Author: staff
Serbia gained the status of an official candidate for EU entry in 2012, and opened talks on areas of alignment with the bloc, known as clusters, in 2014. Asked whether Serbia’s pro-Moscow stance is complicating its EU membership drive, she said, “It doesn’t make things easier for us, which is more than obvious, since we have not opened any new cluster in the EU integration process since December 2021.” Meanwhile, other Western Balkan countries such as Albania and Montenegro have made progress in their EU accession talks, while Serbia’s negotiations have stalled, Brnabić said. This isn’t because Serbia is not…
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been confronting critics accusing him of giving up Karabakh during the heated election campaign ahead of the elections in June. In a campagn event in Yerevan, Pashinyan grabbed a megaphone and had a heated exchange with a man from Karabakh who approached him with accusations. Pashinyan has been accusing the critics that they stand in the way of Armenia’s peaceful future and economic revival. Video showed security personnel dragging the man away before Pashinyan picked up a megaphone and shouted at him in front of the crowd. The man, identified by Armenian media as…
A historic Buddhist hall on Miyajima Island burned to the ground after a fire broke out near Mount Misen in western Japan. Aerial footage showed flames and smoke engulfing Reikado Hall before the structure was left charred and destroyed. The hall was part of the Daishoin temple complex and was known for housing an “eternal flame” believed to have been burning for more than 1,000 years. Japanese authorities said around 30 firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze, which was later extinguished.
Published on 21/05/2026 – 19:14 GMT+2•Updated 21:43 The piece itself? Just 14 rust-coloured steps, arranged in a spiral. Yet this section of staircase went under the hammer for 450,160 euros on Thursday 21 May during a sale at the Artcurial auction house. And with good reason: these 14 steps once formed part of the 1,665 that run up the Eiffel Tower. Standing 2.75 metres high, this section of the Iron Lady came from the helical staircase that linked the second and third floors of the tower when it opened in 1889. During renovation work on the monument in 1983, and…
A Bruxelles, l’équipe chargée de la simplification découvre que ce n’est pas si simple – POLITICO Skip to main content
A French appeals court convicted Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter on Thursday over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight that killed 228 people, the worst disaster in France’s aviation history. The Paris Court of Appeal ruling was a dramatic reversal of a lower court decision. The appeal court said that the French flag carrier and Europe’s leading aerospace manufacturer were “solely and entirely responsible for the crash of flight AF447”, ordering each to pay €225,000, the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter. While the penalties are symbolic, the ruling is seen as significant reputational damage for both companies.…
Ukrainian military units have introduced tournaments and point based systems designed to improve speed, precision and coordination among drone pilots. While details about a reported “Wild Drones” competition remain unclear, the wider practice is well established across Ukraine’s defence sector. Operators train by flying low and fast through obstacle courses that simulate battlefield conditions such as trenches, ruined buildings and wooded terrain. Military analysts say these exercises help pilots improve manoeuvring under electronic jamming and hostile fire while allowing commanders to identify the most effective tactics and crews. Drones now play a central role in the war, with both Ukrainian…
Published on 21/05/2026 – 19:14 GMT+2•Updated 20:29 The artwork? Just 24 rust-coloured steps, arranged in a spiral. Yet this section of staircase sold for 450 160 euros on Thursday 21 May at an auction at the Artcurial auction house. And with good reason: these 24 steps once formed part of the 1,665 that run up the Eiffel Tower. This fragment of the Iron Lady, 2.75 metres high, once formed part of the helical staircase that connected the second and third floors of the tower when it was inaugurated in 1889. During renovation work on the monument in 1983, when lifts…
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X that he had asked EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to put the adoption of sanctions on the agenda of the next meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers. He accused Ben-Gvir of committing “unacceptable acts” and of subjecting the activists to “harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — who had already banned Ben-Gvir from entering Spain last year — similarly announced that Madrid would “push Brussels” to extend the sanctions “on a European scale as a matter of urgency.” In Poland, Foreign…
Italy, Ireland and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Israel’s far-right national security minister, who posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to their knees with hands bound. A global outcry erupted after Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla who were detained at sea by Israel and awaiting deportation at the southern port of Ashdod. In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and…