Author: staff

NATO allies, with the exception of Spain, agreed at last year’s summit in The Hague to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035. Yet with most European countries currently spending far below that level and grappling with fiscal constraints, it remains unclear how many will meet the target. The Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are among Europe’s biggest defense spenders relative to economic output. Their leaders met with Merz in Berlin to coordinate positions ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Ankara. A key priority for European leaders at that summit will be convincing U.S. President…

Published on 03/07/2026 – 16:07 GMT+2 EU member states agreed on Friday to sanction six Russian nationals linked to the chemical substance suspected of killing Russian dissident Alexei Navalny during his detention in a penal colony. Those targeted are scientists and researchers involved in Russia’s military chemical weapons programme, most notably in the development of epibatidine, traces of which were found on Navalny’s body after his death in February 2024. Navalny was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption activist. He was arrested in 2021 on fraud charges after returning to Russia following a failed poisoning attempt in 2020; further…

Humanoid robots chase the ball, score goals and occasionally tumble during football matches at RoboCup in Incheon, South Korea. Footage shows several games unfolding simultaneously on compact pitches as the robots pass, kick and defend with increasing precision. The tournament brings together teams developing robots capable of playing football with limited human intervention. Although their movements remain slower and less fluid than those of professional players, visitors say the technology is more advanced than they expected. RoboCup is widely seen as a testing ground for robotics research, where engineers refine balance, vision and decision-making through competitive matches.

Tango is one of the world’s most recognisable dances – a universal expression of love, passion and intensity. But it perhaps isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you picture a city like Baku in Azerbaijan, a country renowned for its intricate carpet weaving, medieval architecture and traditional dances like Yalli and Asma Kasma. At first glance, the two are an unlikely pairing: Tango was born in the port districts of Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, while Baku sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia on the shores of the Caspian Sea. However, the two…

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White insisted Brussels’ Parc du Cinquantenaire was left spotless after his lavish celebration marking 250 years of American independence, as Belgian authorities probe whether fireworks damaged one of the capital’s historic buildings. “We are in immediate contact with the Belgian company that was hired to coordinate all event logistics, including the fireworks company,” White wrote on X on Friday. He said the contractor would “remediate where it is required” and insisted that “Cinquantenaire has never looked any cleaner than it was the day after we cleaned up after our event,” posting photographs of the park…

By the end of next year, around 5,000 German troops will be permanently stationed between the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and the border with Belarus as part of the new Lithuania Panzerbrigade 45. During a major military exercise in May and June, Lithuanian schoolgirl Kamilė V. found herself at the heart of the action after winning a Bundeswehr tank ride in a NATO essay competition. Euronews met her shortly before the experience at the Pabradė training area, where she joined soldiers from the mechanised infantry battalion assigned to Brigade 45. They had just completed the nearly six-week “Freedom Shield” exercise. Just…

Kazakhstan’s new Constitution, which was adopted during March 15 nationwide referendum, entered into force on July 1, replacing the country’s bicameral legislature with a unicameral parliament. Shortly after the new Basic Law took effect, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree setting parliamentary elections for August 23. The Central Election Commission will accept candidate nominations from July 2 to July 13, while the official campaign period will begin on July 23 and conclude on August 22, the day of electoral silence. The newly elected parliament is expected to begin work before the start of the political season on September 1.…

But Munteanu’s stint as head of the country’s government was undermined by scandals that have rocked Moldova’s ministries and state-owned enterprises. Last month Dumitru Vangeli, head of the MOLDATSA civil aviation safety agency, was dismissed after his university diploma and pilot’s license was determined to be forged. On Thursday Ministry of Agriculture State Secretary Tatiana Nistorică was detained on suspicion of bribery. Vangeli publically denied the accusations, while Nistorică has not yet commented on her case. At the press conference following Munteanu’s resignation Sandu said she expected “greater involvement in difficult decisions, a stronger public presence to listen to people’s…

Ukraine and Moldova notched another milestone in their EU accession bids at a technical meeting on Friday, as member states unanimously agreed to advance the opening of another cluster of negotiations. The move to unlock cluster six (“External Relations”) marks a further step in the two candidates’ accession process, reflecting Hungary’s gradual shift in position following Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory over Viktor Orbán. Orbán had kept Kyiv’s accession bid on hold for years over a dispute concerning the treatment of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine. Magyar’s new government worked with the Ukrainian side to resolve the issue, leading…

Six Asiatic black bears rescued from bile farms in South Korea have started a new life in a forest habitat at Knuthenborg Safaripark in Denmark after an international rescue operation. The footage follows their journey from sedation and transfer in Cheongju, where they are placed in wooden crates, to their arrival in Denmark and gradual release into holding enclosures. It ends with the bears stepping into woodland and water for the first time. The animals had been kept in cages for bile extraction before more than two years of planning between NGOs, veterinarians and authorities in South Korea and Europe…