Author: staff

The last time Article 4 was invoked — a formal request to consult allies due to a security threat — was by Estonia last year after three Russian fighter jets violated the country’s airspace. No other capital has invoked it since.  Duplication drama There are few details on von der Leyen’s ideas. Earlier European security council proposals — which the EU has rejected — include the idea of capitals delegating some defense decision-making powers to a smaller group of leaders in a crisis. An Emergency Security Protocol, meanwhile, would allow one capital to convene all fellow EU members in a…

At first glance, this X account below appears to belong to a Swedish woman named Ingrid Karlsson. But the profile uses a stolen photograph, according to researchers, rarely publishes its own content and is actually listed by the social media platform as being based in Benin, West Africa. It is one of more than 8,500 accounts identified by Dutch analysis company Trollrensics and the non-profit organisation Alliance4Europe, in collaboration with Swedish broadcaster SVT. The researchers say the profiles display signs of coordinated behaviour, including similar identities, reused photographs and overlapping patterns in the Swedish political accounts they follow. Rather than…

Published on 16/09/2026 – 17:03 GMT+2•Updated 17:31 A building housing dozens of people collapsed in Gaza City early Wednesday morning, leaving rescuers clawing with bare hands through rubble until determining that 21 people, including 11 children, had been killed in their sleep. The six-storey building, which had four apartments per floor, crumbled overnight onto nearby homes and tents in the Tal al-Hawa area of Gaza City, according to the civil defence agency, which works as a rescue service under Hamas authority. The sudden collapse of the building, which was known to be unstable because of damage from Israeli strikes earlier…

Christina Poulitsi, the internationally acclaimed Greek soprano, who has appeared at iconic opera houses around the world, was a special guest performer at this year’s The Chios Festival, organised by the North Aegean Region. Together with distinguished pianist Dimitris Giakas she gave a concert at the impressive Castelli mansion in Kampos at Chios. The opera evening revolved around famous arias once sung by Maria Callas as well as the documentary by the Greek National Opera”Mary, Marianna, Maria: The unknown Greek years of Callas”. (source in Greek) Maria Callas and me A native of Chios herself, Christina Poulitsihas a deep affection…

“In this new world, we must urgently reimagine our partnerships,” von der Leyen said in the speech at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. She added that the EU wanted to “build global coalitions for our resilience and democracies. And here too only Europe ― with its size and power ― can take the lead.” For the head of the EU’s executive branch, who’s now two years into her second five-year term, the speech amounted to a declaration of geopolitical legacy. Coming one year after she declared Europe’s “independence moment” from the same platform, von der Leyen expanded on that…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” With this iconic Charles Dickens quote, Ursula von der Leyen began her one-hour-long State of the Union speech in Strasbourg, laying out solutions to cope with the “exceptional” challenges and the “incredible” change that Europe is undergoing. “In this world, Europe has chosen to forge its own path. And a stronger, independent Europe is now emerging,” she told lawmakers. “Europe is there for Europeans. And that in the cold fragility of today’s world, only Europe can provide true sovereignty to Europeans.” Here are the five takeaways from the…

Russia used Anthropic’s Claude AI model to accelerate cyber-espionage operations against Ukrainian and European government targets, run disinformation campaigns in Africa and Moldova, and develop targeting software for autonomous kamikaze drone swarms, the US company said in a report published this month. Anthropic said it had blocked all malicious activity identified in the report, used the findings to strengthen its security systems, and shared the information with government bodies and industry partners. In one major case, a hacking group designated GTG-20006 used Claude to automate operations against more than 20 organisations, including government ministries, defence and intelligence agencies, embassies, think…

Kevin Warsh has broken away from US President Donald Trump in his first Fed move, and he has done it with the entire committee behind him. The Federal Open Market Committee lifted rates on Wednesday after holding them at 3.5% to 3.75% since December, ending a pause that had grown harder to justify as energy costs pushed prices higher. Not a single member dissented in a unanimous 12-0 vote. That matters because the pressure ran in both directions as three regional presidents had voted for a hike in July, while the White House spent months demanding cuts. Nobody voted for…

Associate membership wouldn’t simply be about rebranding the EU’s existing relationship with Canada or a euphemistic catch-all for a closer relationship, but creating a new category of partners for enhanced free trade and cooperation on areas including defense, AI and high-tech science, according to an EU official with knowledge of talks. There would be no political rights or free movement, at least for now. Canada would be the first, but potentially not the only, country in the club: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan have all been mentioned as possible future members, the official added. But a fifth diplomat was…

Published on 16/09/2026 – 13:52 GMT+2•Updated 19:56 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday that she was “horrified by the images” of covincted war criminal Ratko Mladić’s funeral in Belgrade earlier this month, but stopped short of announcing any punitive measures against Serbia. “The glorification of war criminals simply has no place in the European Union,” von der Leyen said during her annual State of the European Union speech. She refrained from directly criticising Serbia despite calls for firmer action from the bloc. Mladić, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, died in August while…