Keir Starmer has announced that he is stepping down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Labour party. He will remain in office until his successor has been chosen. Starmer has been under growing pressure for months, which intensified when his Labour rival Andy Burnham was elected to a parliamentary seat in a by-election last week – thus fulfilling a key prerequisite for taking up government posts. Can Burnham bring stability for his party and the country?
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki has stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle. The move was prompted by Zelensky's decision to name a military unit after the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which in Poland is primarily associated with atrocities committed against the Polish civilian population during WWII. The order was awarded to Zelensky in 2023 by Nawrocki's predecessor, Andrzej Duda.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was long regarded as a bridge-builder between the US and the EU, but this changed after Italy refused to allow the US to use its military bases in the war against Iran and US President Donald Trump criticised the Pope, creating a rift between the two leaders. Trump has now claimed that Meloni "begged" him for a joint photo at the G7 summit last week, and that he agreed out of "pity". Meloni has accused the US President of lying.
Another heatwave is hovering over parts of Europe. The meteorological service in France has issued a red alert in 49 regions, and many schools have closed. In Spain, temperatures are set to rise to over 40 degrees in some places over the coming days, and the nights will not be much cooler. Germany and Switzerland are also sweltering in the heat. Commentators discuss how to adapt to the new norm in terms of weather.
Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Moscow on Thursday. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the attack, writing on Telegram that it was "a just response to the constant Russian strikes against Ukrainian cities and towns". The oil refinery is one of the largest facilities in Russia and covers a significant proportion of the capital's fuel demands.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham of the Labour Party, has won the by-election for a seat in parliament representing the Makerfield constituency. As an MP in London, he can now challenge the embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a leadership election. If successful, he would become the new head of government.
The European Parliament has approved the deregulation of plants developed using genetic editing technology in food production. The new directive will mean that if the plant in question could in theory have been bred in a certain way naturally – i.e., no foreign genes have been introduced – the labelling requirements and most environmental assessments will no longer apply.
Prices for chicken, an important and affordable staple food, have risen by between 150 and 250 percent in Turkey since the start of the year. The Turkish Competition Authority had already identified a price-fixing cartel in 2025 and imposed heavy fines on 13 poultry companies. Now the Ministry of Justice has placed those same firms under trustee supervision. The national press questions this strategy.
The US and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war. US President Donald Trump signed the document at the Palace of Versailles, while Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian signed it digitally, according to a statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran. The Strait of Hormuz is now to be reopened with immediate effect. Further issues – including what will happen with Iran's nuclear programme – are to be negotiated over the next 60 days.
The Russian artist and dissident Semyon Skrepetsky was shot dead in broad daylight on a street in the eastern Polish city of Biała Podlaska on Monday. The authorities are searching for the perpetrator. Four days earlier, Skrepetsky, known for his satirical caricatures of Putin, Lukashenko and Stalin, had demonstrated outside the Russian embassy in Berlin.
The leaders of the G7 countries have agreed on tougher sanctions against Russia and new arms deliveries to Ukraine. The summit's host, French President Emmanuel Macron, described the meeting in Évian as a "moment of strategic awakening", bearing in mind that US President Donald Trump left the summit early last year, thus blocking any joint decisions. For some commentators, however, the newfound unity is illusory.
In Lithuania, the Social Democrats have dissolved their ruling coalition with the right-wing populist party Nemuno aušra and plan to form a new government with the centrist Union of Democrats Vardan Lietuvos and the conservative Farmers' and Greens' Union (LVŽS) instead. Social Democrat Mindaugas Sinkevičius is set to replace his party colleague Inga Ruginienė as prime minister.