Latest news

Political situation in Great Britain
Starmer promises that he will be prime minister in 2027 as well

British Labor looks set for a disastrous local election in May, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign. He says so in the first interview of the year, which is done by The Independent.

- I will sit in this chair, and if this long interview goes well, we can do a new one in January next year as well, says Starmer.

The Labor leader is expected on Tuesday to launch reforms to lower voters' living costs, something the party hopes will win back voters from the far-right Reform UK, which is leading the polls. 

The Middle East crisis  The fight against IS
Underground IS base reportedly bombed in Syria

Britain and France have carried out a joint airstrike against what they describe as an underground facility belonging to the Islamic State in Syria.

- The operation to eliminate terrorists who threaten our way of life shows how our armed forces are ready to step forward all year round, says British Defense Secretary John Healy.

France and Britain are part of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS in the Middle East for over ten years. Syria's new government joined the partnership late last year.

Security around the Baltic Sea
Latvia is investigating damage to the Baltic Sea Cable

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina writes on X that a company in the country has discovered damage to a fiber optic cable that runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

"I am in contact with the crisis management center and responsible authorities, while the state police have launched an investigation," she writes.

Latvian communications services have not been affected by the damage, which was discovered outside the city of Liepaja, which is at the height of Kalmar.

Political situation in Iran
Almost 600 arrested during a week of protests in Iran

A week into the protests against the regime in Iran, 16 people have been killed, writes Reuters with reference to the human rights group HRANA. 582 people are said to have been arrested. The news agency notes at the same time that death figures are also reported from other sources, and that they differ from HRANA's.

Last Sunday, protests broke out in the capital Tehran due to the country's currency crisis and rampant inflation. The protests have spread to other cities, and Abbas Milani, an Iran expert at Stanford University, says the discontent is about more than economics, but that President Masoud Pezeshkian is not faking it.

- I think people see the currency collapse and inflation as a consequence of the regime's corruption and incompetence. They want regime change.