Author: staff

“Wednesday is a firebreak,” said one Labour official, granted anonymity like others quoted in this piece to speak frankly. “People will see that it’s disrespectful to [Buckingham] Palace — there will be a sense of duty around the monarchy that will kick in for some people.”  A government official echoed the same point, noting: “You can’t make a fool of the king, can you?” The sudden pause in intra-party hostilities comes after a whipsaw day in Westminster politics. Early Tuesday, the prime minister faced down his critics at a Cabinet meeting, refusing to allow discussion of his own leadership and…

The decision not to broadcast the iconic competition is “not any message against Jewish people,” but a “message against Netanyahu’s state,” the president of Slovenia’s broadcaster told POLITICO. May 11 2 mins read

LONDON — The opening of a new U.K. parliamentary session is steeped in decades of pageantry and tradition. But few have taken place in these circumstances. On Wednesday morning, King Charles III will enter parliament to deliver a speech setting out Keir Starmer’s legislative agenda for the second parliamentary session of his premiership. Over 35 bills will be listed, according to the government. But after last week’s disastrous local and devolved elections for Starmer’s Labour Party, the question on Westminster’s mind is how much of it will actually be delivered — and by whom. “The British people expect the Government…

But in the discussions with the Palace, which also included Starmer’s office, there was a general acknowledgement that this year’s ceremony would be an awkward moment for the king. “It is very embarrassing for the king that his government is such a shambles that he has to read out something that may or may not still be the government’s program by the end of the week,” according to the same person quoted above.  The Palace made clear that the king would fulfill his constitutional duties as required but that it should be for the politicians to handle the political crisis…

Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Romania are now jockeying to host those troops, POLITICO reported. Kiesewetter, a former general staff officer in the German armed forces, said he was concerned about U.S. plans to halt the deployment of long-range Tomahawk missiles as part of the troop withdrawal. Although Germany and Europe are aiming to build their own missiles, those efforts are not likely to yield fruit until 2030, Kiesewetter said. “We will benefit mutually if the Americans bring in these weapons,” he added. Kiesewetter acknowledged the tense relations between Berlin and Washington but argued that German leaders could have done a better job…

In Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA), hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the city centre to commemorate the anniversary, while mosques across the city sounded a 78-second siren, a symbolic reference to the 78th anniversary of the Nakba. A mass march started from the grave of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat towards Manara Square, during which participants raised Palestinian flags and played drums, while scout music and bagpipes played in the streets that were filled with crowds. Palestinian flags were raised in the squares and streets, while participants raised victory signs during the well-attended events. While a…

Security-Update: Drohnen aus der Ukraine – rüsten wir das Richtige auf? – POLITICO Skip to main content

After years of delays and construction setbacks, Kazakhstan’s capital Astana has launched its new driverless Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. The 22.4-kilometre line includes 18 stations linking major sites including the airport, Nurly Zhol railway station and the city centre. Officials said the trains, manufactured in China for Astana’s harsh climate, can carry up to 600 passengers each. The project, first proposed in the mid-2000s, cost around $1.8 billion and resumed construction in 2023 after being suspended for several years. Authorities expect up to 45,000 passengers to use the system daily.

Kyiv is pressing to slash Russia’s oil income, making the tankers that help Moscow a prime target. In this case, Kyiv said it had no information on the drone. “There is no evidence that it belongs to Ukrainian operators of maritime drones. We are open to cooperation with the Greek side to clarify the circumstances of the incident, if there are relevant requests from them,” Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson of the Ukrainian foreign ministry, told reporters on Tuesday. Kyiv has, however, repeatedly complained that Greece’s giant tanker fleet is helping prop up Russia. At the beginning of the war, the then-Ukrainian…

As the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival gets underway on Tuesday, 600 professionals from the French film industry, including directors, actors, technicians and producers, have published an inflammatory article in the French newspaper Libération. In it, they denounce what they describe as the_”tentacular and ideological_” hold ofVincent Bolloré over the French film industry. They warn of a growing concentration of media and cultural power in the hands of the Breton billionaire. The group, which goes by the name”Zapper Bolloré”, includes actresses Adèle Haenel, Juliette Binoche and Blanche Gardin, actors Swann Arlaud and Jean-Pascal Zadi, photographer and documentary filmmaker…