标签： Europe

On a Friday ruling at Woolwich Crown Court, a London judge imposed multi-year prison sentences on four Palestine Action activists, convicting their 2024 raid on a British-based Israeli defense factory as a terror-connected act, amid widespread debate over protest rights and counter-terrorism policy in the United Kingdom.

The targeted facility, operated by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, is located in Bristol. On August 6, 2024, the activists carried out a coordinated break-in: 30-year-old Charlotte Head drove a van through the factory’s perimeter gates, and all four activists, clad in matching red jumpsuits, used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy production equipment. Their stated goal was to halt manufacturing of drones that they argued would be used to kill Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The break-in caused an estimated £1.2 million ($1.6 million) in property damage, and escalated into a violent confrontation with on-site security and responding law enforcement. During the clash, 23-year-old defendant Samuel Corner struck responding police Sergeant Kate Evans twice in the back with a 3.2-kilogram sledgehammer, fracturing her spine. Corner was separately convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm for the attack. In testimony to the court, Evans said she continues to suffer long-term physical and psychological harm from the incident, including persistent sleep disturbance, recurring panic attacks and distressing nightmares. She also told the court she has received abusive online messages accusing her of collaborating with what the senders called the “Zionist occupation of Britain.”

In his ruling, Justice Jeremy Johnson found that the offense extended far beyond standard criminal damage, because the activists’ actions were intended to force Elbit Systems to cease operations in the U.K. and compel the British government to end arms production ties with Israel. Johnson ruled that this intent gave the crime a clear “terrorist connection.”

“Each defendant agreed to take part in high-level actions, and did so with the shared aim of shutting down Elbit and ending what they regarded as British complicity in Israeli war crimes,” Johnson stated. “The action was designed to influence the U.K. government and also to intimidate a section of the public, and was for the purpose of advancing an ideological or political cause.”

The sentencing handed down reflected the judge’s terror ruling: Corner received a sentence of seven years and eight months, Head and 30-year-old Leona Kamio each got five years, and 21-year-old Fatema Rajwani was sentenced to four years and eight months. The terror conviction also means all four activists must serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole, and will require formal Parole Board approval to be released.

The 2024 Bristol raid was a key event cited by the British government when it proscribed Palestine Action as a designated terrorist organization last year. Official Home Office data shows the ban led to more than 1,600 arrests of pro-Palestine protesters between July and September 2024 alone. While London’s High Court has since ruled the original proscription decision was unlawful, the ban remains in effect pending an appeal ruling scheduled for Monday. Even as Friday’s sentencing proceeded inside the Woolwich Crown Court, more than 100 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested outside the southeast London courthouse by law enforcement.

The four activists were originally convicted of criminal damage during a May 2025 retrial. The case originated from an earlier trial where jurors acquitted six other defendants on charges of aggravated burglary and violent disorder, but could not reach a consensus on criminal damage counts. Two additional co-defendants were ultimately acquitted during the retrial.

Human rights organizations have sharply criticized the ruling, warning it sets a dangerous precedent for the criminalization of political protest in the U.K. Amnesty International’s UK chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri called the sentencing “a new low” in what the group describes as a broader national crackdown on peaceful protest activity. “It is completely disproportionate to treat protest-related offending as terrorism,” Moscogiuri said in a post-sentencing statement.

BRUSSELS – In a landmark decision with far-reaching geopolitical consequences for a war-ravaged Eastern Europe, the 27 member states of the European Union formally agreed Friday to launch full membership accession negotiations with Ukraine and neighboring Moldova, with the official opening ceremony scheduled to take place next Monday at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg.

This move marks one of the most significant strategic choices the bloc has made in years, framing the future of the European continent amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For Kyiv, which submitted its EU accession application barely five days after Russian forces crossed its border in February 2022, membership in the world’s largest single trading bloc is viewed as a critical cornerstone of long-term security and stability following the end of the current conflict. While Kyiv has also prioritized NATO membership for collective defense, that path remains blocked: the former Trump administration has repeatedly ruled out Ukrainian membership in the military alliance, other Western powers oppose accession while active hostilities continue, and Moscow cites NATO expansion as a core justification for its 2022 invasion. Notably, Russia has not publicly opposed Ukraine’s EU membership bid, unlike its fierce pushback against NATO integration.

Moldova, like Ukraine, has long sought to escape Moscow’s sphere of influence, and Friday’s agreement brings the small Eastern European nation onto the same integration path as its larger neighbor.

EU leadership praised the two countries for their progress on reform, even amid unprecedented wartime and political pressure. “This is a recognition of the determination, courage and hard work shown by both countries in advancing reforms, even in the face of immense challenges,” EU Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement. The pair framed the decision as a strategic investment that will strengthen “peace, security and prosperity across our continent,” adding that it sends a clear message “that the EU’s offer of peace, stability and opportunity is unmatchable.”

The accession process is a years-long, rigorous path that requires candidate countries to negotiate alignment with 35 distinct EU policy chapters, covering everything from agricultural regulation to internal trade standards. The opening conference on Monday will kick off negotiations on the first cluster of chapters, focused on the core founding values and principles that underpin the EU bloc. Every step of the process – from opening each individual chapter to closing it ahead of full accession – requires unanimous approval from all 27 existing EU members. For years, Hungary maintained a hardline blockade on opening negotiations, but the recent formation of a new government in Budapest has softened the country’s opposition, clearing the way for Friday’s unanimous agreement.

While the EU has praised Ukraine for pushing through ambitious reforms even amid active war, deep concerns remain among member states about persistent corruption gaps and shortcomings in judicial standards. The path to full membership remains uncertain, with multiple European capitals pushing for alternative interim arrangements to bring Ukraine closer to the bloc faster without granting full membership rights immediately. Last month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on EU partners to consider a new model of associate membership for Ukraine, a proposal designed to reinvigorate efforts to reach a resolution to the conflict more than two and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Under Merz’s framework, Ukraine would participate in EU meetings and hold non-voting observer positions in both the European Commission and European Parliament, stopping short of full membership. France and the Netherlands have also floated similar incremental models to accelerate integration while bypassing the full accession process’ slower timelines.

Friday’s decision comes as the EU grapples with shifting global diplomatic dynamics: U.S.-mediated peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow remain stalled, with U.S. foreign policy attention increasingly diverted to escalating tensions related to the Iran conflict. Some European capitals are now weighing whether the bloc should pursue its own direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to move the peace process forward, though no consensus on that step has yet emerged.

After a busy seven-day apostolic visit across Spain that carried a strong message on migration policy and marked a historic milestone for Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia, Pope Leo XIV’s journey back to Rome hit an unforeseen snag Friday at Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport in Spain’s Canary Islands. The Iberia Airlines charter jet scheduled to carry the pontiff and his delegation home developed a critical mechanical issue that grounded the aircraft, leaving the Vatican team stranded before a last-minute act of generosity from Spain’s monarch resolved the crisis.

The problem emerged after Pope Leo had already boarded the plane: the aircraft’s engine failed to start, and initial attempts by the ground crew to repair the fault were unsuccessful. All passengers were required to exit the aircraft, and an investigation into the root cause of the malfunction was launched immediately. With the Canary Islands located off the northwest coast of Africa, far closer to the African continent than to mainland Spain, sourcing a replacement aircraft locally was not feasible. In response to the emergency, King Felipe VI extended an offer of his personal private jet, a Falcon, to transport the pope back to the Vatican.

The Spanish king accompanied Pope Leo to the aircraft on the airport tarmac, where the pontiff and his core delegation boarded the jet. The plane departed more than three hours behind the original scheduled departure time, marking an unusual end to a visit that had otherwise proceeded without a hitch. The remaining passengers, including approximately 70 Vatican correspondents and support staff, were set to be picked up by a backup Iberia jet dispatched from Madrid, the airline confirmed.

The unplanned aircraft swap is an extremely rare event in modern papal travel. Veteran Vatican journalists who cover papal visits could only recall a handful of similar disruptions during the decades-long pontificate of St. John Paul II. In 1986, a snowstorm closed Rome’s airports en route back from India, forcing John Paul II to divert to Naples before completing the journey by special train. Two years later, severe weather forced an unscheduled landing in South Africa during a trip to Lesotho – a country the pontiff was visiting as part of a tour that intentionally excluded apartheid-era South Africa over its policy of racial segregation.

Papal air travel follows longstanding standard protocols: typically, Italy’s national carrier ITA Airways transports the pope to his destination, and the host country’s national carrier handles the return flight. For particularly long journeys or trips to nations without the capacity to host large papal charter flights, ITA Airways often handles the full round-trip. Papal charters are structured with the pope, his delegation, and security detail in the forward section of the aircraft, while traveling journalists occupy standard economy seating.

Earlier in the visit, Iberia had publicly celebrated its role as the host carrier, releasing official video footage of Pope Leo sitting in the cockpit of the jet during his flights between Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands. In the clips, the pontiff is seen smiling and waving to Spanish military escort pilots – a traditional honor provided by the host nation for visiting top dignitaries.

During the week-long visit, Pope Leo prioritized advocacy on migration issues, delivering multiple sharp speeches calling out global indifference to the plight of migrants crossing dangerous Atlantic routes to reach the Canary Islands. He also made history by inaugurating the completed final tower of the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished architectural masterpiece that has been under construction for more than 140 years.

In an unprecedented development for modern Spanish politics, former Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been formally placed under investigation for tax fraud and smuggling, following the recovery of €1.2 million worth of luxury watches and jewelry from his office during a recent search linked to a separate corruption probe.

Zapatero, who held the nation’s top office from 2004 to 2011 and remains a powerful, influential figure within the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) led by his close ally current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, was already under investigation for alleged influence peddling connected to the 2021 €53 million government bailout of struggling Spanish airline Plus Ultra. The bailout was approved as part of a national state fund created to support strategically important businesses impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of that ongoing influence peddling inquiry, Spanish National Police executed a raid on Zapatero’s private office last month. During the search, investigators uncovered a cache of high-end gold jewelry including necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings studded with sapphires and emeralds, sourced from Zambia and Thailand according to Spanish media reports. The total estimated value of the seized items comes to roughly €1.2 million, equivalent to £1.02 million.

Investigators have confirmed that their new probe centers on suspicions that Zapatero cannot provide valid documentation proving he paid required customs duties for the luxury goods. Close associates of the former prime minister have told reporters the collection of jewelry is inherited family property, and Zapatero’s official spokesperson Luis Arroyo has stated that the former leader “will provide full explanations before the judge” regarding the seized items. Zapatero has been formally summoned to give testimony before a court later this month.

This new investigation marks a historic moment in recent Spanish politics: it is the first time any former Spanish prime minister has been subjected to a formal criminal probe. The development is also the latest in a string of damaging corruption scandals to hit the ruling PSOE. Last month, police also raided the party’s central Madrid headquarters, seizing a range of relevant documents, and carried out coordinated searches at the private residences of senior party officials and a prominent Spanish business leader. Multiple close associates of Sánchez, including the prime minister’s wife and brother, currently face separate corruption-related charges, all of which they have vigorously denied. Zapatero has also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing Plus Ultra influence peddling case, stating he never accepted any improper payments in exchange for intervening to secure the airline bailout.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the most severe threat to his premiership to date after the abrupt resignation of his most trusted senior cabinet member, Defense Secretary John Healey, has left his already fragile administration reeling and pushed growing internal unrest within the ruling Labour Party to a breaking point.

Healey, a widely respected loyalist who had stood by Starmer through months of political turbulence, stepped down from his post Thursday, publicly breaking with the government over its failure to commit to accelerated military spending amid growing global security threats. In his resignation statement, Healey warned that current planned defense investment levels are insufficient to guarantee Britain’s national security at a moment of intensifying global risk. Just hours after Healey’s departure, junior defense official Al Carns also resigned, echoing criticism that the government’s long-awaited Defense Investment Plan lacks the transformative change the British military requires.

The resignation hits Starmer particularly hard, as foreign and defense policy had remained the lone area where the embattled prime minister had retained consistent public and cross-party praise since he took office following a landslide general election victory in July 2024. During his short tenure, Starmer positioned Britain as a leading European security leader: he deepened military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, partnered with French President Emmanuel Macron to build a multinational “coalition of the willing” to secure Ukraine’s borders in the event of a future ceasefire, and joined Paris to launch a joint maritime security task force to protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He also took a firm public stance aligning with pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump, urging European NATO members to increase their own defense spending commitments to match the changing security landscape.

“Starmer has been consistently staunch about warning of the security risk from Russia,” explained Olivia O’Sullivan, head of the U.K. in the World program at the London-based think tank Chatham House. “He’s been given quite a bit of credit by the public for having to deal with Trump and doing so with a level of steadiness and calm. And he has been, in line with previous U.K. governments, a close and consistent ally of Ukraine.”

The core dispute that triggered Healey’s resignation centers on funding for the government’s 10-year Defense Investment Plan, which outlines a target to raise British military spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2035. For years, the British military has pushed to reverse decades of underinvestment and capability decline, as Russia has grown increasingly militarily assertive following its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, regularly conducting overt and covert probes of NATO’s northern and eastern European defenses. Healey argued that accelerating spending to hit a 3% of GDP target by 2030 was non-negotiable, citing official British intelligence assessments that warn Russia could be prepared to launch an attack on a NATO member state as early as that year. He warned that a slower, lower-spending path “could make the country less safe.”

Treasury Chancellor Rachel Reeves rejected Healey’s demand, refusing to revise the government’s existing timeline, prompting his resignation. The debate over defense spending divides political and policy observers in the U.K.: critics argue that military funding is often an open-ended demand, pointing to long-running issues with procurement delays and massive budget overruns on major defense projects. For his part, resigning junior minister Al Carns argued that the problem extends beyond total spending levels, telling the BBC that the government’s plan is not “transformative enough.” “I want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data — data is the new gunpowder — and we’ve got to move that forward if we are going to win the next war,” he said.

Healey’s exit marks the latest in a string of high-profile departures that have gutted Starmer’s cabinet in recent weeks. Last month alone, the prime minister lost multiple junior ministers followed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned explicitly to position himself for a potential leadership challenge if a contest is called. The most prominent potential challenger, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is widely expected to trigger a leadership race if he wins a special parliamentary election scheduled for this Thursday.

Unlike previous resignations from figures with openly stated leadership ambitions, Healey’s departure from a minister long seen as a loyal team player with no personal designs on the top job signals that Starmer’s credibility is eroding even among his closest allies. “[It] suggests that Starmer’s credibility, even with his inner circle of ministers, is perhaps draining away,” O’Sullivan noted.

Undeterred by the growing rebellion, Starmer struck a defiant tone during a public interview Friday, vowing to hold onto power and fight any challenge to his leadership. “It’s my job to make hard-edged decisions,” he said, emphasizing that “defense is my number one priority. And I have taken the difficult decisions to make sure that we are safe as a country.”

“I’m not going to go away. I don’t think we should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election,” Starmer added. “I don’t think it should happen, but if it does, then I will fight.”

BRUSSELS — NATO’s top military leader is developing backup defense strategies for Europe in the event of a Russian attack, following a major announcement from the United States that it will reduce the number of aircraft and warships it makes available to the alliance during security crises. The alliance’s longstanding core deployment framework, known as the NATO Force Model, has served as the primary plan for coordinating military assets from 32 member states across peacetime, crisis, and full conflict, outlining what resources commanders can draw on in phases during the first six months of any armed confrontation. But last month, the Pentagon notified its NATO partners that it would scale back its European theater commitments to reorient its military posture toward growing strategic threats in the Indo-Pacific, primarily from China.

This announcement capped more than a year of anxious waiting among European allies and Canada, after the Trump administration first flagged that Europe would no longer be counted as the United States’ top security priority. While allies have known for months that defense cuts were coming, they have remained in the dark about the scale, speed, and specific scope of the reductions. U.S. General Alex Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, emphasized in comments at the ILA Berlin Air Show Thursday that the U.S. still remains committed to providing limited, but strategically critical, capabilities to the alliance.

“Our priority right now is focusing on capabilities that we can acquire rapidly, deploy quickly, scale at pace, and sustain over extended periods of time – that applies to long-range fires systems as well as unmanned aerial systems,” Grynkewich said. “These types of assets will help us offset near-term defense risks if we are called on to deter aggression and defend alliance territory.”

Following a June 2-3 meeting of alliance defense leaders to assess capability gaps created by the U.S. drawdown, Grynkewich called on European NATO members and Canada to fill these gaps by contributing additional manned combat aircraft, unmanned drones, and naval vessels to the alliance’s crisis stockpile, saying the contributions are needed “now and in the immediate near term.” While the exact details of the U.S. cuts remain classified, independent media reports in Germany and the United States indicate the drawdown will remove an entire aircraft carrier strike group, including its accompanying warships and air wing, plus a nuclear-powered submarine from the European theater. The cuts are also expected to eliminate access to dozens of fighter jets and multiple aerial refueling tankers, assets that are already in critically short supply across European armed forces, leaving alliance leaders uncertain where they can source these capabilities on short notice. The White House has demanded that allies present detailed backfill plans ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Turkey, where President Donald Trump will meet with alliance heads of state and government.

In a separate development announced Friday, NATO military headquarters confirmed it will implement additional cuts to its Kosovo peacekeeping force, withdrawing an unspecified number of troops and pieces of equipment. The Kosovo Force, better known as KFOR, has been deployed to the region since 1999, with a mandate to maintain peace between Kosovo and neighboring Serbia. At the height of its deployment, KFOR numbered 50,000 troops, but it has been gradually scaled back over decades as regional tensions cooled. A 1,000-strong reinforcement was deployed to the region in 2023, however, after a new wave of violent ethnic unrest broke out.

Grynkewich noted that current security conditions in Kosovo allow NATO to further adjust the force’s size and operational posture. His office declined to specify which units would be withdrawn, or whether any U.S. troops would be part of the drawdown. “This adjustment is not about raw troop numbers, it is about optimizing the force to better guarantee safety and security for all people living in Kosovo and across the wider Balkan region,” a spokesman for Grynkewich explained. Currently, the U.S. deploys 590 troops to KFOR, making it the second-largest contributing nation after Italy, which has 907 personnel in the theater. The U.S. also stations a fleet of Black Hawk helicopters at Camp Bondsteel, the large U.S. military base that has operated in Kosovo since the 1999 intervention.

For all the ongoing adjustments to NATO’s defense posture, Grynkewich stressed that there is no immediate threat of a Russian attack on alliance territory. Current intelligence assessments and observations of Russian force movements indicate “Russia is not seeking a direct armed conflict with NATO,” he said. Russia remains heavily committed to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and continues to face significant challenges recruiting enough troops to sustain its current operations. Even so, European governments and intelligence services have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could have the capacity to launch an attack on other parts of Europe within three to five years, particularly if he succeeds in securing his territorial aims in Ukraine.

Associated Press correspondents Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Zana Cimili in Pristina, Kosovo contributed reporting to this article.