Author: Press Room

Former German intelligence chief August Hanning is accused of obtaining classified information from a former employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and using it in connection with his private consultancy work. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office is reportedly investigating the 80-year-old former BND president on suspicion of offences including obtaining state secrets and treason-related espionage. Hanning allegedly continued to receive confidential documents from the intelligence service for years after leaving office. His former chief of staff is suspected of supplying him with the material and has also reportedly been arrested. According to reporting by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the…

Green MEP Lena Schilling has described nude deepfake images of herself and several other MEPs as “unacceptable”, saying their creators tried to take her “dignity away”. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A report by Agora Digital Transformation found at least 50 MEPs, 46 women and four men, to have been affected by deepfake pornography. Schilling described it as a “threat to democracy” and a form of humiliation that is “unseen”, warning that it could deter young women from entering politics. The MEP is calling for a ban on AI nudifier apps.

After a weekend-long hiatus, high schoolers in France are expected back at the barricades this coming week in their protest movement that is rattling the government of President Emmanuel Macron. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A key question is whether violence on the margins of the demonstrations will worsen, blurring the lines between protest and rioting, and whether Macron’s government will ratchet up the already muscular response by police. According to the interior minister, officers made more than 5,000 arrests last week, 85% of them minors, in scuffled between students and security forces that left hundreds of people injured. A test of the…

From falsely linking Estonia’s president Alar Karis to Jeffrey Epstein to a disinformation campaign about a Ukrainian soldier killing three NATO servicemen — Kremlin-linked false information campaigns that circulated ahead of and during elections in Latvia and Estonia were aimed at creating mistrust and confusion among the voters, according to a London-based threat intelligence company Refute report published on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Russia is deploying disinformation as a deliberate instrument designed to disorient citizens, shape public debate and deepen divisions ahead of elections,” said Tom Garnett, Co-founder and CEO of Refute. Campaigns around Estonia’s September presidential election and Latvia’s October…

Talks between US Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby and five European countries have raised concerns among NATO experts who warn the format risks dividing the alliance as Washington presses Europe to take greater responsibility for its own defence. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Known as the Bergen Group after its inaugural meeting in Norway last year, the format brings together Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. The UK, France and the Baltic states were not invited. “The bottom line is this is very toxic for an alliance that relies of collective play,” said Fabrice Pothier, CEO of geopolitical consultancy, Rasmussen Global. “Clearly…

When students from a school in Créteil, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, joined their teachers in protest to call for more resources and staff, they could not have predicted that their action would trigger a nationwide movement. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The campaign began on 17 September and quickly gained momentum after videos of the protests spread across social media, prompting students across France to join the call for government action to address overcrowded classrooms, teacher absences, outdated facilities and other grievances. More than two weeks on from the first protest, student unions have called for pupils to assemble for a…

“Journalism is not a crime,” Alina Koushyk, Editor-in-chief of Belsat, a TV station founded in Poland in 2007 and broadcasting independent news to neighbouring Belarus, tells Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Lukashenka regime, which has been cracking down on opposition and the press, labelled the Belarusian journalist a “terrorist” and an “extremist” and Moscow added her to its list of wanted individuals. “I’m not a terrorist, I’m just a journalist. For many years, I’ve been working just to say the truth, an alternative point of view. And this is not a crime”. A dozen of journalists working for Belsat have been…

Pedro Sánchez has lost control of the narrative – and that’s why he’s calling a snap election. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In eight years in office, the Spanish prime minister has survived every obstacle thrown his way, proving himself as cunning as he is ruthless. He has reshaped Spanish politics, transformed his party and remade the left. He is the ultimate political operator. But that only works if you control the conversation. Since the Ceuta crisis broke – a stampede that saw more than 70,000 migrants cross into the enclave in what became the worst national security breach in modern Spanish history…

Russian intelligence services are creating fake websites, social media pages, and messenger channels to imitate Ukrainian government agencies, security bodies, media outlets and senior officials, Kyiv has said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), these fake resources copy official names, logos, photographs and branding in an attempt to appear legitimate. The agency said it had recorded a key increase in such manipulative activities and had already identified and blocked more than 50 resources that copied the SBU’s own branding and appearance. Fake accounts have also been created in the names of senior Ukrainian officials. Previous examples…

A Bolsonaro victory could push Brazil further from the European Union, according to former MEP and vice-chair of the EU-Brazil delegation João Albuquerque. Speaking on Euronews’ flagship live morning show Europe Today, he said Lula helped bring the two sides closer on trade, climate and democratic values, including progress on the Mercosur deal. A shift to the right could now put those ties at risk and bring Brazil closer to Donald Trump’s agenda. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT