Piastri wins Spanish GP, Verstappen penalised
McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix, marking his fifth victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Estonia’s defense minister Hanno Pevkur says the U.S. will keep its 80,000 troops in Europe, calling bases like Ramstein and Naples crucial to NATO’s eastern shield and American power projection despite Washington’s growing Indo-Pacific focus.
The United States may shift some of its forces toward the Indo-Pacific, but the value of its European footprint for guarding NATO’s eastern flank and projecting global power makes a full pull-out unlikely, Estonia’s defence minister Hanno Pevkur told Reuters on Monday.
Pevkur said there has been no talk inside NATO of reducing the roughly 80,000 U.S. troops stationed on the continent, even though Washington has signaled it wants to devote more attention to Asia. “I do not believe the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Europe,” he said.
In February, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told allies that “stark strategic realities” prevent America from concentrating primarily on Europe’s security—remarks that, along with Donald Trump’s warnings about shielding low-spending allies and his hesitation over continued aid to Ukraine, have unsettled European capitals. Still, Pevkur noted that Hegseth also reaffirmed NATO’s importance to Washington, which “means you need to be present.”
Large U.S. installations such as Naval Support Activity Naples and Ramstein Air Base remain critical to American global operations, Pevkur added, while U.S. units have rotated almost constantly through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The Baltic states, annexed by the Soviet Union in the 1940s and alarmed by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, see the U.S. presence as essential. Estonia plans to raise defence spending to about 5.4 percent of GDP within four years—well above the NATO average of 2 percent. Pevkur argues Europe needs to hit roughly 4 percent to rebuild its military strength, but he doubts that target will emerge from NATO’s June summit, given heavy debt burdens and less urgency in countries far from Russia.
Trump has urged allies to commit 5 percent of GDP, while NATO’s incoming Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, says new capability goals point to spending “north of” 3 percent.
On May 28, the inauguration ceremony of Lachin International Airport was held.
A car drove into crowds of Liverpool fans celebrating the club’s Premier League title in the city centre on Monday evening, injuring dozens including 4 children. A 53-year-old man believed to be the driver was arrested at the scene.
Taxi drivers across France are protesting government plans to cut payments for driving patients to medical appointments. These cuts are part of a broader effort by Prime Minister François Bayrou to save €40 billion in the 2026 budget and reduce the country’s large deficit.
EU ministers have greenlit a massive €150 billion defense investment fund—dubbed the Security Action for Europe (SAFE)—as the bloc ramps up its military readiness in response to Russia’s aggression and growing uncertainty over U.S. security guarantees.
Brazil’s economy is expected to have regained momentum in the first quarter of 2025, driven by a surge in household spending and private investment, according to a Reuters poll of economists conducted from May 21–26.
Demonstrators marched in Mexico City against a historic vote to elect judges, with critics warning the move could weaken judicial independence and empower political or criminal interests.
At least 31 people have died near a southern Gaza aid distribution site, with conflicting accounts from Palestinian officials, the Israeli military, and aid groups over what caused the bloodshed.
A fire at a hospital in Hamburg has left at least three people dead and more than 35 injured, as police investigate a 72-year-old patient in connection with the blaze.
At least 21 athletes have died after their bus veered off a bridge in Kano while returning from a national sports event.
McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix, marking his fifth victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
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