Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, has said he will reach out to France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but cautioned that such a move could not be a replacement for the US’s existing protective shield over Europe. “The sharing of nuclear weapons is an issue we need to talk about,” Merz said … Read more
A prominent French journalist has said he is stepping down from his role as an expert analyst for broadcaster RTL after provoking an uproar by comparing French actions during colonial rule in Algeria to a second world war massacre committed by Nazi forces in France. Jean-Michel Aphatie, a veteran reporter and broadcaster, insisted that while … Read more
The South African playwright and director Athol Fugard, whose works included the plays Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island and the novel Tsotsi, has died at the age of 92. A major political dissident playwright of the 20th century, Fugard wrote more than 30 dramas including Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act … Read more
Ambulance crews in Cambridgeshire are piloting the use of finger-prick blood tests to diagnose the deadliest form of stroke, with preliminary data suggesting they may be up to twice as effective as relying on patients’ symptoms alone. The tests, which work on a similar principle to the lateral flow tests (LFTs) used to detect Covid, … Read more
Firefighters in New York were continuing to battle at least one brush fire in a wooded stretch of Long Island on Sunday with the wealthy coastal enclave of the Hamptons vulnerable and officials warning that high wind gusts threatened to ignite further blazes. The state’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on … Read more
Russia has taken control of several villages in the Kursk region and claimed on Sunday that its forces were close to surrounding thousands of Ukrainian troops fighting on Russian territory. For seven months Ukraine has controlled a pocket inside western Russia. Last week Russian and North Korean troops launched a major offensive, shortly after Donald … Read more
Pat McFadden has vowed to bring about “radical” civil service reform including digitisation and stricter performance targets for officials to mirror private sector practices. Under the plans expected to be unveiled this week, under-performing officials could be incentivised to leave their jobs and senior officials will have their pay linked to performance. A new target … Read more
“Nothing is off the table” when it comes to raising money for defence, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said, as she warned European values such as democracy and the rule of law were under threat in a increasingly “transactional” world. Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, the head of … Read more
The best route to learning to love words in print could well be pictures. This, at least, is the hope of the publishing industry this spring, as it welcomes news that sales of children’s comics and graphic novels have reached an all-time peak of almost £20m in Britain. While publishers and editors are celebrating this … Read more
The home affairs department warned the government as early as November 2023 that its perceived one-sidedness in support of Israel during the Gaza conflict left Palestinian and Muslim Australians feeling “extremely angry” and “betrayed” , as well as concerned about social cohesion, documents reveal. A November 2023 briefing document to the then immigration minister, Andrew … Read more