Author: staff
The president pointed out that his predecessors had attended all previous NATO summits, and that he had been present at every one of the alliance’s gatherings since he took office in 2023. After months of contention over who would represent Prague in Ankara, Babiš on Monday announced the head of state could not join the official delegation because “this summit will be different from previous ones.” During the upcoming gathering, the prime minister will be expected to justify his decision to cut core military spending to around 1.8 percent of GDP, below the 2 percent NATO target. Babiš’s move to…
Published on 23/06/2026 – 12:50 GMT+2 Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party and ex-husband of Nicola Sturgeon, has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for embezzling £400,000 of party funds. Police became aware of possible mismanagement of the SNP’s finances in March 2021 after receiving a complaint. An investigation was then launched after further complaints followed. Officers carried out a search of Murrell’s home on 5 April 2023 and Murrell was arrested. The 61-year-old, who was convicted on 25 May 2026, purchased an array of expensive items using the SNP’s main…
Published on 23/06/2026 – 10:32 GMT+2 With a seemingly never-ending comeback rollout, 2026 is the year Céline Dion became a teasing master. The Canadian icon is ready to say hello, sorry and thank you, as per the title of her new French-language single ‘Pardon, Bonjour, Merci,’ announced in a triptych of social media posts on Monday. “There is a line missing from this poem,” Dion cryptically wrote under the first post which featured only the world “merci” in her handwriting. Written by French composers Renaud Rebillaud and Ycare, the song is scheduled for release on 3 July and the most…
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Published on 23/06/2026 – 11:33 GMT+2 Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has begun a strategic visit to Brussels as Astana seeks a much deeper strategic partnership with the European Union, positioning itself as a reliable supplier of energy and critical raw materials while offering new opportunities in AI, logistics and green technologies. “We are in the heart of Eurasia. We border Russia, we border China, but we would like very much to strengthen our mutually beneficial ties with the European Union,” Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the EU Roman Vassilenko told Euronews in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, expressing his country’s main message…
By Sarah Miansoni with AP Published on 23/06/2026 – 11:12 GMT+2 Is there anything more satisfying for a man whose job is to scream than to be hailed as the world’s loudest person? This honour has been bestowed upon Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an Australian professional air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier. Guinness World Records last week acknowledged the 58-year-old Canberra resident recorded the loudest ever shout by an individual. He yelled “now” at 122.4 decibels. That broke the previous record of 121.7 dB set by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. She had yelled an ear-piercing “quiet.” That is in the noise…
Among the 33 proposals — all of which Merz promised to implement rapidly — are a mandatory capital-funded pension savings scheme modeled on the Swedish system and a link between the retirement age and average life expectancy, under which the retirement age would rise by about six months each decade from 2032. “The retirement age will be 70 years old starting in 2092 at the earliest,” a summary of the report reads. The reform is one of a series of urgent, long-delayed measures — spanning tax policy, pensions and long-term care insurance — that Merz and the leaders of his…
Published on 23/06/2026 – 11:08 GMT+2 Two Labour MPs are considering mounting a challenge for the party’s leadership after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned on Monday. Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely seen as the frontrunner to take over as Labour leader. But ex-minister for the armed forces Al Carns and Darren Jones, the PM’s chief secretary, are said to be lining up challenges in order to prevent Burnham winning without a contest. They would each need support from 81 MPs in order to challenge Burnham. Speaking on ITV’s Peston political show on Monday, Carns, a former marine…
In less than a month, Britain is set to get its seventh prime minister in a decade. And, barring a political earthquake, it’s all but certain to be Andy Burnham. But several questions remain about what the King of the North really stands for – he now has just over three weeks to turn a by-election victory into a policy platform to govern the country. Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy look at the fading prospect of challengers and likely coronation. Can Burnham really steady the ship 10 years on from the Brexit referendum? With the battle for No 11 well…
By Alessio Dell’Anna & video by Léa Becquet Published on 23/06/2026 – 9:55 GMT+2 Few things could have better symbolically marked 10 years since the Brexit vote — and the chaos that followed — than the departure of yet another British prime minister. Sir Keir Starmer is the sixth to leave office since the 23 June 2016 referendum, a vote that reshaped UK politics and sent shockwaves across Europe. A decade of political bitterness and turmoil followed, leaving both of the UK’s traditional heavyweight parties badly scarred. The centre-left Labour Party is struggling to find its footing after winning the 2024 election. Meanwhile,…