Author: staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the Gaza cease-fire deal until Hamas backs down from a “last-minute crisis.” “Hamas is reneging on the understandings and creating a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement,” Netanyahu’s office said Thursday in a statement, according to local media. “The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” the statement added. The Israeli Cabinet was set to meet Thursday to approve a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas in Gaza brokered by the U.S., Qatar…

“Without the Ukrainian army, Europe unfortunately has no chance against Russia today. Putin knows this and talks about it in his circle,” Zelenskyy added. “Therefore, if Ukraine does not defend itself, he will quickly move on. This is a fact. I am absolutely convinced of this.” Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At least 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 370,000 wounded fending off Moscow’s advance, according to official Ukrainian figures revealed last month, compared to 600,000 dead and wounded reported for Russia. Kyiv has close to a million troops, Zelenskyy said this month, by…

The war in Ukraine is about to enter its fourth year. Will the incoming administration in Washington bring it to an end — and what will that mean for the millions of refugees inside the war-torn country and the territories Russia occupies? Host Anne McElvoy talks to Tom Fletcher, United Nations  undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, who has been in Ukraine to survey the toll the conflict has taken on the Ukrainian people and its infrastructure. They also discuss the huge task facing the U.N. following a cease-fire in Gaza. As a former senior foreign policy adviser to three…

As he heads for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Starmer will sign a “100-year partnership” treaty with Ukraine, aimed at strengthening security in the Black Sea and the Baltic, and building economic and cultural ties between the two countries. “Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said in comments released by No. 10. “Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.” Trump’s return casts a shadow over the British leader’s visit to Ukraine, his first since winning power last July. Ukraine’s…

Mindestens von Europa aus war Joe Biden seit November kaum noch wahrnehmbar. Es scheint, er geistert aus dem Amt, so wie er vor dem Wahltag schon durch das Amt zu geistern schien. Mit seiner letzten großen Rede, seiner Abschiedsrede, hat Biden versucht, sein politisches Erbe zu retten. Gordon Repinski analysiert, wie Trump den noch amtierenden Präsidenten jedoch schon erfolgreich aus dem Bild gedrängt hat, und er bespricht mit dem Senior Political Columnist von POLITICO in Washington, Jonathan Martin, was von Bidens letztem großen Auftritt als US-Präsident bleiben wird. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview erklärt der Präsident des Bayerischen Bauernverbands, Günther Felßner, was er…

Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s ultranationalist Vox party, has been invited in his capacity as president of the far-right European Patriots party, which includes members from 11 EU countries and has 86 MEPs in the European Parliament. From Portugal, André Ventura, head of the right-wing populist Chega party, was invited along with other hard-right European figures. Poland’s Morawiecki told POLITICO on Tuesday that he would attend the ceremony in Washington, D.C. The list of who was not invited is almost as revealing.  Despite a public spat with Donald Trump’s close ally Elon Musk, Nigel Farage has confirmed his attendance. |…

According to an assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey, Greenland “contains approximately 31,400 million barrels oil equivalent (MMBOE) of oil” and other fuel products, including around 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. “That’s the kind of reserves that if they were discovered in Saudi Arabia or Qatar, businesses would be jumping for joy,” said Ajay Parmar, a senior crude markets analyst with commodities intelligence firm ICIS. “Of course, given it’s in Greenland, there would be technical challenges putting in place the piping to extract it and get it around the world,” he said. “But there’s still a major commercial…

The Danish premier said last week that she had requested to speak to Trump but hadn’t yet heard back. At the time, she assured that there was “no reason to believe” Trump actually plans to invade Greenland. Frederiksen told Danish news outlet TV2 in an interview following her call with Trump that their conversation “confirmed” that “there is great American interest in Greenland.” The call did not appear to bring the issue to a conclusion, with both leaders agreeing to continued dialogue. Trump has not spoken publicly about the call, choosing instead to repost on social media the results of…

The statement added: “For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid.” It also reiterated support for a two-state solution. The war has also been especially deadly for journalists, at least 165 of whom were killed covering the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.  Deputy editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation Barry Malone paid tribute to the slain journalists after the cease-fire announcement, writing: “I’ll never forget the relentless bravery of Palestinian journalists — about 200 of…

The EU’s most recent FMD outbreak happened in 2011 in wild boar in Bulgaria. “The outbreak was managed under EU regulations, which included measures such as culling and a standstill on animal movements,” a spokesperson for the European Food Safety Agency told POLITICO, adding that no vaccination was needed. However, “while mortality rates in animals are generally low, the disease can lead to severe economic losses in production animals and disruption in the national and international trade,” the spokesperson added. A €5 billion problem In 2024, German meat exports reached almost €5 billion, but according to the Federal Ministry of…