Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday called President Donald Trump’s comments about NATO allies’ role in Afghanistan “unacceptable,” pushing back against suggestions they “stayed a little back” from the front lines.

“Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO activated Article 5 for the first and only time in its history: an extraordinary act of solidarity toward the United States,” Meloni wrote on X.

“In that massive operation against those who fueled terrorism, Italy responded immediately alongside its allies, deploying thousands of troops and taking full responsibility for Regional Command West, one of the most significant operational areas of the entire international mission,” she said.

Meloni explained that Italy’s nearly two decades of involvement in Afghanistan came at a significant cost, with 53 Italian soldiers killed and more than 700 wounded during combat operations, security missions and training programs for Afghan forces.

TRUMP SAYS US SHOULD HAVE TESTED NATO BY INVOKING ARTICLE 5 OVER BORDER SECURITY

“For this reason, statements that minimize the contribution of NATO countries in Afghanistan are unacceptable, especially if they come from an allied Nation,” she added. 

“Italy and the United States are bound by a solid friendship, founded on a shared community of values and historical collaboration, which is even more necessary in the face of the many current challenges. But friendship requires respect, a fundamental condition for continuing to ensure the solidarity at the heart of the Atlantic Alliance.”

Trump has repeatedly questioned NATO allies’ reliability, including whether they would come to the United States’ aid if ever called upon.

NATO CHIEF PRAISES TRUMP AT DAVOS, SAYS HE FORCED EUROPE TO ‘STEP UP’ ON DEFENSE

He unsettled U.S. allies across Europe, including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after downplaying their contributions in Afghanistan during an interview with FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum.

“We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said of NATO. “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this and that. And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

Trump later appeared to soften his remarks in a Saturday post on Truth Social, praising the sacrifices of British troops in Afghanistan.

“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America! In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The U.K. Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the U.S.A.!). We love you all, and always will!” he wrote.

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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also highlighted the broader international toll of the war, citing the sacrifices of 31 allied nations that fought alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

He thanked those countries for answering the call after Sept. 11, noting that 159 troops from Canada, 90 from France, 62 from Germany, 44 from Poland and 43 from Denmark were among those killed in the conflict.

Published on 24/01/2026 – 18:00 GMT+1
•Updated
25/01/2026 – 12:16 GMT+1

Austria tops the EU for renewable electricity use, with the highest share of power coming from green sources.

According to Eurostat, the country placed first with nearly a 90% green electricity use rate, boosted by its 16 hydroelectric power plants.

Sweden comes a close second at 88%, powered mainly by wind and water, while another Nordic country, Denmark, follows third with 80%, thanks to its extensive onshore and offshore wind farm network.

Rates significantly over 50% were also registered in Portugal (66%), Spain (60%) and Croatia (58%), while Italy and France placed in the bottom half, 18th and 21st respectively in the EU.

The lowest proportions of green electricity use were found in Malta (11%), the Czech Republic (18%), Luxembourg (20.5%), Hungary and Cyprus (24%).

These figures cover all electricity coming from renewable sources, including that imported from abroad.

Green electricity use across the European Union has surged over the past two decades.

In 2004, it accounted for just 16% of total electricity consumption. Some 10 years later, that figure climbed to nearly 29%, and today it stands at 47.5%.

Will solar overtake hydro as the main green electricity source?

Wind energy currently accounts for the largest share of renewable sources used to produce electricity, with 38% of the total, followed by hydro at 26%.

The fastest growing one, however, is solar, which went from just 1% in 2008 to over 23% in 2024, with 304 TWh.

Bruegel’s energy expert Ben McWilliams told Europe in Motion that “it is almost certain that solar will overtake hydro in the next few years”.

“Developers continue to build solar plants at a record pace, whilst hydro deployment does not increase,” he said, adding that the more solar Europe can install, the better for energy security.

“Every new solar panel reduces oil, gas and coal dependency, and these dependencies are the true threats to European energy security,” McWilliams said.

EU’s solar reliance on China not a long-term issue, say experts

Although the vast majority of solar panels installed in the EU are made in China, McWilliams ruled out the idea that it makes Europe more fragile amid geopolitical tensions.

“Solar panels are a stock not flow; once the EU has installed a panel from China, it is there forever,” he said. ” If — for whatever reasons — solar panel imports from China stopped, it would just slow the build-out of new solar and supply would grow elsewhere (including domestically) over a two-three year period.”

According to Solar Power Europe, there are currently 166 companies in the EU active in the photovoltaic, or light energy, chain.

The vast majority of them are in Germany, although the most solar energy capacity per capita is produced in the Netherlands, with around 1,044 W yearly.

Jan 24 (Reuters) – China’s most senior general is under investigation, China’s defence ministry said on Saturday, in the highest-profile purge to date of senior military leadership just as Beijing modernises its forces and tries to further project its might.

Zhang Youxia serves as second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission – the supreme command body – and has long been seen as Xi’s closest military ally.

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The ministry said Zhang and Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department, were under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Zhang is also a member of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Party and is one of just a few leading officers with combat experience.

SWEEPING CRACKDOWN TARGETS MILITARY

The military was one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. That drive reached the upper echelons of the People’s Liberation Army in 2023 when the elite Rocket Force was targeted.

Zhang’s removal is the second of a sitting general on the Central Military Commission since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public since November 20, when he held talks with Russia’s defence minister in Moscow.

Foreign diplomats and security analysts are watching developments closely, given Zhang’s closeness to Xi and the importance of the commission’s work in terms of command as well as the PLA’s ongoing military modernisation and posture.

CHINA IS FLEXING MIGHT

While China has not fought a war in decades, it is taking an increasingly muscular line in the disputed East China Sea and South China Sea, as well as over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which is claimed by China. Beijing staged the largest military exercises to date around Taiwan late last year.

Singapore-based China security scholar James Char said the military’s daily operations could carry on as normal despite the purges but the targeting of Zhang showed Xi was reacting to criticism that the crackdown had been too selective.

“Xi has been tapping on second-line PLA officers to fill those roles vacated by their predecessors – on an interim basis in most cases,” said Char, a scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“China’s military modernizers will continue to push for the two goals Xi has set for the PLA – namely, 2035 to basically complete its modernisation and 2049 to become a world-class armed forces.”

Zhang is the second vice chair of the CMC to fall from grace in recent months. Former CMC vice chair He Weidong was expelled from the party and PLA in October last year for corruption. He was replaced by Zhang Shengmin.

CHILDREN OF CIVIL WAR VETERANS

Both Xi and Zhang are from the northwestern province of Shaanxi and are the children of former senior officials who fought together in the 1940s civil war.

Born in Beijing, Zhang joined the army in 1968, rising through the ranks and joining the military commission in late 2012 as the PLA’s modernisation drive gathered pace.

A Pentagon profile of Zhang in late 2023 noted that Zhang had been expected to retire in 2022, aged 72, given usual military practice.

“However, Zhang’s retention on the CMC for a third term probably reflects Xi’s desire to keep a close and experienced ally as his top military adviser,” the profile said, contained within the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military that year.

He fought Vietnam in a brief but bloody border war in 1979 that China launched in punishment for Vietnam invading Cambodia the previous year and ousting the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge.

Zhang was 26 when he was sent to the front lines to fight the Vietnamese and was quickly promoted, according to state media. He also fought in another border clash with Vietnam in 1984 as the conflict rumbled on.

“During the battle, whether attacking or defending, Zhang Youxia performed excellently,” the official China Youth Daily wrote in a 2017 piece entitled, “These Chinese generals have killed the enemy on the battlefield”.

Some China scholars have noted that Zhang emerged from the conflict an avowed moderniser in terms of military tactics, weapons and the need for a better trained force.

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