Donald Trump has announced a reduction in the US's military presence in Germany. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth specified that 5,000 troops would be withdrawn, but the US President has since insisted that the number would be much higher. The announcements came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced criticism of Washington's strategy in the Iran war.
Russia will hold its annual military parade on 9 May commemorating the victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. The Ministry of Defence has announced that this year's parade will take place with no military hardware, citing the "current operational situation" and concerns about drone attacks from Ukraine.
After a knife attack on two Jewish people last Wednesday in London, the British government has allocated 25 million pounds to protect Jewish institutions. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government was treating the issue as an "absolute priority". The number of antisemitic attacks in Britain has surged since the start of the Gaza war after 7 October 2023.
Former President Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria (PB) party won a clear majority in the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on 19 April. Observers describe Radev as pro-Russian and speculate that he might take on Viktor Orbán's role as troublemaker within the EU. The Bulgarian media, however, is less certain about how Radev play his cards.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it will withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on 1 May 2026. For Opec, this means losing the world's third-largest oil producer. No longer bound by the cartel's agreements, UAE will be able to massively ramp up production. Commentators examine the implications for oil prices and the balance of power among the major oil-producing nations.
The German government has just agreed on a major health reform which foresees, among other things, increased patient contributions for medicines and restrictions on family insurance coverage. This comes at a time when Chancellor Friedrich Merz's popularity has dropped to 15 percent, according to a recent Forsa poll, and a survey by public broadcaster ARD found that 81 percent of the population think wealth is unfairly distributed in Germany.
The president of the Portuguese parliament, José Aguiar-Branco, caused a furore during a parliamentary ceremony marking the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. He made a speech in which he complained that politicians were now required to disclose every detail of their private lives. Socialist MP Pedro Delgado Alves saw this as mockery of the parliament's ethical rules and demonstratively turned his back.
The West African nation of Mali is in the grips of its worst military conflict in years. Radical Islamists and Tuareg separatists have joined forces to fight against the military government that has been in power since a coup in 2020. What does the conflict mean for the Russian Africa Corps, which backs the military junta in Bamako, and for Europe?
Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut has been released as part of a prisoner exchange after five years' internment in Belarus. Poczobut (53), who is a reporter for the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper and a member of the country's Polish minority, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to eight years in a labour camp in 2023. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed him in person at the border.
The Iran war has put an end to the popularity of the Gulf states as a tourist destination, social media checks for visa applications in the US are provoking protests and people are tightening their purse strings. European commentators examine what the global political and economic situation means for tourists and holidays.
Croatia has faced a flood of bomb threats over the past week. Hospitals, shopping centres, editorial offices, airports, schools and kindergartens have had to be evacuated and searched more than 700 times – but in each case no explosives were found. The national press talks of a systematic attack on state and society.