Nors nei prezidentas Gitanas Nausėda, nei pats Mindaugas Sinkevičius neįžvelgia didelių problemų dėl paskirtojo premjero spekuliacijų žeme, buvęs premjeras Algirdas Butkevičius teigia, jog kairiųjų vedlys neturėjo tuo užsiimti.

Irano sostinėje Teherane pirmadienį prasidėjo velionio šalies aukščiausiojo lyderio ajatolos Ali Khamenei laidotuvių procesija.

Rescue efforts are continuing at more than 20 locations, the city's top military administrator says.

The leader of France's National Rally leads the opinion polls ahead of the 2027 presidential election and will now find out if she can stand.

The two broadcasters say the deal will create a strong rival to global streaming giants.

Queues are expected at airports this summer owing to EU's new digital border control system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his calls for more Patriot missiles Monday as Russia’s latest missile attacks killed at least 11 people and injured 46 in Kyiv on Sunday night. “It is critically important that the world — first and foremost the United States and our European partners — come out of the NATO summit in Turkey with strong decisions in support of our air defense,” Zelenskyy wrote on X on Monday. Zelenskyy had warned late Sunday that intelligence suggested Russia was preparing another massive strike on Ukraine ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Ankara. “As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings,” the Ukrainian leader said. Only Western support for Kyiv’s air defense can guarantee “the protection of ordinary people’s lives,” he added. “The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” Zelenskyy said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Moscow’s overnight strikes destroyed four districts, with Podilskyi reporting the most damage as several high-rise residential buildings were struck. Among the 46 injured were three children, Klitschko wrote on Telegram and declared Tuesday a day of mourning for the victims. The number of casualties might rise as emergency crews continued searching the rubble for survivors on Monday morning. The latest attack comes just days after another wave of Russian missile and drone strikes killed 13 people and injured more than 80 last week and two days after Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin held a call with U.S. President Donald Trump. Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting from Kyiv.

The campaign to keep Folarin Balogun on the field for the United States’ World Cup run began just minutes after the team’s leading goal-scorer received a red card that would sideline him for the team’s next match. Following Wednesday’s victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina, White House FIFA World Cup Task Force executive director Andrew Giuliani alerted President Donald Trump to Balogun’s punishment for a rash tackle — removal from the Bosnia match and a routine one-match suspension that would keep him out of a must-win encounter against Belgium. Trump and Giuliani had been speaking regularly about the World Cup for months. During the planning stages for the tournament, the president received frequent briefings on logistics, security and the U.S. team’s prospects. Once the competition began in mid-June, those conversations accelerated to multiple times each week. By Wednesday night, the White House had committed itself to taking action over Balogun’s red card, which some soccer analysts believed to be a harsh punishment for the infraction. Giuliani, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and senior U.S. Soccer Federation officials — all of whom had watched the Bosnia match in person at Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco — began activating plans to challenge the referee’s on-field decision to issue a red card. Successful appeals of World Cup red cards are exceedingly rare. That kicked off four days of coordinated lobbying, legal maneuvering and diplomacy that stretched from the Oval Office to FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich — and underscored how invested Trump’s inner circle had become in the second World Cup hosted on U.S. soil and the fortune of the U.S. men’s national team competing in it. POLITICO spoke to a half-dozen U.S. government and soccer officials who were either directly involved in or briefed on the week’s events. On Sunday, a day before the U.S. was due to face Belgium with Balogun on the bench, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee announced that it was suspending Balogun’s one-match suspension for a year. Trump thanked FIFA for “doing what was right and reversing a great injustice.” The Royal Belgian Football Association and European confederation UEFA, of which Belgium is a member, are considering taking action against the FIFA ruling, according to a high-ranking UEFA official granted anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations. On Thursday, Trump placed a call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The two men had built a friendship over nearly eight years, with Infantino becoming a frequent visitor to the Oval Office during Trump’s second term. They remained in contact even when events put U.S. government policy in conflict with FIFA’s objectives, according to people familiar with their relationship. That included when the Trump administration launched military strikes against Iran in February, jeopardizing the country’s ability to compete in the World Cup — a personal history that mattered when Trump dialed Infantino about the Balogun matter. Trump asked about FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and the grounds for a suspension. Infantino listened carefully but made no promises about the outcome. FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee. As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared and submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani and Lutnick also offered to make White House attorneys available to assist with legal analysis if needed, according to people involved in the discussions. At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped to personally pay the salary of U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus, who made the red card call on Wednesday. Articles examining previous controversies involving the Brazilian referee circulated among senior government officials as they evaluated every possible argument that could bolster the appeal, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The matter quickly rose through FIFA’s legal and disciplinary channels. Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of soccer’s global governing body, became a central figure in advising Infantino on the available procedural options, according to people familiar with the process. García and other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances around Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited. By Sunday, the answer had arrived. FIFA announced that Balogun’s one-match suspension would be suspended, clearing him to play in the United States’ next match. Many, including European soccer officials, argued that the White House’s involvement violated FIFA’s policies about insulating sporting decisions from political influence. “In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian association said in a statement released after the ruling. FIFA insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee, but it would not say whether the decision was decided through a vote. Unlike other decisions made by the committee, FIFA has not published a report on the decision. Soon afterward, Trump and Infantino spoke again. They are expected to jointly award the World Cup trophy to the tournament’s winning team after the final match, on July 19. Tim Röhn contributed to this article.

Local authorities on Rota, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, say they have received reports of 'major damages'.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal face Lamine Yamal-powered Spain in an Iberian football derby in the World Cup round of 16.

Zelenskyy pleads with allies to provide Patriot interceptors to defend Ukraine

Also in this newsletter: Ireland to push faster drug approvals during EU presidency

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit Syria, the Syrian presidency announced on Sunday, without specifying the date of his visit, which will be the first by a head of state from a Western power since the 2024 ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

China said it test-launched a long-range ballistic missile in the South Pacific on Monday, after countries in the region reported having been warned of an imminent test. 

Pope Leo XIV began a summer vacation on Sunday, capping a whirlwind finale to the first half of 2026 in which he emerged as a powerful global statesman on issues from artificial intelligence to war and flexed decisive papal muscle to govern internal church problems.

Brazil's World Cup dream came to a shock end after a 2-1 defeat to Norway, sending the five-time champions crashing out before the quarter-finals for the first time since 1990.