Author: Press Room
Published on 13/07/2026 – 11:42 GMT+2 A court case involving a French teen charged for filming himself licking a straw from a vending machine in Singapore and then putting it back was postponed on Monday as prosecutors sought to clarify if he could continue his studies if convicted. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, was widely expected to plead guilty to charges of mischief and public nuisance. Proceedings were halted after prosecutors sought more time to check if the teen’s student pass will be revoked in the event of a conviction. The court adjourned the case until 30 July.…
Published on 13/07/2026 – 18:48 GMT+2 The United Kingdom has joined the European Union’s €90 billion loan for Ukraine, which is designed to cover the country’s financial and military needs for 2026 and 2027. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The inclusion of London has been in the works for several months, and was formally announced on Monday as the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” of Ukraine-backing governments convened in Paris. “Together, we are supporting Ukraine’s brave resistance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media. The deal means Ukraine will be allowed to procure weapons and ammunition from British defence…
Updated: 13/07/2026 – 21:30 GMT+2 Hundreds of skiers headed to the Grande Motte glacier in Tignes to escape France’s heatwave and enjoy summer skiing. But visitors and experts say the glacier is shrinking rapidly, with scientists warning it could disappear within 10 to 15 years. … More
Parliament has adopted the 17th amendment to the constitution with 139 votes in favour and 6 against, thereby making it possible to remove the current President of the Republic, Tamás Sulyok. 54 MPs did not take part in the vote. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The constitutional amendment is primarily designed to remove the incumbent president, while also establishing a precedent that could enable similar removals in the future. On the day after the amendment enters into force, Sulyok’s mandate will end, and thereafter Parliament will elect a head of state to serve until the new constitution takes effect, but for no more…
A full ban on EU imports of goods made in Israeli settlements extracted “most support” from EU foreign ministers during a meeting on Monday, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, after the European Commission last week presented a range of options to restrict settlement trade, the boldest of which was a full trading ban. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “The option that got the most support was banning the trade with the illegal settlements,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Monday evening. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law and by the EU. EU…
Nine European countries and Ukraine announced the creation of a coalition to develop anti-ballistic capabilities in Europe to protect the continent. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We believe that the protection of Europe, requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats,” said a joint declaration by Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. “Faced with the ballistic threat, we are making a clear choice: protect Ukraine, strengthen our collective security, and build the Europe of defence,” France’s President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X. The statement comes on the sidelines…
Published on 13/07/2026 – 16:46 GMT+2 The European Union has sanctioned VK Company, which dominates Russia’s online sphere, for colluding with the Kremlin to identify critics of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and curtail access to independent sources of information. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT VK Company runs VKontakte, the country’s most popular social media site. Often described as “the Russian Facebook”, it has an estimated 70 million users. The decision, taken on Monday by foreign ministers, points the finger at VK Company and an associated firm for developing and managing Max App, which is state-backed and comes pre-installed on all phones and…
A four-word phrase has sparked an intense political and media row in Spain and France just days before the World Cup semi-final between the two national sides. The phrase “that is, without the French”, used by former prime minister Mariano Rajoy in a column published in El Debate, has been interpreted by politicians in both countries as a remark of a racist nature. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In his op-ed (source in Spanish), entitled “Hoy llegó el desquite” (“Today payback arrived”), the former leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP) examined Belgium’s elimination at the hands of La Roja and Spain’s upcoming…
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday urged Spain to strengthen its prevention measures after one of the country’s deadliest wildfires in recent history killed 13 people and razed a huge area. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Los Gallardos fire, which has been stabilised after four days of intense work, has so far left a provisional toll of 13 people dead, 23 unaccounted for, 10 reports of missing persons and almost 7,000 hectares burnt. “We must not only react when these fires happen, we must prevent” as climate change makes civil protection emergencies “increasingly frequent,” Sánchez said. The Prime Minister visited the…
The prospect of Turkey returning to the F-35 fighter jet programme has opened a new front in Washington, with the Greek-American lobby and members of Congress seeking to preserve the existing legal obstacles to the sale of US fighters to Ankara. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The issue returned to the fore after US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but so far there has been no official decision by the US administration on Turkey’s re-entry into the programme. Athens acknowledges that decisions on armaments are a sovereign right of every country and that it has no power of…