The mobile phones of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles were infected with Pegasus spyware, government representative Felix Bolanos announced in Madrid yesterday.more

Australian airline Quantas yesterday announced the launch of direct flights from Sydney to London in 2025. It will be the longest air passenger connection in the world. The journey on board the Airbus A350-1000 will take 20 hours.more

The European Commission today sent Apple an official letter containing a list of objections regarding the Apple Pay phone payment app. According to the EC's preliminary findings, the US company has abused its dominant position in the mobile wallet market for iOS devices.more

A trial begins before the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg on Google's appeal against a €1.49 billion fine imposed on the company by the EU. Three days of hearings begin today, Reuters reported.more

Italy and Greece are loosening sanitary restrictions ahead of the start of the tourist season. This shows that life is increasingly returning to normal, the Associated Press reported today.more

32,000 people, including Poles, participated in America's largest bicycle rally, which passed through all five boroughs of New York City yesterday. There were touches of the war in Ukraine.more

Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey was first whistled at and then attacked with eggs at yesterday's May Day rally of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB).more

Spain is the second country in Europe with the lowest fertility rate, surpassed only by Malta. According to the latest Eurostat figures, published on Saturday, one woman in Spain will give birth to an average of 1.19 children during her lifetime, which she will have at an average age of 31.2 years. more

The FBI searched emails, texts and other electronic communications of as many as 3.4 million U.S. residents without a warrant over a year, the nation’s top spy chief said in a report.more

Two new Omicron variants sweeping South Africa - likely able to evade vaccines and natural immunity from previous infections - have been identified in the U.S., multiple COVID-19 researchers told Fortune.more

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claims to have apprehended a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group that was preparing to shoot down a passenger plane and blame it on the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the international partners supplying arms to Ukraine.more

Brussels and Amsterdam airports need thousands of employees to avoid paralysis during the upcoming holiday season. Over 1,000 employees are missing at Brussels airport, as is the case at Amsterdam’s Schiphol. The Brussels port is launching a recruitment campaign, while an airport in the Dutch capital has called on airlines to cancel some connections.more

A famed Ukrainian fighter pilot nicknamed the Ghost of Kyiv has died in battle, local sources told The Times of London.more

In Italy, the most important anti-pandemic restrictions have been lifted today. The most important change is the abolition of the obligation to have the commonly used Green Pass, i.e. the covid pass.more

Actress Angelina Jolie surprised Ukrainians after turning up to a cafe in Lviv on Saturday. Jolie, 46, drew attention as she appeared wearing nondescript clothing at the cafe, with Maya Pidhorodetska posting a video of the famous actress and filmmaker on Facebook.more

The progress of Russian troops in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine is "at least a few days" delayed in relation to Moscow's plans, and the Russians have not managed to encircle the Ukrainians who are still resisting, a high-ranking Pentagon official told journalists.more

The files concerning the establishment of a climate foundation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which was to protect the interests of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, have disappeared without a trace and cannot be reached, the "Welt" daily reported yesterday. more

The leader of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been arrested for alleged drug smuggling and money laundering in the US. Premier Andrew Fahie was detained in Miami by US agents posing as cocaine traffickers from a Mexican drug cartel.more

The situation of war refugees from Ukraine caused a wave of solidarity in Spain, which, however, over two months after the start of the Russian invasion, is slowly weakening - wrote the website 20minutos.es yesterday. In many regions, refugees find it very difficult to rent a flat despite finding a job - either they are refused or it is too expensive to rent.more

Berlin police expect violence from left-wing extremists during the May Day demonstration, according to an internal police report accessed by German media. The object attracting the demonstrators' attention is expected to be the planned police station at Kottbusser Tor square.more

The Russian President has done what the Soviets never went so far as to do. Vladimir Putin is deliberately using energy as a weapon and a tool to pressure the EU into dividing and undermining its solidarity with Ukraine. This is a test for Europeans," the Zurich daily Tages-Anzeiger commented yesterday on the suspension of Russian gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.more

The tomb of the official responsible for the secret documents in the royal chancellery during the reign of one of the first pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty was discovered by Polish archaeologists in Sakkara, next to the oldest pyramid in the world. It dates back to 4,300 years ago.more

The country still has laws preventing men who have had sex with other men from participating in blood donations. Unless they have had sex... three months before turning up at the blood donation centre.more

Europe is the most affected continent in the world by the coronavirus, but successive waves of the pandemic have hit its different regions differently. The UK and Central and Eastern Europe (including Poland) were the hardest hit, while western and southern areas, after the initial shock, were spared by subsequent waves, says the report prepared by ESPON scientists.more

US President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, has been optimistic about the battle against Covid-19, even stating in an interview that the US has already emerged from the pandemic.more