EUROPE

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A former prison officer has been jailed after engaging in illicit relationships with two inmates and conspiring to smuggle drug-soaked envelopes into a Kent jail.

Isabelle Dale, 23, became romantically involved with prisoners Shahid Sharif and Connor Money while working at HMP Coldingley in Surrey. Judge Christopher Hehir said Dale had been “swearing them undying love, saying she wanted to be with both of them on the outside,” and accused her of using her vulnerabilities as “a shield and an excuse” for her actions.

Dale was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to three and a half years in prison for two counts of misconduct in a public office between September 2021 and December 2022, and one count of conspiring to convey a List A article into prison. Sharif, currently held at HMP Wandsworth, and co-conspirator Lilea Sallis were also jailed for the smuggling plot.

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Spain is mourning after a high-speed train derailment and collision in the south of the country killed at least 39 people and injured more than 120 others, in what authorities have described as the worst rail disaster in more than a decade.

The crash occurred on Sunday evening near the town of Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, when a Madrid-bound train derailed on a straight section of track and crossed onto the opposite line, colliding with an oncoming service travelling in the opposite direction. Around 400 passengers and crew were on board the two trains combined, according to rail operators.

Emergency services said 122 people were treated for injuries, with 48 remaining in hospital, including 12 in intensive care. Among those hospitalised were several children. Spain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, warned that the death toll was not yet final as rescue and identification efforts continued.

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Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin on Wednesday announced a plan to deploy 5,408 satellites in space for a communications network, “TeraWave,” that will serve data

centers, governments and businesses, jumping into a satellite constellation market dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Deployment of satellites is planned to begin in the last quarter of 2027, Blue Origin said, adding the network is designed to have "data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth.”

That speed, possible with the satellites' planned optical communications, is extreme by consumer standards and would make the network key for data processing and large-scale government programs.

Blue Origin said the network is meant to serve a maximum of roughly 100,000 customers.

The reveal of TeraWave coincides with a space industry rush to build data centers in space that can meet the soaring demand for large-scale AI data processing, which on Earth requires immense energy and resources as adoption of the technology expands.

The planned network adds another satellite constellation linked to Bezos, executive chairman of Amazon which is in an early phase of deploying Leo - a network formerly called Project Kuiper involving 3,200 satellites providing internet to consumers and businesses.

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European leaders are mobilizing with rare unanimity following President Donald Trump's Saturday announcement threatening sanctions against nations opposing American claims to Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory.

The unprecedented move has triggered an emergency Sunday gathering of EU ambassadors in Brussels, coming on the heels of massive demonstrations in Nuuk, where roughly 25% of the capital's residents protested potential annexation.

The reaction from European capitals has been swift and remarkably unified, with allies recognizing a fundamental challenge to transatlantic partnerships.

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The Great British Bake Off is preparing a new recipe.

Prue Leith, who has served as a judge alongside Paul Hollywood since the show's move to Channel 4 from the BBC in 2017, has announced her departure from the series after nine seasons and 400 challenges.

"Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life," she wrote in her Jan. 21 Instagram post, noting that she will miss working with Paul, Alison Hammond, and Noel Fielding. "But now feels like the right time to step back (I'm 86, for goodness' sake!), there's so much I'd like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden."

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Fathers across the UK have until Monday to submit deeply personal letters for a new book project led by award winning actor and writer Stephen Graham, best known for creating and starring in the hit Netflix series Adolescence. The book, titled Letters to Our Sons, brings together reflections on manhood, fatherhood, and the emotional challenges of raising boys in the modern world.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has warned global leaders that international order is fraying, as tensions deepen with the United States over Greenland, tariffs and the future of trade rules. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Macron said the world was drifting toward instability, where power overrides law and economic pressure replaces cooperation.

His comments came as US President Donald Trump marked the first anniversary of his second term by defending sweeping tariff policies and reiterating his insistence that US control of Greenland is vital for national and global security. Trump has argued there is "no going back" on the plan and has threatened new trade penalties against countries that oppose it. Macron did not name Trump directly, but his message was unmistakable. He warned that an endless build-up of tariffs was fundamentally unacceptable, particularly when used as leverage against territorial sovereignty. The French leader urged Europe to be ready to deploy all available tools to defend its interests, warning that conflict and imbalance were becoming normalised in global affairs.