Just hours before the black SUVs carrying dozens of European leaders crunched across the gravel of Blenheim Palace on Thursday, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance put the US’s foreign partners on notice.

“Together we will make our allies share in the burden of securing world peace,” he said at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”

That wasn’t even the most strident rhetoric we’ve heard from the junior senator from Ohio, who voted against the US supplemental aid package for Ukraine that passed in April. In February, he told the Munich Security Conference “the American security blanket has allowed European security to atrophy,” arguing that in a world where munitions manufacturing is limited, the only option for Ukraine is a negotiated settlement.

Vance was echoing the GOP’s presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has long criticized NATO and accused partners in the security alliance of failing to pay their fair share. The former president has also hinted at paring back military aid to Ukraine and claimed that he could have the war settled through negotiation in 24 hours if reelected.

And yet the mood among European leaders arriving in the rolling Oxfordshire countryside is one of resignation, and resolve.

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, the head of one of NATO’s newest members, has read Vance’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” describing it as “very good.”

“Is there a rebalancing going on? Yes. Europe needs to take care of its defense more.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, just two weeks into the job, was hoping the Thursday summit involving 42 European heads of state or government would be a strong show of unity, “a signal to Russia of our resolve.”

And yet one EU leader has signaled something quite different to Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has never supported military aid to Ukraine, chose the first week of his rotating EU presidency this month to visit President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, on what he called a “peace mission.”

Speaking at the meeting at Blenheim Palace, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was blunt. Preserving European unity is critical to a long-lasting peace, he said. “But if someone in Europe tries to resolve issues behind others’ backs… if someone wants to make some trips to the capital of war… then why should we consider such a person? The EU and NATO can address all their issues without this one individual.”

Europe did manage a show of unity, but one that faces mounting tests, including the prospect of a new US administration that may pull its support for Ukraine, and an increasingly active Ukraine-skeptic in its midst.

French lawmakers reelected Yaël Braun-Pivet as president of the National Assembly Thursday, overcoming a political deadlock after the hung parliament of July’s parliamentary elections.

Braun-Pivet, a lawmaker from French President Emmanuel Macron’s own centrist party, also served as the last assembly president. But her reelection was far from assured, after her party lost seats and political dominance earlier this month.

In France’s surprising parliamentary election runoff on July 7, a leftwing coalition surged to become the largest group in the 577-seat National Assembly, putting Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance in second place and the far-right National Rally rally RN and its allies behind them.

Nevertheless, Braun-Pivet on Thursday took the top parliamentary role with 220 votes from the 577-seat body in a third round of voting, after two previous rounds had failed to elect a lawmaker with an absolute majority.

With a position akin to Speaker of the House of Representatives, the assembly president plays an important role in setting legislative timetables and priorities, as well as overseeing the appointment of key commission posts.

On Tuesday, Macron accepted the resignation of his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who will stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is appointed.

As Ukraine grows bolder in striking targets deep inside Russia, Moscow has quietly upped the security measures around President Vladmir Putin’s country residence north of Moscow.

Satellite images have revealed that several Pantsir-S1 air defense systems have been installed in the vicinity of the presidential residence on Lake Valdai in Novgorod region.

The Valdai residence could be a high-profile target, as Putin is known to be spending time there during the summer. The palatial property sits inside a large government vacation resort in the Valdai national park, on a peninsula wedged between two lakes. Access to the whole complex is severely restricted – the 40 hectares of grounds are surrounded by water on three sides and fenced off from the rest of the park.

First reported by Radio Liberty, satellite images show the Russian-made Pantsir-S1s have been moved into the area at some point between last September and this May, just as Ukraine became better at developing and using drones capable of striking deeper inside Russia.

Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies show air defenses strategically positioned in the area, including on a tower located deep in a forest just a few kilometers away from the compound.

The Pantsir-S1 systems are designed to combat short-range cruise missiles and drones, suggesting the move to station them near the residence may be a response to Ukraine’s increasingly audacious drone attacks.

Kyiv has recently been given permission to use Western weapons to strike across the border into Russia, but this is limited to military targets that are near the border with the Ukrainian Kharkiv region and are supporting Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

For any strikes deeper into Russia than that, Ukraine must rely on its own weapons. Drones are a big part of the strategy.

Ukraine’s drone program has grown significantly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. What began with efforts to modify cheap, off-the-shelf drones that could be used for surveillance has turned into the development of long-range attack drones that are capable of striking hundreds of miles beyond Ukraine’s borders.

So far this year, Kyiv has claimed that Ukrainian drones sank or severely damaged several Russian warships in the Black Sea and caused damage to the Kerch Strait bridge between Russia and Ukraine’s Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Ukrainian military has also managed to destroy fuel depots, military targets and energy infrastructure much further afield. In April, it said its drones hit the Niznekamsk oil refinery – one of the five largest in Russia – in Tatarstan region, more than 1,100 km (700 miles) from the border. And last month, the Ukrainian military said it had destroyed one of Russia’s newest and most advanced fighter jets, the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter, with a drone strike almost 600 kilometers (372 miles) behind the front lines.

“Ukrainian drone strikes deep within Russia continue to pressure Russia’s air defense umbrella and force the Russian military command to prioritize allocating limited air defense assets to cover what it deems to be high-value targets,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based group, said in a battlefield update on Wednesday, pointing to the decision by Russia to move the Pantsir-S1 systems there.

The presidential residence is well protected from would-be invaders. Access to the complex is severely restricted – the 40 hectares of grounds are surrounded by water on three sides and fenced off from the rest of the park.

A special permit is required to access the wider park and the resort is completely off-limits – according to its official website, it has been closed indefinitely since last November.

The retreat’s history as a vacation destination for Russia’s top officials dates back to the time of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who had a dacha – or summer house – built in the area, according to the Russian Presidential Property Management Department, the body that manages the holiday complex. Nikita Khrushchev and Boris Yeltsin both enjoyed time at the residence, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.

American citizen Travis Leake has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in Russia, state media RIA Novosti reported Thursday, after he was detained on drug charges last year.

A Moscow court had accused the “former paratrooper and musician” of engaging in a narcotics business, according to RIA. Leake pleaded not guilty to the charges, Russian state media TASS said.

“I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t believe I could have done what I’m accused of because I don’t know what I’m accused of,” Leake reportedly said in his statement to police when he was arrested in June 2023, per tabloid outlet Ren TV.

His sentencing comes as diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow are at a historic low, with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine raging on. Leake is one of at least a dozen US citizens and dual nationals currently being detained in Russia, including Evan Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in the country since the Cold War.

From January to June 2023, Leake allegedly purchased narcotic drugs from an accomplice in another criminal case, Russian state media reported, citing Moscow’s prosecutor’s office.

Leake packaged the narcotics for sale, prosecutors said, after which he transferred the drugs to an accomplice to hide. He and the accomplice made four attempts to sell over 40 grams of mephedrone (also known as “meow-meow”), according to the court.

According to investigators, Leake also kept more than 1.6 grams of the narcotic substance at his home, as well as tablets containing MDMA, all of which were confiscated during operational activities.

A second person involved in the case was also found guilty and sentenced to time in a penal colony, Russian state media reported Thursday.

The Biden administration received another rebuff from Israel Wednesday night – this time from the country’s parliament – over the United States’ long-standing support for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been US policy for decades, but absent negotiations between the two sides, and a lack of sustained effort by the US to make it happen, means faith in such an outcome has dwindled. On Wednesday evening, the Israeli parliament made clear its position, voting by 68 to 9 to reject any creation of a Palestinian state.

“The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan (river). The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region,” the declaration read.

Among those who backed it was Benny Gantz, an opponent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Gantz’s vote serves as a blow to those in Washington who see him as someone more inclined to seek a negotiated peace with Palestinians if he ever became Israel’s leader.

Instead, the resolution was “a signal to the international community that pressure to impose a Palestinian state on Israel is futile,” leader of the right-wing opposition ‘New Hope’ party, Gideon Saar, said, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry condemned the Knesset vote, saying it was time “the international consensus on the two-state solution (was) translated into practical steps to resolve the conflict … before it is too late.”

The Biden administration, while standing strong in its support for Israel and Netanyahu throughout the war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, has tried to stick to its long-held line that a two-state solution is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea. A day after speaking with Biden in a phone conversation in January, the Israeli leader posted on X, “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan. And this is contrary to (the creation of) a Palestinian state.”

The Knesset declaration – which follows a similar vote in February opposing international recognition of a Palestinian state – is not legally binding, but pollster and analyst Dahlia Scheindlin says its symbolic importance should not be dismissed.

“It is Israel trying to create a fact on the ground – which does not exist – that Israel has the power to determine whether Palestinians exist, or exist as a state,” she says, referring also to remarks from finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, last year that there’s “no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

“We need to stop accepting the Israeli rhetoric that there is such a thing as unilateral Palestinian statehood. What we have is multilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood and unilateral Israeli rejection,” Scheindlin says.

While international leaders have repeatedly condemned the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and saw 250 more taken hostage, some countries have also made significant foreign policy shifts in recent months to recognize a Palestinian state.

Making such an announcement in May, in a co-ordinated move with Spain and Ireland, Norway’s foreign minister framed the move in part as a response to Israeli intransigence on peace talks.

“It is regrettable that the Israeli government shows no signs of engaging constructively,” Espen Barth Eide said.

The daughter of Dubai’s ruler has apparently announced her divorce on social media in what would be a rare move for a princess in the United Arab Emirates.

The Instagram account of Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the daughter of UAE Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced her intention to leave her husband, a fellow royal.

“I hereby declare our divorce,” 30-year-old Sheikha Mahra’s account posted on Instagram on Wednesday. “I divorce you, I divorce you, and I Divorce You. Take care. Your ex-wife.”

The princess appeared to be invoking the controversial practice of triple divorce that is used in some Muslim countries where a man instantly divorces his wife by declaring it three times. The method is banned in some countries and isn’t customarily invoked by women against their husbands.

Mahra married Sheikh Mana Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, also a member of the Dubai ruling family, last year in a glamorous ceremony that was featured in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and Grazia. They had a daughter shortly after. Pictures of her with her husband have now been removed from her account. There are no pictures of her on Sheikh Mana’s Instagram account either.

The princess has a visible public and social media presence, often attending red carpet events in Dubai and adorning the cover of regional magazines, an unusual practice for female royals. She has almost half-a-million followers on Instagram, where she posts about her hobbies, her love for horses, her charity work as well as selfies. Her mother is Zoe Grigorakos, a Greek national, according to local media.

Some Instagram users speculated whether her account had been hacked. Both the post and the account, however, remain active more than a day since the post went up.

Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to a second five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers, as the continent’s mainstream seeks to reassert itself in the face of a resurgent far right.

In an earlier pitch to the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen on Thursday pledged to invest in infrastructure and industry, create a new “European Defense Union” and stay the course on the continent’s green transition.

After a secret ballot, von der Leyen was reelected with 401 votes in favor and 284 against. She needed more than 360 ballots to secure a majority in the 720-seat parliament.

Von der Leyen, who led the commission through the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will now preside over a bloc that shifted rightward after last month’s European elections, when far-right parties won a record number of seats.

Addressing the parliament before the lunchtime vote, von der Leyen said the next five years of her term “will define Europe’s place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we shape our own future or let it be shaped by events or by others.”

Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old German national, was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process as a compromise candidate in 2019, but has since become one of Europe’s most solid pillars. Several of the continent’s other leaders – from Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel to French President Emmanuel Macron – have retired or been weakened by domestic politics.

Von der Leyen’s own position was somewhat diminished by last month’s election, which saw a surge in support for the far right and saw Brussels’ center ground shrink.

Her reelection was not certain but widely expected, after she was proposed by EU leaders and could rely on the support of her center-right European People’s Party (EPP), as well as the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew blocs. Shortly before Thursday’s vote, the Green bloc also announced it would support her.

Earlier Thursday, von der Leyen published a 31-page policy proposal, setting out her priorities if she won a second term.

Echoing remarks she made after last month’s vote, she stressed “it is essential that the democratic center in Europe holds” in the face of resurgent extremes, calling on mainstream parties to “live up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives.”

Von der Leyen pledged to “turbo charge investment” needed by cash-strapped EU governments for their “green, digital and social transition.”

She also vowed to create a European Defense Union and appoint a commissioner for defense, a new role for the bloc that was forged in peacetime but has since had to respond to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a Donald Trump-led United States retreating from the world stage.

Under the proposed new defense union, member states will retain responsibility for their own troops, but will work more closely with others to “coordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base.” She also proposed a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection measures.

Speaking in Strasbourg before her reelection, von der Leyen said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was “an appeasement mission,” and pledged to maintain EU support for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen’s reelection comes a day after the EU’s second-highest court delivered an unusual rebuke to the commission, ruling it was not transparent enough about the contracts it signed for Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to a second five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers, as the continent’s mainstream seeks to reassert itself in the face of a resurgent far right.

In an earlier pitch to the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen on Thursday pledged to invest in infrastructure and industry, create a new “European Defense Union” and stay the course on the continent’s green transition.

After a secret ballot, von der Leyen was reelected with 401 votes in favor and 284 against. She needed more than 360 ballots to secure a majority in the 720-seat parliament.

Von der Leyen, who led the commission through the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will now preside over a bloc that shifted rightward after last month’s European elections, when far-right parties won a record number of seats.

Addressing the parliament before the lunchtime vote, von der Leyen said the next five years of her term “will define Europe’s place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we shape our own future or let it be shaped by events or by others.”

Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old German national, was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process as a compromise candidate in 2019, but has since become one of Europe’s most solid pillars. Several of the continent’s other leaders – from Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel to French President Emmanuel Macron – have retired or been weakened by domestic politics.

Von der Leyen’s own position was somewhat diminished by last month’s election, which saw a surge in support for the far right and saw Brussels’ center ground shrink.

Her reelection was not certain but widely expected, after she was proposed by EU leaders and could rely on the support of her center-right European People’s Party (EPP), as well as the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew blocs. Shortly before Thursday’s vote, the Green bloc also announced it would support her.

Earlier Thursday, von der Leyen published a 31-page policy proposal, setting out her priorities if she won a second term.

Echoing remarks she made after last month’s vote, she stressed “it is essential that the democratic center in Europe holds” in the face of resurgent extremes, calling on mainstream parties to “live up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives.”

Von der Leyen pledged to “turbo charge investment” needed by cash-strapped EU governments for their “green, digital and social transition.”

She also vowed to create a European Defense Union and appoint a commissioner for defense, a new role for the bloc that was forged in peacetime but has since had to respond to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a Donald Trump-led United States retreating from the world stage.

Under the proposed new defense union, member states will retain responsibility for their own troops, but will work more closely with others to “coordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base.” She also proposed a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection measures.

Speaking in Strasbourg before her reelection, von der Leyen said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was “an appeasement mission,” and pledged to maintain EU support for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen’s reelection comes a day after the EU’s second-highest court delivered an unusual rebuke to the commission, ruling it was not transparent enough about the contracts it signed for Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to a second five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers, as the continent’s mainstream seeks to reassert itself in the face of a resurgent far right.

In an earlier pitch to the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen on Thursday pledged to invest in infrastructure and industry, create a new “European Defense Union” and stay the course on the continent’s green transition.

After a secret ballot, von der Leyen was reelected with 401 votes in favor and 284 against. She needed more than 360 ballots to secure a majority in the 720-seat parliament.

Von der Leyen, who led the commission through the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will now preside over a bloc that shifted rightward after last month’s European elections, when far-right parties won a record number of seats.

Addressing the parliament before the lunchtime vote, von der Leyen said the next five years of her term “will define Europe’s place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we shape our own future or let it be shaped by events or by others.”

Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old German national, was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process as a compromise candidate in 2019, but has since become one of Europe’s most solid pillars. Several of the continent’s other leaders – from Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel to French President Emmanuel Macron – have retired or been weakened by domestic politics.

Von der Leyen’s own position was somewhat diminished by last month’s election, which saw a surge in support for the far right and saw Brussels’ center ground shrink.

Her reelection was not certain but widely expected, after she was proposed by EU leaders and could rely on the support of her center-right European People’s Party (EPP), as well as the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew blocs. Shortly before Thursday’s vote, the Green bloc also announced it would support her.

Earlier Thursday, von der Leyen published a 31-page policy proposal, setting out her priorities if she won a second term.

Echoing remarks she made after last month’s vote, she stressed “it is essential that the democratic center in Europe holds” in the face of resurgent extremes, calling on mainstream parties to “live up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives.”

Von der Leyen pledged to “turbo charge investment” needed by cash-strapped EU governments for their “green, digital and social transition.”

She also vowed to create a European Defense Union and appoint a commissioner for defense, a new role for the bloc that was forged in peacetime but has since had to respond to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a Donald Trump-led United States retreating from the world stage.

Under the proposed new defense union, member states will retain responsibility for their own troops, but will work more closely with others to “coordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base.” She also proposed a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection measures.

Speaking in Strasbourg before her reelection, von der Leyen said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was “an appeasement mission,” and pledged to maintain EU support for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen’s reelection comes a day after the EU’s second-highest court delivered an unusual rebuke to the commission, ruling it was not transparent enough about the contracts it signed for Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to a second five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers, as the continent’s mainstream seeks to reassert itself in the face of a resurgent far right.

In an earlier pitch to the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen on Thursday pledged to invest in infrastructure and industry, create a new “European Defense Union” and stay the course on the continent’s green transition.

After a secret ballot, von der Leyen was reelected with 401 votes in favor and 284 against. She needed more than 360 ballots to secure a majority in the 720-seat parliament.

Von der Leyen, who led the commission through the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will now preside over a bloc that shifted rightward after last month’s European elections, when far-right parties won a record number of seats.

Addressing the parliament before the lunchtime vote, von der Leyen said the next five years of her term “will define Europe’s place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we shape our own future or let it be shaped by events or by others.”

Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old German national, was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process as a compromise candidate in 2019, but has since become one of Europe’s most solid pillars. Several of the continent’s other leaders – from Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel to French President Emmanuel Macron – have retired or been weakened by domestic politics.

Von der Leyen’s own position was somewhat diminished by last month’s election, which saw a surge in support for the far right and saw Brussels’ center ground shrink.

Her reelection was not certain but widely expected, after she was proposed by EU leaders and could rely on the support of her center-right European People’s Party (EPP), as well as the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew blocs. Shortly before Thursday’s vote, the Green bloc also announced it would support her.

Earlier Thursday, von der Leyen published a 31-page policy proposal, setting out her priorities if she won a second term.

Echoing remarks she made after last month’s vote, she stressed “it is essential that the democratic center in Europe holds” in the face of resurgent extremes, calling on mainstream parties to “live up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives.”

Von der Leyen pledged to “turbo charge investment” needed by cash-strapped EU governments for their “green, digital and social transition.”

She also vowed to create a European Defense Union and appoint a commissioner for defense, a new role for the bloc that was forged in peacetime but has since had to respond to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a Donald Trump-led United States retreating from the world stage.

Under the proposed new defense union, member states will retain responsibility for their own troops, but will work more closely with others to “coordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base.” She also proposed a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection measures.

Speaking in Strasbourg before her reelection, von der Leyen said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was “an appeasement mission,” and pledged to maintain EU support for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen’s reelection comes a day after the EU’s second-highest court delivered an unusual rebuke to the commission, ruling it was not transparent enough about the contracts it signed for Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.