Germany’s perennial debate over safety has flared up once again as fireworks sales resume ahead of New Year. Meanwhile, a spate of black ice has caused numerous accidents across the country. Follow our updates.



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Tatiana Schlossberg, a Kennedy scion and granddaughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 35, just weeks after announcing her terminal cancer diagnosis.

The JFK Library Foundation announced Schlossberg’s death in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement reads. The post was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory.”

Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their three-year-old son and their one-year-old daughter. She’s also survived by her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, her brother Jack Schlossberg, and her sister Rose Schlossberg, who is married to Rory McAuliffe.

The environmental journalist revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer, in a New Yorker essay published November 22, the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination.

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The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced that Tatiana Schlossberg died Tuesday (Getty)

In the essay, the 35-year-old recounted her disbelief. The disease is mostly seen in older people, she said.

“I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick,” Schlossberg wrote.

Schlossberg was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024. Her doctors noticed her white blood cell count was elevated just hours after she delivered her daughter.

“Everyone thought it was something to do with the pregnancy or the delivery. After a few hours, my doctors thought it was leukemia,” she wrote.

She recalled feeling worried that her young children would not remember her after her death.

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Tatiana Schlossberg with her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and her brother, Jack Schlossberg (AP)

“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe. My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” Schlossberg wrote.

“My son might have a few memories, but he’ll probably start confusing them with pictures he sees or stories he hears. I didn’t ever really get to take care of my daughter—I couldn’t change her diaper or give her a bath or feed her, all because of the risk of infection after my transplants,” she added.

In her essay, Schlossberg also criticized her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn into his post in February after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.

“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” she wrote.

She decried his cuts to research funding, particularly for “mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers.”

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Tatianna Schlossberg, Jack Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy meet with Prince William in 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

Other members of the family have also criticized the Department of Health and Human Services leader, including Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, who announced plans to run for Congress as a Democrat in New York last month.

Maria Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California, praised her cousin’s New Yorker essay last month.

“If you can only read one thing today, please make/take the time for this extraordinary piece of writing by my cousin Caroline’s extraordinary daughter Tatiana,” Shriver wrote. “Tatiana is a beautiful writer, journalist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.”

Schlossberg was born May 5, 1990, in New York City. Her mother, the daughter of the 35th president and first lady Jackie Kennedy, has served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Australia. Her father is a designer and artist.

Schlossberg earned her bachelor’s degree in history at Yale University before attending the University of Oxford, where she earned a master’s degree in American history.

She interned for The New York Times in 2014, before she was hired as a staff writer for the outlet’s metro section, and later its science section. Henry Fountain, a long-time climate reporter and editor for The New York Times, told The Washington Post Schlossberg was a “total delight” who “just researched her butt off on stories.”

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Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg watch as their mother, Caroline Kennedy, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2012 (AFP via Getty Images)

Schlossberg went on to work as a freelance environmental journalist, focusing on the impacts of climate change. She published several stories in The Washington Post, including an investigation into the impacts of climate change on cranberry farmers.

In 2019, Schlossberg also published Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.

The work earned her the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. The award’s judges wrote that Schlossberg’s readers “will find solace, humor and a route to feeling empowered with possibilities for positive change, rather than drained by an accumulation of bad news.”

In her New Yorker essay, Schlossberg said she has told her son about her love of writing.

“My son knows that I am a writer and that I write about our planet. Since I’ve been sick, I remind him a lot, so that he will know that I was not just a sick person,” she wrote.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul honored Schlossberg in a statement Tuesday.

“My heart goes out to the Kennedy family. I will never forget the images of Caroline Kennedy as a child in the White House before she lost her father. To now lose her own daughter to this terrible disease is unspeakable. I’m praying for all who knew and loved her,” she wrote on X.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Emma Thompson opened up about which movie with Hugh Grant he called their ‘most psychotic’
• Thompson said she’s working with Grant more than any other actor, including in Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually and The Remains of the Day
• Thompson said time has shown Grant’s comment missed the mark

Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson have made a lot of movies together, but there’s one that Grant thought might be their “most psychotic.”

Thompson, 66, opened up about her career in a video for GQ, published Dec. 9. In it, she looked back at Love Actually, the 2003 holiday ensemble film directed by Richard Curtis. Thompson played Karen, who’s married to Alan Rickman’s Harry. She’s also the sister of Grant’s David, the new British Prime Minister. 

“It’s the ultimate ensemble, isn’t it?” the Oscar winner said of the movie. “We did sort of get flung into our pieces, one by one.”

Then she remembered the conversation she had with Grant, 65, about it. “I do remember opening it in New York, and I’d just done Wit with Mike Nichols, which is not a romcom at all, and something very serious, you know, and sad,” she said. In that film, Thompson plays a woman battling ovarian cancer. 

From left: Martine McCutcheon, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson in ‘Love Actually’.

Universal/Dna/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock 

“And I went to the opening of that and then the opening of Love Actually, and Hugh Grant came up behind me and said, ‘Is that the most psychotic thing we’ve ever made?’ ” Thompson remembered and laughed. “And I said, ‘Well, you know, time will tell. Time will tell.’ ”

She admitted, “And time has told. It holds up because it’s so full of Richard’s deep love for humanity.” Though often debated, Love Actually has remained for many people a yearly Christmas watch, though Grant has admitted he doesn’t know why it’s “so popular.”

Thompson told GQ that she “worked it out” and thinks she’s starred in more things with Grant than anyone else. “He’s been my brother, my lover, my sort of husband person, somebody I’ve served as a servant in The Remains of the Day,” she said. “We’ve done so many things together. . . . And it’s always been a completely different relationship.” In 1995’s Sense and Sensibility, they played lovers. They both also appeared in 2025’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. 

Thompson also opened up about one of her biggest scenes in Love Actually: when Karen realizes her husband bought jewelry for another woman and gives her just a Joni Mitchell CD. She hides her heartbreak, trying not to ruin the holiday. 

Hugh Grant (left) and Emma Thompson in ‘Sense and Sensibility’.

Moviestore/Shutterstock 

“It was easy really to do,” she admitted. “I knew what being heartbroken felt like. So, it wasn’t difficult.”  She said they did “four or five” takes and that Curtis was “sniveling in the corner” the whole time, which was “very funny.” 

“It was just that thing of that I so understand of people crying and then but not wanting to cry and then having to cover it up,” she said. She added that there’s “no woman that doesn’t know what that’s like, especially if they’ve got kids.”

Back in 2022, Thompson admitted she is not one of the people who rewatches Love Actually.

“No, it was 20 years ago,” she told Jimmy Fallon when he askled about it during an episode of The Tonight Show. The host asked if it was fun to look back and reminisce, but she joked, “Not really. No, you’re just saying, ‘I don’t think I was very well paid for that. That was that terrible trailer with the loo that really stank and had that sort of….’ That’s the things you remember, not the good ones.”

She also confirmed that countless fans have sent her Mitchell CDs. “I have a separate house for those,” she joked.

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Multiple passengers have been injured and hundreds of tourists have been left stranded after the terrifying crash on the route to Machu Pichu in Peru



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University students in Iran have joined shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in protests over the country’s soaring cost of living.

Footage showed scores of people marching along a street in the capital Tehran, chanting “rest in peace Reza Shah”, a reference to the founder of the royal dynasty ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The semi-official Fars News Agency said hundreds of students held protests at four universities in Tehran on Tuesday.

Video from Monday showed people gathering in central Tehran and chanting slogans.

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Protesters march in Tehran. Pic: Fars News Agency/AP

Iran‘s currency, the rial, has lost nearly half its value against the US dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5% in December and the price of food rising as much as 72% as the country bears US sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had asked the interior minister to listen to the “legitimate demands” of the protesters.

A spokesperson for the government said a dialogue mechanism would be set up and would include talks with protest leaders.

“We officially recognise the protests,” they said on Tuesday. “We hear ​their voices and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people’s livelihoods.”

The demonstrations are the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted outpourings of patriotic solidarity.

Read more from Sky News:
Review ordered in case of British-Egyptian activist
China fires rockets into waters off Taiwan

Image:
Pic: Fars News Agency/AP

Iran’s economy has been suffering for years after Donald Trump reimposed US sanctions during his first term as president in 2018 and ended an international deal over the country’s nuclear programme. United Nations sanctions on the country were also reimposed in September.

Inflation is currently pushing many prices beyond the means of most people.

Iran faced protests across the country in 2022 over price hikes, including for bread.

The country’s clerical rulers were rocked by the boldest unrest yet in years over the same period and into 2023 after the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes.

The country is still under intense international pressure, with Mr Trump on Monday saying he might back another round of Israeli airstrikes if Tehran resumes work on ballistic missiles or a nuclear weapons programme.

The US and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iran’s military and nuclear installations over 12 days in June, aimed at stopping what they said were efforts to develop the means to build an atomic weapon.

Iran has said its nuclear energy programme is entirely peaceful and claimed it has not tried to build a nuclear bomb.

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Footage shows a massive hole in the vault of Sparkasse Bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where thieves made off with valuables estimated to be worth between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7 to 105.7 million), police said. Angry customers assembled outside the bank on Tuesday demanding answers.

Published On 30 Dec 202530 Dec 2025

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The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican national committees the night before the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol appeared at a federal detention hearing before a magistrate judge on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, authorities arrested Brian Cole Jr of Woodbridge, Virginia. He has yet to enter a plea. Cole’s lawyers argued that he should be released while he awaits trial, as he does not present any danger. They also noted that Cole had agreed to home detention enforced by GPS monitoring, and would live under the supervision of a relative. The defense rebuked federal prosecutors who pushed for the suspect to remain in custody.

Cole’s lawyers argued Tuesday that their client is on the autism spectrum, and has been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. In a recent court filing, they also wrote that Cole has “zero criminal history”, and there is “zero evidence that he will flee”. They argue that no one was “actually harmed” as a result of the crimes Cole has been charged with, since neither of the bombs exploded.

However, according to a recent justice department memo, Cole allegedly confessed to his crimes after he was arrested by law enforcement. At the time, his home was also searched and several bomb-making components were found on the premises. The FBI also obtained Cole’s credit card statements, which, they note, showed the purchase of several materials used to make the bombs.

The documents state that in a video interview with authorities, Cole, 30, said that he was in Washington DC to protest against the outcome of the 2020 election on 5 January. He initially maintained that he did not plant the pipe bombs, and was not the person pictured in surveillance footage on the evening of the attempted attacks.

However, after the interviewing agents “reminded the defendant that lying to them was an additional criminal offense” and asked him again whether he was the individual in the video, he “paused for approximately fifteen seconds, placed his head face down on the table, and answered, ‘yes’”.

The filing goes on to note that “the defendant walked the interviewing agents in detail through his construction, transportation, and planting of the pipe bombs”.

According to the papers, when agents pressed Cole on his motive, he said that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse”.

Cole said that he wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge”. When asked about his decision to place the bombs at the RNC and DNC headquarters, the defendant reportedly responded: “I really don’t like either party at this point.”

Later in the interview, Cole apparently explained that the idea to use pipe bombs came from “his interest in history”, specifically the Troubles in Northern Ireland. “The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,” according to the court documents. He was also “pretty relieved” that the devices did not detonate, and told agents that he planted the bombs at night because he did not want to kill people, according to the filing.

Cole’s lawyers have requested that the judge order the release of any video or written “statements, confessions or admissions” from the defendant to his legal team.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors argue that since Cole is charged with transporting explosives across state lines and maliciously attempting to use those explosives to damage or destroy property – the latter of which comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years – he “poses an intolerable risk of danger to the community if released”.

According to CBS News, Judge Martin J Sharbaugh said that he would not decide Tuesday on whether to release Cole from custody, but noted that he would issue an “expeditious” ruling.

Cole’s arrest was the biggest development in a case that had long stumped law enforcement officials and inspired myriad conspiracy theories throughout the years of searching for the perpetrator.

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In the early hours of Monday [December 29], residents in the state of Thuringia called the police out to a local supermarket, warning that thieves were trying to break in. But when the police arrived, the group of young men, armed with hot tea and blankets, just wanted to be first in line when the supermarket opened. December 29 is the start of the three-day window in Germany when fireworks can be sold, to adults over the age of 18, to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

All over the country, undeterred by the cold and dark, people line up and wait every year for fireworks to go on sale. The coveted products have names like Giftzwerg (“poison dwarf”), Hysteria, Hurricane Force. The fireworks come in brightly colored packages of various sizes, with a fuse sticking out.

Some people spend hundreds of euros on fireworks for New Year’s Eve in GermanyImage: Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa/picture alliance

When the fuse is lit, they shoot up into the air. Black powder produces loud explosions, while colorful effects are created by metal powder, in combination with other chemicals.

Only a minority let off private fireworks

Germany has a long tradition of people letting off their own fireworks on New Year’s Eve. For the manufacturers, it’s a profitable and steadily growing business. The German Pyrotechnic Industry Association calculates that in 2024 its turnover was €197 million ($232 million) — a record high, up from €180 million the previous year. The association estimates that 10% to 15% more goods will be on sale in 2025.

Yet only 22% of people living in Germany want to see in the New Year with a private fireworks display. These were the findings of a representative survey of 2,500 people over the age of 18 by the opinion research institute Civey. The survey was commissioned by Germany’s Association of Technical Inspection Agencies (TÜV).

“It’s only a minority of people who set off their own firecrackers, rockets, or other fireworks on New Year’s Eve,” says Joachim Bühler, the CEO of the TÜV association. He explains that the tradition is most popular among younger people and families with children.

More and more people seriously injured

But while some regard fireworks as colorful, exciting, and fun, the rockets and firecrackers have serious downsides. In addition to creating an enormous amount of trash, the Federal Environment Agency records that burning fireworks to ring in the new year generates more than 2,000 metric tons of fine particulates, which constitute a risk to health. 2,000 tons is around 1% of Germany’s entire annual particulate pollution.

Illegal fireworks from the black market are a danger to life and limbImage: Andreas Arnold/dpa/picture alliance

The most serious concern, however, is that injuries and damage to property are increasing year on year, especially in big cities. Firecrackers can cause serious injuries like acoustic trauma, burns and the loss of body parts, such as fingers or an entire hand.

More and more often, injuries are caused by fireworks that have been purchased illegally on black markets in Poland, Czechia and the Netherlands, and have considerably more explosive power. According to the police, they’re comparable to bombs and grenades. In 2024, two young men died in Germany after handling so-called spherical bombs that contained more than 600 grams of black powder. A doctor described one of the men as having been “ripped to shreds.”

This year, fireworks have been banned for the first time in large parts of Czechia. Starting in 2026, the Netherlands is banning private fireworks altogether. The hope is that this will stop the two countries being used as key transshipment points for home-made firecrackers and goods smuggled in from China.

German customs officials report that in 2024 they seized more than seven tons of pyrotechnics that were not authorized for use in Germany. That’s considerably more than in all three of the previous years put together.

“For many people, ordinary fireworks aren’t enough anymore,” warned Jochen Kopelke, the chair of the federal German Police Union. “They want them to be more and more powerful, with big explosions and lots of fire.”

Many organizations want firecrackers banned

There has also been an increase in the deliberate use of pyrotechnics as a weapon, including against police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Aggression and violence tend to break out on New Year’s Eve, especially in the bigger cities. Some neighborhoods almost resemble a war zone.

Sometimes, police officers are attacked with fireworks on New Year’s EveImage: Julius Schreiner/dpa/picture alliance

This is why the security services are calling for a blanket ban on all fireworks. A petition to this effect, launched by the police trade union (GdP) in Berlin, has already been signed by almost 2.5 million people.

The branch leader of the GdP in Berlin, Stephan Weh, believes politicians have to do something.

“All that’s happened in the last few years has been the imposition of localized bans on firecrackers, guns and knives, in specific zones. But these make no difference to the excesses of violence,” he says. “We don’t want to wait until one of our colleagues loses their life in this wild, senseless firecracker frenzy.”

More than 50 civil society organizations have also come together to call for a ban on private New Year’s Eve fireworks, under the hashtag #böllerciao (“Bye-bye, firecrackers”). Medical associations, Environmental Action Germany, animal welfare organizations, and the German Children’s Fund are among those supporting the initiative. Around 750,000 people have signed their petition.

One in three against a ban on fireworks

Increased aggression on New Year’s Eve also affects people’s perception of security. The TÜV survey found that almost one in three — women in particular — do not feel safe in public if there are firecrackers around. 32% of those surveyed and 45% of women surveyed said they didn’t feel safe outside on New Year’s Eve because of fireworks.

Pets like dogs are scared by the loud noises and flashing lights of fireworksImage: Patrick Pleul/dpa/picture alliance

More and more people would welcome restrictions on private fireworks. Almost half are in favor of a total ban, with only the smallest fireworks excepted, such as sparklers or table fireworks. 22% would like to see a ban on firecrackers, both large and small.

However, there are also people — 33%, according to the survey — who reject any sort of ban, citing tradition and personal freedom.

There is no prospect of a nationwide ban on private fireworks any time soon, as Germany’s state and federal interior ministers have not been able to reach agreement on this. The state premier of Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, is relying on local decision-making instead.

“Lots of local authorities stipulate areas where people are not allowed to set off fireworks,” he says.

It’s true that more and more prohibited zones have been established in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and other big cities, particularly in the town centers. And it’s completely forbidden all over Germany to let off fireworks in the vicinity of hospitals, churches, children’s homes, old people’s homes and airports.

This article has been translated from German.

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George Clooney has said that the United States would be in a better place if ABC and CBS had told Donald Trump to “go f*** yourself” rather than settle his defamation lawsuits.

Railing against Bari Weiss, the “anti-woke” founder of The Free Press recently installed by Paramount chief David Ellison to lead CBS News, the Oscar-winning actor also warned that she is “dismantling” the Tiffany Network.

“I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press,” Clooney told Variety in a wide-ranging interview.

The Independent has contacted CBS News and ABC News for comment.

While promoting his new movie Jay Kelly and floating the idea of reviving the Ocean’s heist film franchise, Clooney – who recently became a French citizen after moving his family to France in 2021 – related his Broadway turn in Good Night, and Good Luck to the state of American media today.

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George Clooney expressed concern about the state of American media under President Donald Trump, saying it would be better if ABC and CBS didn’t settle their lawsuits. (Getty Images for BFI)

In the play, adapted from the 2005 film of the same name which the actor directed and starred in, Clooney portrays legendary CBS News anchor Edward R. Murrow when he stood up to Joseph McCarthy. At the time the film was released, Clooney – whose father was a longtime TV news anchorman – said he “intended to draw parallels between Murrow and how the media was covering the lead-up to the Iraq War.”

Twenty years later, the story resonates differently now that Trump is back in office and hitting news organizations with billion-dollar lawsuits while threatening to pull their broadcast licenses.

“When Clooney played Murrow last spring, CBS News was settling a frivolous lawsuit with Trump so that he’d approve the sale of its parent company, Paramount, to Skydance,” Variety’s Brent Lang noted. “That enraged Clooney, as did ABC News’ similar settlement with the president over a defamation claim.”

Weeks before the president’s second inauguration, Disney – the parent company of ABC News – paid Trump $15 million to settle his complaint after anchor George Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed on-air that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll civil case. (Trump was actually found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.)

While legal analysts told The Independent at the time that the “case against ABC would have been a close call” if it went to trial, First Amendment experts warned that the settlement would have a “chilling effect” on the media going forward. “Many in free press circles are holding their breath,” one stated. “There is concern that we are embarking on some scary times.”

Months later, amid a politically-fraught $8.4 billion merger with Ellison’s Skydance Media, Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle his defamation lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, despite CBS News lawyers calling the complaint “meritless.”

Though Paramount’s leadership insisted that the settlement was unrelated to the Skydance deal, the merger was approved weeks later by the Trump administration. House Democrats have since launched an investigation into whether the settlement constituted a “bribe” to the president in order to secure the deal.

“If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go f*** yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country,” Clooney told Variety. “That’s simply the truth.”

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‘Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” George Clooney said in a recent interview (Getty)

Clooney went on to express concerns over the “MAGA-friendly” direction of CBS News under Ellison and Weiss, who was hired in October. She has recently come under fire for spiking a 60 Minutes story at the last minute about the Trump administration sending Venezuelan migrants to the notorious El Salvador CECOT prison.

“Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” he said. “I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.”

He also grew more “animated” over his belief that some journalists and news outlets have abandoned their “mission to hold the powerful to account,” prompting him to reference a quote of Murrow’s from the film and play.

“‘Let’s not confuse dissent with disloyalty,’” Clooney said. “I mean, what a beautiful, important statement about who we are at our best. But all too often we fall short.”

While extremely worried about the state of the country and the free press under a Trump White House, calling it a “very trying time,” Clooney – one of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberals – also revealed that there was once a time when he was pals with the celebrity game show host turned president.

“I knew him very well,” the Michael Clayton star proclaimed. “He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants. He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed.”

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NEED TO KNOW

• Researchers are working to save stingless bees by urging lawmakers to grant the insects rights
• Scientists believe the rare species in the Peruvian Amazon has medicinal properties in its honey that can cure diseases
• Ordinances to protect the insects have passed in two Peruvian regions

A Peruvian scientist and her team are working together to make sure stingless bees are around for generations to come. 

Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional, and Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, have been working together to make sure stingless bees in the Amazon have the right to exist, according to The Guardian and CNN.

Espinoza, who refers to the insects as “the most efficient pollinator,” told CNN in a recent interview that the bees are keeping the important ecosystems of the Peruvian Amazon alive and regenerating. 

However, deforestation, along with climate change and pesticides, are some of the many challenges the insect species faces. 

stingless bees nest.

Sunbird Images/imageBROKER/Shutterstock 

“Globally, we have around 600 documented species of stingless bees. In Peru, we know we have at least 175 species. That positions Peru as such a biodiversity hotspot for stingless bees, which means we need to be driving the change and the actions to help bring back the stingless bee,” she said. 

Espinoza, along with others like Prieto, is advocating for legal protections for the stingless bee due to its contributions to the surrounding environment.

“Some of our world’s most important pollinators are under threat, but now a gentle revolution is buzzing: Peru could grant stingless bees legal #NatureRights to exist and flourish, setting an example for other countries to follow! Indigenous communities are leading the charge — let’s rise with them,” she captioned a Dec. 12 Instagram post.

Her efforts have paid off. In the past few months, ordinances were passed in two Peruvian regions to protect bees and support their growth, marking some of the first legal rights for insects worldwide, according to The Guardian.

“This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognises them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems,” Prieto told the outlet. 

Despite their name, stingless bees do have stingers; however, they are not designed for defense. 

In research shared by Espinoza and colleague Cesar Delgado in December 2023, the pair said, “Stingless bee honey has a long history of traditional use in medicine, food, religion, and cultural activities worldwide. In the Peruvian Amazon, indigenous and non-indigenous communities have utilized this honey for centuries to treat various diseases.”

At least 14 diseases were said to be treated using stingless bee honey. 

“I was seeing hundreds of medicinal molecules, like molecules that are known to have some sort of biological medicinal property,” Espinoza said of their research, per The Guardian. “And the variety was also really wild – these molecules have been known to have anti-inflammatory effects or antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, even anti-cancer.”

stingless bees in the Pacaya Samiria National Park, Amazon, Peru.

Alamy

Apu Cesar Ramos, president of EcoAshaninka of the Ashaninka Communal Reserve, added, “Within the stingless bee lives Indigenous traditional knowledge, passed down since the time of our grandparents.”

“The stingless bee has existed since time immemorial and reflects our coexistence with the rainforest,” Ramos said.

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In December 2024, Congress approved a bill by María Acuña Peralta that protected stingless bees and promoted beekeeping in Peru.

Satipo became the first municipality to pass an ordinance granting legal rights to stingless bees in October, per The Guardian.

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Anthony Joshua’s mum has rushed to his bedside at one of Nigeria’s best hospitals as he recovers from injuries sustained in car crash that killed two of his friends.

According to local news reports, Joshua is being treated at the Duchess International Hospital in Lagos, which has been named as the best private hospital in Nigeria for the past two years.

Nigeria’s president confirmed on Monday that Joshua’s mum had joined him at the hospital after calling the heavyweight boxing star. 

The exclusive hospital boasts an elite service dubbed the Harley Street Practice, located on the sixth floor, which offers Duchess Royal Suites for VIP inpatients.

The hospital states that the facilities offer a ‘unique hospitality experience to our clients, offering a combination of outstanding patient care with the luxury of five-star accommodation and privacy.’

Patients receive one-to-one care for 24-hours a day and have access to medical personnel and hospitality staff. 

They also receive gourmet meals fully catered to their taste. The basic packages for the Royal Suite with ensuite bathroom facilities starts at £2,000.

Anthony Joshua is being treated at the Duchess International Hospital (pictured above), which offers Duchess Royal Suites for VIP patients 

Joshua’s mum Yeta Odusanya, pictured with him in 2019, has rushed to her son’s side as he  receives treatment for his injuries

The hospital has been named the best in Nigeria for two years in a row and is located in an upmarket suburb of Lagos

Patients at the hospital receive gourmet meals 24 hours a day that are fully catered to their taste

The Duchess, named as Nigeria’s best private hospital, says it offers patients one-to-one care for 24-hours a day and has ensuite bathrooms 

Basic packages for patients being treated at the hospital’s Royal Suites start at £2,000 

The hospital states that it provides a bespoke clinical service combines excellence in healthcare with a unique experience of hospitality, and offers a ‘highly personalised service to our patients, delivering complex care tailored to individual needs’. 

‘Each Duchess Royal suite includes a separate lounge, ensuite bedroom and guest amenities.’

Joshua suffered injuries in a car crash on Monday which an eyewitness had initially mistaken for a bomb blast due to the noise of the crash.

Joshua’s close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele were killed in the crash.

‘The bang from the impact jolted everyone, at first, we thought it was another bomb blast,’ an eyewitness told Nigerian outlet Vanguard.

‘When we realised it was an accident, people rushed down. Some people started videoing the scene, while others opened the doors to see if they could rescue anyone.”

‘One of the men who survived shouted that we should help the people in the next car, saying one of them was Anthony Joshua. Some people didn’t even know who he was until a man who stopped by said they were from the same Sagamu.’

The eyewitness added that Joshua had complained of suffering pain in his leg. 

Anthony Joshua’s mum has visited him in hospital after he was injured in a car crash on Monday, which killed two his close friends

Footage posted online appears to show former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, 36, shirtless and looking dazed as he sits in a wrecked Lexus SUV among shattered glass

An SUV can be seen completely totalled in grim pictures taken by eyewitnesses, while a Mitsubishi believed to be part of Joshua’s convoy sits undamaged just yards away 

Nigeria’s president Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed he had spoken to both Joshua and his mother in a phone call to the hospital where Joshua was taken following the accident.

Tinubu, who is currently out of the country, said he had offered his condolences to Joshua following the death of his friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.

The Nigerian president added that he had been reassured that Joshua is receiving the best care, while adding that he had spoken to the heavyweight boxer’s mother Yeta Odusanya.

‘I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences over the death of his two associates,’ President Tinubu said in a statement.

‘I wished him well and prayed for him. He assured me that he is receiving the best care in the hospital.

‘I also spoke with AJ’s mother and prayed for her. She was very appreciative of my call.

‘Additionally, I spoke to Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was in the hospital with them. The Governor assured me that he will do everything possible to ensure AJ receives the best possible attention.’

Joshua, 36, had been on his way to see family when the Lexus SUV he was travelling in smashed into a stationary truck shortly after 11am on Monday on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Makun, southwest Nigeria.

Images of the wrecked vehicle were released by Nigerian officials, while a Mitsubishi believed to be part of Joshua’s convoy sat undamaged just yards away.

Five people were involved in the collision, with photos showing how the vehicle was completely destroyed – with the car’s doors ripped out and the roof smashed out of place.

It was confirmed on Monday that Joshua’s friends Ghami and Ayodele were killed after the Lexus SUV they were all travelling in smashed into a stationary truck.

The pair were two of the champion boxer’s closest friends, and the news of their deaths is rocking the sporting community.

Government officials said that Joshua and another passenger were immediately evacuated to a specialised medical facility in Lagos.

Nigeria’s president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, left, confirmed he had spoken to both Joshua and his mum in a phone call on Monday and offered his condolences to the boxer

Joshua is pictured with friends Latif Ayodele (centre) and Sina Ghami (right) who both died in the crash

Prior to speaking to Joshua and his mother, Tinubu had issued a message of support to the boxer in a post on social media. 

‘I extend my deep sympathies to you following the tragic accident on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, which claimed two precious lives and caused you injuries. 

‘This immense tragedy casts a deep shadow on this season. I sympathise with you and your family as you bear the emotional weight of this unfortunate incident. 

‘As a sportsman, you have always shown courage, discipline, and unwavering love for our country. These are qualities that have made you a source of national pride. 

‘In moments like this, we must encourage one another as brothers and sisters with a shared destiny. I pray for strength, wisdom, and grace for you during this painful period. 

‘May God grant you a speedy recovery and repose to the souls of the departed.’

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The search is on for the holder of a lucky EuroMillions ticket, sold in the UK, which is worth £112,091 to the owner – but they only have a limited time to claim their prize



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A cancer patient who was taking her family to Disneyland is among the thousands of passengers whose travel plans were ruined by Eurostar cancellations on Tuesday.

The train network was forced to cancel almost all of its London-Europe services after issues in the Channel Tunnel, including a failed Le Shuttle train.

The Buckmire Edwards family left King’s Cross St Pancras at 7am only to be stranded “for hours and hours” outside the Channel Tunnel. They were later brought back to London.

Eurostar latest: Channel Tunnel partially reopens

Mum Ethlyn told Sky News she had spent £3,500 on a dream trip to Disneyland to celebrate her son’s 10th birthday with her partner and 10-month-old baby.

Image:
Ethlyn Buckmire said he is likely to lose most of the money spent on the trip

She said they did not take out travel insurance because her cancer diagnosis made the premiums too expensive – so they now face losing all the money.

“We are going to try and go home and salvage the rest of the holiday season and try and celebrate his birthday some other way,” she said, “but to be honest, I don’t have the energy, I really don’t. We were so looking forward to that trip.”

Image:
The Buckmire Edwards family at St Pancras station

Dante, nine, said: “It’s been quite a journey because ever since my mum has been through cancer, she has been having a baby, chemotherapy, she has still coped, so I think she is doing a very great job.”

“I’m very proud of this journey that she has been through,” he added.

Family ‘stranded’ with no hotel booking

While the Buckmire Edwards said they would return to their London home, passengers from further afield faced being stranded in the capital just one day before New Year’s Eve.

Charles Nduka-Eze said his family, from Nigeria, were having “a complete disaster” after their Paris-bound train was turned back to London.

The group had checked out of a London hotel and had already paid for their hotel rooms in the French capital, as well as tickets for Disneyland and river cruises.

Read more: Travel disrupted? Here are your rights

Image:
Delayed passengers at St Pancras train station. Pic: PA

Speaking at King’s Cross St Pancras, he said: “I’m not concerned about the refund for now, I’m thinking about what to do.

“We don’t know what’s going on so I’ve got a sister over there trying to find out what’s the next thing to do because we’re just confused, to be honest.”

His sister added that the group were now “stranded”.

‘Romance on hold’ as NYE minibreak is ruined

Meanwhile, a man travelling to Paris for New Year’s Eve with his partner said “We’ll have to put romance on hold.”

John Paul, from Peterborough, was gifted the trip as a surprise from his partner Lucy and the pair spent five hours on a Paris-bound train before it unexpectedly returned to London.

Speaking at King’s Cross St Pancras, the 46-year-old said: “I think the thing is, at the minute, there’s no clear information and obviously, we’ve lost a lot of money, haven’t we?”

Paul said they had a river cruise in Paris and the Eiffel Tower booked for the evening.

Image:
Delayed passengers at St Pancras train station, central London, after all Eurostar services were cancelled. Pic: PA

Eurostar initially told passengers to postpone their journeys, before later suspending all trains to and from London until further notice.

It later said some services would resume but “strongly advised” all passengers to refrain from travelling.

More from Sky News:
Two arrested after death of elderly man hit by car
Admin ‘error’ blamed for Andrew document release

The Eurostar trains were unable to operate due to an issue with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel and a subsequent failed Le Shuttle train, which was moved from the tunnel on Tuesday afternoon.

Eurostar operations across Europe were also affected.

In Folkestone, Kent, queues formed as Le Shuttle services were postponed and delayed. They gradually resumed on Tuesday afternoon.

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Elsewhere in Group C, Tanzania scrape through to the knockout stages for first time after 1-1 draw with Tunisia.

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Raphael Onyedika scored twice and Paul Onuachu scored his first international goal in four years as already-qualified Nigeria overcame 10-man Uganda 3-1 to maintain a 100 percent record after the group stage and send the East African side home.

Nigeria ‍finished ⁠top of Group C with nine points followed by Tunisia and Tanzania, who reached the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed ​sides following their 1-1 ‌draw with Tunisia on Tuesday.

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It was a dominant performance from Nigeria despite resting several regulars having already been assured of top spot ‍in the group.

After Onuachu had missed a simple chance midway through the first half, ​he found the back of the net after 28 minutes.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru ‌showed quick feet on the left and his pass into Onuachu was perfect for the big forward to finish. The goal was the striker’s first for Nigeria since 2021.

Uganda were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute ‌when substitute goalkeeper Magoola used his hands some 10 yards outside his area to stop a Victor Osimhen shot.

Magoola had been ‌a halftime replacement for injured starter Denis Onyango, so Uganda ⁠had to use their third goalkeeper in the game as Nafian Alionzi was brought on.

Nigeria scored their second goal in the 62nd minute when Onyedika took Samuel Chukwueze’s pass and drilled his shot low through the legs of Alionzi.

Onyedika ‌netted his second five minutes later with a side-footed finish, Chukwueze again the provider with a pass from the right.

Uganda got a consolation goal with 15 minutes left as the Nigerian ‍defence momentarily went to sleep and Rogers Mato had time and space from Allan Okello’s pass to lift the ball over the keeper and into the net.

Nevertheless, Nigeria have impressed in the group stage having been losing finalists two years ago, and following the shock of missing out on 2026 World Cup qualification

Meanwhile, Tanzania reached the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time on Tuesday, 45 years after their maiden appearance, by coming from behind to draw 1-1 with fellow qualifiers Tunisia in Rabat.

Feisal Salum’s ‌powerful shot three minutes into the second half was enough to secure ‌the draw after Tunisia had been ‌ahead with a ⁠43rd-minute penalty converted by Ismael Gharbi.

It ‍was only ⁠Tanzania’s second point of the tournament but proved enough for them to advance as one of the four best ​third-placed finishers.

Tanzania have been trying since 1980 to advance beyond the group stage, and have still to win a match in four appearances.

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The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seeks independence for southern Yemen

The United Arab Emirates has said it will withdraw its remaining forces from Yemen, after Saudi Arabia backed a demand from the Yemeni presidential council for them to leave within 24 hours.

The Emirati announcement followed an air strike by a Saudi-led military coalition on what it said was a weapons shipment for UAE-backed separatist forces in the southern port of Mukalla.

The UAE denied the shipment contained weapons and expressed “deep regret” at the Saudi accusations.

Saudi and the UAE have been allies in the war against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement over the past decade, but the infighting between the rival factions they support has deepened a rift between them.

Saudi Arabia also accused the UAE of “pressuring” the separatists to attack Saudi-backed government forces in two eastern provinces, and warned it would take measures to confront such “highly dangerous” actions.

On Tuesday afternoon, the UAE’s defence ministry put out a statement announcing “the termination of the remaining counterterrorism personnel in Yemen of its own volition”, six years after the UAE’s armed forces had “concluded” their presence.

The ministry explained that the decision to withdraw them was made “in light of recent developments and their potential implications for the safety and effectiveness of counterterrorism missions”, without mentioning the coalition strike or Saudi warning.

The strongly worded statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday morning said it was working to “contain the escalatory steps” taken recently by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks independence for southern Yemen.

It accused the UAE of “pressuring” the STC to conduct offensives in the eastern provinces of Hadramawt and al-Mahra, which it said constituted “a threat to the kingdom’s national security, and the security and stability of the Republic of Yemen and the region”. It also warned that Saudi Arabia would take measures to confront such “highly dangerous” actions.

The UAE’s foreign ministry denounced the allegations that it “exerted pressure on, or issued directives to, any Yemeni party to undertake military operations that would undermine the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or target its borders”.

It also insisted that the UAE had “focused on containing the situation, supporting de-escalation efforts, and promoting understandings to contribute to preserving security and stability” since the start of the STC’s offensives.

The head of Yemen’s eight-member presidential council – which includes STC representatives – earlier announced that he was cancelling a joint defence pact with the UAE and ordering its forces to leave within 24 hours “in the interest of safeguarding the security of all citizens, affirming commitment to Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, stability, and territorial integrity”.

Rashad al-Alimi also declared a state of emergency for a period of 90 days, which he said was necessary to confront the Houthis and what he described as “the internal strife led by mutinous military elements that received orders from the United Arab Emirates”.

The STC’s leaders said the ultimatum for the UAE’s withdrawal was unilateral and had no legal basis, and insisted the UAE would remain a “main partner” in the battle against the Houthis.

AFP

The Saudi-led coalition air strike on Mukalla destroyed a number of military vehicles and pick-up trucks

Alimi’s announcement came after the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition – which includes the UAE – said it had carried out a “limited” air strike on weapons and military vehicles for the STC’s forces in the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla which arrived on two ships from the UAE.

The shipments had constituted “an imminent threat and an escalation that threatens peace and stability”, Maj-Gen Turki al-Maliki asserted.

An official at the port told AFP news agency that a warning to evacuate was received at 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and that an open area at the facility was struck about 15 minutes later.

Pictures showed a number of burned out military vehicles and pick-up trucks in a walled-off area at the port, as well as damage to a nearby building. No casualties were reported.

The UAE’s foreign ministry said it had been surprised by the strike on Mukalla and that the coalition statement had been issued without consultation with member states.

It insisted that the shipment in question “did not include any weapons, and that the vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party but were shipped for use by Emirati forces operating in Yemen”.

On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition called on the STC’s forces to withdraw “peacefully” from Hadramawt and al-Mahra, a day after the Saudi air force reportedly bombed positions held by the separatists in the Wadi Nahab area of Hadramawt.

The STC’s forces launched offensives in the two provinces amid rising tensions earlier this month, putting them in direct conflict with government forces.

It said the operations were necessary to “restore stability” in the south and to combat the Houthis, as well as the jihadist groups al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened to restore the government’s rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

At the start of the war, the STC and other separatists seeking independence for south Yemen, which was a separate country before unification with the north in 1990, formed an uneasy alliance with the government to stop the Houthis capturing the southern city of Aden.

However, in recent years the STC and its allies have turned on the government and gradually seized control of Aden and much of the south of the country.

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