Author: staff

“It is of utmost importance to the EU that any enablement of the war be curtailed,” the communication reads.  The statement adds that Brussels will engage with India on all aspects of countering Russia’s war in Ukraine, including preventing the re-export of battlefield items of EU origin to Russia, and “sanctions circumvention, including through Russia’s shadow fleet and other energy measures.”  Meanwhile, India sent 65 troops to join the annual Russian military exercise Zapad last weekend, where the Kremlin simulated a nuclear attack on NATO countries. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to a summit in China, he held…

Work on security guarantees for Ukraine accelerated after a gathering of European leaders at the White House in August. But EU governments have yet to nail down what those could look like — and the extent of U.S. involvement. Zelenskyy said the best security guarantee is a “strong” Ukrainian army, backed by allies’ funding contributions, and thanked Metsola for the Parliament’s staunch support for Ukraine’s EU accession. Ukraine’s EU membership bid received an initial green light from EU leaders in 2023. But its progress is currently being blocked by Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made opposing Kyiv’s entry into…

Published on 17/09/2025 – 19:25 GMT+2 A British judge temporarily blocked the government from sending an asylum-seeker who crossed the English Channel back to France, delaying the first deportation under an agreement between London and Paris. The 25-year-old Eritrean man was due to leave Britain on Wednesday on a commercial flight. But after his lawyers appealed, High Court judge Clive Sheldon granted “a short period of interim relief” so the man can present evidence to support his claim that he is a victim of human trafficking. Lawyers for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood argued that the man, who can’t be identified for…

BRUXELLES — L’Union européenne prévoit de proposer cette semaine des sanctions contre davantage d’entreprises chinoises liées à l’effort de guerre du Kremlin, dans le cadre d’une offensive de charme diplomatique visant à persuader le président américain Donald Trump de faire pression sur la Russie pour qu’elle mette fin à la guerre en Ukraine. Au cours du week-end, Donald Trump a déclaré qu’il se joindrait à l’UE pour renforcer les sanctions contre le président russe Vladimir Poutine, mais seulement si les pays de l’Otan cessaient d’importer du pétrole en provenance de Russie et imposaient des droits de douane de 50% à…

The wounded were taken to Al-Shifa Medical Complex for treatment. The attack came as thousands of residents continued to leave Gaza City amid an Israeli military operation that has intensified over the past five days. Witnesses reported long convoys of vehicles and carts heading south in an attempt to escape the fighting. The displacement, ongoing for two weeks, has increased massively since the start of the large-scale offensive, with humanitarian groups warning of worsening conditions for those on the move.

It is a major blow for Starmer, who is under huge pressure to show results on tackling small boats after a summer of localized anti-migrant protests. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which is leading Labour by 11 points in opinion polls, is amping up the pressure on the British prime minister over his asylum policy at a time when Starmer’s authority with his own party has been dented by the departure of three of his top team.  The political peril has not gone unnoticed in government. The court decision has gone down like a “bucket of sick,” one minister said.…

Published on 17/09/2025 – 17:33 GMT+2 Ireland has designated some 15 authorities in charge of checking whether businesses follow the EU’s AI Act. In a statement published on Tuesday, the government announced that the country is among the few EU member states that are fully ready to enforce the AI rules by designating several competent authorities.  The AI Act – EU rules that regulate AI systems according to the risk they pose to society – came into force in 2024, but will apply gradually.  National governments had until 2 August of this year to notify the European Commission about which market surveillance…

Friedrich Merz nutzt die Generaldebatte im Bundestag, um seinen „Herbst der Reform“ rhetorisch aufzuladen. In einer konzentrierten Rede spricht der Kanzler von tiefgreifenden Umbrüchen im Sozialstaat, einer Reform des Generationenvertrags bei der Rente und mehr Verantwortung Deutschlands in der Verteidigungspolitik. Die Botschaft: Veränderung mit Augenmaß, aber auch mit Zumutungen – insbesondere für jüngere Generationen. Rasmus Buchsteiner analysiert, wie sich Merz in Ton und Inhalt von früheren Auftritten abhebt – gelassener gegenüber der AfD, verbindlicher gegenüber der SPD. Doch ob seine Pläne in der eigenen Fraktion und in der Ampel Unterstützung finden, bleibt offen. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es…

Published on 17/09/2025 – 16:12 GMT+2 Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson have urged Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to let the countries benefit from flexibilities under the bloc’s rules on forests to protect the countries’ advanced bioenergy industries. Under EU rules, forest biomass — which includes woodchips used for energy — may count as renewable and sustainable if the member state shows that overall forest harvesting is sustainable. But Finland and Sweden’s heavy harvesting as well as the impact of forest fires that ravaged the Nordic countries in recent years endanger them qualifying as “sustainable”. The…

At least 17 people, including women and children, were killed in shelling on Wednesday by the Israeli military (IDF) on the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials. Among the sites hit was the Al-Rantisi children’s hospital, which was struck three times, forcing some 40 patients to evacuate, reports said. In central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, killing three. Two parents and their child were also killed when a strike hit their tent in the Muwasi area west of the city of Khan Younis, said officials from the Nasser…