Author: Press Room

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 –…

Published on 19/08/2026 – 15:23 GMT+2 As a chick, he fell out of the nest. Local residents and staff at the Masurian Landscape Park rescued him. Later he was released back into the wild. Since then, thanks to a GPS transmitter, thousands of people have been following his journeys. On 16 August he set off on his next tour. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT That morning (18.08) the GPS transmitter once again reported Krutek’s position. The stork was already about 70 kilometres east of Lviv, in the Zolochiv area of Ukraine. Family first, then Africa This year’s season was something special for Krutek.…

Published on 19/08/2026 – 10:51 GMT+2•Updated 12:19 Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the deputy head of the presidential office Iryna Mudra on Wednesday, his office announced, on the same day the country’s anti-corruption investigators launched a major operation targeting an alleged criminal organisation involving politicians and senior government officials. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Ukrainian media reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) had searched premises linked to Mudra and member of parliament Vadym Stolar. NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they were conducting an operation to uncover what they described as a “criminal organisation operating under the leadership of…

That is the idea behind the European Commission’s proposed overhaul of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TTD), which aims to raise minimum excise duties on cigarettes by 139 percent. It will also introduce EU-wide minimum taxes on vapes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches. The proposal is still under negotiation because it requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Smoking remains widespread, with around 24 percent of Europeans still smoking and roughly 300 billion cigarettes sold across the EU every year. Smoking-related illnesses contribute to around 700,000 deaths annually and cost an estimated €25 billion in healthcare…

The election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt is in full swing. Posters are up across the federal state, and on social media the topic dominates like scarcely any other. Initiatives such as “Taktisch Wählen” are now calling on people to adjust how they vote in order to prevent a possible AfD-led government. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The organisers want voters to back parties such as the SPD and the Greens so that, despite weak polling figures, they still make it into the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt. The campaigners argue that “the SPD and the Greens are currently particularly close to the 5% threshold. If…

Ukraine’s former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally nominated Yevhen Khmara as his permanent successor, effectively closing the door on Fedorov’s return to government. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a video entitled “Address of Mykhailo Fedorov to the People of Ukraine,” released a month after his dismissal sparked nationwide protests, Fedorov said Ukraine should find a way to restore elections despite the ongoing fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion. “We must not let Putin decide when Ukrainians can choose their government,” he said. “Democracy is not a peacetime luxury. Democracy is part of what…