Author: Press Room
Before France knows who its next president will be, it must first adopt a budget for the year 2027. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT That is the main task facing the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, he told French daily Le Parisien in an interview. With less than eight months to go before the first round of the presidential election and no majority in the National Assembly, Lecornu said he hopes to avoid a political stalemate by promising a budget”with measures that, for the most part, can be reversed by the new majority that emerges from the ballot box.” Lecornu is not planning…
Published on 29/08/2026 – 18:44 GMT+2 A flotilla of around 50 vessels from the Costa del Sol and other Spanish ports set sail on Saturday for Ceuta to show their support for the city after the migratory crisis that has been unfolding since the end of July, according to local media. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The initiative, dubbed the Fleet of Solidarity with Ceuta, brings together around 120 participants under the slogan “We are all Ceuta, Spain responds as one”. The organisers have arranged up to 60 free berths in the city’s harbour for the participating boats. The vessels have not departed…
Published on 29/08/2026 – 17:24 GMT+2 Iceland’s capital Reykjavík recorded a higher voter turnout in the high-stakes EU referendum by noon than at the same time during the country’s parliamentary elections in 2024, preliminary figures showed on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In the hours after voters began casting their ballots in the referendum that will determine whether to reopen EU accession talks, 13.7% had voted by noon in the Reykjavík North constituency, compared to just over 10% in the 2024 election. In Reykjavík South, just over 14% had voted by noon, compared to just over 11% for the parliamentary election. More…
By NH Published on 29/08/2026 – 11:33 GMT+2 The Schakal is more than just a new armoured vehicle. It is a key component of the German army’s so-called Medium Forces – a new category of troops designed to be rapidly deployable while also offering substantial firepower. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT This capability is particularly important in the context of NATO’s eastern flank. Rapid forces for the eastern flank The current security situation in Europe has fundamentally changed the demands placed on the Bundeswehr. The central question once again is how German units can be quickly moved to an area of operations in the…
By Laura Fleischmann Published on 29/08/2026 – 12:02 GMT+2 Authorities in Nepal suspect that the recent devastating flash flood was triggered by a glacial lake outburst or a glacier collapse in the Himalayas – something experts say could also threaten the Alps. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A torrent of water, mud and debris surged almost 170 kilometres through southwest Tibet and into central Nepal earlier this week, killing hundreds of people. Such disasters are also possible in Europe, particularly in the Alps, explains glaciologist Olaf Eisen, a professor at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and at the University of…
Published on 29/08/2026 – 10:11 GMT+2•Updated 10:57 At least 27 people were killed after a Russian drone strike caused a major fire and explosions at a warehouse overnight, according to local authorities. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, said at least 42 people, including four children, were also injured in the attack on the village of Myla, with 381 people evacuated from the area. “The attack caused a large-scale fire. The fire also spread to private residential buildings. Fires in 5 houses and a catering establishment have already been extinguished,” Tkachenko wrote in a…
General Charles de Gaulle used to talk about Europe stretching “from the Atlantic to the Urals”. At the time, he was defending a geopolitical project designed to reunify the continent as the Cold War split Europe into two blocs. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT But in the midst of the current global geopolitical shift, could the Atlantic border extend to Canada? Perhaps de Gaulle, who had a fierce desire for independence from the US, would have sympathised with Ottawa’s concerns and said “oui”. The arrival of Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney in Strasbourg in mid-September to attend the State of the Union address…
Published on 29/08/2026 – 9:00 GMT+2 Icelanders are voting today on whether to resume their EU accession bid or shelve the prospect of joining the bloc for the foreseeable future. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Polling stations are open from 9am to 10pm local time, with voters deciding whether to return to membership negotiations or reject even exploring what a deal would look like. A “Yes” vote would not commit Iceland to joining the EU, but it would reopen accession talks, with any eventual membership deal put to another referendum. Iceland applied to join the bloc in 2009, in the wake of its…
French police arrested a Russian man of Chechen origin after a deliberate car ramming in the north of the country killed two men, both believed to be Afghan nationals, and wounded nine others, officials said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The car ploughed into a group of people gathered outside a bar late Wednesday in the Normandy city of Caen, said the Calvados department prefect David Clavière. The events occurred after a fight, according to a police source, when the 26-year-old suspect was set upon by several people. He returned with his car, driving onto a bus lane in front of…
French far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has proposed to cancel a large chunk of France’s public debt, namely the 18 percent that is currently held by the country’s central bank. The rationale is to unlock money for public spending, but is this is even feasible? ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Mélenchon, currently a candidate for the presidential elections in April 2027, and seen as a front-runner, first floated the idea during the COVID 19 pandemic and revived the controversial call this month while on the campaign trail. “All we have to do is take the 18% held by the Bank of France and chuck…