Author: staff
According to Trump, the “great settlement” would lead to the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while also obliging Iran to forgo pursuing nuclear capabilities. “They will not have a nuclear weapon, they’ve agreed to that,” Trump said. “They will not only not have, they will not purchase, develop in any way, any shape, in any way, shape or form a nuclear weapon.” In Iran, however, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei disputed that an agreement to end the war had been reached. Speaking to Iranian state television, Baghaei said that while substantial parts of an agreement had been finalized,…
Published on 12/06/2026 – 11:21 GMT+2 NATO has announced plans to reduce the number of troops stationed in Kosovo over the next year due to the “improved security situation”. Around 4,600 NATO soldiers currently make up the alliance’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, which began in June 1999 following NATO air strikes against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević’s regime, ending the Kosovo war. Known as the Kosovo Force (KFOR), its initial objectives were to prevent conflict from resuming and to maintain public safety and order while demilitarising the Kosovo Liberation Army. “The current conditions provide an opportunity to optimise KFOR’s size and…
On the opening day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the contrasting emotions in Mexico City were palpable – a city torn between celebration and crisis. Mexico is jointly hosting the tournament alongside the United States and Canada, and kicked off the competition with a star-studded event at the Estadio Azteca featuring Shakira, Andrea Bocelli and Burna Boy. But while fans danced to the music inside the stadium, outside the atmosphere was markedly different. The sound of drums echoed in protest, not celebration. More than 1,000 relatives of Mexico’s missing people marched towards the venue carrying candles and photographs of…
Inflation remains stuck at 3.2% for the third month in a row, amid the full impact of the war in Iran. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) ended May with a year-on-year rate of 3.2%, the same as in the previous two months, according to final data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). This is the third consecutive month above 3%, against a backdrop of volatile energy prices stemming from the conflict in Iran. The figures confirm the flash estimate published by the INE at the end of May. Month on month, the CPI rose by 0.1%, three-tenths of a point…
There are, however, caveats: England and Scotland may both have teams at the World Cup, but the figures in all but one of the categories are for the entire U.K. And Curaçao — the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup — is covered by figures for the Netherlands in three of the rankings. So apologies to our Scottish and Curaçaoan readers. Let’s dive in… The Moneybags Derby — the richest group-stage game, according to GDP per capita — will be Qatar vs. Switzerland on June 13. The poorest game in terms of GDP will take place on June…
French National Rally leader visited Brussels to strengthen ties with the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang. Speaking at the Flemish Parliament, he called for greater cooperation among like-minded parties on migration and asylum policy, arguing that coordinated action could help reshape decision-making across the European Union. His visit comes amid growing attention around France’s 2027 presidential election, in which he could play a leading role depending on forthcoming legal and political developments within the National Rally. The Brussels event drew supporters as well as several hundred demonstrators outside the parliament building. Protesters accused Bardella’s movement of promoting policies they believe…
US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor met officials from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for the first in-person meeting of the critical minerals dialogue under the C5+1 format, which brings together the five Central Asian states and the United States. The meeting followed discussions launched between US President Donald Trump and Central Asian leaders during a C5+1 summit in Washington last year, where the parties agreed to deepen cooperation on critical minerals and related investments. “When President Trump hosted the C5 in Washington last fall, he was clear that Central Asia had not received the…
Published on 12/06/2026 – 8:52 GMT+2 Taylor Swift has become the youngest woman ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The American pop princess qualifies for the prestigious honour as rules state an artist must have notable catalogue 20 years after the first release of a song. For the record, Swift’s debut single ‘Tim McGraw’ came out in June 2006 and was the lead track on her eponymous first album. Since then she’s recorded 12 albums, tinged with pop, country and folk vibes, and picked up 14 Grammy Awards and a record haul of four albums of…
The new Eurodac database — the “digital backbone” of the pact, according to one Commission official, granted anonymity to speak freely, as were others in this piece — will be used to register asylum seekers’ information, such as travel documents and fingerprints, which will allow their movements to be tracked. … and more solidarity The rules also mean support for EU countries that receive the most migrants. That support could take the form of cash, the relocation of migrants from one country to another, or other assistance. Under the first attempt at this so-called “solidarity pool,” countries set targets to…
Many European countries are often stereotyped as being prone to going on strike, and recent data would appear to back that up. In the first quarter of 2026, Portugal (234), Italy (190), Spain (108), and France (105) reported the highest number of strikes among seven EU countries. That’s according to figures analysed by AI data collector Strike Tracker, the Portuguese Directorate-General for Employment and Industrial Relations (DGERT), and the Italian institutional guarantor of the balance between the right to strike and user rights, CGSSE. These industrial actions mainly targeted the transport, education, healthcare, and public administration sectors, but they’re not…