Europe Watch

Starmer rebuffs renewed talk of Andy Burnham leadership challenge | Politics– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

Keir Starmer has attempted to dampen the latest round of speculation about his leadership, insisting that one of his potential rivals, Andy Burnham, is doing a “really good job as mayor of Manchester” and warning colleagues not to waste their time briefing against each other.

The prime minister gave his backing to Burnham on Thursday night as he travelled to the G20 summit in Johannesburg, after the Greater Manchester mayor repeatedly failed to rule out challenging Starmer for his party’s leadership during interviews on Thursday.

Burnham’s comments reignited speculation over the prime minister’s future, with his party languishing in the polls and days away from a tax-raising budget that could define the rest of his term in office.

Starmer said: “Andy’s doing a really good job as mayor in Manchester and we work very closely together.”

Sign Peace Deal by Thanksgiving, Or Else– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

The Trump administration is urging Ukraine to sign a new peace proposal by Thanksgiving or risk losing U.S. support, according to Friday reports from The Washington Post and Axios.

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll delivered the message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.

He presented a version of the 28-point plan drafted by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

Officials told The Post that the plan includes steep concessions from Ukraine to bring an end to the three-year war.

They include a major reduction of its armed forces and the ceding of territory that Russia has not taken by force.

Ukraine Risks Losing Dignity or U.S. Support, Zelensky Says– www.themoscowtimes.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Friday that he would not “betray” his country as he publicly pushed back against a U.S. plan that would end the war on terms widely seen as favorable to Russia, even at the risk, he said, of alienating Washington.

In an address, Zelensky said he would present “arguments” and “alternatives” to the 28-point proposal drafted by the Trump administration, which stunned Kyiv and its European partners when details leaked earlier this week.

That draft plan, seen by AFP, would reportedly require Ukraine to cede territory, drastically reduce the size of its military, pledge never to join NATO and hold snap elections. Russia, meanwhile, would not only be allowed to keep the land its forces have seized but also receive sanctions relief and rejoin the G8.

Russia awaits US peace plan, won’t comment on ‘conflicting’ media reports — diplomat – Russian Politics & Diplomacy– tass.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Russia will react to the United States’ peace plan for Ukraine once it sees something concrete, refusing to comment on “conflicting” reports about it that have come out in the media, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“I think that commenting on leaks that are contradictory and contain conflicting elements is pointless. When we have some official information, when we receive it via a relevant channel, naturally, we will always be open to work,” she told reporters.

“For several days now, Western media outlets have been releasing various leaks and drafts – whatever this could be called – with different details, in different sequences, under various labels,” she said, referring to the US plan. “We have official channels of communication with Washington. The Foreign Ministry has received no information, plans or drafts.”

Top Ukraine security official denies accepting terms of Trump’s peace plan– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top security official denied on Friday (Nov 21) he had agreed to the outline of a Trump administration peace plan, after US officials said he had accepted most of its terms.

Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan that would endorse many of Russia’s main demands, requiring Kyiv to give up additional territory, cut back the size of its military and forever abandon hope of joining the NATO western alliance.

US officials said the plan was drafted after consultations with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who served as defence minister until July and is a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Trump Administration Has Secretly Crafted a 28-Point Deal to End the Ukraine War: Report– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

The Trump administration had partnered with Russia to develop a peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine, according to a new report.

The 28-point plan is modeled after the plan developed that brought a ceasefire to Gaza, according to Axios.

Axios reported that a top Russian official who was not named supports the plan, but the reaction of Ukraine and its European allies remains unknown.

The report said the general areas of the plan include security guarantees, the issue of security in Europe, future American-Russian relations, and an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

Zelensky Caught In New ‘Golden Toilet’ Scandal– trendingpoliticsnews.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

Volodymyr Zelensky is facing a political firestorm as calls grow for him to dump his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a corruption scandal that now includes a golden toilet.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau says roughly £76 million was siphoned out of the country’s energy sector by business leaders and government officials. Yermak, Zelensky’s closest aide, is accused of choking off anti-corruption probes, though investigators have not accused him of taking a cut of the scheme himself.

Unnamed officials warned local media that Zelensky’s entire government could collapse if he refuses to remove Yermak, saying, “Our enemies smell blood.”

The allegations hit a nerve in a country where families endure constant rolling blackouts because of Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure.

Poland Promises Payback After Terror Strikes Its Rail Line – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

 

 

A Sabotage Attack That Crossed a Line

Last weekend, an explosion ripped through railway tracks near Warsaw, Poland, tearing open a NATO-linked supply route feeding Ukraine’s war effort. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the explosion an “unprecedented act of sabotage,” as early reports from the scene confirmed that military aid shipments moved along the same corridor.

Hungary to mount court challenge to EU’s planned phase-out of Russian energy, Orbán says– www.euronews.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

Hungary will challenge the European Union’s plan to end Russian energy imports and take the case to an EU court, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday.

Speaking on state radio, Orbán accused the bloc of trying to sidestep his veto power over sanctions on Russian energy by instead using trade rules in its plan to phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.

“We are turning to the European Court of Justice in this matter,” Orbán said.

“This is a flagrant violation of European law, the rule of law and European cooperation … They will pay a very high price for this.”

Russia pummels Ukraine with missiles and drones, killing at least 25 as U.S. tries to revive peace talks– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

A massive volley of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 25 people — including two children — across Ukraine overnight in one of the biggest aerial attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale war in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched 476 drones and 48 cruise and ballistic missiles at his country. Ukraine’s military said six or seven missiles and nearly three dozen drones made it past Ukraine’s air defenses.

Explosions and fires were reported close to the front lines around the eastern city of Kharkiv, but also far from the front, in the western city of Lviv, which is close to Ukraine’s border with NATO-member Poland.

Most of the deaths were in the western city of Ternopil, where the Interior Ministry said two high-rise apartment blocks and energy facilities were hit. Many of Ukraine’s regions reported some loss of power, as temperatures plunge and the need for heat becomes a matter of life and death.

Zelensky under heavy pressure to fire ‘co-president’ Andriy Yermak– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is under heavy domestic and international pressure to fire his right-hand man, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, after a massive corruption scandal.

Zelensky’s government is embroiled in one of its worst domestic crises since the Russian invasion in February 2022, following accusations by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, that Timur Mindich, a close ally of Zelensky, is involved in large-scale corruption. Mindich and his associates were accused of siphoning $100 million in revenue from Energoatom, the state nuclear energy company. The affair, now dubbed “Mindichgate,” is threatening a man so powerful that analysts have drawn historical parallels with Cardinal Richelieu, a figure from the French King Louis XIII’s era.

Several NATO Nations Scramble Jets as Russian Airstrike Kills At Least 20– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

The air forces of several NATO states were scrambled overnight to protect the airspace of the alliance along its eastern border as Russia launched one of its deadliest air strikes against Ukraine’s western regions of the war so far.

Polish, Romanian, German, Spanish, Norwegian, and Dutch fighter jets were scrambled in two deployments in airspace bordering Ukraine over Poland and Romania and the Russian armed forces hammered western Ukraine. According to Kyiv, Russia launched 476 drones, 47 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles in strikes across the country, but particularly on Western cities Ternopil and Lviv.

At least 20 people have been found dead in Ternopil, which is approximately 225 miles west of Ukrainian capital Kyiv and 110 miles short of the Polish border. Of the killed, at least two are children, and a further 66 were wounded including 16 children in the strikes which badly damaged two apartment blocks.

Zelenskyy condemns Russia’s ‘wicked’ overnight attack on Ukraine – Europe live | Ukraine– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025 0

Blurb:

Russia has launched a “wicked” attack on Ukraine overnight with 430 drones and 18 missiles, with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying was “deliberately calculated” and “aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure.”

A drone explodes during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
An apartment is seen damaged after a Russian attack on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

At least four people were killed, with “dozens” wounded, including children, he said.

The attack largely targeted Kyiv, hitting “almost every district” of the capital, the head of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on social media.

UK Suspends Intelligence Sharing With U.S. over Caribbean Drug Strikes– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser November 12, 2025 0

Blurb:

The British government has reportedly suspended intelligence on Caribbean drug smuggling operations with the United States to distance itself from recent air strikes on cartel boats, seemingly siding with human rights lawyer maximalism over security interests.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy of using “kinetic strikes” to prevent drugs from making it to the streets of America has apparently been rejected by the human rights lawyer-led British government, evidently prioritising adherence to United Nations rules over its relationship with the nation’s most consequential ally.

Intelligence gathered from the string of British overseas territories and UK military intelligence assets stationed in the Caribbean is no longer being shared with Washington, according to CNN. The British government has refused to confirm or deny these claims, citing the importance of secrecy in intelligence matters, but the report cites an internal British source who states the UK stopped sharing intelligence a month ago, after the U.S. started sinking drug smuggler boats, and that his decision was reached because of human rights concerns.

 

UK Cabinet minister denies plotting to oust embattled leader Starmer– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser November 12, 2025 0

Blurb:

LONDON — A senior member of the British government on Wednesday denied he’s plotting to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a sign of deep anxiety in the Labour Party over its dire poll ratings less than 18 months after a landslide election victory.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said talk of a leadership challenge coming from Labour officials and lawmakers is “self-defeating and self-destructive.” He spoke after aides to the prime minister preemptively told British media outlets that Starmer would fight any leadership challenge.

“It’s totally self-defeating briefing, not least because it’s not true,” he told Sky News. He said “whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much ‘Celebrity Traitors’,” referring to the hit reality TV show that pits faithful members of a group against conniving enemies within.

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s troops exploit bad weather to force Kyiv withdrawal from multiple towns– www.independent.co.uk

pgnewser November 12, 2025 0

Blurb:

Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces, told public broadcaster Suspilne that troops had “completely withdrawn” from the villages of Uspenivka and Novomykolaivka.

“Very fierce fighting continues for Yablukove and several other locations,” he said. “The defensive operation is ongoing, and the contact line remains dynamic.”

Russia is taking advantage of the weather to advance in small groups, moving on foot or motorcycles, with the adverse weather preventing Ukrainian forces from deploying drones against them.

It comes as Ukraine’s government suspended its justice minister on Wednesday, amid an investigation into corruption in the energy sector.

UK Police Warn Pastor He May Be Investigated for ‘Hate Speech’ Over Bible Verse on Camper– slaynews.com

pgnewser November 10, 2025 0

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A church leader in the UK says police warned him that he may face a criminal investigation because a Bible verse displayed on the back of his campervan could be treated as “hate speech.”

The story is yet another chilling example of how far Britain’s crackdown on religious expression has gone.

Pastor Mick Fleming, 59, who runs an independent church and anti-poverty charity in Burnley, said he was approached by a police officer at a gas station on October 27.

The officer warned Fleming that the Scripture on his vehicle might be considered hateful “in the wrong context.”

The verse was John 3:16, one of the most widely known and quoted passages in the Christian faith:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

BBC Bosses OUT After Pushing Doctored Trump January 6th Clip– www.newsbusters.org

pgnewser November 10, 2025 0

Blurb:

After much controversy over the doctoring of a portion of President Donald Trump’s remarks at The Ellipse on January 6th, 2021, it has been announced today that both the Director General and News CEO of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have resigned.

Per The New York Post:

The director-general of the BBC has resigned Sunday amid scandal after the British state broadcaster shared doctored footage of President Trump speaking on Jan. 6.

…

BBC boss and head of news quit after Trump documentary edit criticism– japantoday.com

pgnewser November 10, 2025 0

Blurb:

The BBC’s boss and its head of news quit on Sunday following criticism over bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The BBC had been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper which cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, trans issues and a speech made by Trump.

The White House had recently denounced the broadcaster as a “propaganda machine” after its flagship Panorama program was found to have edited two parts of Trump’s speech together so he appeared to encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

Tim Davie, who has led the British Broadcasting Corporation since 2020, said he decided to leave after “reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times”.

UK Conservative Party Conference featured a pro-assisted suicide panel discussion– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser November 10, 2025 0

Blurb:

After several busy days of Conservative Party conference lobbying politicians and darting between fringe events, I decided to venture down enemy territory lane and attend the Dignity in Dying (DiD) panel fringe event. Contrary to what the media might have you believe, fringe events were packed, people spilling out like sardines into the corridors, and I often found myself turning up a good half-hour early just to secure a standing spot, never mind a seat sandwiched between two delegates.

Upon arrival at the DiD panel, it was the first room I had walked into where the room was full of empty seats.

On the panel sat the Rt. Hon. Kit Malthouse MP, Dr. Neil Shastri-Hurst MP, David Barker (Chief Executive, Willow Burn Hospice) Nick Hoile (Board Member for Dignity in Dying) and Rebecca Gillanders, a volunteer.

Key Ukrainian city in danger of falling to Russia– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser November 7, 2025 0

Blurb:

THE BATTLE FOR POKROVSK: For a year and a half, Russia has committed an inordinate number of forces and suffered horrific casualties (over 1,500 dead last month) trying to take the city of Pokrovsk, located on the front lines of Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine.

The latest battlefield reports suggest Ukrainian defenders of the city — which once had 60,000 inhabitants but is now mostly deserted — may soon be overwhelmed by Russian forces who have taken about 90% of Pokrovsk and are slowly advancing in house-to-house battles.

“Russian forces are just a few km away from closing their pincer movement around Pokrovsk and neighbouring Myrnohrad and are also closing in on Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region,” Reuters reported from Moscow.

“Moscow’s forces are now close to cutting off the main roads into Pokrovsk, with its two key supply routes already under fire from Russian drones, making it dangerous and difficult to bring in supplies and also threatening Ukrainian forces ability to withdraw,” ABC news reported.

Dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk” by Russian media, the fall of Pokrovsk would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a psychological victory and buttress his effort to seize more territory before seriously considering ending the war. It would give Putin his biggest win since the fall of Bakhmut in May 2023, and would put the last two major cities in Donetsk, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, in peril.

Man Yells ‘Allahu Akbar’ After Mowing Down Pedestrians in Two Different French Towns– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser November 7, 2025 0

Blurb:

Multiple people were injured Wednesday after a driver who screamed “Allahu Akbar” after he was arrested drove through pedestrians on an island off the coast of France.

Ten people were injured, with four in critical condition, after the incident on Ile d’Oléron, according to the BBC.

The man drove between two villages, knocking down anyone who did not get out of his way, Thibault Brechkoff, the mayor of Dolus d’Oléron, said.

He abandoned the vehicle and set fire to it before trying to escape, Brechkoff said.

“No one has died, and we are hoping that the injured will recover,” he said, according to GB News.

Britain calls it safety. It is censorship | Social Media– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser November 7, 2025 0

Blurb:

The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act was meant to keep children safe. Instead, it is keeping the public uninformed. Within days of the law taking effect in late July 2025, X (formerly Twitter) started hiding videos of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza from UK timelines behind content warnings and age barriers. A law sold as safeguarding has become one of the most effective censorship tools Britain has ever built. What is unfolding is no accident. It is the result of legislation that weaponises child-protection rhetoric to normalise censorship, identity verification and online surveillance.

The roots of Britain’s online censorship crisis go back almost a decade, to MindGeek, now rebranded as Aylo, the scandal-ridden company behind Pornhub. This tax-dodging, exploitative porn empire worked closely with the UK government to develop an age-verification system called AgeID, a plan that would have effectively handed Aylo a monopoly over legal adult content by making smaller competitors pay or perish. Public backlash killed AgeID in 2019, but the idea survived. Once one democracy entertained the notion that access to online content should be gated by identity checks, the precedent was set. The Digital Economy Act 2017 laid the groundwork, and the Online Safety Act 2023 made it law. Today, several European Union states, including France and Germany, are exploring similar legislation, each cloaked in the same rhetoric of “protecting children”. This is not conspiracy; it is the natural convergence of corporate capture and state control, wrapped in the moral language of child safety.