Author: staff
Published on 04/08/2025 – 10:38 GMT+2 •Updated 11:58 Western leaders have expressed outrage over recently released videos showing two Israeli hostages in Gaza appearing emaciated and distressed, with growing pressure on both Hamas and Israel to allow urgent humanitarian access. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the footage as “sickening,” saying, “images of hostages being paraded for propaganda are sickening,” and reiterated the UK’s call for their “unconditional” release. French President Emmanuel Macron called the videos a reflection of Hamas’ “abject cruelty,” and stressed that France continues to fight for their release, a ceasefire and increased humanitarian access. “The absolute…
In addition, Oasis fans have reportedly set a record for drinking the most beer at a Wembley music show, guzzling down twice as much as Coldplay fans and six times as much as Taylor Swift fans. POLITICO was in attendance but, with the pints costing as much as £8 each, didn’t contribute much to the feat. However, many EU deadlines do “Slide Away,” and critics of the recent trade deal with the U.S. indicate there was no “Masterplan.”
Performers wearing wooden masks and colourful fabrics danced through Porto-Novo on Sunday to the sound of drums, acting out stories passed down through generations. The festival is closely linked to the Yoruba, Somba, and Betammaribe communities, where masked figures such as Egungun and Zangbeto are seen as ancestral spirits that protect communities and connect the living with the spiritual world. The Beninese government promotes the event to boost cultural tourism, with visitors attending from neighbouring countries, Europe, and other regions. Officials say the festival is playing an increasing role in Benin’s tourism and cultural strategy.
BRUSSELS — It’s summer. You’ve hopped on a train to glide through Europe, laptop open, to-do list ready — but the onboard Wi-Fi has other plans. Emails don’t send, pages don’t load, and streaming? Forget it. European rail companies often tout connectivity in trains as a perk, but for many passengers, it’s still an exercise in patience over productivity. “The performance and quality of Wi-Fi onboard European trains is very poor,” Luke Kehoe, an industry analyst at connectivity intelligence firm Ookla, told POLITICO. The high speed of a train makes it predictably difficult for Wi-Fi antennas in a carriage —…
India and the Philippines staged joint sail and naval exercises in the South China Sea for the first time — a high-profile military deployment likely to provoke Beijing, which lays claim to the contested waters. Filipino armed forces chief of staff General Romeo Brawner said Monday that the exercises — which began on Sunday — had so far been successful. When asked if Chinese forces carried out a response, Brawner said: “we did not experience any untoward incident but we were still shadowed. We expected that already.” Chinese navy and coast guard ships have kept watch from a distance in…
“I expect that it may take a few weeks, but we’ll have a general reshuffling of the government so that there will be a new beginning,” he said. Maria Panayiotou, Cyprus’s rural development and environment minister, also told POLITICO about steps the government has been taking to improve its wildfire protocol. | Olivier Hoslet/EPA For Cyprus, the stakes go far beyond politics. The costs of such climate change-enhanced disasters are enormous and rising — inaction could cost the country up to €18 billion by 2050 if it does nothing, according to an assessment from Theodoros Zachariadis, director of the Energy Environment…
By Euronews with AP Published on 04/08/2025 – 8:46 GMT+2 South Korea has started to remove propaganda loudspeakers along its border with North Korea in an effort to reduce tensions, South Korea’s military said. The South’s ministry clarified that the move marked a “practical measure aimed at easing tensions”, but did not affect its military’s readiness. The ministry did not provide specifics on the removal process, nor did it clarify whether the loudpseakers may be reinstalled if tensions rise again. Prior to the dismantling of the speakers, there had been no communication between the two Koreas, spokesperson for the ministry Lee Kyung-ho said.…
Published on 04/08/2025 – 7:38 GMT+2 Britpop stars Oasis said on Sunday that its members are “shocked and saddened” after a man fell to his death during a concert by the band at London’s Wembley Stadium. The tragedy took place on Saturday night and reports have suggested that the fan fell from the stadium’s upper tier of the 90,000-capacity venue. The band went on to say: “Oasis would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the person involved.” The Metropolitan Police confirmed the news on Sunday, saying that officers and medics at the stadium and…
Sir Keir Starmer is a prime minister who is arguably more comfortable abroad – and has spent his first year in office putting Britain front and centre on the world stage. So, in this episode, Sam and Anne are joined by Politico’s editor-in-chief John Harris to discuss the major international issues facing the government in the coming parliament. With trade deals and ongoing conflicts across the globe dominating the agenda, the trio ask: — Is the UK living in Trumpland?— How will relationships abroad impact Britain’s role in the world?— And does Starmer have the political strength to put pen-to-paper…
TIRANA, Albania — In a country where cash is king, Prime Minister Edi Rama’s ambition to make Albania go without by 2030 would turn society on its head. For years, Albanians have preferred to keep their cash under the mattress — next to their AK-47, as the national joke goes — rather than in banks. But if Rama gets his wish, Albania would become the world’s first cashless economy. Much of the reason for this is that at the moment so many transactions happen under the counter. The elimination of cash “is an absolute priority for countries with high informality…