Author: staff

Sunday’s snap election is being held two months after Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s government fell as a result of the so-called Spinumviva scandal. The center-right politician’s  integrity was called into question after the Portuguese press began reporting on Spinumviva — a data protection consultancy controlled by Montenegro’s family, with clients including several companies that hold government contracts. Although the center-right politician denied any conflict of interest and survived several censure motions filed against his minority government, he eventually stepped down after losing a confidence vote in parliament in March. Pre-election polls suggest that the center-right bloc led by the Democratic Alliance coalition has a narrow…

“I voted thinking of a lot of people who are quiet, honest and hard working and who have for long not felt represented,” said Dan as he voted in his home town of Fagaras in Transylvania on Sunday. “I voted for a change that brings prosperity and not one that brings adventure and discouragement of foreign investment.” Simion voted in a small town outside Bucharest, with his political patron, the banned ultranationalist former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu. He claimed he had heard official exit pollsters had been told to release data showing the race was neck-and-neck when they give their…

Cardinal Robert Prevost, a former missionary and teacher, was chosen by cardinals in a secretive conclave this month that lasted barely 24 hours. The first American pope, his papacy begins at a time of crisis of U.S. leadership, as the Trump administration seeks to roll back Washington’s centrality in multinational organizations. In his first week in the job, Leo has signaled that he intends to put peace at the center of his pontificate, saying that “it is the peacemakers that make history.” His first words in St. Peter’s Square on the night of his election were “Peace be with you…

Pope Leo XIV was welcomed by a sea of faithful as he made his way through Via della Conciliazione aboard the popemobile to the sound of applause and chants of “Viva il Papa!”, just ahead of the inaugural mass marking the start of his papacy. St. Peter’s Square was filled with international delegations and religious leaders from across the globe.Among the guests were EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A strong clerical presence was also noted, with around 700 bishops and priests, more than 2,000 members of the clergy,…

Russia seemingly used a lot of decoy drones, the Ukrainian air force said, because almost half of the attacking vehicles simply disappeared from the radar systems. Some 88 of them were intercepted, it said. U.S. President Donald Trump late Saturday said he will call both Putin and Zelenskyy on Monday as he looks to broker an end to the conflict. Although Zelenskyy attended a meeting in Turkey last week to discuss a ceasefire, Putin didn’t even send a minister. Europe, meanwhile, is far from discussing peacekeeping troops for Ukraine, new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said as he was visiting Italian…

Young Portuguese men vote five times more for the far right than girls. The conclusion, presented in a report by the European Policy Centre, reflects a growing trend that marks a gender divide among European youth when it comes to politics – men are oriented towards far-right ideals, while women lean towards progressive movements.In Portugal, in the youth population, every female vote for a far-right party is matched by 4.9 male votes. This is the second highest figure in the European Union, behind only Croatia (6.0), and ahead of countries like Spain (4.6), Denmark (4.4) and Finland (4.2). The pattern…

China on Sunday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of POM copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from the United States, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan, Reuters reported. The Chinese commerce ministry’s findings conclude a probe launched in May 2024, shortly after the U.S. sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports, according to the Reuters report. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, according to the ministry. The highest anti-dumping rates of 74.9 percent…

An explosion tore through a fertility clinic in the upscale California city of Palm Springs, leaving one person believed to be the suspect dead in an attack the FBI characterised as terrorism.A burned-out vehicle was seen in the parking lot behind the clinic after the blast, which caved in the building’s roof, sprayed debris across a five-lane road and shattered windows in businesses blocks away. The clinic was closed for the weekend, and the doctor who leads it said its staffers were safe.“Make no mistake: This is an intentional act of terrorism,” Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los…

“There is a lot of hate in this campaign. I have received threats personally, and been told pro-Europeans should be thrown through a window,” says Simena Trif, coordinator of Dan’s campaign in the area. “The current situation is the fault of the political authorities who have not taken the necessary steps to prevent extremism spreading in Romania.”  David Milea, 29, says he wanted to protect “the right to speak” in the face of extremists who want to take over. “Simion is just a populist. The big dangers with him are [losing] the funds from Europe and also switching more to…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday condemned Russia for continuing their attacks on Ukraine “with undiminished ferocity,” adding that Russia-Ukraine truce talks had also “fallen short” of expectations.Speaking alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Merz vowed to continue to increase the pressure on Moscow with added sanctions.Merz and Meloni met for bilateral talks ahead of Sunday’s inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican.Merz’s remarks came a day after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire.Russian President Vladimir Putin had spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to meet face-to-face in…