Author: staff

Allies are keen to bolster Ukraine’s defence and footing in the war before Donald Trump retakes office in the US in just over a month. NATO allies need to focus more on delivering military assistance to Ukraine so it can stop Russia’s slow but steady advance than discuss what a possible peace deal could look like, the alliance’s chief said on Tuesday.Foreign ministers from the military alliance’s 32 member states are gathering in Brussels for a two-day summit with Ukraine high on the agenda. Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters in a press conference hours before the start of the summit that…

French officials were keen to emphasise that the return of the objects – part of a larger haul of over 3,000 – was a “diplomatic handover” rather than a “restitution”. France has returned three ancient artefacts to Ethiopia, dating back between one and two million years. The items, which include two prehistoric stone axes and a stone cutter, were handed over by French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot to Ethiopia’s tourism minister Selamawit Kassa in a symbolic ceremony at the National Museum of Ethiopia last week.The three artefacts were part of a collection of around 3,500 items stored at the French embassy…

Should Barnier lose the vote, as is expected, he will become the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history. The EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in September and given the impossible mission of passing a slimmed down budget without a parliamentary majority. Barnier is set to give an interview on French television on Tuesday evening, in what could be a last-ditch appeal to lawmakers to refrain from toppling the government. If the parliament does oust Barnier, it would be the first time a French government has suffered the humiliation of losing a no-confidence vote…

“Most redundant services should be restored, and will hopefully not be affected further,” the company said. Finnish authorities are currently investigating the incident together with the network company, Transport and Communications Minister Lulu Ranne said on Tuesday. “We take the situation seriously,” she added. This latest disruption comes two weeks after an incident involving two undersea fiberoptic communication cables in the Baltic Sea — one between Finland and Germany and another between Sweden and Lithuania — where breaches sparked suspicions of sabotage.

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. Did we get a window into the prime minister’s attempt at a close relationship with Donald Trump on Monday when he said we will invest “more deeply than ever” in the special relationship with the US? It comes as Donald Trump announced his pick for US Ambassador to the UK. Also, who is the new cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Sir Chris Wormald? 👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your…

France’s famous cathedral will reopen Saturday after five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019. US president-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening ceremony at France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, in his first foreign trip since winning re-election in November.Notre Dame will reopen in a lavish ceremony attended by around 50 heads of state and government after it was nearly destroyed by a fire in 2019.“It is an honour to announce that I will be travelling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which…

Roxana Mînzatu’s first working day as EU Commissioner saw member states fail to agree on new EU laws on internships – but she said abandoning laws intended to protect traineees’ workplace rights would be “out of the question”. The EU’s newly employment commissioner Roxana Mînzatu on Monday vowed to press on with new rules to offer interns equal job rights – despite member states failing to agree on even a watered-down text. Mînzatu’s first working day as Commissioner Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills saw her defending Brussels plans to improve the working conditions of over 3 million trainees, which she argued…

Trump has long complained that many NATO allies are free-riding on the U.S. and not spending enough on defense. There is growing talk that the alliance should boost its goal for members to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense to 3 percent. Portugal spends only 1.55 percent of its GDP on the military, but has agreed to hit the 2 percent target in 2029 instead of its earlier promise of 2030. “We are doing a big effort to achieve the 2 percent in the year 2029 to give a sign that we are committed to this…

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu continues to draw mixed and often ambiguous reactions from European officials. France has become the latest EU country to cast doubt over the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming the Israeli prime minister could be immune to the court’s orders.It’s yet another sign that the landmark decision to call for Netanyahu’s arrest has driven a wedge between EU countries.The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for key members of Israel and Hamas’ leadership on 21 November, following a request made by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan in May.…

Carlos Tavares has resigned as Stellantis CEO after nearly four years, amid plunging electric vehicle sales and rising competition from Chinese car makers. His departure highlights the mounting challenges for legacy carmakers in the EV transition. Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis and a key architect of the PSA-FCA merger, stepped down on 1 December 2024, ending a nearly four-year tenure during a turbulent time for the automaker.His exit, two months after a profit warning wiped nearly 50% off Stellantis’ market value, reflects the struggles faced by legacy carmakers in the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).In the wake of Tavares’…