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Trump appeals disqualification from Maine primary ballot

By Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Donald Trump appealed a decision from Maine’s top election official disqualifying him from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot next year over his role…

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Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing 3 explosions towards its port quarter off Yemen -Ambrey

CAIRO, (Reuters) - British maritime security firm Ambrey said that a Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing three explosions towards its port quarter, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Yemen's Mocha.…

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South Korea opposition leader in ICU after knife attack amid calls for stronger security

By Jack Kim SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung remained hospitalised in intensive care on Wednesday, a day after a knife attack on…

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Killing of Hamas deputy leader in Beirut raises risk of Gaza war spreading

By Laila Bassam, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Arafat Barbakh BEIRUT/CAIRO/GAZA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Israel killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday,…

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Turkey says it rounds up 33 suspected spies for Mossad

Turkish police detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service and of targeting foreigners living in Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.Last month, Turkish officials…

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Fighting between Hamas and Israel rages on, Palestinian death toll passes 22,000

Israel said on Tuesday its troops had killed dozens of militants in the north of the Gaza Strip in the past day, while its aircraft and tanks stepped up strikes…

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Russia pounds Ukraine with missiles and drones, five dead

Russia fired scores of missiles and drones at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, killing at least five civilians, wounding dozens and causing widespread…

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Philippines hopeful of exiting global money laundering ‘grey list’

The Philippines is hopeful of being taken off the money laundering 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of this year, the country's Anti-Money Laundering Council said on…

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WATCH: All passengers, crew escape blaze on Japan Airlines plane after Tokyo airport collision

All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines plane miraculously escaped from a fire following a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday, but local media said most…

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China calls on Taiwan’s people to promote ‘peaceful reunification’

The head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Tuesday called on Taiwan's people to promote the process of "peaceful reunification", saying it was the common desire of people on both…

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Climate change: 2024 might offer room for optimism

We don’t want to give you the wrong idea: things are bad. Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the fossil fuel lobby was everywhere at the COP talks, and even solutions…

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HSBC completes sale of retail banking business in France

HSBC subsidiary HSBC Continental Europe (HBCE) has completed the sale of its retail banking business in France to Crédit Commercial de France (CCF), a subsidiary of My Money Group, the…

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Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of New Year’s Day attacks

Ukraine's shelling of the city of Donetsk on Monday killed four people, a Russian-installed official in the eastern region of Ukraine said, while Russia's air attacks on several Ukrainian regions killed at least…

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German liberals narrowly vote to stay in Scholz’s fractious coalition

A slim majority of the members of Germany's Free Democrats have voted in a non-binding membership poll to stay in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious three-way governing coalition. The low-tax, business-minded…

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Kosovars celebrate joining Europe’s visa free Schengen zone

Hundreds of Kosovars rushed to Pristina airport to travel to EU countries on Monday after visas for Europe's open-borders Schengen zone were waived.Kosovo was the only country in the Western…

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Powerful quake rocks Japan, nearly 100,000 residents ordered to evacuate

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Monday, killing at least one person, destroying buildings, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and prompting residents in some coastal…

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Israel signals tactics shift, troop pullback as US carrier heads home

Israel pulled tanks out of some Gaza City districts on Monday, residents said, as it announced plans to shift tactics and cut back on troop numbers, but fighting raged elsewhere…

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Malta News Briefing – Tuesday 2 January 2024

Morning Briefing Man murdered on New Year's Day Eric Borg, a 27-year-old resident of Rabat, was fatally shot in the Nigret area, Rabat, on the first day of the new…

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Angola to quit OPEC, reducing membership to 12 countries

By Alex Lawler LONDON, (Reuters) - Angola has said it is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with effect from Jan. 1 2024, after exits from Ecuador…

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The Road to the White House: The key dates in the U.S. Presidential election

Former President Donald Trump leads a pack of six Republican candidates jostling to be their party's presidential nominee for the 2024 election, while President Joe Biden faces little opposition in…

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Paris faces major security challenges in first post-Covid Games

By Karolos Grohmann The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes the 2024 Paris Games will be the "light at the end of the tunnel" after two COVID-hit Olympics but organisers face…

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Malta News Briefing – Monday 1 January 2024

A Happy New Year to our readers! Strategic decisions in favour of families and businesses in year ahead - PM Prime Minister Robert Abela said that 2024 will see government…

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Malta News Briefing – Sunday 31 December 2023

Morning Briefing Price of milk to fund new factory - reportsAccording to Times of Malta sources, the recent rise in milk prices aimed to generate profits for constructing a new…

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Six space missions to look forward to in 2024

It’s going to be a bumper time for space missions in 2024 – especially to the Moon, our nearest neighbour. And that’s following on from an already epic 2023. I’m…

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Ukraine: opening EU accession talks is an important boost for Zelensky despite Orbán’s obstruction

Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orban, threw a major tantrum at the European Council meeting in Brussels on December 14 2023. Essentially doing the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s bidding, he prevented…

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How media attention harms female political candidates

A video of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin dancing at a party was leaked in August 2022. There was massive media reaction to what was, essentially, a young female politician…

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Flooded tunnel near London disrupts Eurostar train services

PARIS, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Flooding in a railway tunnel near London forced the cancellation of more than a dozen trains linking Britain with the European mainland early on Saturday,…

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Denmark to send frigate to U.S.-led task force in Red Sea

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will send a frigate to participate in the U.S.-led Red Sea operation next month, the Danish Defence Minister said on Friday. Several countries, led by the…

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Ukraine attacks Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions

Russia’s defence ministry said its anti-aircraft units had destroyed 13 Ukrainian rockets over the southern Belgorod region on Friday and the regional governor said one person was killed and four…

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Britain to send 200 air defence missiles to Ukraine

Britain is sending around 200 air defence missiles to Ukraine to help protect civilians and infrastructure from Russian drones and bombing, the British ministry of defence said on Friday. The…

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Ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen says AI created fake cases in court filing

By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former fixer and lawyer, said in court papers unsealed on Friday that he mistakenly gave his attorney fake case citations generated…

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Italy’s Treccani Encyclopaedia chooses ‘Femicide’ as word of the year

Italy's prestigious Treccani Encyclopaedia has chosen ‘Femminicidio’ (Femicide )as its word of the year amid a wave of deadly gender violence recently highlighted by the murder by her ex-boyfriend of…

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Liz Truss rewards loyalists and Brexiteers in resignation honours list

Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, awarded some of the nation's highest honours to her political aides and allies during her brief spell in office in 2022…

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Thunderstorms batter Australia’s east, heatwave grips north

SYDNEY, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Severe thunderstorms battered parts of eastern Australia on Saturday, bringing heavy rain, giant hail and strong winds, days after another storm hit the region over…

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UPDATED: Poland resumes ground search after Friday airspace breach

WARSAW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Poland was renewing a search operation for elements of a suspected Russian rocket on Saturday, which it said had violated the country's airspace on Friday…

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Italian parliament gives final approval to government’s 2024 budget

The Italian Chamber of Deputies on Friday passed the government's tax-cutting 2024 budget, giving parliament's final approval to the package which becomes law just ahead of an end-year deadline. Prime…

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Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas rages after nearly 200 killed in Gaza

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Arafat Barbakh CAIRO/GAZA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday night, residents said,…

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Russia’s air assault on Ukraine draws criticism at UN Security Council meeting

By Simon Lewis Russia drew sharp criticism at the UN Security Council on Friday for launching massive missile and drone attacks against Ukraine, after Kyiv and its supporters called for…

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Brazil shows concern as Venezuela slams UK warship sent to Guyana

Brazil expressed concern after Venezuela complained about the deployment of a British warship off the Guyana coast, raising tensions in a border dispute over the oil-rich Esequibo region of the…

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Arrests of Catholic priests in Nicaragua tick up as dragnet intensifies

By Ismael Lopez SAN JOSE, (Reuters) - Nicaraguan police arrested three more Catholic priests, bringing the number of clergymen detained this week to at least nine, according to sources close…

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South Africa files genocide case against Israel at World Court

By Wendell Roelf and Toby Sterling South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the…

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Malta News Briefing – Saturday 30 December 2023

Morning Briefing Fireworks to return in Valletta for NYE Celebrations Valletta’s annual year-end celebration will welcome the New Year with a grand display of fireworks. An estimated crowd of 50,000…

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Xi urges Chinese envoys to create ‘diplomatic iron army’

By Laurie Chen BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged Chinese ambassadors to forge a "diplomatic iron army" loyal to the Communist Party, reviving the…

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Turkey detains 29 people with suspected Islamic State ties planning attacks, says minister

ISTANBUL, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have detained 29 people suspected of having ties to militant group Islamic State in operations across nine provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said…

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Health alert after parrot fever infects humans in Sweden

Parrot fever is surging in Sweden, with 12 people infected this month alone, amid concerns that the outbreak could escalate. The flu-like disease – spread by wild birds including parakeets…

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World population on New Year’s Day will stand at more than 8 billion

Data released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday said the world population grew by 75 million people over the past year. On New Year's Day it will stand at…

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France to step up security measures for New Year’s celebrations

PARIS, Dec 29 (Reuters) - France will have large numbers of police and soldiers deployed for this weekend's New Year's celebrations due to the 'very high' terrorist threat facing the…

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NATO air forces scrambled over 300 times in 2023 due to Russian military aircraft

BRUSSELS, Dec 29 (Reuters) - NATO air forces were scrambled more than 300 times in response to Russian military aircraft in 2023, the treaty organisation said on Friday. "The vast…

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Displaced Gazans flee again as Israel launches fresh tank, air assaults

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Arafat Barbakh CAIRO/GAZA, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of newly displaced Gazans huddled under tarpaulins on Friday in the centre of the enclave after…

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Kremlin says it has list of Western assets to be seized if Russian assets are confiscated

G7 to discuss theory on seizing Russian assets Kremlin: any such move would be theft Kremlin: such a move would undermine reserve currencies Kremlin says: we have a list of…

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Unidentified object enters Poland from direction of Ukraine

WARSAW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - An unidentified aerial object entered the airspace of NATO-member Poland from the direction of the border with Ukraine on Friday morning, the Polish army's Operational…

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Moldova’s president says Putin must be stopped

By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU, (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped in his war against Ukraine or all of Europe will pay a much higher price, Moldova's pro-European…

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Italy regulated electricity bills to fall 10.8%

Italy's regulated household electricity prices will fall by 10.8% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous three months, Italy's energy authority ARERA said in a statement. ARERA…

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US, Mexico agree to strengthen efforts to curb record migration

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) - Mexican and U.S. officials have agreed to work together more closely to tackle record migration at their shared border, the countries' governments said in a joint…

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Matteo Renzi is Italy’s richest party leader

Ex Italian Prime Minister and populist 5-StarMovement (M5S) secretary Giuseppe Conte is Italy's poorest political party leader while ex premier and centrist Italia Viva (IV) chief Matteo Renzi is the…

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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says he discussed peace formula with Pope

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed Ukraine's peace formula in a call with Pope Francis on Thursday. "We discussed our joint work to put Ukraine's Peace…

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Romania, Bulgaria agree partial Schengen entry with Austria

Romania and Bulgaria have reached an agreement with Austria to join Europe's open-borders Schengen area by air and sea from March 2024, with talks set to continue next year about…

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