Author: staff

One key reason, said three people with knowledge of the discussions (including one of those noted above), is that Downing Street wants to publish the vast majority of outstanding messages that MPs ordered for disclosure on Feb. 4 in one single batch, rather than in dribs and drabs. Retrieval has also been ongoing, with some of the raw messages with Mandelson — specifically from WhatsApp groups — only extracted from people’s phones in recent days, a fifth person with knowledge of the process said. The wait could add to the political difficulties facing Starmer, with headlines about Mandelson dragging out…

Published on 19/03/2026 – 17:47 GMT+1 We debrief the key issues from the European Council summit underway in Brussels— leaders scramble to find a response to a fresh energy shock as the war in the Middle East escalates and grapple with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto on a critical loan for Ukraine. Interviews with former Trump adviser John Bolton, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, Ukraine’s finance minister Serhiy Marchenko, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, and Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov. Live updates from our correspondents on the ground, Shona Murray and Mared Gwyn. When and where…

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde delivered one of her most direct warnings yet about the potential inflationary consequences of the ongoing conflict in Iran. Speaking after Thursday’s Governing Council meeting which left interest rates unchanged, Lagarde said the war “has made the outlook significantly more uncertain” and will have “a material impact on near-term inflation.” Energy shock at centre of the ECB’s revised inflation outlook Lagarde stressed that the war is creating “upside risks for inflation”, primarily through oil and gas markets, with immediate consequences for consumer prices. The ECB’s latest staff projections show inflation averaging 2.6% in 2026,…

“We should rejoin the customs union this parliament … we should rejoin the single market. We should try and do this during this parliament,” he told the newspaper. “And then we should, as a Labour Party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union.” Khan, whose city London voted strongly to remain in the EU in 2016, said the damage Brexit had done had made the U.K. rejoining the bloc “inevitable.” But asked about the mayor’s comments Thursday, the prime minister’s spokesperson told a regular briefing of…

Slovenia is in the grip of a major political scandal just days before its parliamentary elections on 22 March, following the leak of video and audio recordings alleging misconduct by Prime Minister Robert Golob and his inner circle. Three days before the elections, Golob sent a letter to EU leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, raising concerns about foreign influence in Slovenia’s elections. The recordings, published on the anti-corruption 2026 website, reportedly show high-ranking officials discussing the acceleration of public procurement processes, the transfer of state funds, and manipulations in business…

Iran executed three men on Thursday who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, with activists warning of the risk of a new surge in hangings as war rages with Israel and the United States. They were the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities. Rights groups said the trio, who included a teenager who had taken part in international wrestling competitions, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture. Mehdi Ghasemi, Saleh Mohammadi and Saeed Davoudi were hanged…

Missile and drone strikes across the Gulf have already pushed global LNG prices higher, as markets react to the risk of supply disruption from one of the world’s most important energy regions. The strikes come as a wider confrontation involving Iran and Gulf energy infrastructure intensifies, with attacks reported on oil and gas facilities across several countries in recent days. Several key oil and gas sites across the Gulf have been hit, with damage reported at major facilities and growing concern over how long the disruption could last. In Qatar, fires broke out at multiple sites in Ras Laffan Industrial…

The text was drawn up by MPs from the ruling coalition as a preliminary working draft, rather than by the government as an official bill. Czech Minister of Justice Jeroným Tejc told POLITICO that the leaked version “was not prepared by anyone from the Ministry of Justice, and personally I do not consider it suitable for discussion.” Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský called the working draft a “Russian recipe for totalitarianism.” Danuše Nerudová, an MEP for the European People’s Party and former Czech presidential candidate, warned in a statement to POLITICO that “it stigmatizes civil society, nongovernmental organizations,…

Published on 19/03/2026 – 14:24 GMT+1•Updated 14:46 The ECB concluded its March meeting without altering borrowing costs, leaving the deposit facility rate at 2%, a move that had been priced in by almost all analysts. Other key policy rates, namely the main refinancing operations (MRO) rate and the marginal lending facility rate also remain unchanged at 2.15% and 2.4% respectively. According to the ECB’s statement “the war in the Middle East has made the outlook significantly more uncertain, creating upside risks for inflation and downside risks for economic growth.” The bank’s governing body considers that the Iran war “will have…

It’s a hole in the ground with no decorative or distinguishing marks whatsoever. Inside, a young Gaul, legs curled up, head bowed, sleeps. Alongside five other skeletons, his seated form catches the eye of curious schoolchildren. It could be a scene from a horror movie but it’s a description of the latest playground discovery at Joséphine Baker primary school in the French city of Dijon, where archaeologists have been hard at work since January 2025. All the graves contain men aged between 40 and 60, ranging in height from 1.62 to 1.82 metres. In relatively good health and with good…