Author: staff
The EU ultimately opted for a €90 billion interest-free loan for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, financed through EU borrowing rather than the direct use of frozen Russian sovereign assets, after the asset plan ran into legal concerns from Belgium and political resistance from Hungary amongst other countries. Hungary later lifted its veto on the loan after Viktor Orbán was voted out of office, clearing the way for approval, but the compromise left the frozen-assets question unresolved: EU leaders reserved the right to use the assets for repayment if Russia does not pay reparations. Budrys said the issue had effectively…
Ziobro is wanted in Poland over the alleged misuse of public funds and the deployment of Pegasus spyware against political opponents. He has consistently denied the charges, calling the investigation a political vendetta from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He arrived in the U.S. earlier this month to work for right-wing Polish broadcaster TV Republika. Reuters reported on Monday that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau directed senior State Department officials to expedite a U.S. visa for Ziobro. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has close ties to Poland’s Law and Justice party. Sikorski said he has expressed Warsaw’s “displeasure”…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 13:07 GMT+2 A key member of a terrorist cell that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks has been allowed multiple temporary prison leaves and could be eligible for conditional release. Mohamed Bakkali was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court in 2022 for his role in helping coordinate the deadly attacks that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more after gunmen stormed Paris’ Bataclan theatre and suicide bombers struck across the city. Bakkali, who was extradited to Belgium in 2018, was also sentenced to 25 years in prison in Belgium for his…
A backlash that is not going down well. The Human Rights League (LDH) and the CGT Spectacle union announced on Saturday that they are bringing a civil action before the Nanterre judicial court against Canal+. The two organisations denounce what they call “discrimination” targeting the signatories of an anti-Bolloré op-ed, after the group decided to stop working with them. “Canal+ will appear before the courts for having broken the law”, CGT Spectacle and the LDH state in a press release entitled “No discrimination has any place in cinema”. In the text, seen by Euronews, they refer to the “unacceptable and…
The question of Ukraine’s NATO future remains one of the most sensitive issues inside the alliance. Several allies support keeping the door open to Kyiv, while others fear that moving too quickly could escalate tensions with Russia or import an active war into NATO. Jonson acknowledged that there was no consensus among allies. “I recognize that there are allies that are against it,” he said. “But if you ask me for our position, that is our position.” The Swedish minister sees Ukraine as a future security asset for Europe. He pointed to the scale of Ukraine’s armed forces, its wartime…
The money had been withheld over Budapest’s breaches of EU law under Viktor Orbán, who had governed the country for 16 consecutive years until losing last month’s general election. The €10.4 billion is part of a post-pandemic recovery fund and only a fraction of the money Hungary is seeking to unfreeze. But with a looming deadline, securing full access to that tranche has become the new government’s top priority. Magyar’s incoming administration has until Aug. 31 to formally request the money, while the Commission in Brussels has a deadline of Dec. 31 to make the payments. The country’s foreign minister…
Gordon Repinski trifft den ewigen Wahlkreis-König Gregor Gysi zu einem intensiven, persönlichen Spaziergang im Treptower Park. Direkt vor dem sowjetischen Ehrenmal sprechen die beiden über Gysis tief verwurzelte, osteuropäische Familiengeschichte, seine DDR-Biografie und den schmalen Grat zwischen berechtigtem Antifaschismus und der brachialen Realität des Stalinismus. Gysi gehört zu den Bundestagsabgeordneten mit den höchsten dokumentierten Nebeneinkünften. Gordon hakt nach: Wie passt das zu den Idealen eines überzeugten Sozialisten? Außerdem liefert Gysi ein Plädoyer gegen das vorgeschlagene Rentenalter der Großen Koalition und erklärt sein radikales, alternatives Modell für die Sozialsysteme und den Berliner Wohnungsmarkt. Er analysiert außerdem die Angst der etablierten Politik…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 8:41 GMT+2•Updated 9:03 Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged emergency responders to double down on rescue efforts after a gas explosion in a coal mine in northern China on Friday killed at least 90 people. The blast occurred underground at around 7:30 pm at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, China’s Xinhua state news agency reported. The death toll rose rapidly on Saturday, with at least 82 people now reported to have died following the explosion, whilst nine others remain trapped. Xinhua said 247 workers had been underground at the time. Xi has called for…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 7:58 GMT+2 The World Health Organization has raised its public health risk from the Ebola outbreak from “high” to “very high” in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In an update on Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the agency, said 82 cases had so far been confirmed in the country, with seven confirmed deaths. “But we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger,” Ghebreyesus said, adding that there were around 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The Director-General said the global risk from the disease remained low. The outbreak has been caused…
Once viewed as a niche interest, anime and comics have evolved into a global travel driver, with fans increasingly crossing borders in search of immersive themed experiences, conventions and real-world locations linked to their favourite series. From themed hotels to major fan events, so-called “anime pilgrimages” – known in Japan as seichi junrei – are fuelling a growing boom in anime tourism across Asia. New data from Trip.com shows searches for anime and comic-related travel experiences in Asia surged by 195% year-on-year, led largely by travellers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea. The trend was also…