Category: france24.com

US envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday he had held constructive talks with a Russian envoy in Florida as part of Washington’s drive to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting came just a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to halt the nearly […]

Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the neighbouring countries’ capitals, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by a malfunction of high-voltage power lines. Power was later restored. Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage though Ukraine’s power grid has suffered from the ‍accumulated impact of Russian airstrikes. That took place as […]

Protesters on Saturday gathered at Milan’s Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named for the date of Italy’s liberation from Nazi fascism in 1945, to protest the deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics there. Demonstrators in the Italian city denounced what they called “creeping fascism” in the US.

Ukraine reported mass power outages across its power grid on Saturday due to a “technical malfunction” affecting international power lines. The power cuts come as Ukraine faces a particularly harsh winter and increased Russian attacks on energy infrastructure that have caused major disruption to heat, electricity and water provision in recent weeks.

Iran said it is ready for dialogue with the US but that there are no concrete plans for talks. This comes amid a major US military deployment to the region. But President Donald Trump’s goal remains “unclear”, says General Richard Shirreff, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, on FRANCE 24. “But what is certain […]

The Sicilian town of Niscemi has been left teetering on the edge of a cliff after days of heavy rains from a cyclone triggered a huge landslide that brought down properties and forced the evacuation of over 1,500 people. Deep fissures are appearing in the ground throughout the area, prompting close surveillance by authorities.

As Europe faces unprecedented geopolitical headwinds, from the Ukraine war to Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland, we speak to the EU Commissioner in charge of the economy, productivity, and simplification: Valdis Dombrovskis. A former prime minister of Latvia, Dombrovskis is very much a Brussels insider, serving in various high-profile roles in the EU Commission since 2016, […]

On January 1, Bulgaria officially joined the eurozone, becoming the 21st country to join the European single currency. Sofia’s adoption of the euro brings hope of major economic benefits, but it also comes at a moment of deep political polarisation and mass anti-corruption protests, which culminated in the resignation of both the country’s government and president.

With an ever-increasing range, lightweight drones are a danger to soldiers and civilians alike anywhere near the frontlines in Ukraine. They can either act as kamikaze weapons in themselves, or drop small bombs and mines. In the southern city of Kherson alone at least 200 civilians have been killed in such attacks. To help defend […]