Author: Press Room
Italy is aiming to extend at European level the model of migrant centres set up in Albania, proposing the creation of expulsion hubs of foreign nationals arriving on EU turf unlawfully to safe third countries while their asylum and immigration files are examined. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposal, revealed by leading Italian media outlets and confirmed by government officials, will be presented by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi at the extraordinary Council of European Union interior ministers convened for Tuesday. The meeting was organised after the migration emergency that erupted in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on Moroccan territory, where over the course…
Authorities in Ceuta are struggling to cope with thousands of people that remain in the autonomous city following the mass arrival of migrants last week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Security forces estimate that around 73,500 people have already left the North African exclave and returned to Morocco, while local authorities say up to 5,000 remain in the Spanish territory, including 862 minors. The crisis has so far resulted in at least 88 confirmed deaths, according to Ceuta’s authorities, in addition to bodies recovered by Moroccan authorities in Moroccan waters. Juan Vivas, the president of Ceuta, estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants…
People-smuggling networks are believed to have opened new routes to move migrants from Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclave, to the Spanish mainland. According to Spanish newspaper Europa Sur, the groups are using speedboats and jet skis to ferry migrants across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain’s southern coast. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Several landings were reported over the weekend near the cities of Algeciras and La Línea de la Concepción, close to Gibraltar, where Spanish security forces intercepted groups of young Moroccan nationals. The newspaper reported that the criminal networks are taking advantage of the thousands of migrants still stranded in Ceuta…
By Nathan Rennolds & AP, AFP Published on 03/08/2026 – 16:36 GMT+2 A drought gripping central Europe has seen record-low water levels in the Danube River, forcing governments across the region to take drastic action to prevent a looming energy crisis. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In Romania, where the Danube’s water flow has reportedly dropped to 1,500 cubic meters per second, the country’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion to clear rock near the river’s Bala Canal in an effort to maintain the required water flow for the safe operation of Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant. The drastic action came after authorities had already…
Published on 03/08/2026 – 17:15 GMT+2 Rustem Umerov, former secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has been appointed as head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service on 3 August. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Umerov has also been a key member of Kyiv’s negotiating team in the US-led peace process and he will carry on with this task, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s president explained as well that Umerov will also continue coordinating the Drone Deal initiative with foreign partners, including in the Middle East. “He has greater capacity to deal with these issues simultaneously — diplomacy, defence, and the negotiations process…
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is facing the biggest test of his government yet, as an energy crisis triggered by the partial shutdown of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant threatens to disrupt supply during peak summer demand. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT All but one reactor has been taken offline because of record-low water levels in the Danube, which the plant relies on for cooling. Should water levels fall further, the plant could be forced to shut down entirely for the first time since it opened 42 years ago – raising the prospect of blackouts and electricity restrictions during the high season. For…
Published on 03/08/2026 – 15:44 GMT+2 EU interior ministers will meet online on Tuesday to discuss a European response to the migration crisis in Ceuta, with options including the reintroduction of internal border controls across Europe and an enhanced role for Frontex, the EU’s border agency, during emergency situations. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposals were discussed by EU ambassadors at a preliminary meeting on Monday. The talks come days after around 60,000 non-EU nationals entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in 24 hours, the largest irregular border crossing ever recorded in Europe over such a short period. Most of…
Published on 03/08/2026 – 13:09 GMT+2 The hard-right Reform UK party unveiled plans on Monday if it wins power for “the largest military operation” in the Channel “since World War II” to stop migrants crossing on small boats. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposal, which experts and other political parties promptly rubbished, comes days after thousands of migrants entered Spain’s North African exclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, reigniting Europe’s debate over irregular migration. Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party said it would detail proposals to deploy Britain’s navy to return the vessels to France, a policy proposed and swiftly abandoned by…
The migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta will be the focus of an extraordinary meeting of European Union interior ministers on Tuesday, where Spain will call for a common response from the bloc and respond to criticism from several EU partners, led by Italy and Denmark, following the mass arrival of thousands of migrants from Morocco. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On the eve of the meeting, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with TVE that Spain will demand “solidarity from all the member states of the European Union” and warned that those who refuse to offer it…
Published on 03/08/2026 – 9:16 GMT+2 A cyberattack tapped the data of some 31,000 people in Liechtenstein’s register of people behind companies and foundations in the wealthy principality, the government said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The “register of economic beneficiaries” was accessed at night from Wednesday into Thursday last week, the government said. “According to preliminary findings, an unknown perpetrator gained unauthorised digital access to the VwbP (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) during the night of July 30, 2026,” a government statement said. It said that the breach was noticed on Thursday, that measures were taken to secure data…