Author: staff

Published on 08/07/2026 – 15:37 GMT+2•Updated 15:40 US president Donald Trump said the US plans to provide Ukraine with licence to produce US-made Patriot air defence interceptors. Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said Washington would give Kyiv “the right to make Patriots”, referring to the long‑range air defence missiles Kyiv has repeatedly requested to protect its cities and energy grid from Russian strikes. “We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said, describing the system as “very complex” but insisting Kyiv would “figure out the complexity quickly”. He said US industry was…

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President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that US forces would strike Iran “hard” in the coming night, after earlier declaring Washington’s ceasefire with Iran over at a NATO summit in Ankara. “We’re gonna hit ’em hard tonight,” he said before holding talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying: “They violate the agreement every day.” Trump also threatened to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure and to seize Kharg Island, which is home to extensive oil infrastructure. “Maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island. We may take over Kharg Island. There’s not a thing they could do about it,” Trump said. Trump had said…

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Trump framed the idea as a way of shifting responsibility to Ukraine to manufacture the systems itself. “This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough,” Trump said. “I’d say: Make them yourself.” It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to full Patriot batteries, interceptor missiles or related components. The Patriot is one of the most complex and sought-after air defense systems in the Western arsenal, and any licensing arrangement would likely require buy-in from U.S. industry and government agencies. Trump himself acknowledged the idea had not yet been cleared with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, the…

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The European Union will need significantly higher imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this summer to replenish depleted gas storage before the winter, according to the latest assessment by the bloc’s agency for the cooperation of energy regulators (ACER). While the bloc is still reeling from gas markets volatility due to the conflict in the Middle East and the on-off closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz, ACER’s summer supply outlook warns that EU gas storage was only 28 percent full at the start of the summer injection season on 1 April, its lowest level in four years. That figure…

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Published on 08/07/2026 – 14:46 GMT+2 Premier League clubs lost £948mn (€1.1bn) before taxes in 2024/25, roughly seven times the £135mn (€158mn) shortfall of the previous campaign, Deloitte found in the 35th edition of its Annual Review of Football Finance, published on Wednesday. The startling deterioration came in a season when the same clubs earned more money than ever before. Aggregate Premier League revenue rose 8% to a record £6.8 billion (€7.9bn) in 2024/25, the highest of Europe’s big five leagues, with matchday income surpassing £1bn (€1.1bn) for the first time and commercial revenue up 13%. For 2025/26, Deloitte expects…

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Published on 08/07/2026 – 14:54 GMT+2 Several major technology companies are releasing new AI models or updates this week, as the AI race promises to be hotter than the summer heatwave. OpenAI is expected to make GPT-5.6 publicly available on Thursday, widening access to its latest and most capable AI model after an earlier limited rollout. The company first unveiled GPT-5.6 in late June, but access was restricted to a small group of vetted partners while the US government reviewed potential national security risks. Similarly to the release, withdrawal and subsequent re-release of Anthropic’s Fable model, US officials had raised…

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On Tuesday, a court of appeal found Le Pen guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds. It sentenced her to one year under house arrest and a short period of ineligibility, set to expire before the April 2027 presidential election. Le Pen now plans to appeal to France’s highest court — a move that temporarily suspends the sentence. The widespread expectation had been that Le Pen would receive a longer ban on holding public office and therefore be unable to run, leaving Bardella — whom she had designated as National Rally’s “Plan B” — as the party’s candidate. He had spent…

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Published on 08/07/2026 – 9:18 GMT+2•Updated 9:35 Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Greenland was “not for sale” after renewed comments by Donald Trump suggesting the Arctic territory should be controlled by Washington rather than Copenhagen. Speaking to reporters ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Turkey, Frederiksen said she believed the US position had become increasingly explicit. “I heard the US president yesterday and I think the US position is unfortunately very clear on this topic. Our position is as clear as it has been all through: Greenland is, of course, not for sale,” she said.…

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It’s been a tough few months for Europe’s tourism industry, with travellers facing major delays on the borders due to the introduction of the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES). Now, the launch of a separate scheme – the new European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) – could also be facing delays, according to the UK’s Financial Times, after the “chaotic rollout” of the EES electronic border-check system “disrupted visits to the bloc”. The launch of ETIAS, a new online system to pre-authorise entry to the EU, is set to be delayed until 2027, the FT reported. While the ETIAS website…

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