Global Instability and Shifting Alliancesresolved

The Kremlin leader stated: "We are fighting against an aggressive force armed by NATO."

Keir Starmer set to face challenge as former minister says she will trigger race if no cabinet minister comes forward UK politics live – latest updates MPs from Labour’s left are expected to urge Ed Miliband to consider a leadership bid in the coming days, as Keir Starmer faced the prospect of a definite challenge from his MPs next week. Following grim results for Labour in elections on Thursday, former minister Catherine West said that if no cabinet ministers went public by Monday, she would launch a bid to end the impasse. Continue reading...

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has shown little sign of abating, with Hezbollah also continuing to attack Israeli troops, and both sides accusing the other of violating a U. S.-brokered truce.

New York Times White House Correspondent Maggie Haberman said on Friday that President Trump and former President Biden share a common “disconnect” with voters when it comes to messaging on the economy. “Certainly, there has been a similarity in terms of how President Biden and how President Trump have handled how voters feel about their…

Marco Rubio clashes with reporters over Iran ceasefire

The Prime Minister is relying on the experienced figures of Brown and Harman. Trump congratulates the Scottish leader.

Ukrainian company EDRONE has showcased its Baton drone interceptor system designed to protect critical infrastructure at the SAHA 2026 defense exhibition in Istanbul. The unmanned aerial system was presented in two configurations – fixed-wing and copter-type.

The WHO chief has reassured Tenerife residents, as Spanish authorities prepare to receive the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak.

As a temporary ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia comes into effect, residents across Ukraine reflect on the enduring toll of war and the uncertainty of peace. In Zaporizhzhia, mourners at a World War II memorial drew parallels between past and present suffering, while others in Kharkiv and Kyiv expressed cautious hope mixed with deep scepticism that the brief pause in fighting could lead to meaningful negotiations.

This Saturday, the United Kingdom announced the deployment of its destroyer, HMS Dragon, to the Middle East in preparation for a possible operation aimed at protecting maritime transport in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement. The HMS Dragon, of the British Royal Navy, is an air defense vessel, and in March, it was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean following the start of the conflict with Iran to assist in the defense of Cyprus. This strategy would be part of a multinational operation to protect maritime transport in the strait. "The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of a prudent planning process that will ensure the United Kingdom is prepared, as part of a multinational coalition led jointly by the United Kingdom and France, to secure the strait when conditions allow," a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defense said, according to the Reuters news agency. The protection of the Strait of Hormuz has become one of the central issues of the conflict, which began on February 28 with Israeli-American airstrikes on Iran.

A large-scale forest fire is ongoing in the Chornobyl exclusion zone in the Kyiv region, with firefighters working to extinguish flames that have already spread over an area of 1,200 hectares.

The Russian president added that he was very pleased to welcome his counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith to Moscow

Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship ​hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, Spain's interior minister said on Saturday, adding that transport will also be arranged by the European Union, the US and the UK for the remaining passengers.

Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar error Developers working for Google have significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres will contribute to the UK’s total emissions in planning documents reviewed by the Guardian. The tech company wants to build two huge datacentres – one 52-hectare (130 acre) project in Thurrock and another at an airfield in North Weald, both in Essex. To do so, developers are required to submit planning documents calculating how much carbon these projects will emit as a proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint. Continue reading...

France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands will send planes to repatriate their citizens on the Tenerife-bound cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, Spain said on Saturday. The European Union is sending ​two additional planes for the remaining European citizens, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said during a briefing in Madrid. The U. S. and Britain, meanwhile, are arranging planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens from countries unable to send air transport. Hantavirus is a disease typically spread by infected rats. As of Friday, there were a total of six confirmed cases of a hantavirus variant — named the “Andes” subtype — linked to the cruise ship and two probable cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Andes subtype is the only variant known to spread among humans. The WHO has sought to calm fears that the outbreak could trigger a global health emergency on the scale of Covid-19. The Spanish government’s plans to let the cruise ship, the MV Hondius, arrive in Tenerife have provoked controversy, including among Canary Islands leaders. The ship will anchor off Tenerife without docking. Passengers will then be ferried to the industrial port of Granadilla and transported in “sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor” before being repatriated directly to their home countries, according to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ghebreyesus is set to travel to Tenerife with Spain’s interior and health ministers to coordinate the arrival of the cruise ship. Ghebreyesus addressed the people of Tenerife directly via social media on Saturday, acknowledging their fears while stressing that “this is not another Covid.” “The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low,” Ghebreyesus said. Ghebreyesus intends to “stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making [the operation] happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion.”

Sri Lankan authorities arrested a senior Buddhist monk on Saturday for the alleged sexual abuse of an underage girl, police said, marking the highest-profile case involving clergy in the country. Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, was arrested at a private hospital in the capital Colombo where he had sought treatment over the weekend amid an investigation into the alleged abuse of the 11-year-old girl in 2022. The crime is alleged to have taken place at a highly venerated temple in Anuradhapura, around...

More than 100 passengers and crew members were affected by a norovirus outbreak on board the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, which had departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to U.S. health authorities. According to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 102 passengers and 13 crew members experienced symptoms associated with the gastrointestinal virus during the 14-day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. The main symptoms reported include vomiting and diarrhea, which are characteristic of norovirus, a highly contagious disease that often spreads rapidly in enclosed spaces such as cruise ships. The ship, operated by Princess Cruises, departed on April 28 from Fort Lauderdale and was carrying more than 3,100 passengers and 1,100 crew members. In response to the outbreak, the company activated health protocols that included isolating affected individuals, reinforcing cleaning and disinfection measures, and collecting samples for analysis. "We quickly disinfected all areas of the ship and added additional health measures during the voyage," Princess Cruises said in a statement reported by U.S. media. The company also stated that once the cruise ship arrives at Port Canaveral, Florida, on May 11, the vessel will undergo a thorough cleaning and disinfection process.

As the May 14-15 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping approaches, the U. S. is racing to freeze the Iran crisis before it weakens their hand at the table, while China's leverage increases and Saudi Arabia diversifies its security relationships.

At the early stage of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, decisive support for Kyiv from Berlin was constrained by close political and business ties with Russia, fears of nuclear escalation, and the prevailing belief in an “invincible Russia,” as well as German politicians’ reluctance to critically reassess their own past policy toward Moscow.

Authorities say individual jumped fence at Denver International Airport in Colorado before being struck.

The faction is made up of ultra-conservative politicians, clerics, and media figures who strongly support the ideology of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II – a show that didn't include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades. Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, which was scaled down even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.

In an interview with Corriere, following Marco Rubio's visit to Rome, he stated: "Moving troops from Italy? I'm still considering that."

The U. S. is imposing new sanctions on more than a more dozen individuals and entities based in the Middle East and China, accused of helping prop up Iran’s war effort. The State Department on Friday announced sanctions against three Chinese entities that allegedly provided satellite imagery of U. S. facilities in the Middle East to Tehran:…

In the assembly hall, a choir of young people sang the Italian national anthem, followed by speeches from La Russa and Fontana.

Labour's collapse and Reform UK's breakthrough in Thursday's local elections reflect the rapid fragmentation of the political landscape in Europe's oldest democracy.

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the latest part of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we look at how Trump’s weakened hand could tilt summit talks. When next week’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was first...

More than 80 years after they occurred, the events of World War II are still hotly debated in Russia and Poland.

Until February 24, 2022, Soviet victims of World War II were almost entirely and mistakenly identified exclusively with Russia in German society and politics, while Ukraine and Belarus – the main arenas of the Nazi war and the Holocaust – were marginalized.

Approximately 100 ships, either registered in Hong Kong or locally managed or owned, are currently stranded in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. This situation has left an estimated 2,300 seafarers trapped, according to an industry leader. Richard Hext, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, told the South China Morning Post on Friday that it is very risky to navigate vessels through the strait due to the potential for attack, even though the US and Iran have recently...

The United Kingdom announced that it will "reposition in the Middle East" a destroyer, the HMS Dragon, currently in the Mediterranean, in preparation for a future international mission to protect maritime transport in the Strait of Hormuz. The initiative is a response to a need for "rigorous planning," ensuring that the United Kingdom is ready "to guarantee the security of the strait, when conditions allow," as part of an international coalition co-led with France, according to the British Ministry of Defense. The security of the Strait of Hormuz is a key element of the conflict that began on February 28 with Israeli-American airstrikes on Iran, which were halted thanks to a ceasefire that came into effect on April 8. The near-blockage of this waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas previously flowed, has become a major concern globally, causing fuel supply problems in Asia, difficulties for airlines, and inflation in Europe. Iran intends to impose fees for transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a position strongly opposed by the United States in the name of freedom of navigation. The Islamic Republic has attacked ships in the area in retaliation for the Israeli-American offensive. The blockade is twofold, as Washington has also imposed a naval blockade since April 13.

Russia’s scaled-down Victory Day celebrations highlighted mounting security concerns and the strain of the war in Ukraine, according to Chatham House analyst Grégoire Roos. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Roos said tighter security, internet shutdowns and fears of Ukrainian drone strikes created an atmosphere “closer to wartime protection” than national triumph, even as President Vladimir Putin continues to retain broad public support.

Leone met with a delegation from Senegal, stating that "hate speech poisons the social fabric."

HMS Dragon will be dispatched ahead of an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Britain's Ministry of Denfense said.

Passengers were evacuated safely after the plane struck a person and an engine then caught on fire A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said. The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote. Continue reading...

In an interview with Corriere, he declined to comment on the relocation of operations from Germany to Eastern Europe.

China and France must respect each other’s core interests, particularly the one-China principle, and strengthen a strategic partnership “free from external interference”, top diplomat Wang Yi said during talks with a senior adviser to the French president on Friday. Wang, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, held talks in Beijing with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wang said the...

The head of the "International Arbitration Institute," a new organization established under China's leadership to resolve international disputes through mediation, announced that it had resolved a maritime dispute between China and Singapore. This move appears to be an effort by China to emphasize its commitment to resolving issues through dialogue and to shape a global order that favors its interests.

No agreements have been reached regarding the next round of negotiations, Russian presidential aide

Woman recovered after volcanic eruption on remote island, while operation to find two missing Singaporeans goes on Rescuers on Saturday recovered the body of an Indonesian woman who was caught in a volcanic eruption on Mount Dukono on Indonesia’s remote island of Halmahera, as search operations continued for the bodies of two Singaporeans, officials said. The dead hikers were among 20 who set out to scale the 1,355m (4,445ft) volcano in defiance of safety restrictions and became stranded when Dukono erupted early on Friday, spewing a thick ash column about 6 miles (10km) into the air. Continue reading...

Insurgent parties like Reform U.K. saw a surge in support at the polls this week. However, the British electoral system was not designed for a multi-party democracy.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, a former journalist, led his party to the most seats in the Welsh Parliament, ousting the Labour Party, which had long held sway, and beating Reform U. K.

Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a pared-back Victory Day celebration on Saturday in Moscow’s Red Square, as a three-day ceasefire in the war in Ukraine appeared to hold. The annual May 9 parade to commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II was held under heavy security amid fears of Ukrainian attacks. For the first time in years, no armored vehicles or ballistic missiles featured in Putin’s Victory Day parade. Ahead of the celebrations, Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a three-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange mediated by the United States, U. S. President Donald Trump said on Friday. The ceasefire is to run from Saturday to Monday to facilitate the transfer of 1,000 prisoners of war from each side, Trump said on social media. Speaking to the crowd Saturday morning, Putin invoked the sacrifices of the Second World War to rally support for his soldiers fighting in Ukraine. “The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the warriors carrying out the tasks of the special military operation today,” the Russian leader said, using the Kremlin’s euphemism for his invasion of Ukraine. “They stand against an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc,” Putin said. “And despite this, our heroes move forward. Victory has always been and will always be ours,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly signaled his support for the ceasefire on Friday, thanking Trump for helping coordinate the agreement. “I thank the President of the United States and his team for their productive diplomatic involvement,” Zelenskyy said. “We expect the United States to ensure that the Russian side fulfills these agreements.” Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating past ceasefire agreements on multiple occasions. Russia declared a brief ceasefire to commemorate Orthodox Easter in April, which allowed the two countries to exchange 175 prisoners of war. But both sides claimed the other launched attacks during the ceasefire window.

The BBC's Russia editor reports from Moscow, where the annual Victory Day display was quieter than usual.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed a positive outlook on his meeting with Pope Leo XIV earlier this week, despite tensions between the White House and Vatican over the Iran conflict. “The holy father is a spiritual leader, first and foremost. I mean, that’s his role to play, and obviously the church has always interacted…

The UK will deploy one of its warships to the Middle East as part of planning for a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire.

Warsaw has recorded an unprecedented number of hybrid attacks on its territory since 2024, Poland’s internal security service (ABW) said in a report published this week. Amateur spies once used by Russian intelligence services have laid the groundwork for more complex operations, according to a researcher who has been following the emergence of these “single-use agents”.

Kremlin Spokesman noted that both the path toward a peace agreement on Ukraine and "the path with Iran that the United States still has to go through" are lengthy processes full of highly complex details

Demonstrators are opposed to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s efforts to build up military power and move the country away from its pacifist identity.

The U. S. military on Friday said its forces struck and “disabled” two Iranian-flagged oil tankers to stop them pulling into an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. The attacks on the ships near the Strait of Hormuz cast more doubt on a tenuous ceasefire that the Trump administration insists is still holding. Washington is awaiting Tehran’s response to the latest U. S. proposals on a peace deal. “U. S. forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran,” said U. S. Central Command commander Brad Cooper in a written statement. Recent days have seen the U. S. and Iran exchange fire, despite a monthlong ceasefire which U. S. President Donald Trump maintains is “still in effect.” U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U. S. was expecting a response from Iran on a peace proposal, with media reports quoting him on Friday as saying: “We’re expecting a response from them today at some point … I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do. … The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation.” Trump has warned the U. S. would “knock [Iran] out a lot harder, and a lot more violently,” if Tehran does not accept a peace deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday accused the U. S. of opting for a “reckless military adventure” every time a “diplomatic solution is on the table.” “Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire?” he wrote on X. “Whatever the causes, outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure.”

The European Union (EU) has urged the Iranian regime to take "all necessary measures" to ensure that the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, receives "definitive and urgent" medical attention after more than a week of hospitalization in the cardiac care unit of a hospital in Zanjan. "The European Union is deeply concerned by reports indicating the serious state of health of the human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, who is currently detained in Iran," said Anouar El Anouni, the European spokesperson for foreign affairs, in a statement. The spokesperson added that the EU urges "the Iranian authorities to immediately take all necessary measures to ensure that Narges Mohammadi receives, definitively and urgently, the appropriate medical care." He also reiterated that the charges against Mohammadi "are based solely on her legitimate and peaceful defense of human rights, and we continue to call for her immediate and unconditional release." Narges Mohammadi, a journalist and human rights advocate, is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for various charges. According to her defense team, she has lost approximately 20 kilograms during her imprisonment and is experiencing difficulty speaking. The Mohammadi Foundation, based in Paris, announced that since April 24th, Mohammadi has been experiencing recurrent episodes of intense chest pain, palpitations, and severe fluctuations in blood pressure.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under growing pressure after Labour suffered major setbacks in local elections across England, while also struggling in Wales and Scotland as Reform UK continued to gain support. The results have raised fresh questions about Starmer’s leadership less than a year after leading Labour back into government. France 24’s Gavin Lee speaks to James Lyons, who served under Starmer in Downing Street and previously worked as political editor at the Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.

USCIS data suggests a rise in visa denials for skilled immigrants, influenced by previous administration policies.

According to him, reaching a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev is "a very long path filled with very complex details"

PM’s wife, accompanying him to the polls, follows a long line of women to mobilise the jacket when stakes are high Not a white flag but a cream blazer was what Victoria Starmer chose to wear to accompany her husband, the prime minister, to vote on Thursday morning. She follows in a long line of women who have mobilised the power blazer at high-stakes moments. Starmer’s, which looks much like a £1,690 ivory Alexander McQueen crepe design, comes hot on the lapels of another. In episode one of the new series of Amandaland, Amanda wears a beige double-breasted iteration in a high-stakes fictional moment: to give a toe-curling talk about her (not shallow) lifestyle brand Senuous as part of careers week at her kid’s school. Earlier in the week, the Princess of Wales launched the Foundations for Life report wearing a creamy beige high-waisted Roland Mouret suit. Continue reading...

Reaching an agreement, a peace agreement, is a very long path with complex details, the Kremlin spokesman said while commenting on remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the US is ready to mediate Russian-Ukrainian negotiations only if there is progress

The amendment to the charges would allow for a broadening of the investigative methods. The search efforts have resumed.

The "Victory Day" parade on Red Square in Moscow, held on the morning of May 9, lasted around 45 minutes, making it one of the shortest in modern Russian history.

Ankara has voiced alarm at Cyprus’s announcement that France will deploy soldiers on the Mediterranean island. The move has fuelled Turkish fears of encirclement, as Cyprus and Greece continue to deepen defence ties with Turkey’s rival Israel.

I co-commissioned the Gaza Genocide Tapestry which will be displayed at the Venice Biennale. Here's the story behind it.

Labour party loses more than 1,400 English council seats and crashes out in Welsh and Scottish parliament votes • UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, is facing increasing pressure to set a date for his departure after elections across much of the country resulted in massive losses for his ruling Labour party. With the bulk of results now counted after voting on Thursday, Labour had lost more than 1,400 representatives from English councils, the local government structures that deliver many neighbourhood services. Continue reading...

The Russian president said his troops “are resisting an aggressive force that is being armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc.”

The Nobel Peace Prize is currently held. "The charges against Mohammadi are based solely on her legitimate and peaceful activities in defending human rights."

Russia marks downsized Victory Day parade as Putin pledges victory in Ukraine 'special military operation'.

The decisions made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner have negatively impacted staff morale and put his position under scrutiny. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, President Donald Trump has approved a plan to dismiss Marty Makary, the commissioner of the US FDA. This decision follows a series of controversial agency decisions that have placed the FDA head in the crosshairs of the White House and Republican lawmakers. Makary's time at the FDA has been marked by several contentious decisions regarding drugs and vaccines, compounded by declining staff morale due to layoffs and the appointment of divisive officials. Recent political clashes have involved issues such as abortion, drugs, and vaping. However, decisions to retract publications on the safety of shingles and Covid vaccines, among other immunization-related decisions, have also caused significant concern in the public health sector. There have also been concerns raised about the transition from two clinical trials to one, the commissioner's new priority review vouchers, and "data-free" regulatory decisions.

Exclusive social hub planned for renovated vault as NYSE competes with Nasdaq for lucrative tech IPOs

A rapid trip with the prime minister to Armenia highlighted the new era of amity between Canada and the European Union. We examine what that can and can’t do for Canadians.

In Moscow, the capital of Russia, the annual Victory Day ceremony commemorating the end of World War II was held with a reduced scale compared to previous years. President Putin emphasized that "victory is ours," referring to the ongoing military intervention in Ukraine. Prior to this, the former U.S. President Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine would observe a three-day ceasefire starting on the 9th of the month, but whether this ceasefire will actually be implemented remains uncertain.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Friday that he was awaiting a response from Iran to the latest proposal from Washington aimed at reaching an agreement to end the war in the Middle East. "I am supposedly receiving a letter tonight, so we will see what happens," Trump told reporters in front of the White House. When asked about a possible intentional delay by Tehran, the president responded: "We will know soon." Trump stated that, if the agreement is not reached, his administration would consider "a different path," mentioning the "Project Liberty Plus," which would expand the previous initiative with new elements. He also noted that Pakistan, a country acting as a mediator, has asked the United States not to abandon the path of negotiation. For his part, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Bagaei, stated that the American proposal is still under evaluation. "The proposal is being studied, and once we reach a definitive conclusion, we will undoubtedly announce it," Bagaei said, according to the Tasnim news agency. Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, expressed from Rome that he expected a response from Iran during the day and expressed his hope that it would be "something that can put us on a serious path of negotiation." In other news, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack on the last day against...

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work! Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Polish far-right leader Sławomir Mentzen, who finished third in last year’s presidential election, was reportedly held for hours at a London airport before being released to continue a family visit to the UK. Mentzen claims he was detained because the British authorities wrongly believed he was planning to speak at a political event. He accused the UK of being a “totalitarian state” that implements “pre-emptive political censorship”. “This crumbling state has no problem with being colonised by Indians and Arabs, but it does have a problem with me possibly wanting to say something to someone here,” he declared. Zostałem dziś zatrzymany na ponad trzy godziny na lotnisku w Londynie, ponieważ Brytyjczycy bali się, że będę przemawiał na jakimś spotkaniu politycznym, na które nawet się nie wybierałem. To upadające państwo nie ma problemu z tym, że jest kolonizowane przez Hindusów i Arabów,… — Sławomir Mentzen (@SlawomirMentzen) May 8, 2026 Mentzen is the leader of a far-right libertarian party called New Hope (Nowa Nadzieja), which in turn is part of the broader far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) alliance that has 16 seats in Poland’s parliament. Mentzen himself is an MP. Last year, he was also Confederation’s candidate in Poland’s presidential elections, finishing third with 14.8% of the vote. Confederation is also currently running third in the polls, with support of around 13%, ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. Last month, during a speech in parliament, another Confederation MP, Konrad Berkowicz, displayed an Israeli flag in which the Star of David had been replaced by a Nazi swastika. He accused Israel of being “the new Third Reich”, a message repeated by Mentzen himself when he shared a video of Berkowicz’s speech. A far-right MP displayed an Israeli flag in which the Star of David had been replaced with a Nazi swastika during a speech in Poland's parliament in which he accused Israel of being the “new Third Reich” and of committing genocide in Gaza https://t.co/jcWPZFG9N1 — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 14, 2026 Late on Friday afternoon, Mentzen announced on social media that he had been held for over three hours at a London airport after flying into the city with his wife and their children. He claimed to have been told by an officer that he had been detained due to being flagged by an unnamed organisation. He was asked the reasons for his visit, where he would be staying, and if he was planning to attend and speak at any events. Mentzen said he was eventually released with no explanation as to why he had been detained nor which organisation had reported him. However, he believes it is clear he was held because of his political views. Click here to help us continue providing news free from paywalls and ads “Only certain views are censored,” declared Mentzen. “If I were an Islamic fundamentalist publicly demanding that gays be thrown from towers, that disobedient women’s faces be burned with acid, and that Israel be destroyed, I wouldn’t have a problem. If I were a rabbi praising genocide in Gaza, no one would have detained me either.” “If I’d simply rowed in here on a dinghy with some Africans, I wouldn’t have had a problem getting in. Illegal immigrants, criminals and basically anyone who wants to come is welcome here. That’s fine by them. What’s not fine is a Polish politician who wanted to spend the weekend with his family in London.” “Of course, every country should have the freedom to decide whom it wants to host,” Mentzen added. “I don’t want immigrants from savage countries in Poland, I don’t want murderers and rapists. The British don’t want people with my views.” "We cannot allow Ukrainians" – Poland's largest immigrant group – "to have representation in parliament," warns far-right leader Sławomir Mentzen. His remarks come amid discussion over toughening the criteria for foreigners to obtain Polish citizenship https://t.co/y86IbrfpcT — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 7, 2025 A few hours later, Metzen posted a further message in which he thanked Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, and consul in London, Agnieszka Fabryczewska, for “promising to forward questions and requests for clarification to the British authorities”. Sikorski, who is a deputy leader of Poland’s main ruling party, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), and a political opponent of Mentzen, shared Mentzen’s post on his own account on X. Mentzen also thanked two senior aides to opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki, who has good relations with Confederation, for “taking an interest in the matter and for their assurance of appropriate action on the part of the office of the President”. Bardzo dziękuję szefowi MSZ Radosławowi Sikorskiemu i Pani konsul Agnieszce Fabryczewskiej za kontakt oraz obietnicę wysłania pytań i próśb o wyjaśnienia do brytyjskich instytucji. Dziękuję też ministrom Marcinowi Przydaczowi i Adamowi Andruszkiewiczowi za zainteresowanie się… — Sławomir Mentzen (@SlawomirMentzen) May 8, 2026 Earlier, the head of the president’s Office of International Policy (BPM), Marcin Przydacz, had criticised Mentzen’s detention and pledged to raise the issue with the British authorities. There has so far been no comment on the incident from the British authorities. However, the UK has previously sought to prevent other Polish far-right figures from entering the country. In 2022, Mentzen’s predecessor as leader of New Hope, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, was prevented from boarding a flight to the UK. Previously, Jacek Międlar, a former priest and far-right figure, was banned from entering the UK. In 2021, a prominent right-wing journalist, Rafał Ziemkiewicz, was also refused entry. Senior foreign policy aide to Poland's president says he will raise his concerns with British authorities regarding the brief detention of Poland's Konfederacja party leader Mentzen at a London airport earlier today; says incident harms Britain's standing in Polish society. https://t.co/YY0KiwFhXg — Jakub Krupa (@JakubKrupa) May 8, 2026 Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Main image credit: CzarneckiRadek/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Five Star Movement (M5S) in the European Parliament: "There's not much to celebrate; it has become the home of austerity."

The parade was vastly scaled back compared to previous years, with no military hardware on display for the first time in nearly two decades.

The billionaire failed to respond to a summons from the Paris prosecutor's office for a voluntary interview on April 20. His outburst against the judges on Friday followed earlier comments targeting the left, particularly in the United Kingdom.

Vladimir Putin has praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine in a speech at Moscow's May 9 parade. The threat of Ukrainian attacks means tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons are absent from this year's event.

Pallegama Hemarathana, the chief prelate of Colombo, is accused of abusing an 11-year-old girl in a temple.

"Lombardy is the region most affected, followed by Emilia-Romagna and Veneto."

As US President Donald Trump prepares to visit Beijing next week after a six-week delay, the cause of the delay – the war on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz – risks becoming a fresh point of friction in his summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. While both China and the US stand to benefit from the reopening of the strait and a permanent end to the war, Beijing and Washington have viewed the crisis through different lenses and sharply diverged over how to achieve...

He also noted that there had been no discussions about extending the ceasefire, nor any attempts to disrupt Victory Day celebrations

The landlocked body of water has taken on new significance, with Russia shipping military and commercial goods to bolster Tehran’s ability to withstand the U. S. assault.

Republicans are eight seats closer to keeping control of the House, making Democrats’ climb toward reclaiming power in November more difficult.

High prices of fuel, fertilizer and other essentials are forcing farmers in Thailand and elsewhere to skip a planting season to avoid losing money on their harvests.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that his soldiers in Ukraine were fighting an "aggressive force" backed by all of NATO and described his war goals as "just", in a combative address to the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square.

Competition among Hong Kong florists heated up on the day before Mother’s Day as stores slashed bouquet prices and offered more innovative products, with some vendors reporting weaker business and lower profit margins compared with last year. Despite the wet weather on Saturday, vendors at the Mong Kok Flower Market touted colourful bouquets of carnations, roses and other fresh flowers. The price of a medium-sized bouquet at the market ranged from HK$300 to HK$400 (US$38.32 to US$51.10), at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday oversaw a military parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on Red Square. Security was tight in Moscow as Putin spoke at the parade, even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities. Putin, in power for over a quarter of a century, has used Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, to showcase the country’s military might and rally support for his...

The US ​and Iran appeared no closer on Saturday to finding an end to their war after the two sides traded fire in the Gulf amid a tenuous ceasefire.

Keir Starmer’s main leadership rivals went into Thursday’s local elections weighing a challenge against the prime minister. But Friday’s results showed some of them on increasingly shaky ground in their own constituencies, a factor complicating any potential coup.

In the 1980s, then-Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad launched his "Look East" policy, urging his country and others in Southeast Asia to emulate the state-led economic development models of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, rather than those of market-dominated Western nations. China subsequently emerged as a prime example of state-led development, but Japan is now leaning again towards a more dirigiste model under the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, not only in...

The Russian leader used his annual speech to justify his so-called special military operation in Ukraine.

Oral fish oil intake may not improve and could even speed up cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease, a research team from China’s Army Medical University has found. Many older adults are accustomed to taking omega-3 supplements to help protect cognitive function. However, findings from the Chinese study challenge this view. The study was based on an analysis of more than 800 older adults in North America, around half of whom carry the dementia-risk gene APOEε4. The data showed that those...

Several frontbenchers told the Guardian they agreed the prime minister’s time in office should not go beyond the end of the year 2026 elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year. In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and more than 1,000 council seats in England by Friday night, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south. Continue reading...

The crime occurred at the victim's residence, where the victim was struck on the head with an object.

Beijing is moving to make green electricity usage a key metric in the operation of new data centre projects, as part of a major push to align the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence with national carbon goals, according to an action plan released Friday. The policy document, jointly released by four bodies – the National Energy Administration, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and National Data Administration – encouraged operators...