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Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest…

Ines Pohl speaks with retired US Army Gen Ben Hodges 01/16/2026January 16, 2026Donald Trump is standing firm on his demand to "acquire" Greenland. Retired US Army General Ben Hodges doubts a military invasion of the Danish territory is in the cards though — even as he believes the US president's…

(OSV News) -- After decades of legal disputes, delays and competing claims, Ukraine's Roman Catholic community has received the right to use Kyiv's historic St. Nicholas Church for the next 50 years, under an agreement signed with the state. The church, a national cultural landmark confiscated…

A few short years after the United States won its independence, Christopher Colles set out to map the roads of the new republic. In 1789 he released the first three pages of what was to be a comprehensive and practical atlas, sold to subscribers who would pay in installments as new pages were…

MOSCOW, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the United States was fragmenting the very international system which Washington helped to create by undertaking what he said was an illegal operation to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and by…

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has taken an unusually open step in its intelligence contest with China by releasing a series of Mandarin-language videos, marking a shift in how Washington communicates with Chinese audiences. The effort began in May 2025, when the Central Intelligence Agency…

On Jan. 3, I was at home in Caracas when I heard explosions. My room’s windows shook and the walls trembled. At first I thought it was an earthquake, but as the second, fourth, and fifth hollow explosions followed, I knew it was the Americans. A military buildup in the Caribbean that started in Aug.…

A closer look at the use of surveillance by Russia's intelligence services 08 January, 2026 RussiaEuropeIntelligence A view of the general office of the FSB (KGB) building on January 23, 2006 in Moscow, Russia. ( Photo by Oleg Klimov/Getty Images) Former CIA Senior Operations Officer Sean Wiswesser…

‘There are hundreds in the Baltic’: tracking Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers Read more Forty ships accused of belonging to a large “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil for Venezuela and others were reflagged to Russia last year in an apparent attempt to gain Kremlin protection from American…

The US Senate is expected to vote on Thursday on a long-shot attempt to prevent Donald Trump from taking further military actions against Venezuela, as Democrats press for answers following the raid that captured Nicolás Maduro. The war powers resolution, introduced by Democratic senator Tim Kaine,…

In his 2026 goal setting message, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez noted that all eyes will be on the finalization of the autonomous ships code. The MASS Code is a framework for the safe, secure, and environmentally friendly operation of remotely operated and autonomous ships. Maj. Joseph…

العربيةفارسی Iran InsightPoliticsEconomyAnalysisSpecial ReportOpinionPodcast ANALYSIS Jan 8, 2026, 20:11 GMT It began with metal shutters dropping in Tehran. At two neighboring shopping centers, shopkeepers on Dec. 28 pulled down their doors as security forces moved in, and the first chants rose…

Russia recorded the world’s highest level of internet censorship and shutdowns in 2025, with disruptions totaling 37,166 hours and affecting about 146 million people, according to The Moscow Times on January 8. The figures were drawn from Top10VPN’s annual report tracking deliberate internet…

On February 5, a treaty capping the numbers of deployed Russian and US nuclear warheads will expire, marking the first time in more than half a century that the Kremlin and Washington's nuclear programs will be unconstrained by numerical limits. Moscow had "suspended" the New START treaty in 2023 in…

War Ukraine World North America Europe Eastern Europe Middle East Asia Economy Business Technology Finance Agriculture Videos Podcasts Analysis Corruption Watch Opinions Culture History Sports Classifieds Spotlight Cartoons North America Europe Eastern Europe Middle East Asia Business Technology…

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the US that it is obliged to pay its dues, after the Trump administration announced a withdrawal from dozens of UN agencies. On Wednesday, the White House said it was pulling out of 66 international bodies, around half of which were…

War Ukraine World North America Europe Eastern Europe Middle East Asia Economy Business Technology Finance Agriculture Videos Podcasts Analysis Corruption Watch Opinions Culture History Sports Classifieds Spotlight Cartoons North America Europe Eastern Europe Middle East Asia Business Technology…

A crude oil tanker flying the Russian flag was seized by United States forces in the North Atlantic, raising questions around a potential crackdown on the global 'shadow fleet', at the same time as the US seeks to control Venezuela's oil industry. The US said the tanker, which was being escorted by…

Iryna, the wife of Pavlo Ivanov, a Ukrainian F-16 pilot killed defending Ukraine, has given birth to a daughter. The girl has been named Yustyna. Source: Lviv Oblast Perinatal Centre Details: The Centre said the child was dreamed of and long-awaited. Pavlo had been eager for a daughter, and the…

The U.S. has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean, the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks as Washington steps up efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said on Friday. The Olina, which according to public shipping database Equasis was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste,…

Twenty photographs of the week Nicolás Maduro seized, Russian drone strikes rock Kyiv, anti-ICE protests erupt in Minneapolis and Storm Goretti lashes Britain – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists The handcuffed Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and the first…

The Republic of Moldova has launched the process of returning the aviation fuel terminal operated by the Russian company Lukoil at Chisinau International Airport to state ownership. Because the fuel terminal serves the country's only international airport, it is classified by the Moldovan…

Ukraine is conducting increasingly successful airstrikes on targets inside Russia, and Ukrainian drone and missile attacks are likely to continue causing progressively greater damage as pressure on Russia's air defence systems grows. Source: Ants Kiviselg, Head of the Estonian Defence Forces…

The United States has seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, the fifth such vessel intercepted in recent weeks, as Washington ramps up efforts to curb Venezuela's oil exports. Source: Reuters, citing US officials, as reported by European Pravda Details: The tanker, the Olina, was sailing…

Kosmodzilla / Shutterstock.com In December, Russia’s State Duma passed a law allowing clear-cut logging in Lake Baikal’s Central Ecological Zone, a move swiftly approved by the Federation Council and signed by Vladimir Putin. Although the legislation — set to take effect on March 1, 2026 — permits…

The thrilling chase of a Russian-owned shadow fleet tanker that began in the Caribbean and continued across the high seas, only to end in an audacious US heliborne assault in the North Atlantic, resulted in a very public defeat for Vladimir Putin. At the very least, the Russian leader discovered the…

Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine, hitting Kyiv and Lviv with 36 missiles and over 200 drones. Strikes damaged homes, cut water supplies, and left thousands without heat in freezing temperatures. Among the weapons was the hypersonic, nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile, which Russia…

For years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has tirelessly praised Donald Trump as a "man of peace." He sang the president's praises for brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Orban also repeated Trump's claims that, if he had been US president in 2022, Russia would never have…

01/10/2026January 10, 2026WATCH: Amid Iran's unrest, is Reza Pahlavi gaining support? As ongoing protests grip Iran, some activists are calling for the return of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, ousted in 1979. But how much support does he have inside the country? Amid Iran's unrest, is Reza…

Pacing inside the Kremlin last weekend, as news feeds churned out minute-by-minute reports of Donald’s Trump’s Venezuelan coup, Vladimir Putin may have been wondering what it would mean for the price of oil. Crude oil has lubricated the Russian economy for decades – far more than gas exports to…

The municipality of Luxembourg City has contributed buses to Ukraine’s educational infrastructure since early 2023 through the “School buses for Ukraine” campaign, a European Commission-led solidarity initiative. At least one former city bus is now in service transporting schoolchildren in Ukraine’s…

Russia is reportedly facing critical challenges in maintaining its Arctic port infrastructure, undermining its ambitions to turn the Northern Sea Route into a viable alternative to global trade corridors such as the Suez Canal. According to a report published on January 6 by the Ukrainian Foreign…

Iraq is setting up a special government commission to investigate and prevent the recruitment of Iraqi youth to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the "I Want to Live" project reported. Launched in September 2022 by Ukraine's Military Intelligence, the 24-hour "I Want to Live" hotline helps…

That's the question most of you probably answered instinctively: in 2014, when Vladimir Putin, exploiting political instability and the change of power in Ukraine following the EuroMaidan Revolution, annexed the Crimean Peninsula. But what if I told you that Russia began attempting to seize…

The first seven "invincibility carriages" have opened in Kyiv Oblast in response to the large-scale power outages caused by recent Russian attacks. [An invincibility carriage is a heated stationary train carriage to help those affected by power cuts – ed.] Source: the state-run rail operator…