Full VAT on meat products could cost EU households as little as €26 a year but cut impact by 3-6%, says paper
The environmental impacts of meat consumption could be rapidly and cheaply reduced if governments applied full VAT on products such as beef, pork, lamb and chicken, a study has shown.
Depending on how the additional tax revenues were redistributed, such a change could cost households as little as €26 (£23) a year, while cutting ecological destruction by between 3% and 6%, the paper found.
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© Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
Ivan Sautkin films efforts to help residents abandon their frontline homes, as well as a pensioner acting as a spy for the Ukrainian army from the Russian border
There is a scene in this Ukrainian documentary in which a woman gruffly shrugs off the offer of evacuation from her property on the frontline. Her son has put in the request to the volunteer humanitarian team ferrying civilians to safety in the east of the country. But she is caring for her brother, who is paralysed, the woman protests – and what about her German shepherd? As explosions boom terrifyingly close, a volunteer patiently explains that his team will carry her brother to the minivan – and don’t worry, bring the dog. Eventually, the woman agrees to leave, brusquely wiping away a tear.
Director Ivan Sautkin is a film-maker by trade and served as a volunteer on the evacuation team. A Poem for Little People is his one-man film; Sautkin is behind the camera, recording everything. These are no interviews, explainers or voiceovers (which admittedly makes it hard to follow at times). The leader of the volunteers is Anton, a cool head under the heaviest fire. The trauma is raw, the situations desperate – in one, volunteers drive an elderly woman out of harm’s way, but as they bump along cracked, potholed roads, they question if they are doing the right thing putting her through the agonising journey.
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© Photograph: True Story
© Photograph: True Story
© Photograph: True Story
Red caps are becoming a symbol of protest in Denmark as Donald Trump ratchets up the pressure on Greenland
Red baseball caps spoofing Donald Trump’s Maga hats have become a symbol of Danish and Greenlandic defiance against the US president’s threat to seize the frozen territory.
The caps reading “Make America Go Away” – parodying Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – have gained popularity, along with several variants on social media and at public protests, including a weekend demonstration held in freezing weather in Copenhagen.
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© Photograph: James Brooks/AP
© Photograph: James Brooks/AP
© Photograph: James Brooks/AP
A look at some of the Italian fashion designer’s greatest moments, after his death at the age of 93
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© Photograph: Pier Paolo Cito/ASSOCIATED PRESS
© Photograph: Pier Paolo Cito/ASSOCIATED PRESS
© Photograph: Pier Paolo Cito/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Searching for a quieter hiking route, Rory Buccheri found tranquility on the historic Romboleden pilgrimage
© Rory Buccheri
© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Flurry of posts on Truth Social firmly set out Trump’s Greenland stance to European leaders
And Davos looks like the place to be this week, with Trump now declaring that after his call with Nato’s Rutte he will have “a meeting of the various parties” on Greenland – whatever that means and whoever is going to be involved.
Separately, it’s not clear if Macron’s offer of setting up a G7 meeting on the sidelines was accepted (although looking at timings it would risk clashing with the emergency EU summit on Thursday night), but his separate invitation to a dinner at the Élysée Palace might be gone after Trump’s very pointed and personal criticism of the French president.
Attacked the UK, mockingly calling it a “brilliant” ally, for “shocking” plan to hand over sovereignity of the Chagos islands to Mauritius (despite previous US support), saying it’s among a “long line” of reasons why Greenland “has to be acquired”
Leaked private text messages from France’s Emmanuel Macron and Nato’s Mark Rutte discussing his latest policy moves
Threatened France with 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over Macron’s refusal to join the Gaza “board of peace”, said of Macron that “nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon”
Reiterated his intention of taking over Greenland as “imperative for national and world security,” saying “there can be no going back”
Posted an AI generated visual of himself planting the US flag on Greenland, saying it’s “US territory, est. 2026,” days after the US delegation agreed with Danish foreign minister for talks to be conducted behind closed doors, and not through threatening messages on social media.
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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
News of Putin's invitation emerges amid a wave of relentless Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine
© AFP/Getty
‘I'll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he'll join, but he doesn't have to join’
© AP
Trump also shared an AI image of him talking to European leaders in The White House with the American Flag over Greenland
© PA Wire
Hundreds were on board when the train derailed and slammed into another on an adjacent track. Maira Butt reports as the investigation into what happened continues
© AFP via getty
US president shares AI images of himself planting a flag in Greenland’s soil and lecturing European leaders
© AP
Norway shared its full exchange with Donald Trump after the US president refused to rule out invading Greenland and is now weighing tariffs on allies including the United Kingdom
© Getty
Spain’s prime minister promised transparency in an investigation into how the trains derailed near Cordoba
© Reuters
Deadly crash near Córdoba derails two passenger services and halts rail links between Madrid and Andalusia
© AFP via Getty
Madrid-bound train derailed on a straight stretch of track, before being hit head-on by another locomotive travelling 200kmph in the opposite direction
© Reuters
President says air force’s new system involves ‘mobile fire groups’ and interceptor drones as he warns of fresh Russian attacks ahead. What we know on day 1,427
Ukraine’s armed forces are introducing a new facet of air defence, made up of small groups deploying interceptor drones, as the country braces for new mass Russian attacks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. Ukraine is still reeling from a wave of Russian strikes earlier this month that knocked out power and heating to thousands of apartment blocks in freezing temperatures, particularly in the capital, and Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for air defences to be strengthened. “There will be a new approach to the use of air defences by the air force, concerning mobile fire groups, interceptor drones and other ‘short-range’ air defence assets,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address. “The system will be transformed.” Zelenskyy announced the appointment of a new deputy air force commander, Pavlo Yelizarov, to oversee and develop the innovation.
Zelenskyy also warned Ukrainians to be “extremely vigilant” ahead of anticipated new Russian attacks. “Russia has prepared for a strike, a massive strike, and is waiting for the moment to carry it out,” he said, urging every region in the country to “be prepared to respond as quickly as possible and help people”. Zelenskyy and foreign minister Andrii Sybiha both warned at the weekend that Ukrainian intelligence had noted Russia was conducting reconnaissance of specific targets, particularly substations that supply nuclear power plants. Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday he had informed the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Russian preparations for more strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, including those that ensure the operations of nuclear plants.
Russian forces launched a combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv early on Tuesday, triggering cuts in power and water supplies, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said. A non-residential building had been hit and one person injured in the strike on the east bank of the Dnipro River, Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. The Kyiv military administration said a storage area had been damaged and several cars set ablaze.
The IAEA said on Monday that a back-up power line had been reconnected to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after repair work carried out under an IAEA-brokered ceasefire. The Ferosplavna-1 line is one of two high-voltage lines supplying electricity to the Russian-controlled plant in Ukraine and was disconnected earlier this month.
Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight to Monday, cutting off power in five regions across the country amid sub-zero temperatures and high demand, Ukrainian officials said. Russian forces had launched 145 drones and air defences shot down 126 of them, the Ukrainian air force said. “As of this morning, consumers in Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions are without power,” the energy ministry said. “Emergency repair work is under way if the security situation allows.”
Ukraine will face enormous challenges to organise its first elections since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with its infrastructure shattered and millions of people displaced by war, the country’s election chief said. Bringing Ukraine’s voter registry up to date and making the proper preparations for a vote would take significant time, Oleh Didenko, the head of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, told Reuters. Amid diplomatic efforts to end the war, US president Donald Trump has demanded Ukraine hold elections, even though they are banned under martial law – in force since the invasion – and a majority of Ukrainians oppose a wartime ballot.
Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will travel to Davos in Switzerland this week and hold meetings with members of the US delegation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Reuters has reported, citing two sources. Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on Sunday that talks with US officials on ending the war would continue at the WEF this week.
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© Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
© Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
© Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Zelensky has repeatedly called for air defences to be strengthened, including increased assistance from Ukraine's Western allies
© AFP via Getty Images
Officials say death toll likely to rise as rescuers continue to comb through wreckage in remote area of Andalucía
Spain will begin three days of mourning on Tuesday as rescuers continue to comb through the wreckage of twisted train cars and scattered debris to locate victims after a train collision that killed at least 40 people and injured dozens.
On Monday, more than 18 hours after a high-speed train carrying about 300 Madrid-bound passengers derailed and collided with an oncoming train, people across the country were still scrambling to make contact with missing loved ones caught up in Spain’s worst rail disaster in more than a decade.
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© Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters
© Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters
© Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters
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