Author: staff

Israel and Hamas began indirect talks in Egypt, which aim to end the war on Gaza after both sides signalled their support for US President Donlad Trump’s proposed peace plan. The US-brokered talks held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh came on the eve of the second anniversary of the Israeli offensive on the enclave. They sought to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas and hammer out details for the execution of the first phase of Trump’s plan – the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and an immediate ceasefire. Trump’s plan has received wide international…

Since the Labour government came into power in July 2024, merger control in the UK has been drawn into a wider debate about growth and investment. As part of this shift, the CMA introduced its 4Ps framework — committing to improved pace, predictability, proportionality and process — with merger control singled out as a critical area for reform, reflecting its important role in shaping investment. The CMA has indicated that it would focus more on mergers with a “distinct and direct” UK impact, reducing the regulatory burden on global deals with no clear UK nexus. In parallel, at the start…

His joint initiative with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to assemble a “coalition of the willing” remains the only game in town when it comes to supporting any eventual peace deal in Ukraine. “It’s not good for the EU if one of the biggest member states is in turmoil, especially in the current security situation,” the same eurozone official said. A muscular “Franco-German engine” — with powerful leaders working together in Paris and Berlin — is conventionally seen as essential to making the EU strong and efficient. Macron’s travails make that far harder to achieve, even with a new leader in…

MANCHESTER, England — Migrants entering the U.K. illegally should be escorted into international waters and forced to return to France, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said. Speaking during an interview with Sascha O’Sullivan at the POLITICO Pub at Conservative Party conference on Monday, Abbott suggested the U.K. could learn a thing or two from Australia, which had managed to get illegal immigration “under control.” “When I came in, we reopened offshore detention, we put back in place temporary protection visas and we put in place a policy to turn boats around through Operation Sovereign Borders,” said Abbot, who…

BRUXELLES — Des navires liés à la Russie continuent de déverser du pétrole au large des côtes européennes, malgré les sanctions des Occidentaux, soulignant l’incapacité de l’UE à maîtriser la flotte “fantôme” de Moscou. Au cours de l’année écoulée, au moins cinq pétroliers de l’armada russe qui ne respecte pas les sanctions ont continué à naviguer sans entrave dans les eaux européennes après avoir laissé des nappes de pétrole près du continent, selon une enquête conjointe du groupe journalistique à but non lucratif SourceMaterial et de POLITICO. Deux de ces navires avaient été sanctionnés individuellement par le Royaume-Uni avant de…

Lecornu’s new assignment caps a whirlwind 24 hours in French politics that has pushed the country ever closer toward a calamity with little precedent. It began Sunday evening when the first batch of government ministers were named. Opposition politicians and potential coalition partners were disappointed as the group was drawn from a cast of characters that mostly resembled the government of Lecornu’s predecessor François Bayrou, which was toppled over its spending plans last month. Bruno Retailleau, the head of the conservative Les Républicains, was reappointed as interior minister but immediately criticized Lecornu’s choices, which he said included too many officials…

His decision was taken at the end of a rollercoaster day during which the French president himself made no public remarks, but was spotted pacing alone along the banks of the Seine, cutting a solitary figure and apparently weighing up the future of France. Ultimately, the outcome of his deliberations was underwhelming and appears doomed from the start, as opposition parties piled on the French president and his latest move. “Let’s move on. They are just trying to buy time, it’s ridiculous, it’s melodrama. Let’s stop this,” said Green lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau. “Trust is broken,” said Agnès Evren, a senator…

“Europe is important — the United Kingdom and France are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and both matter. The European Union as a whole is also important,” Wadephul said, arguing that Germany has also played an active role. “Yesterday, I spoke with the Qatari foreign minister and prime minister — the key man in contact with Hamas … Tonight, I’ll fly to Cairo to meet the Egyptian foreign minister,” he said. “I’m doing exactly what a foreign minister should: Building understanding, exchanging positions, helping mediate, building bridges … Whether it ultimately helps achieve success, we’ll see — but…

“In June 2021, I felt that Putin was no longer taking the Minsk agreement seriously,” Merkel said, referring to the peace agreement relating to control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region following the 2014-2015 conflict. “And that’s why I wanted a new format where we, as the European Union, could talk directly with Putin.” At a European Council meeting that month, Merkel and Macron proposed direct negotiations with other leaders in response to the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine’s border. But a coalition of Eastern European countries, including Poland, opposed the idea. “This was not supported by some. It was…

Voting in favor of von der Leyen, as her group will do, “doesn’t mean everything is fine,” Hayer said. “Because since the first motion of censure last July, we can’t say we’ve really made any progress.” 11. The Greens are not part of the von der Leyen club VDL’s EPP is weakening Europe because it’s vacillating on “which side of the political spectrum they stand on,”  Greens co-leader Terry Reintke said. The Greens have plenty of complaints, from the “late reaction” to suffering in Gaza to the scrapping of climate initiatives. But they won’t vote against her, Reintke said, because “do…