Author: staff

Are we all in danger of missing the biggest story of the day? Sam ponders that as he links up with Anne to discuss what’s happening in Westminster today. One of the country’s biggest car producers is shut because of a cyber attack. The problems at Jaguar Land Rover have been going on for weeks – we discuss why this might be more of a political story than it seems.Elsewhere, the Tories continue to pile the pressure on the PM’s chief of staff – Morgan McSweeney – over leaked lawyer advice and a £700,000 “admin error”. In response a Downing…

The new purse for the agricultural policy, commonly known as CAP, guarantees that around €300 billion will go into farmers’ pockets through various streams funded by the EU and co-financed by member countries. The burden of spending for things like climate incentives will be shared, while area-based support — paid out to farmers per hectare — will come from the EU’s coffers.   To deliver on promises to better target support for young or small farmers, European Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen has large landowners in his sights. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images Environmentalists worry that requiring member countries to chip in to…

Incidents of unidentified drones flying in Germany’s airspace are on the rise with the country’s air navigation service DFS saying 144 drone overflights have been logged this year alone, with 35 incidents clustered around Frankfurt Airport. What remains unclear is how many of those drones were taking part in espionage. The majority were reported by pilots, while other cases were discovered by air traffic controllers. The majority of these drone flights, around 90% on average, were reported from areas surrounding airports, DFS told Euronews. For this reason, the Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt wants to rapidly expand Germany’s defence against drones.…

Pål Jonson also confirmed Sweden plans to accelerate its military buildup, aiming to reach NATO’s new defense spending targets. | Narciso Contreras/Getty Images He also rejected a bigger role for the European Commission in procurement. “We’re not part of SAFE,” he said, referring to the EU’s new €150 billion Security Action for Europe financing tool. He added that Stockholm prefers defense buys to be steered through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation or the European Defence Agency. “I don’t see a role for the Commission in doing joint procurement. EDA should have this role.”…

Publicist Michel Friedman was due to speak about democracy at the Uwe Johnson House of Literature in Klütz in October 2026 to mark the 120th birthday of the Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt. However, the Jewish publicist has now had his invite revoked. The reason given was the fear of right-wing protests but he himself sees the incident as a dangerous signal, as he told Euronews. What happened? The 69-year-old Friedman was invited to the event to read from his recently published book “Mensch! Declaration of Love by a Desperate Democrat” and to talk about democracy. According to Friedman himself,…

Brexit veteran Outgoing head of mission Croisdale-Appleby was intimately involved in Brexit talks, working as U.K. chief negotiator David Frost’s deputy in Downing Street’s Europe taskforce throughout 2020. Prior to that he was a director general in the Foreign Office from 2017 to 2020, working on European Union and other issues. Before taking up that role he was the British foreign affairs department’s Europe director from 2015 to 2017. Four people familiar with the situation, including those cited above, said Croisdale-Appleby was due to depart late summer or early autumn 2026. Earlier this month he was tipped as a possible…

Friedrich Merz will den Herbst zum Aufbruch machen und spricht dazu heute in den Haushaltsberatungen im Bundestag. Wie schwer sein Projekt wird, zeigt das deutsche Gesundheitssystem.Gesundheitsministerin Nina Warken kämpft wie ihre Vorgänger mit Milliardenlöchern bei den Krankenkassen, steigenden Beiträgen und einer Reformkommission, deren Empfehlungen frühestens 2027 greifen. Jürgen Klöckner ordnet ein, warum Beitragserhöhungen kaum zu verhindern sind und welche Risiken beim Schätzerkreis im Oktober lauern. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview erklärt Simone Borchardt (CDU), welche Rolle Primärarztsystem und Ambulantisierung spielen – und wieso „Leistungssteuerung“ nicht Kürzung bedeutet. Armin Laschet soll Präsident der Deutschen Parlamentarischen Gesellschaft werden – während die AfD über Klagen nachdenkt.…

The Socialists also claim, rather improbably, that almost all the deficit savings can be achieved via their new proposed wealth tax. And though Lecornu’s government is ready to accept a less draconian wealth tax, which would be levied only on noncommercial assets, the center-right part of the minority coalition warns that any large tax hikes might breach their redlines. Most worryingly for Lecornu, though, Socialist leaders have again decided to raise the thorny issue of pension reform. And they say there can be no deal unless the new prime minister suspends the progressive increase of France’s official retirement age from…

“The chances of reaching a diplomatic solution before the sanctions go into effect are slim,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters on Tuesday. “Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon.” But there was no sign of a compromise after the talks, according to a French diplomat. “Iran has not fulfilled the conditions but the talks will continue to explore all possibilities until the end,” said the French official, who, like others quoted here, was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. The same diplomat said the ball was now “in Iran’s court” ahead of a Saturday deadline when “snapback”…

For the Europeans, who have spent months trying to convince Trump that Putin bears full responsibility for the war, the apparent change of heart also came as something of a vindication of their own efforts. Ursula von der Leyen’s relationship with Trump has also evolved dramatically since he was first sworn in, said an EU official who was granted anonymity to speak about EU-Washington relations. | Omar Havana/Getty Images Speaking to reporters outside the U.N. Security Council building, Europe’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas appeared to welcome Trump’s post as showing a change of heart. “He’s made a very strong statement…