Europe

• France: prime minister proposes axing two public holidays 17 July 2025
  There has been widespread criticism after prime minister François Bayrou proposed eliminating two public holidays - Easter Monday and 8 May (Victory in Europe day) - to help reduce the national budget deficit. He argues that France’s debt is a critical threat, increasing by €5,000 every second, and that cutting…
• Türkiye: Kurdish fighters disarm, engage in peace process 17 July 2025
  On 11 July thirty Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters publicly disarmed in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, marking the start of a renewed peace process with Türkiye aimed at ending a forty-year conflict that has claimed around 40,000 lives. Following a call in February by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to end…
• Russia: minister’s death a warning to ruling elite 10 July 2025
  Russia has been rocked by the sudden death of transport minister Roman Starovoit, who was found dead from a gunshot wound just hours after being dismissed by Vladimir Putin. With the presumption that he took his own life, this rare occurrence has sparked shock and speculation across Russian media. He…
• Migrant boat crossings: France and UK aiming to curb the flow 10 July 2025
  Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer are engaged in critical talks aimed at curbing illegal Channel crossings in small boats. During Macron’s historic state visit to the UK, the first by a French president since 2008, the two leaders are negotiating enhanced border enforcement, including a ‘one in, one out’ migrant…
• Armenia: bitter dispute escalates between PM and the church 10 July 2025
  A deepening rift between prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Apostolic Church, is threatening to polarise the nation of three million. Tensions erupted after Pashinyan accused Catholicos Karekin II, the Church’s spiritual head, of fathering a child and supporting a coup plot, allegations Karekin denies. The conflict, rooted partly in…