Author: staff

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s premiership is in grave peril after a key member of his Cabinet told him to set out an exit plan following dire nationwide election results. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood last night told Starmer to oversee an orderly transition of power and consider setting out a timeline for his departure. The PM hosts a weekly Cabinet meeting at 9.30 a.m. More than 70 Labour MPs have now called on Starmer to go. Westminster eyes are on a potential intervention by health secretary and possible leadership challenger Wes Streeting. Follow the POLITICO team for key moments and analysis…

Good morning. Defence – be it military, political or strategic – sits at the heart of Tuesday’s conversations in Brussels. Angela Skujins in the trenches for you, ready to lay out the war plans for today’s newsletter. Like a loaded gun: EU defence ministers are meeting for high-level talks focussing on security across three major areas, spanning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and its ongoing implications, and European defence readiness. Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov will connect via videolink to provide an on-the-ground update to his counterparts of how Russia’s invasion, grinding into its fifth…

Russia launched several drone strikes at eastern Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, just hours after the expiration of a three-day truce. The strikes killed a man and wounded at least four in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration Oleksandr Ganzha reported on Tuesday. “The enemy attacked five districts of the region more than 20 times with drones, artillery, and aerial bombs,” he wrote on Telegram. Russian forces also targeted Kyiv and struck a 20-storey residential building in the capital, Ukrainian media reported citing local officials. And the Fastiv region, near Kyiv, also became the target of Russian…

While there will be little tangible impact on Merz’s federal coalition, he will bear much of the political blame should mainstream conservatives suffer major losses to the AfD in those states. That’s partly because, in an increasingly populist age, Merz has a hard time projecting himself as a man of the people. Even before he became chancellor, Merz — a former BlackRock executive known for flying his own private jet around Germany — was often accused of being out of touch with regular voters. Indeed, Merz often seems more at ease engaging with business leaders than fielding questions from the public. This…

Choosing to travel solo is brave enough, and if you’ve already taken the plunge to travel sans friends, there’s nothing you can’t do. Perhaps your flavour of adventure is to do with wildlife, and you want to spot bears and wolves in their natural habitat? Or maybe you’re more about hiking, and it’s the via ferratas of Italy calling your name? Can’t decide where to go? Luckily for you, Much Better Adventures has come up with a list of the very best places for solo adventure travel this year. Each one has been evaluated based on numerous factors like its…

Ukraine wants Europe more involved in peace efforts with Russia — but who exactly would represent Europe in those talks? After Vladimir Putin floated former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as a possible negotiator, Brussels reacted with disbelief. Host Zoya Sheftalovich and Nick Vinocur unpack the growing debate around Europe’s role in future peace negotiations, including Nick’s interview with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Zoya’s conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand on why Ottawa is moving closer to Europe on Ukraine, defense and security. Then: Europe’s latest attempt to get ahead of the artificial intelligence boom before it spirals…

Während Friedrich Merz mit den Schwächen seiner Koalition kämpft, bringen sich hinter ihm die Ministerpräsidenten in Stellung. Ob Hendrik Wüst, Markus Söder oder neuerdings Boris Rhein: Sie alle sehen die Risse im Kanzleramt und positionieren sich für die Pole-Position. Gordon Repinski darüber, wie dieser Positionskampf das Machtgefüge der Union schleichend verändert. Heute Abend tagt der Koalitionsausschuss. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview: Der ehemalige Kanzleramtsminister Wolfgang Schmidt. Er ordnet die Sinnhaftigkeit dieser Treffen ein und stellt die systemische Frage: Liegt das Problem an den festgefahrenen Strukturen oder schlicht an den handelnden Akteuren, die keine Einigung mehr finden? Rixa Fürsen blickt auf die „härteste Tür…

Russia denies abducting children and says it has evacuated them from war zones. Lvova-Belova has portrayed herself as rescuing Ukrainian children, and has publicly said she adopted a boy from Mariupol and raised him to become a “patriot.” In an interview cited by German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, she also said that 390 children had been flown to foster families in Russia after one operation.  Europol has since handed the findings to Ukrainian authorities, who will decide how to use them in ongoing investigations. | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images Human rights experts suspect that these children are being subjected to re-education, including…

“We have this summer to reach a critical mass regarding the EU question,” said Trine Lise Sundnes, a Labor lawmaker and chair of the pro-EU European Movement — an association campaigning for Norway to join the bloc for 80 years now. Letting her gaze sweep across the restaurant, she added: “If we want to achieve that, we need every single one of you.” Norway and Iceland enjoy a similar relationship with the bloc: Deeply integrated into the single market but without full membership — a position many of its citizens are happy with. But if Reykjavik were to pivot toward…

At the time of writing on Monday evening, POLITICO’s count had increased to more than 70 MPs — ministerial aides were starting to add to the public calls, and Starmer, who came to power on a landslide less than two years ago, appeared to have lost the support of several key Cabinet ministers ahead of a Tuesday meeting. His only grace — for now — is that Catherine West, a Labour backbencher who threatened to launch a leadership bid designed to swiftly break Labour’s deadlock and force other contenders to pin their colors to the mast, ended up watering down…