1 week ago Irish peacekeepers facing aggression in south Lebanon amid conflict

Lieutenant-Colonel Shane Rockett, commander of the 125 Infantry Battalion at Camp Shamrock, said the situation is the worst he had seen.

Events

1 week ago Man who said woman ‘won’t get a cent’ ordered to pay $300,000 for defamation by NSW court

Self-described ‘child recovery agent’ Adam Whittington posted on Wordpress, Facebook and Twitter about Jasmin NewmanFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA man who said “your scumbag client won’t get one cent” has been ordered to pay $300,000 in aggravated damages and costs after accusing a family dispute resolution practitioner of supporting paedophiles.Adam Whittington, a “child recovery agent” who was involved in the 60 Minutes abduction scandal in Lebanon, has been ordered by the New South Wales supreme court to pay Jasmin Newman $160,000 in damages and $147,796 in costs after it found he defamed her in a series of online posts dating back to 2019.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago In defiance of Donald Trump, is a European ‘security council’ emerging? | Paul Taylor

With the US threatening unilateral withdrawal, even from the top Nato military post, five European nations must fill the vacuumIn the face of Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine and Donald Trump’s destabilisation of the Atlantic alliance, an embryonic European security council is taking shape on the hoof. Whether it will prove strong enough to protect Europe’s liberal democracies and deter Russia without US military support may be tested all too soon.Nato was created under US leadership to keep the Soviet Union at bay while suppressing centuries-old rivalries among European powers. The alliance stayed united through the cold war and attracted new central European members after communist rule collapsed. But the spectre of US disengagement now threatens to leave Europe without its nuclear-armed protector.Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel strikes southern Lebanon and Gaza amid calls for halt to ‘endless war’

One killed and seven wounded in attack as freed hostages and families of those still held in Gaza urge end to fightingIsrael carried out a strike in Tyre, south Lebanon, on Saturday, killing one and wounding seven people and endangering the shaky truce that ended a year-long conflict against Hezbollah, as 40 survivors of Hamas captivity called on the Israeli government to halt the “endless war”.The strike on a building came after Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes in Lebanon on Saturday, its most intense aerial assault on the country in four months. In total, six people were killed, including a child, and 28 injured, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Israeli revenge strikes in Lebanon injure eight and 'kill two, including child'

The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Hezbollah sites, including a command centre, in south Lebanon on Saturday in response to cross-border rocket fire

Events

3 w. ago Out of Putin’s war and Trump’s treachery, a new Europe is being born

The EU has its Trojan horses and Nato’s cornerstone has crumbled. But European allies, including the UK, are bound by an urgent shared purposeMoscow’s immense military mobilisation is clearly not aimed just at Ukraine. Unless Vladimir Putin accepts a ceasefire with meaningful security guarantees there will be no end in sight to the war. If anything, we could see the extension of Russia’s aggression beyond Ukraine. The bleak reality is that Europe still faces an unprecedented threat and notwithstanding signs of progress for Ukraine at talks in Jeddah, we face it alone.Worse, we now have to confront it with the US working against us. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump appear to share a plan: a Vichy-like regime in Ukraine and a European continent split into spheres of influence, which Russia, the US (and perhaps China) can colonise and prey upon. Most European publics sense this. A critical mass of European leaders gets it too. They are beginning to act.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europ...

Politics

3 w. ago Out of Putin’s war and Trump’s treachery, a new Europe is being born | Nathalie Tocci

The EU has its Trojan horses and Nato’s cornerstone has crumbled. But European allies, including the UK, are bound by an urgent shared purposeMoscow’s immense military mobilisation is clearly not aimed just at Ukraine. Unless Vladimir Putin accepts a ceasefire with meaningful security guarantees there will be no end in sight to the war. If anything, we could see the extension of Russia’s aggression beyond Ukraine. The bleak reality is that Europe still faces an unprecedented threat and notwithstanding signs of progress for Ukraine at talks in Jeddah, we face it alone.Worse, we now have to confront it with the US working against us. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump appear to share a plan: a Vichy-like regime in Ukraine and a European continent split into spheres of influence, which Russia, the US (and perhaps China) can colonise and prey upon. Most European publics sense this. A critical mass of European leaders gets it too. They are beginning to act.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europ...

Politics

4 w. ago Latvian president tells Europe to follow its lead and bring back CONSCRIPTION to make countries 'stronger' in the face of Russian aggression

Edgars Rinkevics said the Baltic state's allies and neighbours should 'absolutely' look into the policy, which it reintroduced in 2023 after a gap of 16 years.

Politics