Author: staff

Wer regiert die Welt – und was treibt sie an? In unserem Sommer-Spezial geht es um die mächtigsten und umstrittensten Politikerinnen und Politiker unserer Zeit. Wir zeigen, wie sie denken, entscheiden – und was das für uns bedeutet. Ein Politiker pro Tag, ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der Macht. In der Machthaber-Serie: 04.08.2025 – Wladimir Putin05.08.2025 – Marine Le Pen06.08.2025 – Javier Milei07.08.2025 – Xi Jinping08.08.2025 – Giorgia Meloni11.08.2025 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan12.08.2025 – Benjamin Netanjahu13.08.2025 – Friedrich Merz14.08.2025 – Narendra Modi15.08.2025 – Mohammed bin Salman16.08.2025 – Ursula von der Leyen Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen…

TIRANA, Albania — While the rest of Europe bickers over the safety and scope of artificial intelligence, Albania is tapping it to accelerate its EU accession. It’s even mulling an AI-run ministry. Prime Minister Edi Rama mentioned AI last month as a tool to stamp out corruption and increase transparency, saying the technology could soon become the most efficient member of the Albanian government. “One day, we might even have a ministry run entirely by AI,” Rama said at a July press conference while discussing digitalization. “That way, there would be no nepotism or conflicts of interest,” he argued. Local…

Holidaying in the U.K., Vance spent Saturday at the country retreat of U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, where he met Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, and Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office. Did that swing Vance? If so, only up to a point. On Sunday, he struck a pretty traditional line on Fox News: “We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business,” he said. “Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars to this particular conflict. But if the Europeans want to step up and actually buy…

Published on 13/08/2025 – 20:17 GMT+2 The Taliban registered 1,800 unemployed Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries for the chance to work in Qatar on Wednesday, the latest round of a labour agreement with the Gulf nation, a Labor Ministry spokesperson said. The programme is aimed at easing unemployment in Afghanistan and the Taliban has said talks are also underway to send workers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey and Russia. Last month, 3,100 Afghans were registered for jobs in Qatar, including in the food and hospitality industries. Wednesday’s one-day registration period was open only to Afghans who…

The phone calls, held with various combinations of European and EU leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump, came in the runup to a summit between the American president and Putin in Alaska on Friday. “So far, all the talks that have been held with Putin over the past three and a half years have been accompanied by an even tougher military response each time,” Merz said. “This time it has to be different.” One person familiar with the virtual meeting sounded a note of caution. While “overall there was a positive atmosphere,” they told POLITICO, “Trump, as always, talked…

A one-day licence costs as little as £7.30 and the fine can be as high as £2,500. The foreign secretary subsequently purchased a licence and notified the Environment Agency of his mistake. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The foreign secretary has written to the Environment Agency over an administrative oversight that meant the appropriate licences had not been acquired for fishing on a private lake as part of a diplomatic engagement at Chevening House last week.” They added: “As soon as the foreign secretary was made aware of the administrative error, he successfully purchased the relevant rod fishing licences.” An…

According to VG, Gangås said that the number of cyberattacks on Western infrastructure was increasing, often not to cause damage but to “demonstrate what they are capable of.” She also said Norway should be prepared for further hacking attacks. At the same event, Nils Andreas Stensønes, head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service said that Russia was the biggest threat to Norway’s security. Cyberattacks on Western targets are part of Russia’s hybrid warfare strategy. In another water-related case in January 2024, a hacking group breached a Texas water facility’s system, causing it to overflow. The suspected hackers are linked to the Kremlin. The dam is…

Merz hosted a series of virtual meetings to ensure European and Ukrainian perspectives are considered before US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discuss ending the war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron, alongside European Council President Antonio Costa, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, and French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu, dialled into the call remotely. Zelenskyy, excluded from the summit in Alaska, said Ukraine has held over 30 talks with partners but doubts Putin’s willingness to negotiate.

Trump said on Monday that a peace settlement would require “land swapping” done by both Ukraine and Russia, but did not specify which territories are on the table.  There were not any “robust” discussions regarding land swaps during the call, Macron said, speaking from his holiday residence in the south of France alongside European Council President António Costa. Zelenskyy has forcefully rejected the idea that any land swaps could take place without Ukraine’s say-so. “I want to emphasize right away that any issues related to the territorial integrity of our state cannot be discussed, despite our state, our people, the will of…

The report singles out the U.K.’s OSA for criticism, claiming the rules “expressly expanded Ofcom’s authority to include American media and technology firms with a substantial number of British users, regardless of whether they had a corporate presence in the UK.” Since a key provision requiring children be restricted from accessing content deemed harmful came into force in July, leading platforms to carry out widespread age checks, digital rights groups including Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch raised privacy and freedom of speech concerns. However, parts of the U.S. report mischaracterize the U.K.’s online safety laws. It claims the…