Author: staff

According to the NGOs, the Israeli army uses the bearings for the production of Merkava tanks and Namer armored vehicles, which are being deployed in Gaza where Israel has been waging war on Hamas militants while besieging the coastal enclave, sparking a dire humanitarian situation. The court ultimately banned the shipment of dual-use goods from leaving and said the Flemish government must “stop all transit to Israel of defense-related products and other materials usable for military purposes for which there is no concrete assurance that they are intended solely for civilian end-use.” The Flemish government will face a €50,000 fine…

Krzysztof P., who was acting head of the hospital’s gynecology department, received a one-year suspended sentence, a four-year ban, a fine and was ordered to issue a formal apology. The verdict may be appealed. Izabela was hospitalized in her 22nd week of pregnancy after her amniotic fluid broke. Doctors confirmed fetal defects but delayed terminating the pregnancy. According to her family, they waited for the fetus to die before acting. Izabela died less than 24 hours later of septic shock. The hospital said all medical decisions were made in line with Polish law and safety protocols. Her death was the…

Old guard New Prime Minister Svyrydenko was one of the main drivers of the April 30 Ukraine-U.S. minerals deal, carefully crafting the final agreement out of the tough conditions Washington wanted to impose on Kyiv. She is also described by Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv, as “someone they can work with.” Her former ministry of economy was merged with the ministries of environmental protection and agriculture, and will be taken over by her former deputy, Oleksii Sobolev.  Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s trade representative and deputy economy minister, will become the new deputy prime minister on…

“Georgia’s democratic backsliding will come at [a] cost,” the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.  Kobakhidze, however, told the media that visa-free travel to Europe is not “existential” for his country, and once again defended the foreign agents law, claiming it was necessary to defend Georgian “peace and stability” against foreign influence.  The prime minister added that he believes the visa-free regime will ultimately not be suspended. The EU has long mulled sanctioning officials responsible for the crackdown on the opposition, but that would require unanimity among member countries — and the ruling Georgian Dream has allies in Hungary…

The EU is also becoming too reliant on joint debt, the chancellor said, explaining it’s “permissible as an exception” but has become “the new normal.” Germany, which has long been fiercely resistant to EU borrowing underpinned by all 27 governments collectively — as much as anything, because it would mean Berlin would end up on the hook for debts run up by more spend-friendly countries — did back down at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to allow it as a one-off to fund the economic recovery. Commission officials this week suggested that the proposed permanent EU crisis fund could…

Published on 17/07/2025 – 19:35 GMT+2 •Updated 19:40 At least 54 people have been killed in 24 hours as heavy monsoon rains lash eastern Pakistan, bringing the total rain-related deaths in the country to 178 over the past three weeks, officials said on Thursday. Rainfall has triggered flash floods and inundated several villages as the country experiences 82% more rainfall this month compared to the same period in July 2024, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. Since 26 June, Pakistan has reported 178 deaths from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest, Sindh in the south and Balochistan in the southwest, officials…

However, Regions and Cohesion Commissioner Raffaele Fitto attempted to defend the proposal during a hearing in the European Parliament on Thursday, leading lawmakers to accuse him of “selling off” Europe’s regions. “I think [cohesion policy] is not dead, we’re in a different phase,” he said, highlighting the €218 billion committed to development in the bloc’s poorest regions. Hinting at his own dissatisfaction with the proposal, Fitto added he was hopeful the Parliament and the European Council would “further improve the text” in the negotiations to be held over the next two years. Safeguard concerns For local leaders, there’s also the…

Ukraine’s new government has approved plans to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country’s weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday. “We are transforming the management of the defence sector and weapons production so that within six months, the share of Ukrainian-made weapons available to our warriors will noticeably increase,” Zelenskyy said in a speech to parliament in Kyiv. “Currently, about 40% of the weapons in the hands of our warriors are made in Ukraine. In six months, it should be no less than 50%.” Ukraine has…

He later suggested that capability could be operational in Ukraine within weeks. On Monday, Trump stated that a portion of Patriot missile defense systems would arrive “within days” but others have since questioned how quickly the transfer could take place. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Allied Air Command leader, said earlier on Thursday: “Preparations are under way — we are working very closely with the Germans on the Patriot transfer.” Merz joined British Keir Starmer for a press conference as part of a trip to the U.K. to sign a friendship treaty promising deeper co-operation on security and defense. Starmer said it was “absolutely clear that he [Trump]…

She is reportedly furious at Barnier for his decision and is “telling everyone that he is forcing his way through, that he is moving in her district and has no manners,” said an official belonging to the center-right coalition backing the government, who like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to discuss internal politics. Both Dati and Barnier are members of the center-right Les Républicains. One of Dati’s allies said she is now considering running in the by-election planned for September. Another individual close to Dati said she must run now, to prevent Barnier from emerging as “an…