Author: Press Room

Published on 10/06/2026 – 7:44 GMT+2•Updated 8:04 Anti-immigration protests broke out in Belfast on Tuesday following a stabbing in the city. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Vehicles and buildings were set alight as hundreds of people took to the streets in response to the attack, graphic footage of which has been circulating online. The video shows a man straddling another man in the middle of a street as he slashes at his head and neck with a knife before a group intervenes. Northern Ireland police charged a 30-year-old Sudanese man with attempted murder over the incident, which occurred in the Kinnaird Avenue area…

Morning, Brussels. Angela Skujins here holding down the fort for your Wednesday newsletter. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Everyone in the Belgian capital is gearing up for a closely watched EU-South Korea Summit, which aims to boast more than just the East Asian country’s soft power of skin care, K-pop and cinematic feats. ‘Parasite’ by Bong Joon Ho, anyone? Cultural diplomacy aside, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will represent the EU at the summit, aimed at boosting closer ties between the capitals. The meeting comes as ChinesePresident Xi Jinping finishes a two-day visit to North…

The European Union has invested €527 million into a flagship fund designed to better connect the Western Balkans to the bloc’s transport network. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT However, more than a decade after the initiative was launched, EU auditors warn that the region is unlikely to complete its core European transport network by the 2030 deadline. As the EU seeks to deepen ties with candidate countries and expand its influence in the Western Balkans, the bloc still lacks a reliable overview of whether many of the projects it finances there are being delivered on time and within budget, according to the latest…

Published on 09/06/2026 – 17:21 GMT+2•Updated 17:24 Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has spoken out against the European deregulation push being led by Germany and Italy and embraced by the European Commission. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Some will say that to compete, you must deregulate. Those who say that are often the very same people who left the world into the financial crisis with that same regime,” Sánchez told an event organised on Tuesday by his Socialist political colleagues at the European Parliament. “This is not about having more or fewer laws or rules. This is about having good rules and good…

Published on 09/06/2026 – 17:24 GMT+2•Updated 17:27 France has banned Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, becoming the latest Western nation to take direct action against senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition as pressure grows over Israeli settlement policy and violence in the occupied West Bank. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the move on Tuesday, accusing Smotrich of promoting policies that undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Barrot said the minister “actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, which he openly claims, the creation of new settlements in the West Bank,…

Published on 09/06/2026 – 17:34 GMT+2 High Representative Kaja Kallas has urged Ireland to clarify whether its continued sales of alumina to Russia help build the missiles and drones that strike Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sold as white powder, alumina is the key raw material used to make aluminium, a lightweight metal commonly found in weapons on the battlefield. Kallas discussed the issue during a meeting on Tuesday with Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee in Dublin. Kallas also met with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. “Europe must close all loopholes, tighten sanctions enforcement and ensure our commitments are backed by deeds,”…

The European Commission has issued a veiled warning to the Albanian government over a €1.4 billion real-estate project linked to US President Donald Trump’s family, as protests over the plans for an ecologically protected area on the Adriatic coast enter their second week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Responding to a question by Euronews on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the EU executive urged Albanian authorities to “act without delay” in order to avoid jeopardising the country’s bid to join the EU, which will require it to align with the bloc’s environmental rules. “Albania should refrain from actions that could undermine the fulfilment of…

Kyiv has intensified diplomatic efforts in a bid to force Moscow into direct talks to end the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking in Estonia on Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is building a “clear diplomatic strategy to ensure that Russia does not believe the war can still yield any benefits for it.” He also pointed out that Ukraine’s defence forces have significantly strengthen their positions on the frontlines, which could be an important factor to push the Kremlin to the negotiating table. “Ukraine’s positions on the front line are strong. Russia is losing more than 30,000…

As the EU seeks to shield its market from a surge of low-cost Chinese imports, alarm is growing in Europe at a new phenomenon: Chinese companies advertising ways to circumvent the bloc’s tariff barriers. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania have jointly alerted the European Commission on “increasingly blurred and complex actions” to avoid EU custom duties. In an informal proposal drafted last month that refrains from naming any Chinese company, the four urged improvements to the EU’s anti-circumvention tool, which “would allow the EU to guarantee the legal effect and the effectiveness of its existing trade…

Published on 09/06/2026 – 12:49 GMT+2 Northern Ireland police said on Tuesday they had arrested a man following a “stabbing incident” in Belfast, with graphic online video prompting widespread condemnation and protest calls from UK far-right figures. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the arrested man was in his 30s, believed to be Somalian, and had been detained on suspicion of attempted murder following the “serious assault involving a knife.” The force said a man in his 40s was in hospital with serious injuries to his face, neck and back following the incident shortly after 10:30…