WORLD NEWS
Chernobyl dogs likely turned blue from ‘port-a-potty’ waste, expert says
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There may be a surprising reason behind the mysterious blue dogs that were recently spotted roaming the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Photos taken earlier this year showed several dogs with bright blue fur wandering the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Ukraine, fueling widespread speculation online, including theories of radiation exposure and mutations.
However, a scientific advisor for the organization that cares for the strays says those ideas could not “be further from the truth.”
“The blue dye likely came from a tipped over port-a-potty where the dogs were rolling around in the poop, as dogs are prone to do,” Timothy Mousseau of the University of South Carolina was quoted saying on the Dogs of Chernobyl Facebook account.
RADIOACTIVE WASP NEST DISCOVERED BY WORKERS AT FORMER NUCLEAR BOMB SITE
Photos taken earlier this year showed several dogs with bright blue fur wandering the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Ukraine. (Clean Futures Fund via Storyful )
Mousseau noted this behavior is similar to how some dogs are drawn to cat litter boxes.
“The blue coloration was simply a sign of the dog’s unsanitary behavior!” Mousseau said. “As any dog owner knows, most dogs will eat just about anything, including feces!”
Despite the social media speculation, the dogs’ blue fur does “not reflect any kind of mutation or evolutionary adaptation to radiation,” he added.
UKRAINE BLAMES RUSSIA FOR DRONE ATTACK ON CHERNOBYL’S PROTECTIVE SHELL, ZELENSKYY SAYS DAMAGE ‘SIGNIFICANT’
Dogs of Chernobyl, the program that cares for the roughly 700 dogs in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, first shared images of the blue-tinted dogs in October. (Clean Futures Fund via Storyful )
Dogs of Chernobyl, the program that cares for the roughly 700 dogs in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and is affiliated with the nonprofit Clean Futures Fund (CFF), first shared images of the blue-tinted dogs in October.
At the time, the group had been unable to capture the animals to determine the source of their unusual coloring.
“We are on the ground catching dogs for sterilization, and we came across three dogs that were completely blue,” Dogs of Chernobyl posted to Instagram. “We are not sure exactly what is going [on]. … We do not know the reason, and we are attempting to catch them so we can find out what is happening.”
HOW THE WILD DOGS OF CHERNOBYL SURVIVE — AND WHAT HUMANS COULD LEARN FROM THEM
FILE PHOTO: Two stray dogs with bright blue fur walk along the street. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
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Many dogs were left behind following the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, when more than 120,000 evacuees were told to leave immediately, according to CFF.
“The evacuees were not allowed to bring anything that they could not carry, and their pets had to be left behind,” the CFF website notes. “They were told they would return in 3 days, but they were never allowed to return. Their pets became abandoned.”
Timothy Mousseau did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Sophia Compton is a Writer at Fox News Digital. Sophia was previously a business reporter covering finance, energy and tourism and has experience as a TV news producer. She graduated with a journalism degree in 2021 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
In a resolution issued on November 20, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Iran to “extend full and prompt cooperation” to the agency, which is seeking clarity on the status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles and safeguarded nuclear facilities.
Since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, Tehran has not granted IAEA inspectors access to the facilities that were attacked by a US strike in June.
And while this dispute continues, Moscow is expanding its nuclear cooperation with Tehran.
“Our cooperation has reached an unprecedented level,” Russia’s ambassador to Tehran, Alexei Dedov, said in November.
According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Dedov emphasized that Moscow supports Tehran on its nuclear program.
Big promises, little nuclear progress
At the end of September, Russia and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of small-scale nuclear power plants.
Two days later, Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom finalized a $25 billion (€21.4 billion) deal with Tehran to build four nuclear power plants in Iran.
“Russia is the most important international partner in Iran’s nuclear program,” said David Jalilvand, who leads the Berlin-based policy consulting firm Orient Matters.
“As far as the further expansion of Iran’s nuclear program is concerned, Moscow has so far promised much and delivered little,” Jalilvand told DW.
Iran currently has only one operating nuclear power plant, built by Russia in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr. The construction of a second reactor in Bushehr was announced in 2016, but has not yet been implemented.
Jalilvand considers it unlikely that the new memorandum of understanding will be realized anytime soon.
“Russia has little interest in strengthening Iran’s strategic position in the Middle East, partly because of its relations with Israel, the Gulf states, and Turkey,” he said.
Russia-Iran alliance under fire
During the recent 12-day Israel-Iran war, Tehran received little support from Moscow.
In January, Russia and Iran signed a strategic partnership treaty, which aimed to bolster collaboration across various sectors — including military, nuclear energy, advanced technology and financial cooperation to combat international sanctions.
The deal built on the 20-year strategic agreement initially signed in 2001, which has been periodically renewed and serves as the foundation for collaboration in the energy, defense, and military sectors.
Tehran has supplied drones and weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine, becoming one of Moscow’s most important supporters at the expense of its relations with Europe.
In return, Iran ordered several Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, among other things, to modernize its air force.
However, these aircraft are still in production. And the recent war with Israel clearly exposed the weaknesses of Iran’s air defense.
“The strategic agreement with Russia has proven to be a farce,” criticized Mohammad Sadr, a member of Iran’s powerful Expediency Discernment Council.
“Russia is not trustworthy; to believe that it would stand by us or take on the US is absurd.”
Iran and Russia look to forge stronger ties against West
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The image of Russia in Iranian society is correspondingly negative.
“People know that Russia abandons Iran at crucial moments,” a university professor in Tehran who requested anonymity, told DW.
“Many are convinced that the government clings to Moscow only to maintain power, not in the interest of the people.”
Iran conservatives push Russia ties
Despite the lessons learned from the 12-day war, conservative forces in Iran are calling for a further deepening of cooperation with Moscow.
“Russia’s influence in Iran’s centers of power is undeniable,” said Afshar Soleimani, a former Iranian ambassador in Azerbaijan.
“Conservative forces support Russia, the delivery of Iranian drones to Moscow, and ongoing tensions with the US,” Soleimani told DW.
“This shows how strong their influence is. As long as this political movement remains in power, little will change — and the population will bear the consequences.”
Kamran Ghazanfari, a conservative member of the Iranian parliament’s internal affairs committee, even claimed that Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister who is currently deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, has hinted indirectly that Russia might be willing to supply Iran with nuclear weapons.
Nuclear mediation or power politics?
Jalilvand considers such a prospect extremely unlikely.
“Russia has no interest in expanding the circle of nuclear powers in the already unstable Middle East,” the expert said.
It is conceivable that Moscow could supply technologies that Tehran could theoretically also use for a military program, however, direct support in the construction of a nuclear bomb is considered out of the question.
Russia is primarily using the “Iran card” strategically as part of its negotiating position with the United States.
Tehran claims to have temporarily halted uranium enrichment, but whether Moscow will be able to persuade Iran to reduce its uranium stockpile remains unclear.
“Russia has repeatedly positioned itself as a mediator in the past,” explained Middle East expert Jalilvand.
“This is unlikely to be motivated by an interest in resolving the nuclear conflict. Rather, in light of the war in Ukraine, Moscow is attempting to position itself as a supposedly constructive partner to the US, thereby [further] driving a wedge between Washington and Europe.”
Danyal Babayani contributed reporting
This article was originally published in German
IAEA asks Iran for whereabouts of nuclear material
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President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has yet to read the updated peace plan to end the war with Russia amid several rounds of talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Miami.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center on Sunday. “His people love it, but he hasn’t.”
“Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it, but Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it,” Trump added.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that he held a “long and substantive phone call” with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the trio covered many points, including how to end Russia’s war and how to ensure Moscow will not invade again.
PUTIN CALLS TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN A ‘STARTING POINT’ AS HE WARNS UKRAINE TO PULL BACK OR FACE ‘FORCE’
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The Ukrainian leader said he was waiting for members of his negotiating team to brief him in person on the latest round of talks.
Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation and secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Monday that he and Ukraine’s military chief of general staff, General Andriy Hnatov, would brief Zelenskyy on the latest developments, including the takeaways from Witkoff and Kushner’s five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin arrived in New Delhi last week for a state visit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave an interview to the India Today news channel, where he said the negotiations with the Americans were long but productive.
Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi pose for a photo during their talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Dec. 5, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
EX-CIA STATION CHIEF WARNS PUTIN USING TALKS TO GAIN LEVERAGE AS UKRAINE DELEGATION MEETS TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS
“Sometimes we said, yes, we can discuss this, but with that one we cannot agree,” said Putin, according to a transcript of the conversation released by the Kremlin.
The Russian leader stuck to his maximalist demands in the interview, arguing his war will only end when his country takes Ukraine’s eastern Donbas or Ukrainian troops withdraw.
Servicemen carry the coffin of 22-year-old volunteer soldier Yukhym Agafontsev during a farewell ceremony in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Dan Bashakov/AP)
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Zelenskyy is set to meet with European leaders in London Monday to discuss the U.S.-led peace plan. His arrival comes amid a new wave of Russian drone and missile barrages that have targeted Ukraine’s civilian and energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy said in the last week alone, Russia launched more than 1,600 drones, roughly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nearly 70 missiles of various types against Ukraine.
Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.
WORLD NEWS
Hostile takeover launched over Netflix-Warner deal with new $108B Paramount bid after Sarandos woos Trump at White House
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Amid the intense and bitter bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery and as Paramount Skydance felt it had the inside edge due to its owners’ friendly relationship with Donald Trump, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos privately met with the president to make his company’s case, according to multiple reports.
Meanwhile, on Monday morning, the scorned Paramount leadership launched a hostile takeover bid, offering a significantly higher cash price for Warner.
“The Paramount offer for the entirety of WBD provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix consideration,” the company said in a statement. “WBD’s Board of Directors recommendation of the Netflix transaction over Paramount’s offer is based on an illusory prospective valuation of Global Networks that is unsupported by the business fundamentals and encumbered by high levels of financial leverage assigned to the entity.”
Paramount, led by chairman David Ellison, pointed out that it was taking its offer public, spelling out that this was a hostile bid to force the Warner Bros. board’s hand.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process,” the company asserted. “We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos privately met with Donald Trump last month to discuss his company’s pending merger with Warner Bros. (Getty)
According to the offer, Paramount is bidding $30 per share, all of it in cash. Netflix’s offer, meanwhile, is $27.75 per share and a mix of cash and stock. Shareholders will also get a stake in the linear TV spinoff company that will split from Warner Bros. Discovery next year.
Because it is a tender offer, Netflix will have to convince Warner Bros. Discovery stockholders to accept this deal rather than the Netflix deal approved by the WBD board. To make his case, Ellison has launched a website outlining the Paramount deal and arguing that it is better for Hollywood and the media landscape.
During the White House confab in mid-November, which reportedly lasted for two hours, Sarandos argued that Netflix wasn’t an “all-powerful monopoly” and had even suffered subscription losses in recent years, adding that merging with WBD would make the company about the size of YouTube.
Bloomberg also reported that the president told Sarandos that Warner Bros. should go to the highest bidder, leaving the impression that Netflix wouldn’t face immediate pushback from the White House. The acquisition will combine the streaming pioneer with Warner’s film and television studios, including HBO and HBO Max, and give it access to WBD’s popular franchises, such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.
Paramount chief David Ellison, meanwhile, had suggested throughout the sale process that he had the easiest regulatory path to seal the deal because of his and his father Larry Ellison’s ties to the president. The elder Ellison, who backed his son’s purchase of Paramount and would be heavily involved in the Warner merger, is the founder of Oracle and a close Trump ally.
Sarandos seemingly came out of the meeting feeling that he’d “received some sort of blessing by Trump,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the same time, based on Paramount’s presumption that it could likely underbid for Warner due to the Ellisons’ “Trump card,” Sarandos saw the opening for Netflix’s winning offer.
In the end, Netflix shocked the media and entertainment landscape when it agreed to buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion, most of it in cash. The agreement, which won’t close until after Discovery Global separates from WBD in late 2026, will see Netflix paying $27.75 per share to Warner stockholders.
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Paramlount chairman David Ellison has now launched a hostile takeover bid of (AFP/Getty)
The deal also includes a massive $5.8 billion breakup fee if government regulators do not approve the deal, above the $5 billion that Ellison had offered in Paramount’s latest proposal. Meanwhile, there are still a number of hurdles for Netflix to clear before the streaming giant can merge with one of Hollywood’s oldest and largest studios.
The deal, for instance, is contingent on WBD spinning off its declining cable television properties, which had been in the works before Warner CEO David Zaslaz put a “for sale” sign on the company. The standalone company Discovery Global, which will not be under the Netflix umbrella, will include cable news network CNN, TNT Sports, TBS and Discovery, along with streaming and digital properties Bleacher Report and Discovery+. The spinoff is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.
Additionally, the merger is facing vocal opposition from Hollywood’s powerful labor unions, including the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East. “The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the WGA said in a statement. “This merger must be blocked.”
On top of that, Paramount has now implemented “Plan B” and is going directly to Warner Bros. shareholders in an effort to launch a hostile takeover.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood,” Ellison wrote on Monday. “It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry. We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction. We look forward to working to expeditiously deliver this opportunity so that all stakeholders can begin to capitalize on the benefits of the combined company.”
Paramount’s executives have already been in DC lobbying against Netflix, and Ellison hinted at the strategy in a blistering letter to the Warner Bros. board last week, which was sent just before the Netflix deal was announced.
“It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise, that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder,” the letter to the board stated, adding that the bidding process had become “tilted and unfair.”
Finally, though Sarandos may have left his meeting with Trump with renewed confidence, the unpredictable Trump could still step in and try to kill the deal. Speaking to reporters ahead of Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors, the president signaled that he could still intervene in the sale of Warner Bros. to Netflix.
Though he praised Netflix as a “great company” and Sarandos as a “fantastic man,” all while confirming that he’d recently met with the Netflix chief, the president said that the combined size of the two companies “could be a problem” and he might have to step in.
“I have a lot of respect for him, but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens,” Trump said, adding: “They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros, you know, that share goes up a lot, so, I don’t know. I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share.”
NEED TO KNOW
- Kate Middleton invited guests from around the U.K. to her “Together at Christmas” carol service
- The Princess of Wales included some people from one of her newest causes, Ty Hafan in South Wales
- It was the fifth year that the Princess of Wales held the carol service
Kate Middleton’s fifth carol service was a “really special” moment for uniting everyone from those the royals have worked with this year, to rewarding charitable community work.
A guest among the 1,600-strong congregation tells PEOPLE that seeing Princess Kate, 43, and her husband, Prince William, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, walk in and take their seats amid the grandeur of Westminster Abbey on Dec. 5, was “monumental.”
Emily Taylor, who had been invited along with her husband, James, to help represent kids’ hospice Tŷ Hafan in South Wales, watched from a few pews back as the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 43, arrived and took their seats.
“It was one of those moments when you’re trying to take everything in. To actually see the Prince and the Princess and their children walking in together in these grand surroundings. It felt so monumental. I was just trying to take it all in,” Emily tells PEOPLE.
“You see them, and they are a parent and their children. You just realize they are just humans, a mum and a dad with their children,” she adds.
Princess Kate arriving at the Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey, London on Dec. 5, 2025.
Jordan Pettitt – Pool/Getty
Emily, whose daughter Violet had a rare genetic disorder called TBCK Syndrome and died at 11 months old in August 2023, joined a small group from Tŷ Hafan children’s hospice in Wales, including fellow parents Candice Jones and Anton Griffiths. The two couples had met Princess Kate in January when she visited the hospice and was announced as the new royal patron.
“I got the impression [that] they cared about the community and the people who were there. They have got two boys and a little girl. Me and Candice both said it was bittersweet for us. We have two boys, and we lost our little girl,” Emily adds. “There is that connection with them. To even have the invite and then to be in the presence of them as a family was really special.”
The poignancy continued throughout the performances and special renditions and readings, she says – including Love Actually actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s rendition of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” or T’was The Night Before Christmas. “I was thinking to myself, how has my life ended up here? The reason I was there was because of my daughter and how sad that is that happened but how grateful I was to be there,” Emily says. “So there were lots of different emotions.”
Princess Kate meeting (from left) Candice Jones and Anton Griffiths, Emily and James Taylor at Tŷ Hafan in Jan. 2025.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
Also at the event was Eugene Levy, who had William as a guest on an October episode of his Apple TV series The Reluctant Traveler, and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham. Kate, William and their staff had invited them, and many others whom they met and worked with over the last 12 months, to recognize the humanitarian and selfless work carried out in the communities around the U.K. “They cared about the community and the people who were there,” Emily says.
“It was lovely to be able to sit there and see all the different people, all the charities and organizations, and you could make all the connections why that person has been invited,” she adds. “All those people who have brought kindness — all these people from all the different backgrounds and reasons for being there. It was just really special to have everyone come together.”
Since Princess Kate became a patron of the hospice on the South Wales coast near Cardiff, she has had an awareness-raising impact, Emily says. “She shines such a spotlight on Tŷ Hafan. Back before I needed them, I was a family in South Wales. I had children. But I didn’t understand. To me, children didn’t die, so you didn’t need a children’s hospice.”
Princess Kate with, from left, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at Westminster Abbey, London on Dec. 5, 2025.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
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“Children with life limiting conditions just wasn’t my world. Her being the patron has given that recognition that Tŷ Hafan needed.”
She adds, “People still ask me about meeting her back in January and talk about that day. It all feels so fresh. To have that with Candice and Anton as well, who we have been with from the start since our girls were poorly. I’m just really grateful that Tŷ Hafan has got that, and we were able to tell her about Tŷ Hafan, as I can’t ever repay what they did for Violet and for us, so it was nice to have the chance in some small way tell her exactly what they have done.”
PEOPLE’s updated Christmas at the Palace edition is now available!
People Magazine, Christmas at the Palace.
People Magazine
Princess Kate penned a special letter for guests, reminding them of how simple acts of kindness can have an enormous positive impact.
“This carol service offers a moment of collective togetherness, a chance to celebrate the spirit of community and service, and to honour the visible and invisible bonds that unite us all,” the royal said. “The time, care and compassion you give, often quietly and unspoken, and without any expectation or recognition, make an extraordinary difference to the lives of others.”
WORLD NEWS
BREAKING: Depraved nurse jailed after raping vulnerable care home colleague and fleeing UK
Naijil Paul has been sentenced to almost 8 years in jail after the former care home manager was extradited to the UK from India following his sickening crimes
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WORLD NEWS
Syria jubilantly marks a year since Assad’s fall with parades – and leader makes new pledge | World News
Syrians are celebrating the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al Assad with military parades – and a fresh promise to rebuild the country.
The former Syrian leader was toppled when rebels, commanded by Syria’s new president, Ahmed al Sharaa, seized Damascus in a lightning offensive last December.
Mr Assad fled for Russia, bringing an abrupt end to his 24 years of rule.
Official celebrations are taking place on Monday across the country, and the central Umayyad Square in Damascus has been packed with jubilant crowds.
Damascus was a scene of jubilation on Monday. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Mr Sharaa, a Former al Qaeda commander, has been marking the occasion with dawn prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital, according to the Syrian state news agency, SANA.
Ahmed al Sharaa made a fresh pledge to rebuild Syria. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Dressed in military fatigues similar to those he wore during the victorious rebel campaign, Mr Sharaa promised to rebuild Syria.
“From north to south and from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure befitting its present and past,” he said, according to SANA.
The Syrian army holds a parade in the nation’s capital. Pic: AP
A paraglider flies over the crowds in Damascus. Pic: AP
The country is struggling to heal a year after the Assad dynasty’s repressive 50-year reign came to an end.
Pic: AP
The fall of Mr Assad came after 14 years of civil war which analysts said had left an estimated half a million people dead, millions more displaced, and the country battered and divided.
Pic: AP
In late November 2024, rebel groups launched an offensive on the city of Aleppo.
Pic: AP
They were surprised when the Syrian army collapsed with little resistance, first in Aleppo, then the key cities of Hama and Homs, leaving the road to Damascus open.
Mr Assad was whisked away by Russian forces, and remains in exile in Moscow.
Read more:
Trump hosts Syrian leader at Oval Office
Ahmed al Sharaa: From US enemy to ally?
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Sectarian violence in Syria explained
Crippling Western sanctions have largely been lifted, and Mr Sharaa has promised to replace Mr Assad’s brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.
But hundreds of people have been killed in bouts of sectarian violence, causing new displacements and increasing mistrust among minorities towards Mr Sharaa’s government.
NewsFeed
As Syrians mark one year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, people across Damascus say they’re celebrating a long-awaited sense of freedom, safety, and national renewal after decades of oppression and years of war.
Published On 8 Dec 2025
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Storm Bram will lead to strong winds and heavy rain in the UK later on Monday and throughout Tuesday, forecasters have warned.
Named by Met Éireann, Ireland’s equivalent of the Met Office, Storm Bram will move north and to the west of the UK on Monday, bringing heavy rain and winds to parts of the country.
Many areas of Britain will be affected on Tuesday, with yellow and amber warnings for wind and rain across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and parts of north-west and south-west England.
The Met Office said strong winds would last from Monday evening until Wednesday, with 50 to 60mph winds expected widely, and 70 to 80mph in the north-west of England.
Heavy rain is also expected across western areas, with 40-60mm of rain in places and up to 80-100mm in Wales and south-west England.
A Met Office amber warning for wind, valid from 4pm on Tuesday until midnight, covers north-west Scotland.
Heavy rain may bring flooding and travel disruption in places, and there is a slight chance of power cuts and loss of other services to homes and businesses.
The warning covers possible flooding to homes and buildings, and delays or cancellations to train and bus services.
Strong winds could cause delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport alongside buses and train services, the Met Office said.
Coastal regions can also be affected by large waves.
The Met Office chief forecaster, Dan Suri, said: “Storm Bram will bring a very wet and windy spell of weather, with very strong winds and further heavy rain which, falling over saturated ground, could cause flooding impacts.
“Within the amber wind warning over north-west Scotland, gusts of up to 90mph could be recorded. More widely, gusts of 50-60mph, and perhaps 70mph in a few spots, are expected across Wales, south-west England and Northern Ireland.
“Rain is an additional impact from Storm Bram, with the possibility of 100mm over higher ground in the south of Wales and parts of Devon.
“This could require escalations to existing warnings, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast in your area, as well as any flood warnings from your local environment agency.”
Advice to the public includes to secure loose objects such as ladders and garden furniture, close and securely fasten doors and windows, and park cars in a garage.
The Met Office said Storm Bram would slowly pull away during Wednesday, leaving the day windy, especially in the north of England.
Thursday will be a drier day for many across the UK, with the chance of frost in central and the south-eastern parts.
The RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “Strong winds can make vehicles harder to control, so it’s best that drivers slow down and keep a firm grip on the wheel. Rural and coastal routes will feel the worst of the gusts, with fallen branches or even trees likely to cause disruption.
“We recommend drivers check local forecasts and consider delaying non-essential trips until the storm passes.”
Security forces in Benin are searching for the soldiers who tried to seize power on Sunday morning, with the president saying they have taken an unknown number of hostages.
The coup plotters appeared on state TV to announce they had taken over, and gunfire was heard near the presidential residence.
However, President Patrice Talon later announced that the situation was “totally under control” in the West African country.
Regional power Nigeria assisted in thwarting the mutiny, saying its fighter jets had helped “dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp” following a request from Benin’s government.
On Sunday afternoon, huge explosions were heard in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and seat of government. They were thought to have been the result of an air strike.
Prior to the explosions, flight-tracking data showed that three aircraft had entered Benin’s airspace from neighbouring Nigeria before returning home.
The extent of the damage is not clear.
Earlier on Sunday, Benin government spokesperson Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji told the Reuters news agency that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the attempted coup.
A journalist in Benin also told the BBC that of those reportedly arrested 12 are believed to have stormed the offices of the national TV station – including a soldier who had previously been sacked.
The coup plotters said they were led by Lt Col Pascal Tigri, whose whereabouts are not known.
In Sunday evening’s national address, the 67-year-old president said that loyalist forces had “cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”.
“This commitment and mobilisation enabled us to defeat these opportunists and avert disaster for our country. This treachery will not go unpunished,” he added.
“I would like to reassure you that the situation is completely under control and therefore invite you to go about your business peacefully.”
It is not clear if there have been any casualties, but the president expressed his condolences “to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by fleeing mutineers”.
There had been a series of coups in West Africa before Sunday’s thwarted attempt in Benin, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.
Benin, a former French colony, has been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies. But Talon has faced accusations of suppressing criticism of his policies.
The nation is one of the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.
Nigeria, Benin’s large neighbour to the east, has described the coup attempt as a “direct assault on democracy”.
The French and Russian embassies on Sunday urged their citizens to remain indoors, while the US embassy’s advice was to stay away from Cotonou, especially the area around the presidential compound.
The rebel soldiers justified their actions by criticising Talon’s management of the country, complaining first about his handling of the “continuing deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin”.
Benin’s army has suffered losses near its northern border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso in recent years, as jihadist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread southwards.
The soldiers’ statement cited “the ignorance and neglect of the situation of our brothers in arms who have fallen at the front and, above all, that of their families, abandoned to their sad fate by Mr Patrice Talon’s policies”.
The rebels also hit out at cuts in health care, including the cancellation of state-funded kidney dialysis, and taxes rises, as well as curbs on political activities.
Talon, who is regarded as a close ally of the West, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.
A businessman known as the “king of cotton”, he first came to power in 2016. He has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his successor.
Talon has been praised by his supporters for overseeing economic development, but his government has also been criticised for suppressing dissenting voices.
In October, Benin’s electoral commission barred the main opposition candidate from standing on the grounds that he did not have enough sponsors.
Last month, constitutional amendments were passed by MPs, including the creation of a second parliamentary chamber, the Senate.
Terms for elected officials were extended from five to seven years, but the presidential two-term limit remained in place.
Sunday’s attempted coup comes just over a week after Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló was overthrown – though some regional figures have questioned whether this was staged.
In recent years, West Africa has also seen coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, prompting concerns about the region’s stability.
Russia has strengthened its ties with these Sahel countries over recent years – and Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have left the West African regional bloc Ecowas to form their own group, the Alliance of Sahel States.
News of the attempted takeover in Benin was hailed by several pro-Russian social media accounts, according to BBC Monitoring.
Ecowas and the African Union (AU) both condemned the coup attempt.
12/08/2025December 8, 2025
Report says Merz filed hundreds of insult complaints, prompting two home searches
Merz’s office said he donated the fines from the insult cases to charityImage: Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa/picture alliance
Chancellor Friedrich Merz filed hundreds of criminal complaints for insult during his time as leader of the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag,according to a media report.
In two cases, this was followed by police searches of the homes of the suspected authors, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported, citing documents such as lawyers’ letters and investigation files.
The insults in question on social media included terms such as “a**hole,” “filthy drunk,” and “little Nazi.” According to the report, the latter two expressions led to house searches, though in the case of “filthy drunk” a court later ruled the search unlawful.
The period in question was before Merz became the chancellor, at which point he ceased to be the parliamentary group leader.
In Germany, insulting a person can constitute a criminal offense under the criminal code, allowing authorities to investigate if the alleged victim files a complaint.
Merz’s parliamentary office “largely” confirmed the incidents, the report continued. According to the newspaper, the current Chancellor donated compensation payments and fines “in full to charitable causes in the Hochsauerland district,” where Merz’s constituency is located.
About a year ago, a house search following a criminal complaint by then-Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Green Party sparked a public debate about proportionality.
That case involved an insult using the word “idiot.” The author was later sentenced to a fine, though not for the insult itself, but for a different post with a Nazi reference. The incident was taken up particularly in right-wing circles and triggered accusations of alleged state censorship.