Author: staff

Labour MP Sojan Joseph, whose Ashford constituency is near the Kent coast where many small boats arrive, praised Burnham’s approach so far — though argued that more action is needed. “We must continue the positive work we’ve already done to reduce the number of small boat crossings and to close asylum hotels, with the hotel in my constituency already closed, to restore order to our borders — and deliver where the previous Tory government failed,” Joseph said. On Monday, Burnham’s official spokesperson dismissed Reform’s proposals, insisting the Royal Navy already has “primacy for small boat crossings” and that border patrol…

Published on 03/08/2026 – 17:15 GMT+2 Rustem Umerov, former secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has been appointed as head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service on 3 August. Umerov has also been a key member of Kyiv’s negotiating team in the US-led peace process and he will carry on with this task, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s president explained as well that Umerov will also continue coordinating the Drone Deal initiative with foreign partners, including in the Middle East. “He has greater capacity to deal with these issues simultaneously — diplomacy, defence, and the negotiations process with the…

Published on 03/08/2026 – 12:31 GMT+2•Updated 13:23 A second attack in less than a month struck a liquefied natural gas tanker loaded in Qatar in the Strait of Hormuz, as QatarEnergy’s force majeure deliveries have extended further and insurance premiums have climbed. The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that an unidentified vessel had been struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman. Security consultancies Vanguard Tech and Marisks identified the vessel as the GasLog Shanghai. GasLog confirmed the incident occurred last Friday while the vessel was leaving the strait, and said all crew were safe and accounted for and…

Decades after the Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation across Europe and turned Italy off nuclear power, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is laying the groundwork to bring it back as the country seeks to improve its energy security. The government is counting on a new generation of Italians who see nuclear power as a source of low-carbon electricity, a tool to help fight climate change and a way to strengthen stable energy supplies amid shocks from the Ukraine and Iran wars. It is betting that such support will blunt the opinions of Italians who lived through the 1986 nuclear accident, still…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Kyiv’s chief negotiator and former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service, according to a decree published by the presidential office on Monday. Umerov’s current position as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council will be taken over by Ihor Klymenko, who was serving as minister of internal affairs, as announced in a separate presidential decree. Klymenko had been considered by lawmakers the leading candidate to replace ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Umerov’s appointment comes as part of a broader reshuffle of Ukraine’s security leadership that Zelenskyy announced…

Italy is aiming to extend at European level the model of migrant centres set up in Albania, proposing the creation of expulsion hubs of foreign nationals arriving on EU turf unlawfully to safe third countries while their asylum and immigration files are examined. The proposal, revealed by leading Italian media outlets and confirmed by government officials, will be presented by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi at the extraordinary Council of European Union interior ministers convened for Tuesday. The meeting was organised after the migration emergency that erupted in Ceuta, the Spanish exclave on Moroccan territory, where over the course of the…

A wildfire in southwest France has uncovered unexploded World War II shells, prompting bomb disposal teams to secure the area before residents can safely return home. Video showed scorched ground littered with wartime ammunition as specialists searched for and collected shells near residential properties. Officials said some munitions exploded in the extreme heat, sending shrapnel into nearby buildings and forcing the creation of a safety zone. Crews are removing visible explosives before carrying out a more thorough clearance operation once conditions are safe.

Published on 28/07/2026 – 9:24 GMT+2 A €890 million penalty handed down against Google by the European Union last week is turning into ammunition for a growing docket of private damages claims from tech-leaning companies across Europe. The fine, the first issued under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, is split into two parts. Brussels found Google had continued to favour its own services — including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results — over rival offerings in search results, undercutting fair competition and limiting the range of results available to users. Separately, it found Google had restricted app developers from steering…

A Paris court on Monday rejected Russian television star Xenia Fedorova’s appeal against a ruling that she must leave the country, a week after French authorities accused her of acting as “a conduit for disinformation campaigns” orchestrated by Moscow to “destabilize public order.” The former head of Kremlin-backed RT France, who has been under house arrest in Paris since Wednesday, challenged three government measures: the expulsion order, a requirement that she remain in Paris and report to police daily, and a six-month asset freeze. But an administrative court ruled she had failed to demonstrate any of these measures caused her…

Ukraine struck another Wildberries warehouse in Russia’s Vladimir region on Monday, the third attack in two weeks on the e-commerce giant’s logistics network as Kyiv targets what it says is a key supply chain for Russian military drone components. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the e-commerce warehouse in photos and videos posted on social media by local residents. Drones were also seen flying overhead prior to the strike. In a post on Telegram, Wildberries’ press service confirmed that fire had broken out at the facility and initially said there were no casualties. Vladimir region governor Alexander Avdeyev…