 300 square kilometres of territory in the south in some of their most significant advances in months, even as efforts to secure a negotiated end to the war remain blocked. In an interview at the presidential headquarters in Kyiv, Zelensky argued that......
Spain calls EU commissioner’s attendance at Trump Board of Peace meeting a mistake
Spain has condemned the European Commission for sending one of its members to the launch meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington, calling the move a political mistake that contradicts the European Union’s stated principles on the Middle East. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said it “pained”......
Trump oil embargo pushes Cuba to the brink of collapse
Cuba is sliding deeper into economic turmoil as a sweeping United States oil embargo has throttled fuel supplies to the island, triggering emergency rationing, prolonged blackouts and the grounding of flights during the peak tourism season. President Donald Trump has framed the measures as leverage to force Havana into concessions, warning......