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Updated: 18/08/2025 – 12:00 GMT+2 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this August 18th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More

Published on 18/08/2025 – 11:21 GMT+2 Celebrated Irish author Sally Rooney says she will continue supporting Palestine Action, despite the UK government banning the group as a terrorist organisation last month. Writing in The Irish Times, the “Normal People” and “Intermezzo” author said she plans to use her earnings and public platform to back the direct-action group, stating: “If this makes me a supporter of terror under UK law, so be it.” Palestine Action was officially proscribed in July, shortly after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton and spraying red paint over two military transport jets…

“80 percent of the dual-use goods that Russia uses come from China,” the German top diplomat added. “And at the same time, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil and gas. And this is a development that of course not only runs massively counter to our European security interests, but also those of our partners in the Indo-Pacific.” Trump previously threatened secondary sanctions against countries that buy Russian energy, and has announced a 25 percent tariff on India for buying Russian oil, in addition to another 25 percent tariff due to trade tensions. However, Trump has so far refrained…

That’s partly true — Trump’s decision to target core parts of Iran’s nuclear program did clearly play an important role in ending Israel’s bombing strikes and Iran’s counterstrikes. But that’s a far cry from achieving lasting peace. Instead, Iran will now likely intensify its effort to build a nuclear weapon, and Israel has made clear it reserves the right to strike at any time if Iran were to rebuild its nuclear or missile program and air defenses. Not long after, in late June, came a comparatively more substantial deal to end the fighting between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of…

At least three people were killed in Russian strikes in Donetsk, the region’s governor said. Large parts of the territory on Russia’s border have been occupied by Moscow’s troops, but Ukraine maintains critical defensive fortifications in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week demanded Ukraine cede full control of the region as part of a peace deal, according to reports. In Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said a child was killed and several people injured in a Russian assault, while in Odesa, an overnight bombardment set fire to an energy facility. The barrage comes just two days after Putin met with…

Published on 18/08/2025 – 8:36 GMT+2 Veteran American stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr., who was famously set on fire for the iconic cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ album, has died aged 88. Rondell Jr. performed in more than 200 films, inclduing How The West Was Won, Lethal Weapon, Twister and The Matrix Reloaded. Arguably one of his most famous stunts – especially for music fans – can be seen in the photograph created by legendary artist Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of the English art design group Hipgnosis for Pink Floyd’s ninth studio album, 1975’s ‘Wish You Were…

But the booming arms business isn’t undermining Fico’s political pledge on aid to Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Igor Melicher told POLITICO. “The Slovak government pledged to its citizens in its manifesto that we will not send a single bullet from our state warehouses to Ukraine, and we are keeping this promise,” Melicher said in a statement to POLITICO.  Slovakia’s official help is made up of non-lethal aid and critical electricity supplies “necessary for the functioning of Ukraine as a state.” However, the government makes no secret of the fact that it has no problem with private companies selling arms.  “We…

The legal frameworks on either side of the Atlantic are starkly different. Washington treats them as strategic assets, with laws like the Defense Production Act allowing the government to fund domestic mining, steer supply chains and prioritize defense needs in emergencies. The U.S. maintains a national reserve through the Defense Logistics Agency — a federal safety net designed for wartime contingencies. Despite that, it continues to need China. Brussels, by contrast, has taken a softer path: the Critical Raw Materials Act establishes high-level targets and frameworks, but leaves actual implementation to voluntary coordination among member countries — with no central authority…

Nach dem Alaska-Gipfel zwischen Trump und Putin kommt es heute zum nächsten Treffen, diesmal im Weißen Haus: Merz, Macron, Meloni und weitere europäische Staats- und Regierungschefs begleiten Wolodymyr Selenskyj. Was können die Europäer ausrichten, während Trump erneut vor allem Druck auf die Ukraine ausübt? Jonathan Martin analysiert die heikle Mission von Washington aus.Im 200-Sekunden-Interview: CDU-Außenexperte Norbert Röttgen darüber, was die Europäer Trump wirklich anzubieten haben – und warum sie in Washington nicht als Vermittler auftreten.Finanzminister Lars Klingbeil schließt im ZDF-Sommerinterview Steuererhöhungen nicht aus. Rasmus Buchsteiner über die Hintergründe und die gewaltige Haushaltslücke von 170 Milliarden Euro. Und: Außenminister Wadephul in…

Zelenskyy put out his own message shortly thereafter, reiterating that “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably” — and alluding to parameters of his own around territorial concessions and security guarantees. “Peace must be lasting,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to X. “Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work.” Trump reportedly said he believed…