World

Amsterdam's Vondel Church, near one of the city's most popular parks, was largely destroyed in a fire just as New Year celebrations were in full swing, local media reported on Thursday. The former Catholic Church's roughly 50-metre-high (164-feet) tower and the roof collapsed in the blaze, which an emergency services spokesperson said had made the 154-year-old structure "no longer salvageable." "It is a very intense and terrible fire in this monumental church," lamented Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. Fire broke out minutes after fireworks The blaze was first reported shortly after midnight and was quickly escalated to a major incident, with firefighters calling in assistance from other regions of the Netherlands. The Dutch navy deployed its 60-meter-high aerial work platform to help t...

Venezuela's government on Thursday announced the release of 88 people jailed for protesting President Nicolas Maduro's claimed victory in the July 2024 elections. In a statement published on Instagram, the Ministry of Penitentiary Service said that there had been "88 new releases" of people detained "for crimes committed during violent actions by extremist groups." "These actions are part ‌of the comprehensive review process of cases ordered ‌by ⁠President Nicolas Maduro," it added.  The ‍New Year's Day release comes after Maduro's government decided to free 99 people on Christmas Day as "a concrete expression of the State's commitment to peace, dialogue and justice."  Venezuela's disputed 2024 re-election of Maduro In July 2024, mass protests erupted in Venezuela after Maduro was dec...

Finnish police on Wednesday seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia. The cargo vessel called Fitburg was spotted with its anchor lowered near the site in Estonia's exclusive economic zone where telecom provider Elisa detected a fault early Wednesday. A Finnish border guard vessel and helicopter located the ship and ordered it to stop, raise its anchor, and move into Finnish territorial waters. "Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary," President Alexander Stubb wrote on X. Undersea 'sabotage' has countries ‍on high alert Finnish police said they were investigating the incident as "aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated inter...

Finnish police on Wednesday seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia. The cargo vessel called Fitburg was spotted with its anchor lowered near the site in Estonia's exclusive economic zone where telecom provider Elisa detected a fault early Wednesday. A Finnish border guard vessel and helicopter located the ship and ordered it to stop, raise its anchor, and move into Finnish territorial waters. "Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary," President Alexander Stubb wrote on X. Undersea 'sabotage' has countries ‍on high alert Finnish police said they were investigating the incident as "aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated inter...

"Gen Z is a generation of convenience," Harshita V. said, referring to her cohort's political activism, as she sipped her strawberry-flavored kombucha.   When India's Supreme Court ordered the removal of stray dogs from the streets of New Delhiin August, she said, a friend of hers organized a protest. Scores signed up online. But when the protest took place the next day, only four or five people showed up. "They rally online," Harshita said. "But, when it comes to finishing something they have started, the enthusiasm fizzles out." This anecdote set the tone for the conversation on Gen Z youths in India and their politics on a cold afternoon in late December among a small group of young people in the capital, New Delhi. A melting pot of political opinions India has the world's largest ...

A wave of protests is sweeping across Iran, which is mired in a deep economic crisis marked by an unprecedented drop in the value of the rial and surging inflation. But the demonstrations, which began with a merchants' strike in Tehran on December 28 and have grown as students joined the movement, go beyond the country's economic woes. Experts say the protests — the most significant challenge to the Islamic regime since the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement of 2022 — are a reflection of widespread and growing political discontent and anger at the government. Iran's severe economic crisis has sparked rising anger at the Islamic regimeImage: UGC 'Public trust in the government has eroded' Videos circulating on social media show Iranian police forces using tear gas and plastic bullets agai...

After Australia's world-first social-media ban for minors, France has drafted a similar law to block under-15s from major platforms, which could take effect from September.