Author: Press Room
A personal diary seized from Leire Díez, a former member of Spain’s ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), contains at least four references to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, according to a report by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The entries, contained in a 2025 notebook, range from meetings and requests for information to comments about the media and internal government affairs. In that report, the UCO said that the initials “P.S.” that appear repeatedly in Díez’s notebooks refer to Sánchez. That identification comes via an entry in which Díez herself refers to David Sánchez,…
Published on 15/06/2026 – 16:58 GMT+2 The Czech cabinet has signed off on legislation that would end licence fee funding for the country’s public broadcasters, replacing it with direct state budget financing — a shift that journalists, media freedom groups and tens of thousands of citizens say puts editorial independence at risk. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The bill, approved on Monday, affects Czech TV and Czech Radio, which would instead receive fixed annual sums broadly in line with the licence fee revenues they collected between 2008 and 2024 — before a previous centre-right administration increased them last year. Culture Minister Oto Klempir,…
Published on 15/06/2026 – 19:27 GMT+2•Updated 19:34 The European Union has been unable to reach unanimous agreement on imposing sanctions against Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the bloc’s top diplomat confirmed on Monday, even as a growing number of member states push for punitive measures against the far-right politician. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, made the announcement following a gathering of the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “Many member states have also proposed to sanction Minister Ben Gvir, but no consensus on that was reached today,” she said. EU sanctions require the unanimous…
The Albanian government has assured the European Commission that a controversial project linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will comply with environmental law, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We have received assurance from the government of Albania that a full environmental impact assessment will be carried out and that European environmental standards will be respected,” Kos told a press conference. Albania is currently a frontrunner for EU membership, widely considered the second most advanced of the current candidate countries, behind Montenegro. To complete accession, however, Tirana must align with the EU’s legal framework, including…
As the first explosions rang out across Kyiv overnight on Monday, images began to circulate on social media showing flames rising above the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra church complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT For millions of Ukrainians seeking shelter across the country — including an estimated 42,000 people who spent the night in the capital’s metro stations — the sight of the cathedral under attack came as a particularly painful shock. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack on the historic cathedral as “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date” and urged G7 leaders meeting…
Published on 15/06/2026 – 16:44 GMT+2•Updated 16:49 Ukraine and Moldova open the first phase of negotiations on joining the European Union in Luxembourg on Monday, ending a two-year political deadlock driven by the former Hungarian government’s opposition to opening talks with Kyiv. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “It is a historic milestone for my country,” Moldova’s deputy Prime Minister, Cristina Gherasimov, told Euronews on Monday. “This is also a strong signal for us that the EU is also getting ready to receive new member states.” Describing the talks as the “biggest step” in Ukraine and Moldova’s accession bid since they were granted candidate…
Published on 15/06/2026 – 15:45 GMT+2 As summer begins, thousands of tourists will soon take a stop on the side of the road on the plateau de Valensole, southern France, to take a selfie in front of lavender fields. But these Instagram-worthy landscapes are threatened, as some of them are no longer as profitable. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Farmers are starting to shift their production to pistachio, pomegranate or almond trees, whilst others are turning to a booming sector: laying hens. Two chicken coops are set to appear in the lavender fields of the plateau de Valensole, each of them to raise…
Published on 15/06/2026 – 14:03 GMT+2 A 34-year-old former consultant for the Swedish military went on trial on Monday, accused of trying to pass classified information to Russia’s intelligence services. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The man is a Swedish citizen, born to Iranian parents, who worked as an IT consultant for the military from 2018-2022, according to court documents and the military. Arrested in January, he was charged with attempted espionage. He is accused of having tried, during a trip to Moscow between November and December 2025, to disclose secret information “notably to the Russian FSB and GRU services, in exchange for…
The European Council and the European Parliament have agreed to maintain free cabin luggage and financial compensation for delayed flights under the bloc’s air passenger rights rules after more than a decade of negotiations. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Under the rules, air passengers will continue to benefit from free cabin luggage and will be entitled to financial compensation if flights are delayed by at least three hours – a key demand from the European Parliament that was resisted by several EU countries. “The fees that need to be paid are the same as those known for airlines for almost 20 years now.…
It sounded like the perfect sequel to the summer fairy tale: on 13 July 2014, Germany were crowned world champions in Rio de Janeiro, Mario Götze scored in the 113th minute to make it 1–0 against Argentina, millions celebrated in the streets, on balconies and at fan zones. More than 30 million viewers in Germany watched the final on television. Soon the question arose: shouldn’t such an exceptional state of euphoria also have consequences for the birth statistics? ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Even before the final, Saxon family policy expert Alexander Krauß (CDU) had predicted a baby boom in the Bild newspaper,…