Author: staff

With parliament rising for the summer recess on Thursday, it will likely be Burnham’s only intervention from the backbenches of the House of Commons. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill  — widely called the Hillsborough law — is named after the 1989 tragedy in the Sheffield stadium where 97 Liverpool fans died following a crush. The draft law imposes a duty on public bodies to tell the truth and cooperate with inquiries after survivors and the families of those who died campaigned for decades to find out what had happened. Subsequent investigations found police cover-ups and false narratives had been spread…

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European Union member states must put the bloc’s sovereignty over national independence to be competitive in the face of the United States and China, Enrico Letta told Euronews, referring to the EU’s two rival economies as “giants”. His comments come ahead of key elections in 2027, the outcome of which could have profound consequences for the political balance in the EU, particularly the presidential elections in France. Last week’s decision by Marine Le Pen to run in the presidential race has left Brussels fearing a rupture in its ties with Paris. The National Rally figurehead campaigned to take France out…

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The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has tasked Czech police with investigating the payment of EU subsidies to companies within Agrofert, an agro-chemical giant tied to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.In a letter dated June 19, European Delegated Prosecutor Daniela Bártíková said she “decided to initiate criminal proceedings … concerning funds provided from the EU budgets.” The letter, seen by POLITICO, was first reported by Seznam Zprávy. The referral to police relates to subsidies paid before Babiš’s current term, including during his first stint as prime minister, despite findings by Czech courts and the European Commission that he retained control over…

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Published on 14/07/2026 – 17:56 GMT+2 Leaders from across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East have travelled to Doha to offer their condolences to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani following the death of his father, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The visits came as Qatar continued a four-day period of national mourning for the former ruler, who died on Sunday at the age of 74. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among the first European heads of government to arrive and met Sheikh Tamim at Lusail Palace to express her condolences. Swiss Vice President…

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While Meta has launched its AI glasses in the EU, the financial results said the distribution rollout is still slow in the EMEA region, with “more than half” of sales points still not served. More than 7 million pairs of Meta smart glasses were sold worldwide in 2025. The smart glasses still face fierce privacy pushback, regardless of the change in batteries rules. Cláudio Texeira, the head of digital policy at Europe’s largest consumer protection group BEUC, said: “Europe should not dilute consumer protections. Smart glasses are already raising important concerns about privacy, security and consumer choice. Exemptions from EU battery removability…

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Published on 14/07/2026 – 15:52 GMT+2•Updated 16:33 The European Central Bank (ECB) took the digital euro project into its next operational stage on Tuesday by naming 36 payment service providers to help test the future currency in a large-scale pilot programme beginning in the second half of 2027. According to the ECB, the participants were selected from more than 50 applicants across the euro area and will work alongside the ECB and 19 of the euro area’s national central banks, excluding Bulgaria and Malta, during a 12-month testing exercise. The pilot is intended to assess the digital euro’s technical infrastructure,…

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Flowers lay outside the devastated Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar on Tuesday 14 July, as forensic officers searched the charred wreckage, where a burnt drum kit remained on the stage. The fire, which broke out shortly before midnight on Sunday, killed at least 27 people and injured around 70 others, authorities said. Among the dead were two members of the cover band Tosakan, keyboardist Kwang and singer Breeze, whose bandmate and boyfriend, singer Athipat Wijarn, described carrying her body from the pitch-black, smoke-filled venue. Police are examining whether an exit was obstructed and investigating the wiring of the 50-year-old…

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The charges stem from David Sánchez’s 2017 appointment as coordinator of music conservatories in Badajoz, Extremadura. In 2024, Manos Limpias — a group with links to the far right that Spain’s Supreme Court was accused of filing frivolous lawsuits to undermine the government — lodged a complaint alleging the post had been created for the prime minister’s younger brother, and that civil servants colluded to rig the public competition in his favor. Sánchez has consistently denied the charges, and throughout the trial his defense argued that it was impossible to claim the post had been awarded in a show of…

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