Ian Brown and Tim Burgess were among those to pay tribute to Mani, whose death was announced by his brother and nephew Gary “Mani” Mounfield, best known as a founding member and bassist of the Stone Roses, has died aged 63. The cause of death has not been shared. His brother Greg Mounfield posted the news on Facebook: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother.” His nephew also shared the news. Continue reading...

EU says reforms needed ‘with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law’ to have a chance to ‘provisionally close accession negotiations by the end of 2028’ We will formally get the EU’s commentary on the enlargement ratings (9:26) in just over an hour – when EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU enlargment commissioner Marta Kos are due to speak to journalists – but we have just had a brief glimpse of what’s coming during Kos’s appearance in the European parliament. She said these have been “significant advances on the EU path achieved so far by Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine,” stressing that “reforms pay off.” I can say that these four candidates have matched their ambitions with concrete actions. Continue reading...

The former prince remains under scrutiny as Buckingham Palace finalises plans for his future as a commoner

Lecornu, who resigned as PM on Monday, is tasked with urgently delivering a budget to parliament The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has named Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, reappointing him after he quit the job earlier this week. Lecornu’s immediate task will be to deliver a budget to parliament by the end of Monday. Continue reading...