Author: Press Room
By Sertac Aktan with AP Published on 06/06/2026 – 20:24 GMT+2 On June 6, 1944, during World War II, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, on what is known as ‘D-Day’, and they launched ‘Operation Overlord’ to liberate German-occupied Western Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Over 4,400 Allied troops were killed on that single day, and more than half of them were Americans. The exact number of German casualties on D-Day is not known, but it is estimated between 4,000 and 9,000 killed, wounded or missing. This year commemorates the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy beach landings, with only a handful of war…
“Europe must be the first to provide for its own conventional defence”, said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on his arrival in Normandy on Saturday. He is taking part in commemorations marking the 82nd anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT During a meeting attended by, among others, France’s Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin, Hegseth called on “allies such as France to face up seriously to this reality and to show it through concrete progress”. On a trip to Singapore at the end of May, the US defence secretary had already reproached Europeans for having “for too long” ignored…
Welcome back. When I launched this newsletter, I promised you zeitgeist, so here’s the zeitgeist — I am filing this at ungodly hours, from a flat in Tivat, on the coast of Montenegro, on five hours’ sleep, praying for no typos and my keyboard on fire. But oh boy how I love this job. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT This week, we were deployed alongside my producer Paul and my cameraman Pierre to Porto Montenegro for the EU-Western Balkans summit. To kick off, we sat down with António Costa on the eve of the gathering. The European Council chief told me there is…
The arrival at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport shortly after half past ten in the morning marked the official start of a trip that will run until 12 June and take in Madrid, Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It is the first apostolic visit by Leo XIV to Spain since his election as pontiff on 8 May 2025, and the first by any pope to the country in fifteen years, since Benedict XVI attended World Youth Day in 2011. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia welcomed the pontiff on the airport tarmac. From there, the journey to the Royal…
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz met with the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Budanov, in Warsaw on Saturday, to discuss Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to name a military unit ‘Heroes of the UPA’. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT After the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote in a post on X that “Poland and Ukraine are partners when it comes to security. But when it comes to history, we must tell each other the truth”. “Today, during a meeting with General Kyrylo Budanov, head of President Zelenskyy’s office, I clearly set out Poland’s expectations regarding the decision…
Out of all the speeches that Ursula von der Leyen has ever given, there is one that resonates to this day, perhaps louder than ever before. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT More than three years ago, in March 2023, the president of the European Commission delivered a landmark, wide-ranging addressdissecting the state of EU-China relations, which she described as “the most intricate and important anywhere in the world”. Back then, it was rare for an EU leader to focus a public intervention exclusively on China, as Russia’s war on Ukraine dominated the political agenda. In fact, von der Leyen devoted the first part…
Published on 05/06/2026 – 14:49 GMT+2 Police in the Netherlands have said they have arrested four men during an investigation involving several women being drugged and sexually assaulted, with echoes of the Gisèle Pelicot case that shocked France. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Information indicates that multiple women in the Netherlands may have been drugged by someone in their immediate circle,” police said in a statement. “Subsequently, sexual acts were performed on the victims while they were being filmed,” authorities added. The suspects, whose identities were not released in line with Dutch privacy rules, were detained after police, acting on information shared by…
Published on 05/06/2026 – 17:07 GMT+2•Updated 18:50 Astronauts working on the International Space Station briefly sheltered in a docked capsule Friday as Russian colleagues assessed leak repairs, NASA said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Five astronauts had briefly entered the docked Dragon spacecraft as a precautionary measure, the capsule functions as a lifeboat of sorts in the case an evacuation is needed. NASA gave the all clear and the astronauts were able to return to their stations. A NASA spokesperson told the AFP news agency that Roscosmos cosmonauts took measurements of the leaks and were now assessing data. “With today’s operations, they wanted…
Published on 05/06/2026 – 17:20 GMT+2 The leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Sunday to discuss putting pressure on Russia as it suffers military setbacks in the invasion of its neighbour, the French presidency said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss with Zelenskyy the way forwards at a time when “Russia, in a state of military, economic and strategic failure, is persisting unsuccessfully with a deadly war,” the Élysée Palace said. The meeting, which will…
Published on 05/06/2026 – 19:01 GMT+2 Russia could attack a NATO country within four years according to western intelligence assessments, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT He made the comments as he pledged his government would publish a long-delayed defence investment plan before next month’s NATO summit. “It is our intelligence assessment and the assessment of other countries in NATO that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030,” Starmer said. “So you can see the urgency and the priority that we’re putting behind this now,” he added during a visit…