Governments, elections, EU geopolitics
Germany’s Left Party faces a deepening crisis as it struggles to speak to the concerns of urban working-class communities like Berlin’s Neukölln, caught between its progressive activist base and voters drawn away by rival movements.
Donald Trump has signalled confidence that the war in Ukraine could end sooner than widely expected, while Brussels quietly removed two Russian oligarchs from its sanctions list following protracted negotiations among member states.
Doctored passport images falsely claiming Zelenskyy holds Israeli citizenship have resurfaced online, recycling a disinformation narrative that fact-checkers first debunked in 2023.
Lithuania’s finance minister has warned that removing Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from EU sanctions would make the bloc look weak, even as procedural constraints may force the move regardless of political opposition.
Disagreements among EU governments are complicating efforts to finalise a fresh round of sanctions against Russia, while a Mediterranean country pushes for bloc funding to establish migrant return centres.
Germany’s chancellor confronts renewed domestic pressure following a poor CDU showing in regional elections, while Kyiv escalates its aerial campaign against the Russian capital.
Emmanuel Macron visited the French archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to highlight growing France-Canada ties, praising Prime Minister Mark Carney’s developing relationship with the European Union amid shifting transatlantic dynamics.
Exit polls project the CDU to fall to just 5.5% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a potential historic low for the party, as the Left leads with 24.5% in what amounts to a damaging night for Friedrich Merz ahead of federal elections.
Facing punitive US trade measures and unsettling territorial rhetoric from Washington, the European Union and Canada are accelerating a strategic partnership that extends well beyond commerce.
Former French justice minister Rachida Dati faces a Paris court over allegations she received €900,000 from a Renault-Nissan subsidiary in exchange for political influence, in a trial that also sees former CEO Carlos Ghosn tried in absentia.