France: Marine le Pen barred for five years
03 Apr 2025
Marine le Pen has been barred from public office for five years due to EU fund embezzlement, jeopardising her 2027 presidential hopes. Though her four-year jail sentence (two years suspended) is pending appeal, the disqualification took…
Russia: Putin orders 160,000 conscripts
03 Apr 2025
Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of 160,000 new troops between April and July, targeting citizens aged 18 to 30. The spring draft is part of Russia’s biannual conscription cycle; the previous autumn round brought in…
Russia and Ukraine have reached separate agreements with the USA on a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea, following peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Though indirect, the negotiations resulted in a promise to halt attacks on…
Turkey: over 1,400 arrested, protests continue
27 Mar 2025
Protests have rocked Turkey for more than a week after the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key opposition figure and potential rival to President Erdogan. He was detained on corruption charges, which he and…
Ireland’s political landscape is bracing for a showdown over Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) Verona Murphy, whose role is under fire amid a prolonged row over speaking rights in the Dáil. Since January, tensions have mounted, and now…
Ukraine: Putin agrees to a partial ceasefire
20 Mar 2025
Vladimir Putin has agreed to a thirty-day pause in strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure following a phone call with Donald Trump. The two leaders spoke for 90 minutes as the Trump administration works toward ending the…