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NOW - Ursula von der Leyen announces 4 billion euros will be disbursed to Ukraine today, including 2 billion for drones and proposes "reparation loans for Ukraine, on the basis of the immobilized Russian assets, Ukraine has to pay back this loan, if Russia pays reparations."

Russian forces occupied Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, for just under a month. Across those 29 days in early 2022, they committed acts of such barbarity that this Ukrainian town will forever be synonymous with war crimes; this conflict’s Srebrenica. Residents were killed and tortured in their hundreds; more than 100 were buried in a mass grave outside the Orthodox Christian church. Others were murdered as they fled. The basement of a children’s summer camp was converted into a torture chamber where women and children were systematically raped. Soldiers slashed throats, mutilated victims and killed parents in front of...

The pro-European party of Moldovan President Maia Sandu has claimed victory and a new majority in parliament in Sunday's elections seen as critical for her country's future path to the EU. Sandu had warned of "massive Russian interference" after voting, saying the future of Moldova, flanked by Ukraine and Romania, was at stake. Igor Grosu, the leader of Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) which secured about 50% of the vote, said Russia had thrown "everything it had" at the election. Opposition leader Igor Dodon had claimed victory even before results came in and called for protests outside parliament...

In 1917, while Germany fought Russia in a devastating conflict, revolutionary conditions erupted within the Russian Empire, ultimately toppling the Tsarist regime and reshaping the global order. Today, we may be witnessing what I call a “reverse 1917” scenario: As Russia wages a proxy war against NATO in Ukraine, it is the Western nations themselves that appear increasingly susceptible to revolutionary upheaval, while Russia maintains relative internal stability. This observation is not made lightly, nor from any sense of satisfaction. As always, one points out problems so they can be solved, not because one enjoys the trouble they are causing....

Troubling developments have highlighted Europe’s continued slide into political turmoil and totalitarianism. As we discussed last time, the EU has no choice but to sharply agitate for war in order to keep its frail political structures intact, because the war drums drown out the organic cries for change and liberation from the EU’s despotic rule. It is the age old tactic used by tyrants time and again, most recently by Netanyahu in Israel. All the while, new undemocratic measures are “slipped in” while the populace is distracted by the hysteria; case in point being the sudden push for national digital...

Gerry Nolan: "Kiev’s Gleiwitz Gambit: Europe on the Edge of 1939 Redux History doesn’t just repeat — it mutates. In 1939, the world stumbled into catastrophe after Nazi operatives staged the infamous Gleiwitz incident: a radio station seized, a body left as “proof,” and a lie broadcast to justify war. Eighty-six years later, whispers from the battlefield suggest Kiev may be scripting its own Gleiwitz 2.0. Only this time, the stage is NATO’s eastern flank, the props are repurposed Geran drones, and the audience is a sleepwalking Europe. Hungarian journalists were the first to sound the alarm: several downed Russian...

European officials fear that US President Donald Trump's new rhetoric on Ukraine is aimed at shifting blame to Europe. Trump is calling on the EU for tougher sanctions against Russia and tariffs on China and India, which Europeans consider unfeasible.European officials fear that US President Donald Trump's latest rhetoric on Ukraine "is intended to set them an impossible mission" that will allow the American leader to "shift the blame from Washington if Kyiv fails in the war or runs out of money," the Financial Times reports, writes UNN.Details As the publication writes, "after months of pressuring Ukraine to settle with...

The European Commission is proposing to reimpose duties on Israeli goods in response to the war in Gaza and ongoing violations in the West Bank, Euronews can exclusively reveal. In an interview with Euronews, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed the strategy to suspend trade-related provisions within the Israel-EU Association Agreement. Trade between the EU and Israel was €42.6 billion in 2024, and the preferential treatment is around 37% of that, she confirmed. "So it is a significant amount, and when it comes to the preferential treatment, then 37% of that trade really has the preferential treatment," Kallas told...

Donald Trump issued a stunning threat to NATO allies for holding up his negotiations to end the Russia - Ukraine war and warned against 'wasting my time' in a blistering social media post. Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday morning to rebuke NATO allies for buying oil from Russia despite their opposition to Vladimir Putin's invasion, saying it 'greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia'. 'I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM...

One of the key turning points in the investigation happened in Italy. It is no coincidence that US Senator Lindsay Graham, one of Trump's closest allies and one of the leading critics of Mueller's investigation, has been visiting Rome over the last few days. There are many unanswered questions, one of the most important being: where is Joseph Mifsud? Il Foglio does not know, but it can reveal where he hid for seven months after disappearing: in Rome, in a rented flat paid by Link Campus University. Mifsud taught there, and Il Foglio understands that he owns 35 per cent...

The bloc might not survive without reform and an end to the Ukraine conflict, the Hungarian PM believes The EU is on the verge of collapse and will not survive beyond the next decade without a “fundamental structural overhaul” and disentanglement from the Ukraine conflict, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned. Speaking on Sunday at the annual Civic Picnic in Kotcse, Orban said the EU has failed to meet its founding ambition of becoming a global power and cannot handle current challenges due to the absence of a common fiscal policy. He described the bloc as entering a phase...

The European Commission on Friday fined Google €2.95 billion for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology industry. This decision comes amid serious trade tensions with the US administration over tech regulation. The EU antitrust enforcer on Friday walloped US tech giant Google with a €2.95 billion fine for self-preferencing its ad exchange tool “AdX”, while dominating the market with its publisher ad server and its ad buying tools. “Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies,”...

China said on Friday (Sep 5) it would impose temporary anti-dumping duties on European Union pork imports, delivering another blow to shaky ties between the economic powerhouses as Brussels vowed to protect its producers. The two sides have navigated a challenging relationship in recent years, complicated greatly by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Chinese authorities launched the probe into European pork imports last year during scrutiny by Brussels of Beijing's state subsidies for the domestic electric vehicle industry. The investigation has "preliminarily determined that imports of relevant pork and pig by-products originating in the European Union are being dumped", a...

Russia has bombed a British Council building and the European headquarters in Kyiv in a 'deliberate' double strike during a huge onslaught on the Ukrainian capital that has left at least 17 dead. Video shows a missile slamming into the British building in a fireball explosion at around 5.40am before a second followed 20 seconds later leaving it 'severely damaged'.

President Donald Trump's administration is considering imposing sanctions on European Union or member state officials responsible for implementing the bloc's landmark Digital Services Act, two sources familiar with the matter said, over U.S. complaints that the law censors Americans and imposes costs on U.S. tech companies. Such a move would be an unprecedented action that would escalate the Trump administration's fight against what it sees as Europe's attempt to suppress conservative voices. Senior State Department officials have yet to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the punitive measures that would likely come in the form of...

A new and potentially significant source of demand is that of demand from Iran. Iran imported a massive $1.2 billion worth of precious metals from Turkey in April alone. Turkish exports of gold, precious metals, pearls and coins to Iran rose to $1.2 billion in April from a tiny $7,500 a year earlier, according to figures released by the state statistics institute in Ankara yesterday. This is a massive increase in demand and suggests that there may be official involvement in the imports from the Central Bank of Iran. This trend continued in May when Turkish gold imports leapt by...

The European Union officials are weighing the possibility of easing sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine, The Telegraph reported on Saturday. EU ambassadors are considering what concessions might persuade Moscow to accept a truce, though no timeline has been set for the potential offer. The news follows reports that an extraordinary meeting of ambassadors was held in Brussels shortly after United States President Donald Trump met with the Russian leader.

EU Report Ignores Muslim Violence to Label Catholics ‘Religious Extremists’According to new report, opposition to abortion is more ‘extreme’ than rape.A European abortion lobby is warning against “religious extremism” on the rise across the continent, singling out Catholicism and ignoring the threat posed to Europe by Islam. The 158-page report “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power,” published by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF), faults “religious extremism” for the phenomenon of “accelerating financial expansion of movements working to dismantle decades of hard-won sexual and reproductive rights across Europe.”The EPF report derides the “anti-rights...

According to new report, opposition to abortion is more ‘extreme’ than rape.A European abortion lobby is warning against “religious extremism” on the rise across the continent, singling out Catholicism and ignoring the threat posed to Europe by Islam. The 158-page report “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power,” published by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF), faults “religious extremism” for the phenomenon of “accelerating financial expansion of movements working to dismantle decades of hard-won sexual and reproductive rights across Europe.”The EPF report derides the “anti-rights and religious extremist actors in Europe” working to oppose...

Ursula's new "European Media Freedom Act" permits the arrest of journalists if it is in the "public interest." ... The act also allows surveillance software to be deployed on devices used by media service providers, editorial staff, or related persons in the “public interest. Who decides the “public interest?” Sophie ... The new law also contains numerous provisions that call for action against alleged "disinformation." Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President ... "national lists" are to be created listing the owners and addresses of media outlets, as stipulated in Article 6. Despite its intent to strengthen media freedom, critics...