Author: staff
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.…
Beijing’s relationship with Moscow will be at the forefront of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in China this weekend. As Russian strikes continue to rain down on Ukraine and European calls for further sanctions on the Kremlin grow, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will attend the event in the Chinese city of Tianjin with around 20 other world leaders. The meeting will include representatives from the 10 European and Asian member states of the SCO, a body which styles itself as an alternative to the US-led world order. It comprises China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and…
France and Germany on Friday agreed to better integrate their energy markets and find common ground on EU green laws as part of a sweeping bilateral reset following years of bitter feuding over energy policy. The EU’s two biggest economies gave their political backing to a new cross-border power line and the long-stalled “Southwestern” hydrogen pipeline network connecting Spain, Portugal, France and Germany at a ministerial meeting in Toulon, also attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The summit comes after years of friction between the countries over energy policy, including regarding subsidies for energy-intensive industries…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on the campaign trail he was open to the idea — a major about-face for Germany, as Berlin had repeatedly refused similar offers in past decades. Under France’s nuclear doctrine, there is a “European dimension” to the country’s so-called vital interests — which the weapons are designed to protect. However, what exactly that European dimension entails, and in which circumstances France might deploy its nuclear capacity beyond its own borders, is left purposefully vague. Unlike the United Kingdom, France is not a member of NATO’s nuclear planning group. In Friday’s conclusions, France and Germany also…
| via DSEI UK Defence leaders continue to grapple with questions of scalability, affordability, and resilience, balancing cutting-edge capability with the quantities required for operational effectiveness. Across the event floor and in conference sessions, attendees will engage with these issues in real time, seeing both concept and capability demonstrated in ways that reveal not only what is possible, but what is achievable at scale. International participation reinforces the global significance of the event. Delegations from more than 90 countries and over 40 national pavilions highlight the collaborative nature of modern defence. For the UK, the event provides a platform to…
Twenty years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina ripped into Louisiana and left New Orleans flooded. Nearly 2,000 people died. Entire neighbourhoods were lost. It was the costliest storm in US history, and it reshaped how the country responds to disasters. But the systems built in Katrina’s wake are now under threat. Scientists and emergency managers are warning that cuts to forecasting and federal response systems risk leaving the US exposed in the midst of hurricane season, and as climate change fuels ever stronger storms. The storm that changed America Katrina made landfall on 29 August 2005 as a Category 3…
Published on 29/08/2025 – 13:41 GMT+2 Israel has said its military has recovered the bodies of two hostages previously being held by the militant group Hamas in Gaza. The bodies reportedly include an Israeli man who was killed in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office identified one of the bodies as that of Ilan Weiss of Kibbutz Be’eri. The other body remains unnamed. “The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously. We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home…
By Lina Ferreira Published on 29/08/2025 – 14:17 GMT+2 A 14-year-old boy has admitted deliberately starting several wildfires in Portugal by riding to forest areas on a scooter and using matches to start a blaze in an interview with police. Officers believe he may have been responsible for blazes in Seidões, Ardegão and Arnozela. “The minor may have acted out of anger and frustration, given his poor school performance and the obvious precariousness of his social relationships,” the national criminal police, the Polícia Judiciária, said in a statement, adding that they hadn’t ruled out the boy acting as part of a…