US drops Syria from terror sponsor list after 47 years
Washington has cleared the last major legal obstacle to American investment in Syria while Brussels keeps more than 350 names on its own sanctions list.
Defence
Latest reporting and analysis on defence.
Bessent targets French, Swiss and British firms in sweeping Iran sanctions
Nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels have been designated as Washington opens what it calls Operation Economic Outcast.
Xi urges diplomacy on Middle East as China and Jordan back Hormuz reopening
Beijing has cast itself as a broker in a conflict that has kept Europe's main energy artery shut since February.
Zelensky blocks Ukrainian elections again, calling a wartime vote a ‘tsunami’
The President, whose mandate ran out in 2024, has once more ruled out the ballot his ousted defence minister is demanding.
Hungarian Gripen fighter jet crashes near Szolnok as pilot ejects safely
Defence minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said the pilot escaped injury after doing everything possible to bring the aircraft down on military land.
Brussels approves €6.1 billion for Ukrainian air defence on Independence Day
The EU executive signed off the envelope as leaders gathered in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine's shortage of interceptor missiles.
Coalition of the Willing meets in Kyiv as Ukraine asks for 300 interceptors
Air defence, €30 billion in blocked EU funding and Russia's shadow fleet are on the agenda at the third such gathering in the Ukrainian capital.
Russia conducts missile tests near disputed Kuril Islands after Japanese protest
Japanese officials confirmed on Friday that Tokyo had lodged a formal protest after receiving notification of the planned missile tests.
Slovenian president faces scrutiny over Russian-linked close associate’s link to former spy chief
Krivolucka has confirmed that she and Jeglič were a couple.
Latvia confirms downed drone was Ukrainian
Latvia's National Armed Forces said that analysis of the recovered debris had established its origin.
North Korea fires missile salvo as Trump scales back South Korea drills
Pyongyang launched about 10 short-range weapons hours after the US President said he expected to meet Kim Jong Un this year.
Denmark sends its first conscripts to Greenland
The recruits are the first national service intake to take on operational duties in the Arctic territory.
Former US ambassador calls NATO rebrand ‘lipstick on a pig’
Ivo Daalder said Washington no longer treated the security of Europe as bound up with its own.
Spanish NATO jets scramble as drone crashes in eastern Romania
A drone entered Romanian airspace near Galați before coming down in an unpopulated area of Tulcea county, the defence ministry said.
Nord Stream saboteur suspect caught in Croatia
Germany is seeking his extradition so that he can be brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice.
Iran weighs strikes on US and British targets in Europe if conflict escalates
Two regime insiders told the newspaper that Iranian forces have examined potential strikes on US facilities in southeast Europe, including Bulgaria.
Italy sees no Russian link to Colleferro munitions blast
No injuries were reported. The plant was shut for the summer holiday period and only 24 maintenance workers were on site.
Germany overhauls its spy services as hybrid war with Russia escalates
The bill goes first to the Bundesrat for its opinion before the Bundestag takes it up. It does not require the chamber's consent.
US awards Raytheon Tomahawk deal as Iran war drains missile stocks
Europe's own long-range strike programmes remain years from delivery, leaving allies dependent on an American production line that is only now being rebuilt.
Media research identifies over 239,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
Among the identified dead are 87,749 volunteers, 26,416 recruited prisoners and 19,778 mobilised soldiers.
Kallas plans ‘most far-reaching’ Russia sanctions package for autumn
She accused Moscow of deliberate terror, saying Russia was aiming more missiles at Ukrainian cities because it was making no progress on the battlefield.
Israeli security minister calls for killing ’30 to 40′ in Gaza every night
Itamar Ben-Gvir's remarks have landed as EU capitals remain deadlocked over whether to sanction a minister several of them have already barred from their territories…
NATO jet shoots down drone over Romania near Moldovan border
A Spanish F-18 destroyed the aircraft in the fourth such interception over Romanian airspace this year, with the alliance saying the drone appeared to be Russian.
Trump scales back South Korea drills as North Korean troops prop up Russia’s war
The US president has invoked his rapport with Kim Jong Un and Seoul's refusal to join the campaign against Iran, hours before the exercises began.
Zelensky pushes for tighter sanctions on Russian arms supply chains
Kyiv wants Brussels and other partners to blacklist the component suppliers and intermediaries keeping Russian missile and drone production running.
Meloni keeps Italy on alert over expected new mass crossing at Ceuta
The Italian Prime Minister has said the great majority of European nations now share Rome's position on protecting the bloc's external borders.
Massive explosion tears through KNDS ammunition plant near Rome
It produces medium and large-calibre ammunition for land and naval systems, as well as solid propellants for aerospace launch vehicles.
Ceuta braces for second mass crossing as police unions say Morocco holds the key
Reinforcements announced by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska have not convinced officers on the ground, two weeks after more than 70,000 people entered…
Brussels targets social media over Ceuta as Morocco has been offered more EU support
The European Commission has brought the 27 member states into its campaign against online disinformation, while Morocco stays off the agenda.
Dutch defence minister says Putin ‘is not impressed by a nature park’
The five-year measure would make it easier to conduct night-time live-fire exercises, dig trenches, train with drones and accelerate or deviate from certain permit…