Marine Le Pen’s potential victory in next year’s French presidential election could leave the bloc deadlocked Kiev and Brussels fear the EU’s next package of sanctions against Russia could be its last, with officials rushing to secure its adoption before Marine Le Pen potentially becomes France’s next president, according to The Telegraph. The right-wing National Rally politician, who opinion polls put in the lead of the race, has strongly criticized Brussels’ approach to Ukraine. She has compared Kiev’s proposed accession to the EU to economic suicide and repeatedly called for suspending all aid to the country. Kiev and Brussels are “wargaming contingency measures” in case Le Pen wins the election next April, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. One source described February as possibly the “last opportunity” to adopt new sanctions against Russia. The EU ha...
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Cairo has promised assistance as Riyadh seeks help following deadly attacks on airports and oil facilities Egypt has pledged to support Saudi Arabia in its escalating conflict with Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the country’s top security body has announced. Riyadh has been pressing allies for assistance following Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities in retaliation for its military operations in Yemen. The group has demanded that Saudi Arabia lift its blockade of Yemeni airports and ports, describing its approach as “an eye for an eye.” Egypt’s National Defense Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced the decision on Sunday, a day after he sought parliamentary authorization to deploy troops and military equipment abroad. The council pledged “all possible forms of support” to help Saudi Arabia defend its security but did n...
Clashes erupted in several major cities as unrest spread beyond France over the weekend Tens of thousands took to the streets of European cities over the weekend to protest rising living costs, housing shortages and government policies, with demonstrations escalating into violent clashes, looting and arson in several countries. The unrest left smashed storefronts, damaged public buildings and burned-out vehicles in its wake. France, where the protests first erupted, saw the most extensive destruction, while clashes also broke out in Belgium and Italy as a separate wave of anti-government demonstrations continued in Albania. In Portugal, tens of thousands also demonstrated, although no comparable scale of violence or damage was reported. Footage from across Europe showed smashed shop windows, looted stores, burning vehicles and fires near public buildings. In Limoges, France, flames engulfed the historic ...
Hungarian PM Peter Magyar expects Trump to prolong Budapest’s exemption from American energy sanctions targeting Moscow, adding it is significant for the country Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has said that he expects US President Donald Trump to prolong Budapest’s exemption from Washington’s sanctions targeting Russian energy after Trump announced a diesel deal with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Trump eased restrictions on Russia’s diesel exports following a phone call with Putin last week in an attempt to reduce rising fuel prices ahead of the midterm election in the US on November 3. The deal faced harsh criticism in the EU, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni labeling it a “very risky” gamble that could undermine the whole Western sanctions policy towards Russia. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys argued that it “doesn’t help ...
As Zelensky seems set on fighting ‘to the last Ukrainian’, those Ukrainians are asking: ‘What will be left of us when the fighting is over?’ There are mornings in wartime when the silence itself seems wounded. The roads are still there, though fewer people travel them. The fields remain beneath the grey sky, though in places they are scarred by fire. Somewhere a railway station opens its doors, a baker lights an oven, a woman draws back a curtain – and for a moment life pretends that it has not been broken. But the war goes on. And whenever a new round of negotiations, with American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner taking part, ends with cautiously hopeful words from Moscow describing them as progressive and encouraging, Vladimir Zelensky later returns to the hard, uncompromising tone that has become familiar throughout these years. Listening to him, one is left with a painful questio...
Hospitals have been overwhelmed after a fire at a military training facility in Alberta, officials say A major fire has swept through a military base in the Canadian province of Alberta, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, local media outlets have reported, citing sources. The blaze broke out on Saturday in a training area at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright, about 200 kilometers southeast of Edmonton. Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty confirmed fatalities and injuries but did not release casualty figures or explain what had caused the fire. ”I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory, ” McGuinty told reporters. “This is a very, very active and delicate situation.” Alberta MP Dane Lloyd said he had heard reports of “significant casualties” following an explosion and fire at the base. According to multiple Canadian Armed Forces s...