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An Israeli missile reportedly hit Iran overnight.  This came six days after Tehran's unprecedented 300-missile attack on Israeli territory last weekend, which in turn was a retaliation for the Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria which  Explosions were heard around the city of Isfahan. Damage has not been reported to Isfahan’s missile and nuclear complexes.  Tehran has said this attack was...

The EU has is sanctioning Iranian producers of drones and missiles after Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel. The EU already has a wide range of measures in place which target Iran over its human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and military support for Russia, and already has multiple sanctions in place against Iran, including for selling drones to Russia for...

Swedish parliament has passed a law lowering the age at which people can change their legal gender from 18 to 16.  The law passed with 234 votes in favour and 94 against in Sweden's parliament. Though Sweden was the first country to make gender transition legal, in 1972, the new law has sparked intense debate, says the BBC.  Some say it will...

American Riviera Orchard is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s freshly launched business venture.  Meghan announced this last month with an Instagram teaser video, showing her cooking and arranging white hydrangeas and roses, posted to the new American Riviera Orchard Instagram account. As of yet, the jam attracted commentary by appearing in limited edition of 50, distributed to Meghan’s friends and various influencers....

Romania’s resourceful Saxon community are promoting their region with bike rides in the meadows of southern Transylvania, UNESCO-protected fortified churches and local rhubarb. TV personality Andreea Marin launched this year’s Haferland Festival on Wednesday, an event that embraces and promotes 10 villages across a swath of gently rolling hills across central Romania. The area which is a like a slit on...

Users can now vote at AGMs for all stocks, having a say on topics such as executive pay and dividends The feature has been expanded after proving popular with eToro users, more than 145,000 votes cast in 2023 on US stocks The trading and investment platform eToro has extended its proxy voting feature to all stocks listed on its...

Mariela Neagu’s Voices from the Silent Cradles: Life Histories of Romania’s Looked-After Children was first published by Policy Press in the UK.  Neagu, a research associate at the University of Oxford, describes her book as follows:  “In 1990, disturbing television footage emerged showing the inhumane conditions in which children in Romanian institutions were living, and viewers were surprised that the babies...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Russia to grow 3.2% this year - significantly more than the comparably advanced economies of UK, France and Germany. Russia is one of the world's biggest oil exporters and in February, the BBC revealed millions of barrels of fuel made from Russian oil were still being imported to the UK despite sanctions. Oil exports have...

As the world went mad about halfway through Curb's run – snowflakes to the left of me, MAGA to the right – it is a wonder it managed to survive My first “Larry David Moment” came in college. My roommate was holding court in the cafeteria with a group of young women listening rapt to his well-worn tale of how...

President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” will be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response. He is a Principalist politician and Muslim jurist.  In a call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, the president desribed Iran's attack on Israel this weekend as an act of “legitimate defense”.  Qatar warned against escalation. “As...