Author: Press Room

Military strikes and rising tensions have made it harder to ship goods through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that handles about one-fifth of the world’s oil and large amounts of liquefied natural gas. Tanker traffic has dropped sharply due to security concerns, insurance costs are up, and some big energy facilities in the Gulf have stopped production. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT As a result, global energy markets reacted sharply: oil prices have jumped, and natural gas prices, particularly in Europe, are rising as traders fear prolonged supply disruptions. A severe energy crisis is pending. The European Union imports most of…

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Kyiv is ready for the next round of trilateral peace talks to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but that it was up to Washington and Moscow to decide where and when to meet. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Zelenskyy said that Washington had proposed to meet in the US next week, but that Russia did not want to meet there. “We are waiting for a response from the Americans. Either they will change the country where we meet, or the Russians must confirm (a meeting in) the US,” Zelenskyy said in a media briefing on…

Published on 15/03/2026 – 14:14 GMT+1•Updated 14:45 Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called on Europe to reach a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, in an interview published in the Belgian newspaper L’Echo. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT De Wever argued that a negotiated settlement is also necessary to restore access to cheap energy. The European Union remains divided on the issue. French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have called for direct talks with Moscow, while Poland and the three Baltic states are firmly opposed. “In private, European leaders…

Nearly six years after a municipal election overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, French voters are returning to the polls on Sunday for the first round of local elections. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In total, 48.7 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots across some 35,000 municipalities, from small rural villages to major cities. Polling stations opened at 8:00 am in mainland France and Corsica. The first results cannot be published before 8:00 pm local time, when polling stations close in the largest cities. Elsewhere, the polls will close gradually between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Voter turnout under scrutiny Voter participation…

At least four people were killed and 15 more were wounded in a combined Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, regional administration head Mykola Kalashnyk reported. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk said in a social media post, adding that he had “information about 30 damaged sites”. Zelenskyy said the main target for the overnight strikes was “the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region.”…

Will Viktor Orbán lift his veto on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine before or after Hungarians cast their ballots in the hotly contested elections of 12 April? ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT This is the burning question that officials and diplomats in Brussels are privately debating as the dispute over the Druzhba pipeline takes centre stage on the campaign trail, where opposition leader Péter Magyar has emerged as his most serious challenger to Orbán’s nearly 16 years of uninterrupted power. “Orbán understands that he’s all the time testing the limits of how much the other member states are willing to put up…

Published on 13/03/2026 – 21:51 GMT+1 German Chancellor Frederich Merz said on Friday that six out of seven G7 countries were against the US’ decision to give Russia a reprieve from oil sanctions. US President Donald Trump carried out the move in order to boost global supply amid soaring prices, which came as a consequence the US-Israeli war that was launched against Iran on 28 February. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The leaders of Germany, Canada and Norway – all NATO member states – said they would use their channels of communication with the White House to try and change Trump’s mind. The…

Published on 13/03/2026 – 14:25 GMT+1 European Union leaders called out President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian oil as fueling the war machine against Ukraine, as Washington tries to ease energy prices after a second week of conflict in the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday night a temporary permit allowing countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea. The move is important as higher oil prices as a result of the war means Russia is able to cash in. The Trump administration is trying to deal with the fallout…

The leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, told Euronews that no one can “push” US President Donald Trump into anything, as he denied speculations that the decision to attack Iran came from Israel and not Washington. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Does Donald Trump strike you as someone who can be pushed around? I don’t think so,” Lapid said on Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes With. “He’s the president of the biggest military army in the history of humanity. He’s a determined man. Israel is filled with gratitude and admiration for his courage, for his moral clarity on the issue, for the…

Published on 13/03/2026 – 15:00 GMT+1 MaiaSpace is assembling and testing Europe’s first reusable mini-launcher at its factory in Vernon, Normandy. Its project is currently the most advanced of its kind in Europe. The first flight is scheduled beginning of 2027. A subsidiary of ArianeGroup — the French industrial giant that manufactures Ariane heavy-lift launchers — MaiaSpace already has commercial contracts signed for several years. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Raphaël Chevrier, spokesperson for MaiaSpace, takes us to the workshop where full-scale prototypes of the Maia launcher are assembled. The model of the first stage alone is around thirty metres long. It’s this…