How Charles Michel waded into a minefield in Nagorno-Karabakh

The former Council President wanted to intervene in a bitter conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He ended up mired in problems of his own, excerpts from a new book on the region reveal.

Trump suggests shooting down aircraft above New Jersey as concerns continue

President-elect Donald Trump posted to social media Friday saying the craft seen hovering around parts of New Jersey should be shot down, as lawmakers continue to demand answers.

Chinese hack of global telecom providers is โ€˜ongoing,โ€™ officials warn

Officials from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency say the major Chinese hack began in late spring, and they are strongly urging Americans to use encrypted communications.

Brussels fines Facebook parent company โ‚ฌ800M

EU targets Meta with antitrust penalty for pushing classified ads service.

17 wild facts about Kemi Badenochโ€™s new Tory team

From spilling wine on Queen Elizabeth’s carpets to branding colleagues “lazy,” the new Conservative leader has an eclectic shadow Cabinet.

Russian disinformation accelerates toward US election

A new report tracks efforts to sow discord in the United States โ€” even beyond Tuesday.

Everyoneโ€™s tough on drugs again

Traffickers are to blame, the candidates say. Virtually no oneโ€™s talking about treatment.

Republican electric car attacks crash into Democratsโ€™ closing message

In Michigan, New York, Montana and elsewhere, Republicans have seized on Biden administration electric vehicle policies.

Battle for Moldovaโ€™s future: Gendered disinformation is Russiaโ€™s secret weapon

Much like the US vice president, who has similarly been the target of disinformation campaigns, Sanduโ€™s candidacy has been a lightning rod for misogyny cloaked in political rhetoric.

Crypto has quietly become one of the biggest electoral players. You wouldnโ€™t know it from their ads.

Super PACs funded by the crypto industry are pouring massive amounts into congressional races, and not a single ad actually mentions crypto.

Orbรกn threatens to mess with Ukraine aid to help Trump

Hungary’s latest attempt to disrupt Ukraine aid isn’t about money โ€” it would penalize the EU. It’s about making friends with Donald Trump.

Trump requests military plane, increased protection amid security threats

Biden pledges โ€œevery single thing he needs.โ€

Pyrrhic victory for the Greek government: the CJEU rules on Turkey as a โ€œsafe third countryโ€

Professor Steve Peers, Royal Holloway University of London

Photo credit: Mstyslav Chernov, via Wikimedia
Commons

Hamster idiom credit: Adam Sharp

(Thanks to Zoe Gardner for discussion of the case;
the following analysis is my own)

 

Introduc…

Russia and Chinaโ€™s cooperation in the Arctic is a rising nuclear threat

While Beijing and Moscow have been working to establish a strategic foothold in the region for more than a decade, Washington and Brussels are just now waking up to the danger.

Washington is glad Nasrallah is gone, but bracing for more violence

The White Houseโ€™s initial reaction to the news was positive, even as it scrambled to figure out if this could spur wider war in the Middle East.

Ed Miliband is Britainโ€™s minister for good vibes

Amid much Labour doom and gloom, the energy secretary appeared to be having the time of his life.

Ministers call for delay in pesticide tracking obligations to ease burden on farmers

In a fresh effort to slash red-tape for farmers, at least 17 EU agriculture ministers, led by Poland, want to delay new obligations to electronically track pesticide use.

New data shows closer links to Republican candidate and porn, dating sites

Trump, who endorsed Robinson, has publicly remained silent about the embattled lieutenant governor.

Biden administration moves to ban imports of Chinese โ€˜connectedโ€™ cars and parts

The Commerce Department is publishing a proposed rule today to ban imports of Chinese and Russian vehicles, as well as key hardware and software components, that could be used to spy on Americans or potentially even take control of their cars. โ€œCars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet,โ€ [โ€ฆ]

Ukraineโ€™s Russia strike ban hopes dashed

However, top diplomats from the U.S. and the U.K. did bring large aid packages and pledged continued support.

Whatโ€™s driving Kamala Harrisโ€™ surge in the polls

Harris has made eye-popping gains with traditional, core Democratic base voters while also appealing to independents.

Send Snoop to the Convention: What political media can learn from the Olympics

Bringing more celebrities into political coverage could make it livelier โ€” and perhaps even more informative.

Now you see him, now you donโ€™t: How did Carles Puigdemont pull off his great disappearing act?

The fugitive separatist leader snuck into Spain, gave a speech in Barcelona and then vanished into thin air.

Trump, Harris launch dueling ad wars

The ad campaigns are the opening salvo of a 100-day sprint to the November presidential election.

Trump vs. Bidenโ€™s historic climate agenda

President Joe Biden may no longer be on the 2024 ballot โ€” but his legacy is. And former President Donald Trump would have multiple tools to thwart his ambitions on energy, infrastructure and climate change.

Ukraine war briefing: โ€˜Occupiersโ€™ ship severely damagedโ€™ in Kavkas across from Crimea

Zelenskiyโ€™s and Kamala Harrisโ€™s aides hold phone talks; Spanish pensioner jailed over anti-Ukraine letter bombs. What we know on day 882See all our Ukraine war coverageUkraine said its drones attacked a Russian ship used for military cargo moored at Ka…

Orlen CEO-turned-MEP testifies in visa scandal involving PiS officials

The former CEO of Poland’s state-owned petrol giant and newly-elected PiS MEP Daniel Obajtek will testify on Tuesday before the parliamentary committee investigating the visa scandal, in which former PiS officials are accused of fast-tracking visa appl…

Now what? Here are the next moves for all the key players after the Trump immunity ruling

Judge Tanya Chutkan, special counsel Jack Smith, and Donald Trumpโ€™s lawyers have big decisions to make after the immunity ruling.

Five simple steps to deceiving your way to Downing Street

From dodgy data to flagrant fibs, POLITICO has the inside track on how politicians are scheming to win votes at the U.K. general election.

A bear attack in Slovakia reveals what the far right really wants

Across the globe, populists are rolling back efforts to save nature and the planet.

Bidenโ€™s Israel policy may hasten Trumpโ€™s rise, US allies fear

As the president begins his last international trip before the election, the fear in the crowd is that conflict in Gaza is tripping him up.

Class of 2024: Meet the EUโ€™s next crop of likely MEPs

POLITICO projections estimate who will be elected to the European Parliament on Sunday.

US military sees โ€˜valueโ€™ in letting Ukraine strike Russia with US weapons

The Biden administration is under increasing pressure to lift restrictions on US-supplied long-range weapons.

Trumpโ€™s pollsters think they can spin any verdict in his favor

The former presidentโ€™s advisers and allies plan to situate any outcome within the same grievance narrative heโ€™s been cultivating for years.

Safer, cleaner and more lucrative: The Good Move plan transforms Brusselsโ€™ city center โ€” but remains politically divisive

New data shows the controversial regional plan to slash traffic appears to have been a success in the heart of the city, even as its future is in doubt.

Ukraine war briefing: Kharkiv campaign wonโ€™t deliver major Russian breakthrough โ€“ Nato general

Ukraine accuses invaders of killing civilians and setting up human shields; sanctions over North Korean arms supply to Russia. What we know on day 814Russia does not have sufficient forces on the ground to make a major breakthrough in Ukraine after lau…

Microsoft goes from bad boy to top cop in the age of AI

The tech company fields teams of disinformation-hunters, computer scientists and policy officials in a bid to stop artificial intelligence from gatecrashing the 2024 global election cycle.

Moldova fights to free itself from Russiaโ€™s AI-powered disinformation machine

With an EU referendum and a presidential election in October, the Ukraine-bordering Eastern European country fends off a barrage of disinformation, cyberattacks and Kremlin-backed political corruption.

Soviet-era attitudes to disability hinder Ukrainian fightersโ€™ recovery

Injured soldiers face social stigma โ€ฆ and their numbers have soared.

Bird flu in US cows: Should Europe be worried?

One in five samples of retail milk in the U.S. have tested positive for viral fragments.

Listen to the US or brace for escalation โ€” the choice is Israelโ€™s to make

Washington remains deeply anxious and more determined than ever to find an end to the escalatory pressures in the Levant.

The European Parliament by the numbers

A look at the data from a very eventful Parliamentary term.

EU probes Apple, Google and Meta over digital rules compliance

Companies face fines of up to 10 percent of their global annual turnover if European Commission decides they are breaking the laws.

Biden may condition aid for Israel after a Rafah invasion

The once-private frustration between Biden and Netanyahu is spilling out into the open.

Developments from Ukraine: Precision warfare on the cheap

In todayโ€™s world, the battlefield has become transparent, the warheads much more precise and the weapons very cheap.

‘The Showman’: The inside story of Zelensky’s leadership and the war in Ukraine

The journalist who has had more access than perhaps any other to Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has told FRANCE 24 that the Ukrainian president has done all he can to ensure the war remains at the forefront of world l…

Sweden seeks to tighten NATOโ€™s grip in Baltic Sea with 2 new submarinesย 

Swedenโ€™s first new submarines inย decades will have advanced weapons, stealthy propulsion and sonar-evading hulls to counter Russia under the Baltic Sea.

Icelandโ€™s โ€˜bike whispererโ€™: the vigilante who finds stolen bicycles โ€“ and helps thieves change

Bjartmar Leรณsson says at first he was motivated by his anger at Reykjavรญkโ€™s bike thieves. Now he empathises with themIt all started in 2019, when Bjartmar Leรณsson started to see a rise in bike theft in Reykjavรญk. Rather than accepting that once a bicyc…

EU Commission seeks third way between โ€˜pay or consentโ€™ in voluntary pledges

The EU’s consumer protection department presented draft pledging principles for the digital advertising industry as part of its initiative to phase out cookie banners that include the provision of a third, less intrusive alternative to the pay-or…