Author: Press Room
DISY and AKEL are locked in a neck-and-neck battle for first place in Cyprus’s parliamentary elections. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to the exit poll by public broadcaster RIK, the centre-right Democratic Rally (DISY) is projected to take between 22.5% and 25.5%, while the left-wing AKEL is on 21% to 24%. The far-right ELAM is in third place at 10.5%-12.5%, and the centrist DIKO comes fourth at 8%-10%. The 4% threshold for entering parliament is cleared by MEP Fidias Panayiotou’s ‘Direct Democracy’ and the newly established ALMA of former Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides. EDEK and Volt are fighting it out for a…
Published on 24/05/2026 – 15:09 GMT+2 Cyprus goes to the polls today in one of the most closely contested and politically charged elections of recent decades, with the political landscape looking more fluid than ever and parties fighting for every last vote to determine the new make-up of the House of Representatives. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT From 7 am, more than 568,000 citizens are heading to the ballot boxes at 1,217 polling stations in Cyprus and abroad to elect the 56 MPs who will serve for the next five years. Today’s vote is not simply a parliamentary contest; it is seen as…
Published on 24/05/2026 – 15:37 GMT+2 On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had again deployed its “Oreshnik” intermediate-range ballistic missile, this time in the Kyiv region. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Russian Defence Ministry later confirmed the launch, saying it came as part of a retaliatory attack following Ukrainian strikes against “civilian targets,” which Kyiv has denied. Moscow’s use of the “Oreshnik” missile has sparked strong reactions abroad. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the attack as a “reckless escalation” in a post on X and reaffirmed Germany’s support for Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the latest Russian strikes,…
Published on 24/05/2026 – 8:04 GMT+2•Updated 8:41 Russia launched a wave of overnight strikes on Kyiv early on Sunday, killing at least one person and leaving more than 20 injured, local authorities said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The intense assault shook buildings across the city centre including near government offices, residential buildings and schools. “Tonight Kyiv region is once again enduring a mass enemy attack with strike drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles,” said Mykola Kalashnyk, the head of the regional ministry administration. The attack continued after sunrise, with more missiles and drones expected to hit Kyiv. Damage was recorded across at…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 16:14 GMT+2 A Portuguese court in the city of Setúbal has remanded in custody the mother and stepfather of two French children that had been abandoned on a roadside earlier this week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Considered a flight risk, the court ordered 41-year-old woman and 55-year-old man to be placed in pretrial detention for the crimes of aggravated assault, endangerment and abandonment of the boys after a two-day hearing. Marine Rousseau (41) and Marc Ballagriga (55) are suspected of having abandoned two children in a wooded area in Alcácer do Sal, in the district of Setúbal, on…
By Sonja Issel Published on 23/05/2026 – 16:21 GMT+2 Unusual find in the north of the German capital: While walking through woodland in the Pankow district, a person discovered a suspicious object. Special units from the State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) were soon on the scene. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT What the specialists then uncovered was something nobody had really been expecting: buried in the forest ground were 59 unfired shells of Soviet design, each with a calibre of 122 millimetres. The Second World War ammunition weighed in at around 1.5 tonnes in total. The police responded to the discovery with a…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 15:06 GMT+2 Poland has received its first delivery of F-35 fighter jets from the United States this week, as it ramps up efforts to boost defences on NATO’s eastern flank. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz welcomed the three jets as they landed at Łask air base on Friday, hailing what he called the “new guardians of Polish skies.” “These are the first 5th-generation fighters on NATO’s eastern flank capable of detecting threats before they themselves are spotted,” he wrote on X. “For Poland, this is not just new equipment, but a step into the…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 13:07 GMT+2 A key member of a terrorist cell that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks has been allowed multiple temporary prison leaves and could be eligible for conditional release. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Mohamed Bakkali was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court in 2022 for his role in helping coordinate the deadly attacks that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more after gunmen stormed Paris’ Bataclan theatre and suicide bombers struck across the city. Bakkali, who was extradited to Belgium in 2018, was also sentenced to 25 years in prison in Belgium…
Published on 23/05/2026 – 7:00 GMT+2 The Chinese will “not win” from a foreign trade policy that jeopardises Europe’s industry and market, the French Minister for Foreign Trade Nicolas Forissier has told Euronews, as the EU executive mulls a clampdown on a glut of cheap Chinese imports. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “The Chinese have to understand that they won’t win anything if they destroy the European industry and then the European market, which is an essential market for them,” Forissier told Euronews’ 12 Minutes With interview programme on Friday. “We must no longer be naive,” Forissier added, saying that there is a…
By Tomasz Lezon with Reuters, PAP Published on 22/05/2026 – 7:35 GMT+2•Updated 9:10 US President Donald Trump has announced he will send an additional 5,000 American troops to Poland. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland.” The announcement came just two days after US Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters that the planned deployment of American forces to…