Author: Press Room

Published on 18/06/2026 – 11:42 GMT+2 Residents are heading to the polls in the Greater Manchester constituency of Makerfield in the UK today in a key by-election to determine their next MP – and quite possibly Britain’s next prime minister. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Polls in Makerfield are open from 7 am to 10 pm on Thursday, with the count set to take place after voting closes. The by-election was triggered after the former Makerfield MP Josh Simons stepped down to pave the way for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, to be able to mount a challenge to British Prime Minister…

Brussels welcomed the new Hungarian Prime Minister looking to a no-drama summit. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Péter Magyar made his debut promising a change in tone and substance, returning to the conservative European mainstream space and seeing a return to unanimity. “We will represent Hungary in a different way. We will certainly not agree on everything. I can promise one thing: I will represent only the interests of Hungary and the Hungarian people. We will not oppose or veto proposals for domestic political or party-political reasons,” Magyar told reporters on his arrival at the summit in Brussels Thursday. He also participated at…

Working with a coalition of six core European countries instead of 27 is the best way to reinforce Europe, former French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told Euronews on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Évian, France. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT His comments come as the European Union looks for ways to streamline its decision-making process and become more agile on key issues from defence to foreign policy. “The single lesson that all the European leaders must draw from the past months, and I would say from the last two years, is that if they want to be relevant and strong,…

Standing in the city that became the symbol of Europe’s division and reunification, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama delivered a sweeping vision for the continent’s future, urging the European Union to show the same strategic courage that enabled German reunification more than three decades ago. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Addressing senior German business leaders at the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in Berlin, Rama argued that Europe is approaching a defining moment in its history. One, that requires leadership rather than bureaucracy. “Berlin, the place where perhaps the greatest geopolitical transformation of our lifetime became reality. And not only because…

Published on 18/06/2026 – 20:11 GMT+2•Updated 20:13 Police in the UK said on Thursday that a man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a three-year-old boy “ended up in the crocodile enclosure” at a zoo. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Cambridgeshire Constabulary said the toddler had sustained “serious injuries” and was in a “critical but stable” condition at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. It did not specify how the injuries had been inflicted and whether they were from a crocodile. “A 30-year-old man from Norfolk has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder,” the police force added, noting specially trained officers…

A judge investigating Spain’s former Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling has expanded his politically explosive probe to the Socialist’s daughters, a court said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The investigation into a titan of the Spanish left comes as a string of other graft probes into Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s family and former top political allies have threatened to topple the government. Zapatero, who governed Spain from 2004-2011, was placed under formal investigation last month suspected of influence peddling in connection with the €53 million bailout of small airline Plus Ultra in 2021. Investigating judge…

Published on 18/06/2026 – 18:30 GMT+2 Cuts in development aid by wealthy countries tend to drive up displacement away from the world’s poorest regions, the head of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration warned in an interview with the AFP news agency on the sidelines of the Berlin Climate Mobility Forum on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “When we see cuts in development assistance, we’re actually just making the likelihood that people will have to leave in search of safety, in search of stability, so much higher,” Amy Pope said. “We’ve seen it in places like Sudan, which is the world’s largest…

Published on 18/06/2026 – 16:12 GMT+2 A British court jailed two dual Chinese-British nationals on Thursday after they were convicted of spying on Hong Kong dissidents in the UK on behalf of China. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Former UK Border Force official Peter Wai, 40, was jailed for 10 years and retired Hong Kong policeman Bill Yuen, 65, was given an eight-year term for conducting “shadow policing” on British soil. Sentencing Yuen and Wai at London’s Old Bailey court, judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said their actions had been “deliberate, concerted and serious.” They had caused “real and significant” harm, leaving those targeted in…

Political parties in Lithuania signed a coalition agreement on Thursday, with the Social Democrats, the Democrats “For Lithuania” and the Farmers and Greens Union, along with partners, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, striking a new deal. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Third time’s the charm,” Mindaugas Sinkevičius said in a press briefing on Thursday. The coalition deal is focused on defence and social security. The partners committed to allocating no less than 5% of GDP to defence, prioritising air threat detection and defence systems and strengthening cybersecurity. The agreement also includes a commitment to resolve internal disputes…

Published on 18/06/2026 – 15:58 GMT+2 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has downplayed a blistering attack by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth who described European allies as “shameful” for not helping the US in the war in Iran. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Hegseth was in Brussels for a meeting of NATO defence ministers, where he informed allies the Pentagon will review the number of US forces in Europe within the next six months. Announcing the details of what he described as “NATO 3.0”, Hegseth also told allies the US would reduce its contributions to overall NATO budget if countries weren’t on…