Author: staff
Published on 01/07/2026 – 22:49 GMT+2 The Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with administering post-war Gaza said on Wednesday it concluded two days of “highly productive” talks in Cyprus on easing humanitarian suffering and advancing plans to rebuild the territory. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) said in a post on X that it held “a series of working meetings in Cyprus with experts and advisers of the Board of Peace, the Office of the High Representative for Gaza (Nikolai Mladenov) and the Tony Blair Institute.” The talks focused on efforts to “relieve the suffering” of Gazans, the…
Published on 01/07/2026 – 22:17 GMT+2 Two people climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s antenna in New York and unfurled a banner about “the power of love” on Wednesday, before descending and ultimately being arrested. Dressed in black and wearing masks, the two balanced on a narrow ledge and appeared to kiss atop the New York skyscraper’s antenna, which rises 443 metres above midtown Manhattan, news helicopter video showed. The banner, reading “when the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” waved in the wind. Just after 12:30 pm, they began to…
The comments came at a joint press conference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte after a German cabinet meeting focused on security policy, days before NATO leaders gather in Ankara. The German defense minister said Berlin needs capabilities it does not yet have — or cannot produce fast enough — as Europe races to rearm, which is why Berlin is “very interested” in producing select U.S. systems or parts of systems in Germany. This includes areas linked to the F-35 program. “There are systems that we do not yet have, or that we do not have [in…
Former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and current Ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi intends to run in the next presidential elections, according to the latest domestic reports. According to Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, Zaluzhnyi was summoned to Kyiv in mid-June, when incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly asked his former top military commander whether he would take part in presidential elections if they were held in autumn. According to the reports, Zaluzhnyi confirmed his intentions and explained that he had previously never sought a political career, “but many people are placing their hopes in him and he would not…
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Tuesday, opening a two-day visit to the South Caucasus that underscored the European Union’s growing strategic interest in the region as it seeks to strengthen energy security, transport links and regional stability. Baku is the first stop of von der Leyen’s regional tour before she travels to Armenia, with the European Commission describing the visit as part of sustained high-level engagement with partners across the South Caucasus. At a joint press conference following their talks, the two leaders focused on the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, transport…
“We urge FIFA to stand on the side of peace and not appease the aggressor – Russia,” the letter reads. After Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022, FIFA banned Russia from participating in all of its football competitions. FIFA lifted the blanket ban for youth competitions in 2023, but Russian teams have not played in its U-17 World Cups since. FIFA announced last week its first U-15 World Cup, in which boys and girls will compete this October in Azerbaijan. At the time, the organization announced that the competition would be open to “all FIFA member associations,” opening…
Published on 01/07/2026 – 19:07 GMT+2 Albania’s position as host of next year’s NATO summit is in doubt thanks to the country’s failure to meet key spending milestones. Euronews previously reported that the draft conclusion for next week’s NATO summit in Ankara omits any mention of holding the next gathering in Albania, despite the summit’s location being previously announced. The withholding of any mention from the final summit declaration is a purposeful move by NATO officials to pressure Albania to step up. A NATO source confirmed on Wednesday that the situation hasn’t changed, and the alliance was sending a “strong…
Published on 01/07/2026 – 21:28 GMT+2 The families of five young men killed in Venezuela have sued ousted president Nicolás Maduro in US court, alleging that he ordered the extrajudicial killings as part of a wider pattern of state violence. The 44-page complaint states that Maduro had an elite security force called Special Action Forces (FAES) execute the men between 2017 and 2020. It says the victims were among thousands killed under Maduro’s command by units including FAES, which dissolved in 2021 after complaints of human rights abuses including from the United Nations. Maduro is currently in a New York…
Published on 01/07/2026 – 21:12 GMT+2 It was a tough watch for England fans but thanks to the heroics of Harry Kane the Three Lions are through to the World Cup round of 16 after coming back from a goal down to beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-1 in Atlanta. An all-time shock was on the cards when the underdogs took the lead after just seven minutes through Brian Cipenga. However, skipper Kane stepped up with two late goals as England set up a last-16 tie against co-hosts Mexico. Bayern Munich striker Kane equalised on 75 minutes when…
Serafin’s investigation also failed to single out any individual responsible. “On the basis of the information gathered during the investigation, and with the limited tools currently available to the Commission, it is not possible to attribute individual responsibility or involvement beyond that of the intelligence officers themselves,” the document says. The document, which was sent to MEPs, said the Commission was “not aware” of any “serious” security breaches. Nevertheless, it does detail some of its findings — and confirms for the first time the spy ring’s existence, as well as its targeting of EU officials. “The intelligence officers used their…