Author: staff

The French Socialist Party announced Tuesday that it would seek to bring down Bayrou after talks over pension reform collapsed earlier this week. The center-left party refrained from voting against the government during four months of negotiations between trade unions and industry representatives over how to improve the unpopular 2023 law which raised the minimum retirement age for most workers. The Socialists requested that the pensions debate be reopened in parliament after the talks fell apart, which Bayrou refused. Other left-wing groups announced that they would join the effort to topple the government, but to pass it also needs votes…

Nordic and Baltic countries — the most exposed nations if Russian President Vladimir Putin does decide to attack NATO territory in the next five years — had no choice but claim there is no problem and Trump is fully committed to Europe’s security. “Article 5 is absolutely working,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told reporters ahead of the gathering. “I don’t think President Trump is relativizing Article 5,” echoed Finnish President Alexander Stubb.  “I think the U.S. is 100 percent behind NATO obligations and Article 5,” Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also said.  “There is absolutely no discussion over [Article 5],”…

Published on 25/06/2025 – 11:41 GMT+2The UK will buy 12 F-35A fighter planes that can carry nuclear warheads in the biggest strengthening of the country’s nuclear deterrent for a generation, the British government has said. The move, which was announced to coincide with the NATO summit in the Netherlands, will give Britain’s Royal Air Force a role in the UK’s nuclear programme for the first time since the 1990s, when defence cuts were made following the end of the Cold War. Currently, the country’s nuclear deterrent is limited to a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer…

Councils in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire, meanwhile, have a separate, combined contract worth up to £100 million, commencing in April next year and not expiring until 2030. TotalEnergies Gas & Power is one of only a handful of energy firms able to offer such large-scale public sector gas deals. But energy industry experts said U.K. officials would have alternative options. Monitoring developments A government spokesperson said:“We are making the U.K. a clean energy superpower to get off the roller coaster of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators like Putin, replacing that with clean homegrown power we control…

Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. Labour is still reeling over a rebellion by one in four of its MPs on the issue of welfare cuts. How can Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recover the numbers and avoid a political humiliation? The government’s working majority is 165, so it only takes 83 Labour MPs to vote with a united opposition and this bill is dead – and along with it, a lot of this government’s political and moral credibility. Also on this episode,…

If you’re planning to attend a music festival in Spain this summer, you might wonder who cashes in the money you spend on the tickets and drinks. Gone are the days of live music sessions when the only concern was getting a good spot on the dance floor to enjoy your favourite band.This year, an increasing number of artists and a significant sections of the public are voting with their feet by refusing to take part on ethical grounds in some of Spain’s major cultural events, such as Viña Rock, Sonar, Resurrection Fest and Monegros Desert Festival. The reason for…

Fortunately for the 18-person crew, the jets below belonged to allies, not adversaries, and were also patrolling the skies for threats to the NATO summit being held in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday. “This almost never happens,” said Lt. Col. Cédric who, like others quoted in this piece, was not authorized by the French Armed Forces to give his surname. Cédric spoke to POLITICO on an 11-hour flight during which the French military showed how NATO secures the skies, whether for a major gathering of 32 world leaders or, increasingly, on the alliance’s eastern flank, closer to Ukraine, where…

History may repeat itself, but not always with the same impact.In 2012, when then-US defence secretary Leon Panetta announced the withdrawal of two combat brigades – roughly 8,000 troops – from Europe in order to reduce military spending, western European governments shrugged it off.When US president Donald Trump mused this year about withdrawing US forces from Europe, it sent barely concealed shockwaves through European chancelleries.The difference: Panetta at the time said America’s security commitments to Europe and to NATO were “unwavering”.By contrast, Trump has threatened not to protect NATO members that spend too little on defence. And his own vice…

Published on 25/06/2025 – 8:08 GMT+2Investors kept an eye on the Middle East on Wednesday as a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold after initial shakiness.Both sides claimed victory; Iran’s president said Israel had suffered a “historic punishment”, while Israel’s prime minister argued the offensive had removed “the Iranian nuclear threat”.A new US intelligence report nonetheless found that Tehran’s nuclear programme had only been set back by a few months by US strikes. Washington denied the findings of the leaked report.Early in Europe, Brent crude had risen around 1.15% to $67.91 a barrel, while WTI was 1.21%…

SORGE VOR SCHLECHTEM DEAL: Friedrich Merz hoffte gestern in seiner Regierungserklärung noch, „dass wir bis Anfang Juli mit den USA zu einer Lösung kommen“. Auf dem Nato-Girpfel in Den Haag will Merz mit Donald Trump das Gespräch suchen, hört Gordon Repinski vor Ort. In Brüssel und Berlin wächst die Sorge, von der schlussendlichen Einigung enttäuscht zu werden. Washington und Brüssel haben in den letzten Wochen mehrfach Papiere mit Vorschlägen ausgetauscht, berichtet Hans von der Burchard unter Berufung auf drei diplomatische Quellen aus unterschiedlichen Hauptstädten. Die Trump-Regierung will darin Zölle nur für Quoten senken — also für ein Kontingent von europäischen…