Author: Press Room

Published on 17/04/2026 – 19:18 GMT+2 A Vilnius court began a trial on Friday into an allegedly Russia-linked case where parcels with exploding devices were sent to several Western countries from Lithuania through delivery networks. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Five people are accused of working with Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU to prepare and send self-igniting packages via DHL and DPD that detonated in Germany, Poland and Britain in 2024. “During the hearings, data…regarding identified and wanted persons may be disclosed,” prosecutor Šarūnas Astrauskas told the court, according to the BNS agency. He said other members of the alleged terrorist group were…

When US Vice President JD Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, he chose Saint Augustine as his patron. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Tuesday, speaking at a Turning Point USA event, Vance invoked the tradition of the fifth-century theologian and one of the most important Church fathers to push back against Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the war in Iran. The White House number two warned the pontiff to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” citing “more than a 1,000-year tradition of just war theory” in his defence. Meanwhile, the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church was in the…

European leaders announced on Friday that they were accelerating plans for a neutral, defensive multinational mission to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, even after Iran said earlier that the waterway had been fully reopened to maritime traffic for the remainder of the ceasefire due to expire on 22 April. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Paris meeting brought together 49 countries, mostly by video conference, to discuss a future defensive operation aimed at securing freedom of navigation once conditions allow. The United States was not part of the initiative,…

Published on 17/04/2026 – 17:02 GMT+2 Venezuela and the European Union have taken a new step toward re-establishing their political relations by holding a high-level meeting in Caracas, during which both parties agreed on a working agenda for mutual cooperation. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The meeting took place at the Federal Legislative Palace and was chaired by the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, alongside representatives of the European External Action Service. According to Rodríguez, the meeting made it possible to establish a roadmap focused on “productive development”. “We have established a working agenda for productive development,” he said, without…

An online claim suggesting that Apple Maps, the web mapping service developed by Apple, has removed village names in southern Lebanon has gone viral. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Some posts making the claims have racked up millions of views, triggered explainer videos and sparked a heated debate on whether Apple has intentionally altered its maps to remove the names. Euronews’ fact-checking team, The Cube, found that one of the posts was shared by a pro-Iranian X account based in South Asia, which has repeatedly spread misleading claims about Iran’s military power in the war. The allegations come amid heightened regional tensions, with…

The European Commission dismissed concerns over jet fuel shortages on Friday, a day after the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) leader, Fatih Birol, warned that aviation fuel was enough for roughly another six weeks amid the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen acknowledged that the market is “tight” but said “there are currently no fuel shortages” in the EU, based on information from the oil coordination group, which convenes industry and EU countries and has been meeting weekly with the EU executive to assess the situation. A day earlier, IEA’s…

One leading MEP from the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) called it “the end of an era,” underscoring a pivotal moment for the third largest political group in the European Parliament. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary’s elections is beginning to ripple through Brussels, where his political allies are questioning how actively the outgoing prime minister will remain involved in European politics. Orbán is the ‘founding father’ of the so-called “Patriots,” a political alliance he launched alongside Herbert Kickl of Austria’s Freedom Party and Andrej Babiš, now prime minister of Czechia. After a term without a political family, Orbán…

Sweden’s government has faced growing criticism over its plans to require migrants to adhere to “honest living,” with rights groups and legal experts saying the proposed measure is discriminatory. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sweden’s government, which came to power in 2022 on pledges to get tough on immigration and crime, is trying to rapidly push through a slew of reforms ahead of legislative elections in September. If approved by parliament, the “honest living” measure would come into force on 13 July. Under the proposed change, the Migration Agency will consider, when granting or renewing non-EU citizens’ residence permits, whether applicants have at…

Published on 17/04/2026 – 11:25 GMT+2 A former Philippine congressman who fled the country and had his passport cancelled after being charged in a corruption scandal over flood control projects has been detained in the Czech Republic, President Ferdinand Marcos said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The alleged crime, believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars, sparked protests and arrests across the storm-battered archipelago, which was hit by hundreds of floods last year alone according to United Nations data. Elizaldy Co was charged alongside a number of public works officials and construction firm owners in November, accused of violating the…

Germany announced the delivery of Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion four years ago, marking the first heavy weapons of Western design that Berlin supplied from its own stocks. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On 26 April 2022, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht confirmed the decision on the sidelines of a meeting of around 40 supporting states at Ramstein airbase. The systems came from industrial stocks and the export had been approved the day before, Lambrecht said at the time. Germany has since delivered at least 55 Gepard systems to Ukraine, where they have become an integral part of…