Author: Reuters

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, a spokesperson for the transatlantic military alliance said on Saturday. “They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance,” the spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah, said in a brief statement. On Friday, NATO did not respond to requests for comment on Dutch media reports that Rutte – a former prime minister of the Netherlands – had flown to Florida on a Dutch government plane to meet Trump. Rutte was widely regarded as one of the best European leaders at forging a good working relationship…

Premier League clubs have approved changes to the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, the competition announced Friday, a blow to reigning champions Manchester City, which opposed the revisions. The APT rules are designed to prevent clubs from gaining unfair advantages through commercial deals or cost reductions that don’t reflect fair market value (FMV), stemming from relationships with associated parties. The changes aim to preserve the Premier League’s competitiveness by blocking inflated sponsorship deals with companies connected to club owners. A two-thirds majority (14 clubs) was required for approval, and the BBC reported that 16 clubs voted in favor. Reuters…

Premier League clubs have approved changes to the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, the competition announced Friday, a blow to reigning champions Manchester City, which opposed the revisions. The APT rules are designed to prevent clubs from gaining unfair advantages through commercial deals or cost reductions that don’t reflect fair market value (FMV), stemming from relationships with associated parties. The changes aim to preserve the Premier League’s competitiveness by blocking inflated sponsorship deals with companies connected to club owners. A two-thirds majority (14 clubs) was required for approval, and the BBC reported that 16 clubs voted in favor. Reuters…

Jannik Sinner capped off a remarkable season, securing his first two Grand Slam titles and finishing the year as world No. 1. However, as he heads into 2025, the shadow of a potential doping ban still looms over his career. Though he has managed to quell concerns about a ban derailing his progress, Sinner’s mental strength will be tested once again as he faces the daunting task of defending a major title at the Australian Open in January. “I don’t know how I’m going to react or how I’ll play,” Sinner said after his victory at the ATP Finals in…

Pro-Palestinian NGOs asked a Dutch court on Friday to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, citing high civilian casualties in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. According to the plaintiffs, the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide. Lawyer Wout Albers, acting for groups including Palestinian rights organisations Al Haq and Al Mezan and pro-Palestinian Jewish organisation Een Ander Joods Geluid, said the Netherlands had failed to take the measures needed by continuing…

NATO allies must respond if investigations into the severing of two fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea reveal that this was done on purpose, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Friday. “Lithuania, Sweden, Finland have launched investigations. Depending on their results, the European Union and NATO allies must appropriately respond to malicious action by applying restrictive measures,” Simonyte said.

Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Hungary, saying he would guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu would “not be observed”. The ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Orban, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency, told state radio that the ICC’s arrest warrant was “wrong” and said the Israeli leader would be able to conduct…

Russia is ready to consider any “realistic” peace initiative on the conflict in Ukraine which takes into account Russia’s own interests and the situation on the ground, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Zakharova said Moscow was open to talks and grateful to those countries who were trying to help find a peace settlement.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that a new U.S. ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland will lead to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger and was on a Russian targeting list for potential destruction if necessary. The air defence base, situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, part of a broader NATO missile shield, was opened on Nov. 13. “This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilising actions by the Americans and their allies in the North Atlantic Alliance in the strategic sphere,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged the Crimea peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, would have to be restored to Ukrainian sovereignty through diplomacy. Zelenskiy, interviewed by Fox News on a train in Ukraine and broadcast on Wednesday, said his country could not afford to lose the number of lives that would be required to retake Crimea through military means. He again rejected any notion of ceding any territory already occupied by Moscow’s forces, saying Ukraine “cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian.” “I was already mentioning that we are ready to bring Crimea back diplomatically,” Zelenskiy told…