Author: staff

Ein Leak sorgt für Wirbel in Berlin. Die Rentenkommission diskutiert hinter verschlossenen Türen angeblich über ein Stufenmodell, das das Renteneintrittsalter bis in die 2060er Jahre schrittweise auf 70 Jahre anheben und das Rentenniveau absenken soll. Während die Koalitionäre hektisch zurückrudern, wird klar: Die Demografie und die stagnierende Wirtschaft zwingen Schwarz-Rot zu radikalen Maßnahmen. Gordon Repinski analysiert, warum der 30. Juni zum Schicksalstag für die alternde Gesellschaft und die Zukunft der Koalition wird. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview fordert der hessische Ministerpräsident Boris Rhein (CDU) eine völlig neue Priorisierung vom Kanzleramt. Rhein spricht sich für eine differenzierte Betrachtung des Rentenalters aus , fordert harte…

McSweeney, who was credited with meticulously devising Labour’s election success in 2024, is convinced that AI has not yet been used to the full extent of its capability to manipulate elections, and that any polls in Ukraine following a ceasefire will be a lightning rod for malign influence, according to people familiar with his thinking.  His allies say he is conscious of the potential for the use of AI to ramp up in British elections, where public trust in institutions is already low and Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is on the march. The ex-Downing Street aide is expected to appear…

Published on 21/05/2026 – 6:28 GMT+2 The United States on Wednesday indicted Cuba’s former leader Raul Castro on murder charges, fuelling speculation that President Donald Trump will try to topple the communist state. The charges against the former president – who at 94 years old remains influential in Cuban politics – stem from the deadly 1996 downing of two civilian planes manned by anti-Castro pilots. Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late iconic US nemesis who led Cuba’s 1959 communist revolution. “We expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way…

BRUSSELS — Influencers attending high-level EU meetings of ministers and leaders will not be replacing journalists, a content creator working with the Council of the EU said. Pietro Valetto, a 27-year-old influencer, has been invited to the Council next week for what was dubbed an “exclusive experience” in which creators will get to see behind the scenes at the EU institution. From July, influencers will also be invited to EU leaders’ summits in Brussels as well as certain ministerial meetings, as POLITICO reported earlier this month. That announcement prompted pushback from journalists who cover these summits and meetings. But Valetto…

Rescue workers searched through collapsed buildings on Wednesday in the southern villages of Deir Qanoun al Nahr and Al-Maashouq, a day after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Bulldozers cleared concrete and twisted metal while emergency teams looked for bodies beneath the rubble in Tyre province. Officials said four women and three children were among the dead, while several others were injured. In Deir Qanoun al Nahr, a strike destroyed a residential house and damaged nearby vehicles, leaving personal belongings scattered across the debris. Images from Al-Maashouq also showed heavy destruction inside a mosque…

There’s an ominous backdrop to this year’s GLOBSEC forum in Prague as the war in Ukraine strays into the skies over NATO’s Eastern flank. The last few weeks have seen an increasing number of drone incursions in the Baltics — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — across EU airspace. And there are questions over America’s commitment to European security ahead of an important NATO summit in Ankara in July, following changes in American troop deployments, and whether the tide is really changing in the war in Ukraine.  Recording at POLITICO’s Speakeasy at the GLOBSEC Forum, Anne McElvoy sits down with two Europeans with skin in the game — Janne Kuusela, Permanent Secretary at Finland’s Ministry of Defense and Ana Brnabić, Speaker of the National Assembly in Serbia and former Prime Minister. Both…

Published on 21/05/2026 – 9:05 GMT+2•Updated 9:07 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit out at his security minister after video footage showed him taunting detained activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla who had been attempting to transport aid to Gaza. Footage released by Israel’s National Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir earlier this week had shown him berating detainees and waving a large Israeli flag as they were forced to kneel with their hands tied behind their backs. “Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” he says in the video. In a statement, Netanyahu said Israel had “every right” to stop…

Despite that, European countries still count on the U.S. to provide the ultimate guarantee of their security. “The transatlantic relation[ship], while indispensable, is changing in nature,” Czech President Petr Pavel said at the forum. But this “doesn’t mean [Europe] has to turn away from the U.S.” Pavel, himself a former NATO general, added that “NATO remains the foundation of our collective defense.” The U.S. drawdown is sending a signal to Europe, said Karel Řehk, the Czech Republic’s top general. “Europe must take over responsibility at least on conventional deterrence on itself, it’s a geopolitical reality. Let’s do our best to…

Published on 21/05/2026 – 10:20 GMT+2 US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Greenland has said he believes it’s time the United States “puts its footprint back” on the territory. Jeff Landry, who is also the governor of Louisiana, made the comments during a trip to the Arctic island this week, his first since his appointment to the special envoy role in December 2025. Greenland has made frequent headlines since Trump’s return to the White House, with the president repeatedly arguing that Washington needs to acquire the Danish territory to boost national defence and to prevent it from falling into…

With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming crisis will affect energy affordability for households and businesses alike. Remember, these rules have nothing to do with lowering levels of methane, which the legislation does not demand until 2030, but are about adhering to measurement, reporting, certification and verification standards for which neither the European Commission nor member states have done the work to establish in time for implementation.    With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming…