Author: staff
Kaja Kallas has been caught in a political whirlwind after an informal document linked to the French government floated several ideas to drastically revamp her position of High Representative, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. The paper pitches three options, one of which would strengthen her portfolio and expand her competencies into trade and economic development. The other two options, however, would severely weaken her role by shifting powers either to the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, or to the member states. Amid the damaging headlines, Kallas opened the door for a fresh debate but made it…
Published on 13/06/2026 – 9:33 GMT+2 The United States kicked off their World Cup campaign with a dominant 4-1 win against Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday, setting the tone for Group D. Goals from Giovanni Reyna and Folarin Balogun, alongside a little help from a Paraguay own goal, proved too much for the South American side, as ex-Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino’s team romped home to victory. Despite the immense pressure of the occasion, the US side were superb in the opening 45 minutes, before a classy outside-of-the-boot finish sealed the win late in the game. It was an…
Published on 13/06/2026 – 7:35 GMT+2 US President Donald Trump said US forces carried out an operation to eliminate the leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which he called “one of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organizations on planet Earth”. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States Southern Command had conducted a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” to take out Hector Guerrero Flores, the gang’s leader and cofounder, who is also known as Niño Guerrero. Trump’s post included a short, unclassified video showing a building with a green roof exploding. Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary…
Long before Spain lifted the Women’s World Cup, or stadiums began to fill up to watch women playing football**,** there was already a Spanish women’s team playing international matches without the support of the federation. In the early 1970s, a group of footballers travelled around the country promoting a sport that was still viewed with suspicion under the Franco dictatorship. That team went on to face Portugal and Italy and had a captain who would become one of the greatest legends of Spanish women’s football: Concepción Sánchez Freire, better known as Conchi Amancio. Regarded as the first Spanish female professional…
By euronews Published on 13/06/2026 – 6:30 GMT+2 A giant hydrogen-powered engine has successfully generated electricity for Spain’s national grid in what its manufacturer says is a world first for large-scale power generation. The technology was developed by Finnish energy company Wärtsilä and tested at its facility in northern Spain. The engine runs entirely on hydrogen and is designed to help solve one of renewable energy’s biggest challenges: providing electricity when wind and solar power are not generating enough energy. Company officials say hydrogen-powered engines could help balance future power grids without producing carbon emissions. Unlike hydrogen fuel cells, the system…
“I am a strong believer in a sustainable model of development,” Silvio Gonzato, the EU’s ambassador to Albania, told POLITICO. “So it breaks my heart sometimes to see the things that have been done because I recognize the same stupid mistakes that we made in Italy, in other parts of Europe, maybe in Romania,” he said. “We’ve been advocating that you cannot, again, ask member states to grant you a 10-year [exemption] from EU rules in the environmental sector and then pursue a model of development that aggravates the problems,” said Gonzato. Albania has passed controversial laws on strategic investments…
This rule does not require airlines to include a link to the compensation form or a pre-filled form — two ideas pushed by Parliament but rejected by EU countries. Criteria for extraordinary circumstances The criteria was also revised for so-called extraordinary circumstances — cases in which airlines do not have to pay compensation to passengers for flights canceled or delayed because the disruption is outside carriers’ control. EU policymakers agreed that this concept “should refer to events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are…
Published on 12/06/2026 – 8:32 GMT+2•Updated 11:38 Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol has died aged 47, more than three years after she was hospitalised following a sudden illness, the royal palace announced on Friday. The king’s eldest daughter was suffering from an abdominal infection and was relying on medical devices to support her lung and kidney functions, until she passed away peacefully on Thursday evening. She will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and her funeral will be held “with the highest honours according to royal tradition”, the Bureau of the Royal Household added. Known in Thailand as…
The Pentagon claims these steps are necessary to rebalance European and U.S. contributions to the continent’s defense, but the decision to halt the Tomahawk sale points to a far more disquieting reality: Not only is Washington no longer deploying deep precision strike systems to Europe, it’s also denying its European allies the capacity to arm themselves with these systems out of fear of Russia’s reaction. In other words, the U.S. is now actively looking to decouple its security from Europe’s. This isn’t the first time decoupling has become an issue in transatlantic relations. Concerns over such decoupling first surfaced in…
Published on 12/06/2026 – 9:01 GMT+2 A journalist was killed in the Mexican state of Veracruz on Thursday, hours before the country hosted the opening match of the 2026 World Cup. Luis Ángel López Valdez, a crime reporter for the Vanguardia de Veracruz news outlet, was fatally shot in the city of Poza Rica in the northern part of the state, the paper said. According to the report, the vehicle he was travelling in was intercepted by armed persons in the early hours of the morning. The reporter is believed to have received threats prior to his death. The University…