Author: staff
If Labour does as badly as predicted — and the SNP wins power again, despite a long-running finances investigation and two changes of first minister since 2023 — there will be huge questions for Starmer about squandering the 2024 success. Sarwar has already called for Starmer to resign. He made the plea in February, hoping a change of PM in Westminster would limit the damage north of the border. Watch to see if anyone else comes out swinging as results filter in through Friday and Saturday. 3) Feeling the Farage factor Farage has embarked on an extensive tour of England, where…
“There is no strategy without money,” said Juliana Wahlgren, director of the European Anti-Poverty Network. “How are we going to implement it if, funding-wise, this is not a priority?” Poverty target slipping The EU wants to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million from 2019 to 2030, and eradicate it by 2050. That target was set in 2021. But by 2025, that number had fallen by just 3.4 million, according to the draft of the strategy seen by POLITICO. Across the bloc in 2025, 20.9 percent of the population was…
German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius batted off suggestions that Merz might have to jet off to Washington to cool the latest tensions with Trump, saying that the two were next scheduled to meet at a summit of the G7 leading economies in France, which won’t take place until June 15-17. Until then, Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil offered reassurances that Merz was in “constant communication” with Trump to avoid a further escalation. Kornelius, however, could not offer specific information on any planned telephone calls. Even though politicians from Merz’s coalition partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), are now frustratedly arguing the…
By Toby Gregory with Peter Barabas and Gavin Blackburn Published on 04/05/2026 – 21:22 GMT+2•Updated 21:46 Euronews’ journalist Toby Gregory boarded his Emirates flight to Dubai at London’s Heathrow airport on Monday when mobile phone alerts started appearing that new Iranian drone and missile attacks were under way in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE’s defence ministry and state news agency said a fresh Iranian barrage had targeted the country following multiple alerts from authorities warning people to take cover. “Four cruise missiles launched from Iran were detected toward various areas across the country. Three were successfully engaged over the country’s…
Kallas framed the move as a wake-up call for European defense, stressing that reliance on American forces can no longer be taken for granted. “I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO and we really have to do more,” she said. “American troops are not in Europe only for protecting European interests, but also American interests.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also publicly downplayed the immediate operational impact of the U.S. decision. The move by the U.S. administration comes amid tensions between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, particularly after Merz said…
Armenia hosted on Monday the eighth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), an all-inclusive format conceived in the early days of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The EPC is famously known for producing no formal written outcomes or binding agreements. Instead, leaders use the occasion for cosy bilaterals and photo-ops, which are then meticulously documented on their social media accounts. Admittedly, there was plenty of that in Yerevan, but there was also substantive discussion that laid bare the turmoil and anxiety that the continent is going through. Here are the six takeaways from the EPC in Armenia. Merz’s glaring absence…
“Everything was wrong with that fake ‘Galician-style octopus.’ Octopus mixed with squid and broccoli — that’s never been eaten in Galicia. That octopus was as Galician as the Parliament building is Renaissance: not at all,” Vázquez said. His dinner’s guest list includes Galician President Alfonso Rueda and Suso Pereira, head of the association of traditional octopus cooks. In an April email to MEPs and assistants seen by POLITICO, Vázquez made clear this is more than a culinary gripe, pointing to Galicia’s fishing sector. “Following the notorious fake polbo á feira that we discovered in the canteen, the time has come to put…
Published on 04/05/2026 – 18:52 GMT+2 Austria expelled three Russian Embassy employees who were suspected of espionage by using antennas on Russian diplomatic buildings, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The ministry confirmed a report aired on Sunday by the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, which said authorities suspected the three diplomats of engaging in spying activities using antennas on the roofs of the Russian Embassy in Vienna and a diplomatic compound in the Donaustadt district. The installations allowed Russia to intercept data transmitted by international organisations based in Vienna via satellite internet, ORF reported. Austria hosts several UN agencies, including…
By Jane Witherspoon & Euronews Published on 04/05/2026 – 15:42 GMT+2•Updated 19:25 Booms from intercepts were heard above Dubai on Monday after an air raid alert was sounded and residents took shelter for the first time since the ceasefire in the Iran war, Euronews journalists on the ground reported. The UAE confirmed the strikes originated from Iran later on Monday, issuing a “condemnation of the renewed treacherous Iranian terrorist attacks targeting civilian sites and facilities in the country using missiles and drones.” Three Indian nationals were injured in the strikes, according to authorities. “The UAE stressed that it will not compromise on protecting…
British news outlets have identified one of the ill patients as a 69-year-old U.K. national, citing South Africa’s Department of Health, while two of the three deaths have been identified as a Dutch couple, the country’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed. The cruise ship, which left Argentina three weeks ago, was headed to the Canary Islands, but is currently sitting off the coast of Cabo Verde in West Africa, according to the WHO. WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said Monday that the agency was “acting with urgency” and “working with the countries involved to support medical care,…