Politics 17 July 2026

Zelensky sacked Fedorov and Kyiv took to the streets demanding him back

Mykhailo Fedorov's removal as defence minister drew more than a thousand protesters to Kyiv's central square and prompted an air force deputy commander to resign. Zelensky defends the reshuffle.

Some cabinet reshuffles slip by unnoticed. This one did not. When Volodymyr Zelensky removed Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister, more than a thousand people filled Kyiv’s central square waving Ukrainian and EU flags, chanting “shame” and calling for the minister’s return.

Who is Fedorov, and why did his removal cause such anger?

Fedorov is the young face of Ukraine’s digital transformation — the man who moved state services into an app and made drones central to the war effort. Lawmakers, soldiers and civil society activists describe him as one of the country’s most effective wartime officials, which explains the reaction. He confirmed his removal himself on 15 July. An air force deputy commander, Pavlo Yelizarov, announced on Facebook that he was resigning in protest.

What is Zelensky’s explanation?

The president is defending the decision, framing it inside a broader reshuffle he announced on 12 July, saying the changes are needed to deliver an updated political strategy. The timing problem is glaring: Ukraine had been making battlefield gains, and an internal clash over how the war is being run has now burst into public view.

This is not the month’s first casualty — the reshuffle opened with prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko’s resignation, and the sequence points to a deeper reset than was first admitted. Official announcements are going up on the Ukrainian presidency’s site.

By Tomás Vasconcelos

Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Politics 17 July 2026

New polls in Portugal keep PS ahead — while AD and Chega fight over second by decimals

Two polls published on 16 July put PS in front: Intercampus has 23.3% against AD's 20% and Chega's 19.4%, while the Catholic University has PS and AD tied at 29%. Housing, health and education weigh on the government's ratings.

Two polls on the same day, two different photographs of the country — and one thing in common: PS stays in front. Intercampus, with fieldwork from 9 to 14 July, gives the Socialists 23.3% of voting intentions, down a point from June. The news is behind them: AD reclaims second place with 20% and Chega slips to third with 19.4% — a statistical tie where the podium order changes with the week. That the race is tighter than it looks. The Catholic…

Politics 16 July 2026

The UK is building its first ballistic missile in half a century — and Ukraine gets it first, in 2027

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Britain has not built a ballistic missile in half a century. That is about to change: London has signed contracts with several companies to develop a new long-range weapon — and the first customer in line is not the British Army, it is Ukraine, which is set to receive it in 2027. The hurry explains the design. As Bloomberg reported, the UK Ministry of Defence deliberately pared down the missile's specifications to speed up development and get it into…

Politics 16 July 2026

Montenegro survived the State of the Nation debate — and Ventura dared him to call a confidence vote

In Portugal's State of the Nation debate on 16 July, PM Montenegro slammed political opportunism, admitted exam disruptions and backed minister Luís Neves fully. Chega's Ventura challenged him to table a confidence motion.

Luís Montenegro walked into parliament's last big debate before the summer break with two fires burning — the national exams fiasco and his minister's invoices — and walked out having extinguished neither, but without burning himself further. Thursday's State of the Nation debate was precisely the arm-wrestle everyone expected after a full week of warm-up. The prime minister opened by accusing the opposition of political opportunism and defending the…

Politics 16 July 2026

The Pentagon will test troops over 30 for testosterone, on Hegseth's orders

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered annual testosterone screening for service members aged 30 and over, with optional replacement therapy. He calls it a bet on 'lethality' — doctors have questions.

The Pentagon has decided the next frontier of military readiness is measured by the milligram. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, announced that all service members over 30 will get annual testosterone screening, folded into the periodic health assessment troops already complete every year. Screening becomes mandatory from age 30 as part of the annual check-up; younger troops can request the test voluntarily. Any treatment that follows — including…

Politics 16 July 2026

Luis Neves releases 108 invoices — and his wife's company sits at the centre of them

The invoice list for interior minister Luis Neves' works in Odemira totals 23,118 euros from 13 companies — all billed to Alcampos, his wife's single-owner company. Proof of payment is still missing.

The saga of interior minister Luis Neves' home renovations now has numbers — and a new company in the plot. His ministry released the invoice list for the works at the family property in São Teotónio, Odemira: 108 documents from 13 different companies, totalling 23,118.19 euros. The detail everyone is talking about, though, is who they were billed to: Alcampos Unipessoal Lda., a company owned by the minister's wife. It is a single-owner company set up on…

Politics 15 July 2026

Bloco wants 30% tree cover in every neighbourhood by 2035, and nobody living further than 300 metres from a park

Portugal's Bloco de Esquerda has filed a bill requiring urban neighbourhoods to reach 30% tree canopy by 2035 and guaranteeing a quality green space within 300 metres of every home.

The idea fits in one sentence: nobody should live more than 300 metres from a decent tree. On Tuesday, Bloco de Esquerda filed a bill in parliament trying to turn that into law. Two targets, both for 2035. First: no consolidated residential area may have less than 30% of its surface under tree canopy. Second: nobody should live more than 300 metres from a quality green space. Where hitting 30% is physically impossible — and in plenty of historic centres…

Politics 15 July 2026

Montenegro brings a war on red tape to the State of the Nation debate. The opposition is bringing the exams

Portugal's State of the Nation debate is on Thursday 16 July, the last before the summer break. Montenegro promises to stay the course on education and health; the opposition wants to talk about the exam failure.

Portugal's last political debate before the summer break lands this Thursday, 16 July, and there is very little chance of it being quiet. The State of the Nation debate starts at 3.30pm, opens with up to 30 minutes from Luís Montenegro and runs roughly four hours, with every parliamentary group getting its questions in and the Government closing. Montenegro has already picked his script. The day before, he promised to keep the education and health reforms…

Politics 15 July 2026

Portugal is spending €500,000 to keep its exam system upright until 2027

Education minister Fernando Alexandre has let EduQA spend up to €500,000 propping up national exam marking. The system meant to actually fix it, GAEBS, does not arrive until 2027.

Portugal's education minister has authorised EduQA to spend up to €500,000 on emergency technology support to keep national exam marking upright. This is not planned investment — it is an expensive sticking plaster, bought halfway through the bleeding. The money lets the institute contract services, buy equipment and bring in specialist consultants where properly justified. Translation: to pay someone to stand up, right now, the system that was supposed…

Politics 14 July 2026

State of the Nation debate: Liberal Initiative wants a delay, Speaker says no

The Liberal Initiative asked to postpone Portugal's State of the Nation debate, set for 16 July, until the exam controversy is cleared up. The Speaker refused.

Portugal's State of the Nation debate stays booked for Thursday, 16 July. The Liberal Initiative asked to push it back a week, to 22 or 23 July, but the Speaker of parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, refused the delay and the debate goes ahead as planned. It is this Thursday, 16 July, and it is the last big set-piece clash in parliament before the summer recess. As usual, it opens with a speech by the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, followed by replies…

Politics 13 July 2026

Ukraine reshuffle: PM Yulia Svyrydenko resigns as Zelensky resets wartime government

Ukraine's prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has resigned and President Zelensky is reshaping the government around the coming war winter.

Ukraine has begun a wartime government reshuffle: prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko tendered her resignation on Sunday, and President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the executive will be reorganised, with preparing for the war winter placed at the centre of decision-making. Svyrydenko left office as part of a shift in political strategy announced by Zelensky himself, who spoke of tuning the machinery of the state to the demands of the war. Her departure…

Isabel Mendes Lopes, LIVRE co-spokesperson

Politics 12 July 2026

LIVRE elects Mendes Lopes and Jorge Pinto: new co-leaders want the party in power

Isabel Mendes Lopes and Jorge Pinto were elected LIVRE's co-spokespeople with 432 votes at the Sintra congress. Rui Tavares steps back from the top, not from politics.

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José Luís Carneiro, secretary-general of Portugal's Socialist Party

Politics 12 July 2026

Portugal exams crisis: Socialists demand answers from Montenegro and float parliamentary inquiry

PS leader José Luís Carneiro wants Montenegro to explain the chaos in Portugal's national exam grading — and says a parliamentary commission of inquiry is on the table.

Portugal's national exams crisis turned up a notch this weekend: José Luís Carneiro, secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS), demanded direct explanations from Prime Minister Luís Montenegro over the grading process and said a parliamentary commission of inquiry is on the table if the answers don't convince. Speaking at the party's National Commission in Lisbon, the opposition leader went further, accusing the prime minister of "working to be one of…

Luís Neves, Portugal's interior minister and former national director of the Polícia Judiciária

Politics 11 July 2026

Luís Neves under pressure: PJ police contractor did private works on minister's estate

Portugal's interior minister hired the builder behind €1.9m in police contracts for private works in Odemira. Chega wants an audit; invoices reach €27,000.

Portugal's interior minister, Luís Neves, is at the centre of a controversy mixing public contracts, private renovations and a builder he calls a friend. At issue: the man hired for works on the minister's family estate in Odemira is the same contractor who billed around €1.9 million in contracts with the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) — several signed while Neves ran the criminal police force. Builder João dos Santos Carvalho, of Construbarcelos, carried out…

Politics 11 July 2026

Trump threatens Iran with '1,000 missiles' over any assassination attempt

Trump warned the US has 1,000 missiles aimed at Iran if Tehran tries to assassinate him, after Friday sermons called for revenge over Khamenei's death.

Donald Trump has raised the stakes with Tehran again. In a Truth Social post, the US president warned that the United States has "1,000 missiles" ready and aimed at Iran, to be fired if the regime carries out an assassination attempt against him — vowing to "decimate and destroy" the country if it happens. That the missiles are "locked and loaded", that orders have already been issued, and that US forces will stay on alert for a year, extendable, to…