EUROPE

SPAIN FINES AIRBNB FOR POSTING UNLICENSED PROPERTIES

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Amidst a national housing crisis, Spain's leftist government on Monday levied a fine exceeding 64 million euros ($75 million) against Airbnb for publishing listings of prohibited rental properties. The consumer affairs ministry confirmed the finality of the fine, ordering the US holiday-rental platform to "correct the violations by deleting illegal content" to comply with regulations.

The fine is equivalent to six times the illegal profit made by Airbnb between the time the company was warned about the offending adverts and before they were taken down, the ministry added.

ZELENSKY REFUTES ANY PLAN TO SURRENDER UKRAINIAN TERRITORY TO RUSSIA

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again ruled out surrendering any territory to Russia, insisting that Kyiv cannot "give away precisely what we are fighting to protect," even as American negotiators push a revised framework aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict. Speaking to reporters after a series of high-level meetings with European leaders, Zelensky said the latest U.S. draft is an improvement but still contains unresolved issues that Ukraine "cannot simply sign off on for the sake of speed."

EU FREEZES RUSSIAN ASSETS INDEFINITELY

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The European Union has reached a decisive breakthrough in its long-running effort to channel frozen Russian assets into financial support for Ukraine, agreeing to indefinitely immobilise Moscow's sovereign funds held across the bloc. The move eliminates the risk that future political disagreements, particularly from Hungary or Slovakia, could force the return of the €210 billion in Russian central bank holdings locked in European institutions since the 2022 invasion.

X BLOCKS EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S ADS FROM ITS PLATFORM

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Social media platform X has blocked the European Commission from running advertisements on its site, a move that follows the Commission's recent decision to fine Elon Musk's company €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges. Nikita Bier, a senior figure at X, accused the EU regulator of attempting to "take advantage" of "an exploit" in X's advertising system to promote its post about the fine on Friday.

KREMLIN SUGGESTS IT MAY NOT LIKE NEW UKRAINE PEACE PROPOSALS AFTER RECENT US-UKRAINE TALKS.

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Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday that Moscow has not seen revised US proposals made after the most recent talks with Ukraine, but that it may not like parts of them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday Kyiv had agreed on key points of a post-war reconstruction plan in talks with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other top officials.

Zelensky said work on an “economic document” was proceeding and that Ukraine was “fully aligned with the American side.”

ZELENSKYY MEETS IN LONDON WITH EUROPEAN ALLIES ON US PEACE PLAN AND SECURITY

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met French, German and British leaders in London on Monday amid what Kyiv’s European allies described as a “decisive time” in the U.S.-led effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence to try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This is the furthest we’ve got in four years, and we welcome the fact that these talks are continuing at every level,” said Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells, adding: “It isn’t a straight line between conflict and peace.”

He said “intensive work” will continue in the coming days, although “there are still outstanding issues.”

UK SANCTIONS RSF COMMANDERS OVER LINKS TO MASS KILLINGS IN SUDAN

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Britain sanctioned senior commanders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Friday, over what it said were their links to mass killings, systematic sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians in the African country.

LOUVRE WORKERS ANNOUNCE STRIKE OVER WORK CONDITIONS AND SECURITY AFTER $102M HEIST

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Workers at the Louvre Museum voted Monday for strikes to protest their work conditions, a ticket-price hike for non-European visitors and security weaknesses that a brazen daylight theft of France’s Crown Jewels highlighted in October.

In a letter announcing the strike action starting next Monday, which was addressed to France’s culture minister and seen by The Associated Press, the CGT, CFDT and Sud unions asserted that “visiting the Louvre has become a real obstacle course” for the millions of people who come to admire its huge collections of art and artifacts.

The museum is in “crisis,” with insufficient resources and “increasingly deteriorated working conditions,” said the unions’ strike notice to Culture Minister Rachida Dati.

“The theft of 19 October 2025 highlighted shortcomings in priorities that had long been reported,” the unions alleged.