Just days ago, we had heavy snowfall, with more than a metre of fresh snow in parts of the Alps. But for many ski resorts, it has come too late.

The crucial Christmas and New Year holiday period was marked by a lack of snow, hitting visitor numbers hard. 

The impact is especially severe in Ticino, where several resorts remained closed over the holidays due to unusually warm temperatures and little snowfall.

In Airolo, the season began ten days late, cutting expected visitor numbers in half. At Carì, skier numbers have fallen by up to 90 percent, forcing operators to consider short-time work.

Despite altitudes above 2,200 metres, snow levels south of the Alps remain well below average. 

Further snowfall is forecast, but experts say it will bring only limited relief.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to place tariffs on nations that do not go along with his ambitions to annex Greenland.

Trump said at a White House meeting that he "may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland", which is a self-governing territory controlled by Denmark. 

He did not say which countries might be hit with new tariffs, or what authority he would invoke to use such import taxes in pursuit of his goal.

Along with Denmark and Greenland, other countries oppose his plans, and many in the US have expressed scepticism about an acquisition. As Trump spoke, a bipartisan congressional delegation was visiting Greenland to show support for the territory.

The German chancellor, French president and Italian prime minister appear to have seen reason in making up with Moscow. But is it genuine?

Sometimes a surprising statement made almost in passing on a minor occasion can pack a lot of political oomph. And sometimes, it’s just a slip and won’t tell you much about either the present or the future. But how do you know?

Why are EU leaders suddenly being nice to Russia?

In 2015, the rabbi was called to eulogize one of victims of the Charlie Hebdo slaughter, Elsa Cayat, a Jewish psychiatrist who wrote a column for the satirical magazine.

Meet France’s trailblazer female rabbi
No. 50 on The Jerusalem Post's Top 50 Most Influential Jews of 2021: France's third female rabbi Delphine Horvilleur.

It does not happen often that a rabbi makes it to the cover of a fashion magazine. However, Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur can also boast a cover of the French lifestyle magazine Elle, as well as several books, a successful congregation in Paris and meetings with the highest authorities in her country and abroad.

The EU has been working to boost its defense capabilities in order to become a “military powerhouse,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, Euractiv has reported, citing sources.

The remarks were reportedly made on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting in the European Parliament, where von der Leyen told lawmakers that the bloc needs to draw up its own security strategy and that the Commission would present such a document in 2026. 

“We know that we need to be strong … We are not a military powerhouse, but we are building up to be a military powerhouse,” von der Leyen was quoted as saying.

President Donald Trump is making it clear that he won't be constrained by the law as he continues teasing a takeover of the Western Hemisphere.

“I don’t need international law,” Trump said in a new interview with The New York Times. “I’m not looking to hurt people.”

After Bondi, New South Wales politicians want to ban words and slogans. But rushed laws could punish political speech, not protect the public.

After the Bondi Beach massacre, our New South Wales (NSW) parliamentarians are rushing to examine which slogans to criminalise and what words to ban. They say they are doing this to ensure our safety and protect our social cohesion. But many of us are alarmed and fearful.

Sawsan Madina

The international situation has been “increasingly deteriorating,” Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned, citing old conflicts reigniting and new emerging flashpoints.

The president made the remarks on Thursday at a ceremony to receive the letters of credence from the new ambassadors of more than 30 nations, including from multiple countries designated as “unfriendly” by Russia. Putin spoke about global security challenges, stating that international cooperation remains one of the key factors of sustainable development and prosperity of humankind. 

President Donald Trump has called for protesters in Iran to seize control of state institutions, issuing a cryptic promise of US assistance and threatening severe consequences for Iranian officials.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly alleged that the US and Israel have had a “big hand” in the ongoing unrest, framing it as a foreign-backed “terrorist war.”

“All Iranian patriots, keep protesting,”Trump declared in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday and in a parallel post on Truth Social. “Take over your institutions if possible. And save the names of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you,” he added, promising they would “pay a very big price.”

America’s national debt has crossed $38 trillion — and this time, the danger isn’t the headline number.

The real threat is what’s happening quietly behind the scenes.

For the first time in more than 75 years, global institutions, foreign central banks, and large asset managers are systematically reducing exposure to dollar-denominated assets. Not publicly. Not dramatically. But deliberately.

In this video, we break down a five-hundred-year historical pattern that has repeated every time a global reserve currency collapsed — from Spain, to the Dutch Republic, to the British Empire — and explain why the United States is now deep into Stage Three: the Silent Exodus.

High-level talks in Washington have concluded without bridging the divide between the United States and Denmark over the future of Greenland, with Danish officials stating a “fundamental disagreement” persists after President Donald Trump reaffirmed his intent to acquire the Arctic territory.

Following a meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen described the conversation as “frank”and “constructive,” but admitted the core dispute remains unresolved.

“We didn’t manage to change the US position,” Rasmussen told reporters. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering Greenland, and we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom.”

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has eliminated up to 400 Ukrainian military personnel over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 400 servicepeople, an armored fighting vehicle, nine pickup trucks, and an artillery piece," the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, Kiev has lost over 270 soldiers in battles with Russia's Battlegroup Vostok, the ministry added.

The Russian armed forces launched a massive retaliatory strike against Ukraine's fuel and energy facilities used by the Ukrainian armed forces and military-industrial complex enterprises, the ministry also said, adding that all targets were hit.

All empires, when they are dying, worship the idol of war. War will save the empire. War will resurrect past glory. War will teach an unruly world to obey. But those who bow down before the idol of war, blinded by hypermasculinity and hubris, are unaware that while idols begin by calling for the sacrifice of others, they end by demanding self-sacrifice.

Donald Trump's war on everything is expanding and accelerating.

In the past week, the US president has plucked the Venezuelan president from his home and threatened Cuba and Colombia while openly discussing military action against Iran and perhaps even Greenland.

First Venezuela, then the US Fed — what the White House attacks mean for us [AUSTRALIA]

By Ian Verrender