Albin Kurti’s emphatic victory strengthens mandate for domestic reforms including welfare expansion
Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti has won an emphatic election victory, marking a resurgence for the nationalist leader and ending a political deadlock in Europe’s youngest state.
The win in Sunday’s snap election strengthens Kurti’s mandate to push through domestic reforms, including welfare expansion and higher salaries for public workers, although he faces significant problems including tensions with Serbia and health and education systems that lag behind Kosovo’s Balkan neighbours.
A deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine was “95% done”, Donald Trump claimed after his meeting over the weekend with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago.
Unfortunately, the 5% still remaining includes the small matter of getting Vladimir Putin to agree to a deal – and there are precious few indicators that that is any closer. Instead, Trump’s claim seems to be the latest in a long line of overoptimistic statements anticipating a swift end to the conflict, starting with his campaign promise that he would end the war in 24 hours.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US has agreed to offer “strong” security guarantees to Ukraine for 15 years, but acknowledged that the future of the country’s eastern Donbas region was unresolved after his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Donald Trump in Florida.
Speaking on his way back to Europe, Zelenskyy said the US Congress and Ukraine’s parliament would jointly vote on American pledges. These were a key part of a 20-point peace plan discussed with the US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence, he said.
Le parti du Premier ministre sortant, Albin Kurti, a remporté les législatives dimanche 28 décembre au Kosovo, les premiers résultats officiels suggérant qu’il approche 50 % des voix. Celui-ci s'est engagé à former rapidement un nouveau gouvernement, laissant entrevoir la fin de l’impasse politique qui paralyse le Parlement depuis un an et retarde l’octroi d’importants financements internationaux.
Le parti du Premier ministre sortant, Albin Kurti, a remporté les législatives dimanche 28 décembre au Kosovo, les premiers résultats officiels suggérant qu’il approche 50 % des voix. Celui-ci s'est engagé à former rapidement un nouveau gouvernement, laissant entrevoir la fin de l’impasse politique qui paralyse le Parlement depuis un an et retarde l’octroi d’importants financements internationaux.
Ukrainian leader had sought up to 50 years of security guarantees at Florida meeting with Trump
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists this morning that Moscow agreed with Donald Trump’s assessment that talks to end the war were in their final stage.
As a reminder, Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly “95% done”. “I really think we are closer than ever with both sides,” he said, though he added that “one or two very thorny issues” remain.
The UK is poised for an influx of cheap Chinese imports that could bring down inflation amid the fallout from Donald Trump’s global trade war, leading economists have said.
After figures showed China’s trade surplus surpassed $1tn (£750bn) despite Washington’s tariff policies hitting exports to the US, the Bank of England said the UK was among the nations emerging as alternative destinations for the goods.
Ageing populations and falling birthrates have left ever fewer workers to support growing number of retirees
It has played a starring role in one of the worst periods of political turmoil in France since the 1960s. In Germany, it threatens the future of the coalition government. In Spain, thousands have taken to the streets to demand change.
The right to a decent state pension has been a central plank of the European social contract for decades, but people are living longer, birthrates are falling, and the continent’s pension systems are, increasingly, unsustainable.
YouGov survey finds many say payments are too low and oppose reforms such as raising retirement age or cuts
Most Europeans believe their country’s state pension system will soon become unaffordable – but they also think the current scheme is not generous enough, and do not support options for overhauling it such as raising the retirement age.
As populations age and fertility rates decline, Europe’s “pay as you go” state pension systems, cornerstones of the welfare state that have always relied on people in work paying the retirees’ pensions, are coming under increasingly heavy pressure.
Jérémie Battaglia’s captivating documentary follows two north African raseteurs battling bulls and systemic racism in southern France
In southern France, the ancient and controversial tradition of Camargue bullfighting remains to this day. In contrast to more lethal forms of the sport, participants – or raseteurs – win points by snatching various ribbons attached to the bulls, each of which comes with a cash prize up to thousands of euros. Following a group of athletes of north African descent, Jérémie Battaglia’s documentary paints a captivating portrait of multicultural France.
For Jawad Bakloul and Belkacem Benhammou, the two young men at the centre of the film, the hardships multiply. Because of their ethnic background, the pair encounter a world of contradictions when they step into an arena. Not only do they face mortal danger, they also face racial abuse from the older, largely white spectators, despite upholding a piece of traditional French culture.
And God Created Woman, the title of the 1956 film that made Brigitte Bardot a global star, is the phrase that captures the magic of her. Bardot had an allure that was dazzling in its glamour, yet so natural that to gaze on it felt like a gift from the heavens.
In style, as in life, timing is everything – and Bardot became the poster girl for that sweet spot of postwar France in which the storied heritage of Gallic culture was electrified by the Bohemian spirit of Paris in the 1950s and 60s.
Rural depopulation compounding challenges of climate emergency and changing technologies in drawing young people to sector
The huge concrete vats that have held countless litres of verdejo white wine in the 90 years since the Cuatro Rayas cooperative winery was founded are dwarfed by the stainless steels tanks that sit opposite and serve as reminders that, even in an enterprise as ancient as winemaking, times change.
Outside, a chilly but welcome rain falls on the surrounding vines, autumn-brown after another furnace-hot summer in the northern Spanish province of Valladolid. But changing technologies and the vagaries of the climate emergency are not the only challenges facing Spain’s €22.4bn (£20bn) wine industry.
The prime minister has been lauded for her country’s growing role on the world stage. But poverty and precarity are forcing vast numbers to emigrate
Earlier this month, the gardens of Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo were filled with families enjoying some unseasonably warm sun by a pop-up ice rink. Teenage couples skated hand in hand, while the watching crowds sipped mulled wine and hot chocolate to a soundtrack of Nat King Cole. At first glance, it looked like a normal Christmas market. The stands, however, revealed a different reality. Among the nativity displays and kitsch decorations were adverts for nationalist newspapers and something called “patriot radio”. On a wall near the kids’ play area, a mural depicted an unlikely cast of characters, tracing a lineage from the fascist poet Gabriele D’Annunzio to the late American Maga influencer Charlie Kirk.
This was the setup I witnessed at this year’s Atreju, Italy’s biggest rightwing festival, which has been running since 1998 as an annual celebration of patriotism and nationalism. During the early editions, proud neo-fascists, including black-hooded thugs from street movements such as CasaPound and Forza Nuova, made up a visible portion of the attenders. At this year’s event, however, the Celtic crosses and odal rune tattoos were tucked under well-ironed shirts. The crowd was made up of nerdy students, gen-Z influencers, civil society campaigners and passersby who had been lured off the street by the glittery lights.
Jamie Mackay is a writer and translator based in Florence
Le président américain Donald Trump a déclaré dimanche 28 décembre être « très proche » d'un accord sur le plan de paix pour l'Ukraine à l'issue d'une rencontre avec son homologue ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky, qu'il recevait en Floride, même si les deux dirigeants ont admis que des points épineux restaient encore à régler.
Le corps sans vie d'une personne a été retrouvé dimanche 28 décembre dans le sud de l'Espagne à la suite de pluies diluviennes qui ont provoqué de fortes inondations, ont annoncé les secours espagnols. Au moins deux personnes sont toujours portées disparues. Le pays reste profondément marqué par les grandes inondations d'octobre 2024 qui avaient causé plus de 230 morts, principalement dans la région de Valence.
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