4 June 2026

Parliament on Thursday fast-tracked a government proposal that would allow Lithuania to send up to 40 troops and civilian defence staff to international maritime security missions in the Strait of Hormuz. The Defence Ministry says the mission could include mine clearance, ship protection, reconnaissance and staff duties in operations led by the United States, Britain and France. Lawmakers have already given initial backing to the wider mandate, but a final vote is still needed before Lithuania can formally join the mission.

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said yesterday that Lithuania is in talks with the United States about the possible deployment of nuclear weapons on Lithuanian soil. He also said Washington had assured him that replacing US troop rotations remains part of the bilateral plan, although the timing is still unclear. Virginijus Sinkevicius said today that Lithuania cannot afford silence over the issue of the US troop presence.

Hospitals over the past day again warned parents to treat possible sepsis in children as an emergency rather than an ordinary fever or stomach bug. Doctors say high temperature, vomiting, severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain, lethargy and breathing trouble require urgent hospital care because the first hours determine survival and the risk of organ damage. Warnings also drew attention to cases in which people with mental disorders are being left without urgent specialised care.

A ruling by the Vilnius Regional Court yesterday renewed scrutiny of Jonas Pinskas’s family finances and a large amount of cash kept at home. Pinskas says the money came from legally accumulated family funds and earlier business deals, but the case could now extend to additional financial records. Innovation Agency defence technology expert Pranciskus Vaisvila said today that Lithuania’s defence-sector exports, worth about 85 million euros in 2023, could grow many times over if local companies secure places in NATO supply chains and keep their certifications. Eurostat also said Lithuania posted the European Union’s fastest annual growth in retail trade.

A presidential adviser said discussion of stronger US nuclear deterrence in the region is a positive signal for Lithuania. Forecasters also warned of severe weather across about half the country, while residents were awarded €6.9mn in subsidies for home solar panels and electricity storage.

The European Union moved yesterday to prepare the next stage of Ukraine’s accession talks after Hungary’s new leadership stopped blocking decisions on Kyiv. Brussels is weighing whether to open the first cluster of negotiations, which Budapest had frozen alongside a €90 billion aid package and weapons reimbursement funds.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom spent the past day discussing a plan with Kyiv to draw Vladimir Putin into talks after US-led diplomacy stalled. Volodymyr Zelensky said today that Russia’s war has killed at least 707 young Ukrainians, including children and teenagers under 18. Zelensky also said yesterday that Russia can produce about 120 ballistic missiles a month, enough to stockpile for several major strikes on Ukraine. In the Kyiv region, one person was wounded today in a Russian drone strike.

In occupied Crimea, air alerts lasted five hours overnight after Ukrainian drone strikes on the military airfields at Saky, Belbek and Kacha. Ukrainian military intelligence said today that drones damaged a Russian FSB vessel in the Black Sea near occupied Crimea. The same day, it said a Be-12 amphibious aircraft, three boats and a supply vessel were destroyed on the peninsula.

Near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, alarm sirens sounded again over the past day and workers took shelter because of danger near the thermal power station. In Poland, heavy rain flooded towns and rescuers pulled people from stranded cars. The Netherlands confirmed it will introduce a per-kilometre truck toll from July 1. In Greece, Olympiakos took another step toward the domestic championship.

Russia began final tests of its most powerful nuclear vessel at sea. The Kremlin rejected Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s call for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, even as Kyiv said it would present Moscow with a proposal to end the war.

Ukraine’s air force said it neutralised 264 of 293 Russian drones and one ballistic missile over the past 24 hours. Explosions were reported overnight in Russian-occupied Crimea in Simferopol, Saky, Sevastopol and near military airfields used by Russia for Black Sea aviation and reconnaissance.

Israel approved more than 2,000 new homes in three settlements in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the plan includes 1,006 units near Jerusalem, 922 near Nablus and 234 near Hebron, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Washington to intervene. Gaza’s civil defence said Israeli strikes in Gaza City killed at least eight people and wounded 15. Seven of the dead were in residential buildings and one was killed in the al Shati refugee camp west of the city.

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in Yaounde that wars in the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine have fundamentally reshaped how the global economy works. She said four days of talks in Cameroon would try to revive a weakened trade body as shipping routes, supply chains and capital flows are increasingly driven by security risk rather than cost.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to exponentially strengthen his nuclear forces and reinforce frontline units on the border with South Korea. Seoul says Pyongyang is receiving weapons technology from Russia in return for supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine.