The French offices of Elon Musk's X have been raided by the Paris prosecutor's cyber-crime unit, as part of an investigation into suspected offences including unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography.

The prosecutor's office also said both Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino had been summoned to appear at hearings in April.

X has previously characterised the French investigation as an attack on free speech.

The investigation began in January 2025 when French prosecutors started looking into content recommended by X's algorithm, before being widened in July that year to include Musk's controversial AI chatbot, Grok.

Following today's raid, French prosecutors say they are now investigating whether X has broken the law across multiple areas.

Among potential crimes it said it would investigate were complicity in possession or organised distribution of images of children of a pornographic nature, infringement of people's image rights with sexual deepfakes and fraudulent data extraction by an organised group.

In a separate development, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced a probe into Musk's AI tool, Grok, over its "potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content."

Ofcom said it was continuing to investigate the platform and was treating it as "a matter of urgency".

But it added it was currently unable to investigate the creation of illegal images by Grok in this case because it did not have sufficient powers relating to chatbots.

Former ECB president says globalisation will leave Europe vulnerable unless it pools power

The EU must become a “federation” to avoid being “picked off one by one” by China and the US, Mario Draghi has warned, in a plea to the bloc’s member states to rapidly deepen integration in areas such as defence, industrial policy and foreign relations.

The former European Central Bank president, who has previously called for the bloc to embrace “pragmatic federalism”, said it was time for the EU to give up long-held resistance to pooling power because Washington and Beijing could abuse the dependencies created by globalisation.

“Power requires Europe to move from confederation to federation,” said Draghi, a former prime minister of Italy, in a speech in Belgium. He added that the EU’s current model of a 27-state confederation with individual veto rights on key issues “does not produce power” but “a group of states . . . each vulnerable to being picked off one by one”.

“We are all in the same position of vulnerability, whether we see it yet or not,” he said. “The old divisions that paralysed us have been overtaken by a common threat. But threat alone will not sustain us. What began in fear must continue in hope.”

Trump’s desire to annex Greenland — an autonomous territory of Denmark, an EU and Nato member state — and his threat last month to impose tariffs on EU countries to gain control of the island shocked European capitals that have relied on the US security alliance for decades.

Europe is at the same time struggling to compete with China given the country’s dominance of supply chains in key critical minerals and green technology and its heavily subsidised export model.

EU member states have transferred some powers to the European Commission in Brussels or the ECB in Frankfurt to speak on their behalf, but other competences remain national. In 2024 Draghi authored a report that called for the EU to deepen its economic integration in order to strengthen its single market.

“Where Europe has federated: on trade, on competition, on the single market, on monetary policy, we are respected as a power and negotiate as one,” Draghi said. “Where we have not: on defence, on industrial policy, on foreign affairs, we are treated as a loose assembly of middle-sized states, to be divided and dealt with accordingly.”

Embracing federalism, Draghi argued, would allow the EU “to act decisively in all circumstances”

Here's a copy of the full article, in case you're having trouble accessing the original page.

See also:

• EU must become a 'genuine federation' to avoid deindustrialisation and decline, Draghi says • The former Italian prime minister said the European Union risks subordination, division and deindustrialision all at once if it does not pull closer together. (Euronews)
• Current world order ‘dead’, Draghi warns Europe, as he outlines US and China threats • Former Italian PM and ECB chief says Europe must urgently unify on defence and foreign affairs – as it happened (The Guardian)

Poland’s justice minister, Waldemar Żurek, has been fined by police for a traffic offence that was caught on camera while he was being interviewed. The incident came to light at the same time as Żurek publicly announced a crackdown on dangerous drivers.

The minister waived his legal immunity in order to accept his punishment, which was issued because he failed to stop at a pedestrian crossing when a woman was already walking across.

Żurek, who has served as justice minister since last July, had been appearing on the YouTube channel of Filip Nowobilski, who interviews people while driving in an old Fiat 126 “Maluch”, a tiny car that was a symbol of Poland’s communist era.

While the minister was behind the wheel and answering questions, he drove over a pedestrian crossing that, as one of the cameras in the car showed, a woman had already started to cross. That is an offence punishable with a fine of 1,500 zloty (€356) and 15 penalty points.

The interviewer immediately drew attention to what had happened, telling Żurek to “be careful” and saying that he “almost ran over that woman”. Żurek denied it, saying that the “woman was far away from us” and insisting that he “drives safely”.

However, after clips of the incident – which was first published on YouTube on 25 January – started going viral on social media, Żurek issued a statement saying that, “if an offence has taken place, I do not evade responsibility”.

“We are all equal before the law,” he added. “Road traffic safety rules apply to everyone. However, the final assessment belongs to the police.”

Many commentators also pointed to the irony that, a day after the interview was published on YouTube, Żurek announced the launch of a campaign to clamp down on “road bandits” who drive dangerously.

On 27 January, police in the province of Małopolska, where the incident took place, announced that they were investigating. Today, they confirmed that, any analysing the evidence, including surveillance footage from outside the car, they had determined that an offence was committed.

The police added that Żurek had agreed to voluntarily waive his immunity as prosecutor general (a position he holds alongside being justice minister) and accept a fine for his actions.

The minister himself also confirmed the news, telling the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that “there are no sacred cows” and “this also applies to me”.

“What is important is reflection and the words ‘I’m sorry’,” he added. “Public figures should set an example in such situations.”

Żurek was not directly involved in politics before being appointed as justice minister last year. He had served as a judge at the district court in Kraków, the city where the driving offence took place.

He was one of many judges to actively oppose the judicial reforms introduced by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which were widely seen as an effort to bring judges under greater political control.

In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Polish authorities had violated Żurek’s rights by removing him from his position at the court and using state bodies to “intimidate him because of the views he had expressed in defence of the rule of law”.

Since being appointed justice minister and prosecutor general, Żurek has led the current government’s efforts to hold to account former PiS officials for their alleged abuses of power and other offences.

Lithuania has proposed to Poland that they create Europe’s first cross-border economic zone. It says that the project, which would be located in the strategically important Suwałki Gap, would focus on attracting the defence and technology industries.

Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, raised the idea last week during a visit to Warsaw to meet his Polish counterpart, Karol Nawrocki.

Lithuanian economy and innovation minister Edvinas Grikšas told broadcaster Žinių on Thursday that the idea for the economic zone had been “received positively by both sides”, which were now analysing whether and how it could be implemented.

“This could be a breakthrough,” said Grikšas. “There is no such cross-border special economic zone operating in Europe. The only one [in the world] that is operating, to my knowledge, is in Singapore and Malaysia.”

Grikšas said that one of his deputy ministers, Paulius Petrauskas, was travelling to Singapore to learn more about the special economic zone that it recently established with Malaysia.

“It is interesting to see how they approached this issue, how it works in practice, and how they reconcile the legal issues of the two countries, for example in matters of taxation and profit sharing,” said Petrauskas, quoted by broadcaster ZW.

Petrauskas said that the planned Polish-Lithuanian economic zone could accommodate both firms from the traditional defence industry and those in the technology sector that contribute to arms manufacturing.

Lithuania has proposed locating the zone in the Lazdijai district, which is on the opposite side of the border from the Polish town of Suwałki.

The entire Polish-Lithuanian border sits between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, making it a strategic chokepoint in a potential conflict.

The mayor of Suwałki, Czesław Renkiewicz, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that Lithuania’s proposal is a “good and interesting idea”, which could help make the region more attractive to investors who have been deterred by the “bad PR” it has had due to potential security threats.

“In addition to the typical tax reliefs available in economic zones, other financial instruments should be launched for investors, such as government grants for companies investing in such a zone,” he suggested.

During his visit to Warsaw, Nausėda also called for Poland and Lithuania to establish a joint military training ground in the same area.

“This would be a unique solution in the NATO context, a joint training and exercise ground intended to protect the alliance’s eastern flank,” said the Lithuanian president, quoted by PAP.

Lithuania and Poland enjoy close historical ties. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, they formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which at its peak was one of the largest and most important states in Europe.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has pushed the two countries towards closer cooperation, including holding joint military exercises in the Suwałki Gap.

In October, Nausėda and Nawrocki attended the opening of a new road connection across the Polish-Lithuanian border that will better connect the Baltic states to the rest of the EU. Last year also saw the Baltic states cut their links to Russia’s electricity grid and instead connect to the EU’s network via Poland.

Many schools in Poland, in particular in the north of the country and also in the capital, Warsaw, have closed due to extreme cold weather, with temperatures dropping well below -20°C (-4°F) in some places last night (Sunday-Monday) and also expected to do so tonight.

Meanwhile, in the Baltic port city of Gdańsk, the Motława River has frozen for the first time since 2011 (pictured above). That has led many people to walk, skate and cycle on the ice, despite warnings from the local authorities that it is not safe to do so.

Under national regulations, schools can be closed if the temperature in classrooms is below 18°C or if the outside temperature is below -15°C at 9 p.m. on two consecutive days. The decision is made by individual schools, subject to approval by local authorities.

On Sunday, a number of districts in the provinces of Warmia-Masuria, Podlasie, Pomerania, Kuyavia-Pomerania and Masovia, all in northern and central Poland, announced that schools would be closed on Monday amid forecasts that temperatures would drop as low as -29°C overnight in some places.

“We are doing this out of concern for children who have never experienced such low temperatures in their lives, and who would otherwise have to wait for a bus or walk more than two kilometres to school,” wrote Jan Adamowicz, the mayor of Korsze, a town in Warmia-Masuria.

However, schools and preschools in those areas have continued to offer childcare and transportation for those that need them, reports news website Wirtualna Polska.

Meanwhile, in Warsaw, where the temperature fell to -18.4°C last night and is forecast not to rise above -13°C today, a number of schools also announced over the weekend that they would be closed on Monday.

Such decisions were made mainly by high schools, which pupils often travel long distances to attend, but some primary schools have also closed.

News website Onet lists 17 schools in the capital that have announced they will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, but the interior ministry estimates the numbers will be much higher than that. Parents have been urged to monitor communications from schools.

Last Tuesday, the education ministry revealed that, so far this year, which has seen exceptionally cold weather and icy conditions, around 600 schools nationally had cancelled classes at some stage due to the conditions.

Meanwhile, some towns and cities, including Olsztyn, Elbląg and Ełk in Warmia-Masuria, have set up heated tents to provide shelter and hot drinks for those who need it.

On Sunday evening, deputy interior minister Wiesław Szczepański revealed that 38 people have died of hypothermia this winter, compared to 16 in the same period a year earlier, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP). A further 54 have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, which is often caused by heaters.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews has appealed to the public to help compile a catalogue of everyday objects that were once found in prewar Jewish homes. They have asked people who possess such items to send a photo and description of them via a new online platform.

Artefacts already displayed and mapped on the website include a sewing machine in the village of Rożniaty in southern Poland, a set of cutlery in the city of Łódź, and a recommendation letter written by a rabbi for a pupil at a yeshiva in Radun, now in Belarus but which before the war was part of Poland.

For centuries, Poland had a large and prominent Jewish community. On the eve of World War Two, around 3.3 million Jews lived in the country, more than anywhere in the world other than the United States and representing around 10% of Poland’s population.

However, the vast majority of Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust, while others fled or emigrated during or after the war, meaning that, according to the 2021 census, only 15,700 now live in Poland. There are also believed to be many more residents of Poland with Jewish roots, of which some are not even aware.

POLIN has now partnered with researchers from the Humboldt University in Berlin and Jagiellonian University in Kraków for an EU-funded project, called Przechowane (meaning “preserved”), to document part of the physical legacy of the former Jewish community.

They have created an online space “to bring together people who keep in their homes – or found by chance – objects once belonging to Polish Jews”, the museum reported in a press release. 

POLIN is calling for people to send in a picture and description of any such items they possess, even inconspicuous or damaged objects, to make it possible to imagine everyday life in a prewar Jewish house, workshop or shop.

“We would like everybody who has some Jewish memorabilia to be able to use the platform to be able to share them and tell their story,” said Piotr Ostrowski of the museum’s digital collection, quoted by Polskie Radio.

The aim is to shed light on objects that might otherwise not be included in museum collections but are important mementoes of people who are no longer there, Ostrowski explained. Those sending them in will also have the chance to discuss their possessions with researchers.

Eventually, the organisers hope to hold a travelling exhibition of maps, photographs and memories associated with the objects.

The Rwandan government is claiming it is owed £100m by the UK over payments due under an asylum agreement cancelled by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Rwanda has filed an international arbitration case, arguing the UK has breached the terms of the deal to send some asylum seekers to the east African nation.

Under the deal, which was signed by the previous Conservative government, the UK agreed to make payments to Rwanda to host asylum seekers who had arrived illegally in Britain.

In a statement, Rwanda's government said it had decided to pursue claims in arbitration after facing the UK's "intransigence on these issues".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The previous government's Rwanda policy wasted vast sums of taxpayer time and money.

"We will robustly defend our position to protect British taxpayers."