Author: staff

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Saturday that Paris remains open to talks with Iran to avoid the reimposition of far-reaching sanctions if Tehran is willing to take concrete steps immediately. France, Germany and the United Kingdom notified the United Nations on Friday that crushing global sanctions against Iran which were lifted a decade ago would now snap back within 30 days due to the Iranian government’s unwillingness to cooperate with the international community on its nuclear program. Reiterating France’s commitment to reimpose the sanctions, Barrot nonetheless left the door open to further talks. “What happens now?” he said.…

A massive overnight Russian attack on Ukraine killed three people and injured at least 45 others across the country, among them three children, Ukrainian media reported on Saturday. The State Emergency Situations Service of Ukraine reported that eight people were hospitalised, among them three children: a 9-year-old boy, a 10-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old girl. Six children were rescued. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched 537 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys against Ukraine overnight, as well as eight ballistic missiles and 37 cruise missiles. In Zaporizhzhya, local authorities reported that the strikes caused power outages, alongside damage to 14 apartment…

“If in a few days, at the end of the two-week period he had indicated to [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump, Vladimir Putin continues to oppose a high-level meeting with the president of Ukraine, then we will need to force by hardening sanctions — sanctions from the United States, but also European sanctions,” Barrot told reporters in Copenhagen. The EU is working on a 19th package of sanctions against Russia, most likely targeting the energy and financial sectors, while also exploring the possibility of new tariffs against Russian exports to turn the screws on Moscow’s economy, per a discussion paper seen…

Under Japan’s current custody system, an estimated 150,000 children lose access to a parent annually. Things may or may not be different starting next year. In May 2024, the country’s legislature approved an amendment to its civil code, introducing the option of shared custody for divorced parents, and the law is scheduled to take effect by 2026. However, under this new system, joint custody will only be granted if both parents agree, otherwise leaving the family court to decide what’s best. This is leading many to view the change as largely symbolic. The current system has wrought generational trauma on…

“We are nearing this date, the point of no return really … and since we have not received a reply, we have to assume the funding has not been found,” said the Beliris spokesperson. The Schuman roundabout, which has been under renovation since fall 2023 and was expected to be completed by next summer, is facing ballooning costs. The canopy, which would serve as a stylish touch to a large pedestrian area dominated by greenery and bikes instead of cars, has increased the cost, leaving the government with a €3 million gap to fill. In a letter addressed to members of the…

Trump has said there will be “consequences” if the meeting does not take place. At Friday’s ministerial talks in the southern French city of Toulon, Macron and Merz committed to ramping up support for Ukraine, where massive Russian strikes this week have cast further doubt on Putin’s purported desire for peace. They also outlined common priorities on many European policies, from energy to financial services. Macron announced that leaders of the “coalition of the willing,” a group of Western countries working on security guarantees for Ukraine in case of a ceasefire with Russia, would speak by phone with Trump this weekend and meet with each other…

Published on 29/08/2025 – 20:59 GMT+2 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of a number of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organisation officials ahead of next month’s annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, where the groups previously have been represented. The State Department said in a statement on Friday that Rubio also had ordered some new visa applications from Palestinian officials be denied. The move is the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken to target Palestinians with visa restrictions and comes on the same day as the Israeli military declared Gaza…

Opponents of French Prime Minister François Bayrou look near certain to bring down his minority government early next month over his plans to slash the budget by nearly €44 billion. Since snap elections last summer delivered a hung parliament, Macron has tried but failed to convince lawmakers to engage in the type of compromise and coalition-building exercises common in parliamentary democracies like Italy and Germany, but rare in France. When asked if Bayrou’s likely ouster would lead to another dissolution of parliament and fresh elections, Macron said he would not engage in “fictional politics.” He also ruled out resigning. More…

The two governments also pushed for an easing of financial constraints for Europe’s struggling chemicals industry. Merz and Macron pushed for an easing of recently-revised urban wastewater rules, which require cosmetics and pharmaceuticals companies to bear the bulk of the costs of cleaning up micropollutants in urban wastewater from the end of 2028. The Commission has already committed to producing an updated study on impacts of the extended producer responsibility scheme, following strong industry pushback.   The statement from the EU’s two biggest economies sends a strong message to Brussels to push ahead with its drive to cut red tape.…

Under EUMAM, 23 EU countries plus Norway and Canada have trained about 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers. But changing the mission’s mandate would require unanimity from the bloc’s 27 capitals, which gives pro-Russia Hungary a veto. The ministers’ meeting comes one day after Russian bombs damaged the EU delegation’s building in Kyiv. That underlines the skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in stopping the war he started. “Hopes of possible peace negotiations are at least naive. All Putin is doing is stalling, cheaply buying time to keep killing people,” Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė told reporters ahead of the meeting.…