Published on 19/05/2026 – 19:28 GMT+2•Updated 19:35 The European Commission kept its carbon border tax unchanged in a fertiliser plan announced on Tuesday meant to support struggling farmers, despite complaints that carbon pricing is also contributing prices amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Fertiliser producers argue that…

Updated: 19/05/2026 – 19:38 GMT+2 Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded the European Order of Merit on Tuesday. Merkel warned that Europe could no longer take peace and security for granted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She also said changes in US security policy showed old certainties were fading.…

The EU is hopeful it can reach a deal on a raft of measures aiming to slash red tape, increase transparency and supercharge domestic production to respond to growing security threats – but significant issues remain regarding autonomy, risking the continent’s security. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Tuesday, members of the European…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 8:28 GMT+2 Many people once again reached for their winter coats and woolly socks at the weekend. This week, though, summer in Germany is set to really gather pace: ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT By midweek a strong early-summer area of high pressure will have established itself over south-western…

An F-16 fighter jet deployed with NATO air policing forces in the Baltics shot down what is believed to have been a stray Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia on Tuesday ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said that, given the drone’s trajectory, “we decided that we needed to take…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:47 GMT+2 Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said Tuesday he hopes to sign a political agreement with the European Commission “next week” on the release of EU funds that had been frozen during the previous government. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Both sides will do everything they can to…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:55 GMT+2•Updated 11:56 Malaysia is seeking more than $251 million (€216 million) in compensation from a Norwegian company over a scrapped deal to supply a missile system for new warships, the defence minister said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the government had sent…

The European Union is increasingly accepting the idea of speaking directly with Russia to bring the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to an end. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The internal reassessment intensified after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, frustrated by the White House’s all-consuming focus on the Middle East, publicly urged Europeans to appoint…

Updated: 19/05/2026 – 13:12 GMT+2 European People Party MEP Željana Zovko warned that US “ideological fights” and EU “complex process procedures” could inhibit an EU-US deal from being reached at tonight’s high stakes talks in Strasbourg. Zovko also admitted she is “not so confident this morning”. … More

Published on 19/05/2026 – 12:07 GMT+2 Denmark’s former monarch, 86-year-old Queen Margrethe, has been released from hospital after undergoing an angioplasty procedure last week, the palace said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Her Majesty Queen Margrethe was discharged from Rigshospitalet today and is returning to Fredensborg Palace,” it said in a…