9 h. ago Tension mounts in Belarus as leader plans to seize 1,000 trucks at closed border

Belarus’ leader is threatening to seize over stranded 1,000 Lithuanian trucks

Politics

51 h. ago Belarus leader threatens to seize over 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stuck by closed border

Belarus’ authoritarian leader is threatening to seize over 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in the country following the closure of its border with Lithuania after repeated incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes

Politics

3 d. ago A boat from Myanmar with hundreds of migrants capsizes off Malaysia, 1 body found and 10 rescued

Malaysian authorities say a boat carrying about 300 migrants from Myanmar capsized last week in the Indian Ocean close to the border between Thailand and Malaysia, with at least one body recovered floating in the sea, 10 rescued and dozens missing

Events

9 d. ago Putin taunts NATO sailing feet from border flying notorious Wagner flag

Worrying new footage shows the Russian boat with the flag of the Wagner private army sailing close to the border with NATO ally Estonia - fuelling rumours of a new uprising

Politics

2 w. ago Lithuania extends closure of Belarus border crossings after balloons enter its airspace

Lithuania’s government will keep the country’s two border crossings with Belarus closed for the next month after balloons used to smuggle cigarettes across the frontier brought disruption to the capital’s airport

Politics

2 w. ago Lithuania says it will shoot down smuggling balloons from Russia’s ally Belarus

PM blames Alexander Lukashenko for not stopping ‘hybrid attacks’, which closed Vilnius airport four times last weekEurope live – latest updatesLithuania’s prime minister has authorised the shooting down of smuggling balloons that cross the border from Russia’s ally Belarus, calling them “hybrid attacks” in an echo of the term used to describe Moscow’s destabilisation efforts.Incursions by balloons carrying contraband cigarettes prompted the Nato and EU member state to close Vilnius airport four times last week and shut its border crossings with Belarus temporarily. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Lithuania closes border with Belarus after balloons shut down Vilnius airport – Europe live

66 objects spotted on radars overnight as prime minister says ‘no hybrid attack will be tolerated’ and pledges to shoot down any more balloonsMeanwhile over in the Czech Republic, the country’s president Petr Pavel has tasked the populist billionaire Andrej Babiš with leading talks on forming the new government after recent parliamentary election.Babiš told the president – who defeated him in the 2023 presidential elections – that the coalition talks were already under way, and “promised to hand over the text of the coalition agreement and programme priorities” later this week, according to a readout issued by the presidential office. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Lithuania to close border with Belarus after balloons shut down Vilnius airport – Europe live

66 objects spotted on radars overnight leading to fourth closure of airport in a week as prime minister says any more balloons will be shot downLithuania’s Ruginienė also said that the country was not ruling out the possibility it could call for Nato’s Article 4 consultations, Reuters reported.The Article 4 – not to be mistaken with much more serious Article 5 provision – allows countries to call for Nato talks “whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.” Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago Rafah border crossing to stay closed ‘until further notice’, says Israel

Officials say reopening of gateway between Gaza and Egypt would depend on Hamas returning remains of dead hostagesThe Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will stay closed “until further notice”, Israel has said, after the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said the territory’s sole gateway to the outside world would reopen on Monday.The statement by Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfils its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages. Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said the crossing would probably reopen on Sunday. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Florida wildlife officials discover second case of ‘zombie deer disease’ in state

Experts are enforcing emergency measures to prevent the spread of the highly contagious neurodegenerative diseaseWildlife officials in Florida have discovered only the second case in the state of a deadly infection known colloquially as “zombie deer disease”, and are enforcing emergency measures to try to prevent a spread.The highly contagious chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found during routine screening in the carcass of a young white-tailed doe that was struck by a vehicle in Holmes county, close to the Alabama border, early last month. The only previous recorded instance in Florida was in a four-year-old doe killed about a mile away in June 2023. Continue reading...

Politics