Author: Press Room

The intensifying use of drones against civilians and humanitarian workers is a dangerous obstacle for aid operations in Ukraine, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Fletcher spoke to the Associated Press news agency in an interview after a visit to the southern city of Kherson, where he witnessed how communities are coping while living under the constant threat of Russian drone strikes. Fletcher described the visit to Kherson, split by the Dnipro River which acts as an active front line, as “quite chilling.” Russian forces occupy the eastern bank, while Ukrainian forces hold the western…

Published on 20/08/2026 – 15:58 GMT+2 Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century was brought “under control” on Thursday after a seven-day fight involving hundreds of firefighters in the boggy terrain of the High Fens nature reserve. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “At this stage, the fire is now under control in its entirety and should no longer spread,” barring a major change in weather conditions or other unforeseen factors, the local governor’s office said. The High Fens fire mushroomed over the weekend to half the size of Manhattan, charring a huge expanse of peatland, pine trees and hiking trails. Firefighters wrestled “numerous flare-ups”…

Published on 20/08/2026 – 14:30 GMT+2•Updated 15:00 Six years after stepping back as working royals, Harry and Meghan are set to return to the UK within weeks with their two children, who are expected to start school in September, according to British media. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The family plans to live in a private residence outside London while keeping their homes in California and Portugal. Meghan is expected to continue running her As Ever company from the UK, while Harry will focus more on his UK-based charities. Why Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal life The Duke and Duchess of…

Published on 20/08/2026 – 12:09 GMT+2 Romania scrambled NATO fighter jets after a drone entered its airspace during a major Russian missile and drone attack on neighbouring Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Romania’s Defence Ministry said military radar detected a group of aerial targets close to the Ukrainian border, north of the eastern county of Tulcea, at 02:23 local time on Thursday. Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets in Romania as part of NATO’s air policing mission were scrambled to monitor the situation, while a Romanian IAR-330 SOCAT military helicopter was sent on a reconnaissance mission. Authorities also issued an alert to people…

Published on 20/08/2026 – 12:29 GMT+2 Russia deployed Banderol munitions in its overnight large-scale attack on Ukraine on Thursday, in what has become Moscow’s growing use of a low-cost weapon designed to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Ukraine’s Air Force said the Banderols were intercepted during a barrage that also included cruise missiles and Shahed-type drones. First recorded in Ukraine in spring 2025, the Banderol has become an increasingly common weapon of Russian attacks. Also known as the S8000, it is a small jet-powered loitering munition that combines features of a cruise missile and a jet-powered attack drone. It…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired deputy chief of staff Iryna Mudra on Wednesday, as anti-corruption investigators launched a major probe targeting an alleged criminal organisation involving senior officials linked to the president’s office. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Apart from Mudra, the suspects include a current member of parliament, a former lawmaker and the chief executive and head of supervisory board of a state-owned bank, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). The description of the bank officials appears to refer to Sense Bank. Investigators allege that the group helped launder around €3 million (150 million Ukrainian hryvnia) that had been posted as…

EU lawmakers are increasingly giving in to the influence of the tobacco lobby. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to Transparency International’s Integrity Watch database, meetings between tobacco industry representatives and MEPs have increased by 57%, rising from an average of 14.7 meetings per month to 23 by June 2026. The database, which compiles self-declared meetings published by the European Parliament, shows that tobacco companies and affiliated organisations have consistently lobbied lawmakers on issues ranging from vaping and heated tobacco to taxation and tobacco control. The tobacco industry has become one of the most powerful and well-funded corporate lobbying forces in Brussels as…

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spent his first weeks in Downing Street firmly focused on home turf, unveiling distinctly domestic policies from eradicating rough sleeping to restricting vape and betting stores on England’s high streets. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT He has said far less about his vision for the UK’s future relationship with the European Union – leaving officials in Brussels second-guessing his ambitions. Burnham has previously spoken of leading a “proudly pro-European” government, and expressed hope that the UK would re-join the EU in his lifetime. But his path to power required winning a by-election in a fiercely pro-Brexit Manchester…

Mykhailo Fedorov’s call for wartime elections has been rejected by protesters who spent the past month campaigning for his return as defence minister. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The former minister’s video address on Tuesday evening marked an unexpected turn for a movement that had rallied behind him since Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed him in a wartime government reshuffle. But leading organisers have opposed the idea of holding elections during the war and signalled an end to the daily demonstrations. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a Ukrainian war veteran and one of the protest organisers, said on Wednesday evening that he opposed holding elections while the war…

A Ukrainian national has been arrested in Croatia in connection with an alleged sabotage attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, German authorities said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The man, named as “Vladimir Z,” or Volodymyr using the Ukrainian form, was arrested in Pula in western Croatia on Wednesday morning by local police after a European arrest warrant was issued, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. According to the statement, the man, who prosecutors say is a qualified diver, “was part of a group of individuals associated with Serhii K. – who is being prosecuted separately –…