Author: staff
With the two leading AI powers, the United States and China, forming their own AI blocs, other countries are manoeuvring to harness the strengths of both groupings and avoid losing out. Europe is trying to become a third force in AI, but sovereignty is harder to achieve than simply building a home-grown model. Its prospects depend on whether it can also secure the computing power, chips and infrastructure needed to develop and run AI at scale. As the rivalry intensifies, experts say the window for countries to be able to choose freely between the AI superpowers may be narrowing, forcing…
The announcement clears the way for a package deal among EU capitals over at least three appointments to the ECB’s six-strong Executive Board. Isabel Schnabel, head of the Bank’s markets department, is due to leave in January to take a senior role at the International Monetary Fund, while Philip Lane is due to depart the influential chief economist’s position in May. Negotiations over the appointments are likely to be intense, given the ECB’s vital influence in international markets, and the never-ending pressure on European government finances. Former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot and Spain’s Pablo Hernández de Cos, who heads the Bank…
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond in this Euronews news bulletin. In just a few minutes, our newsroom brings you the latest news and breaking news across world affairs, business, politics, culture, entertainment and travel, with the context you need to make sense of a fast-moving day. Reported with the independence and the European perspective that define Euronews, this regular round-up gives you a clear and reliable overview of the stories shaping our world right now, wherever you are watching from.
The European Central Bank (ECB) left its key deposit rate unchanged at 2.5% on Thursday, at a meeting overshadowed by President Christine Lagarde’s announcement earlier in the day that she will leave her post next February, months before her term ends. The pause comes as a sell-off in French government bonds pushes up borrowing costs across the eurozone, while inflation runs at 3.8%, almost double the ECB’s 2% target. The decision by the Governing Council, which sets interest rates for the 21 countries that use the euro, follows two rate hikes this year, the latest in September, as energy prices…
Premium class cabins are surging in popularity, with airlines such as BeOnd and La Compagnie offering all-business class flights. The latest to get in on the action? Jet2 Charter, the charter arm of the low-cost British airline. The specially configured Boeing 737-800NG has 76 business class seats, as opposed to the 189 seats on regular Jet2 planes of this size, each of which offers a minimum of 43 inches of legroom. It should be noted that Jet2 doesn’t actually offer business class seats on its regular services. Based out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the UK, the airline has…
Madsen said he wants to ban the fast-growing chickens, known as the Ross 308 breed, at both the national and EU level. His announcement came just a day after a documentary aired with hidden-camera footage from a chicken farm. The footage showed chickens illegally getting just three hours of darkness a day to accelerate growth. The Ross 308 breed, a widely used breed in poultry production, reaches a body weight of around 2 kilograms over just 33 days, but that can lead to injuries and trouble moving. A broad group of parties appears to back the proposal. But questions over…
Around 200 passengers have been left stranded in Cambodia after a cruise ship offering residents the chance to live at sea for years suspended operations because of soaring fuel costs. The 200-metre MV Odyssey departed Belfast in October 2024 on a continuous voyage around the world. Passengers could buy or rent cabins, with some selling their possessions to fund life at sea and paying up to $120,000 for a cabin. Its US-based operator, Villa Vie Residences, said rising fuel costs had placed its business model under unsustainable financial pressure. The company said it was working with passengers to arrange temporary…
Christine Lagarde will leave her post as president of the European Central Bank (ECB) on 7 February 2027, the central bank announced on Thursday, around nine months before her eight-year term was due to end. The news came on the day the ECB is set to announce its latest decision on interest rates. Lagarde informed the ECB’s Governing Council, which sets interest rates for the eurozone, and European Council President António Costa of her decision, the central bank said in a statement. “The Governing Council thanked President Lagarde warmly and gave her a long standing ovation,” it read. In a…
“If we don’t work together and act as a team, countries are inevitably tempted to go it alone,” French Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier told POLITICO. In the paper, Vandenbroucke and his colleague argue that Brussels should open an ACI investigation in response to Washington’s drug pricing policy. The instrument allows the EU to impose tariffs and restrictions on services in response to foreign threats to trade if backed by a qualified majority of member countries. “The procedure is quite heavy, but already opening an examination would have an effect of its own,” the paper argues. The authors also highlight a…
Left-wing activists blocked roads as they marched through the city, prompting police officers to move in and disperse them. Demonstrators confronted police, chanting slogans and sitting down on the road, while others trampled on a campaign poster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some shouted “Ben Gvir lost!” in reference to far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, while a placard in Hebrew declared “Arabs and Jews – Only together will we win”. The march reflected calls among the demonstrators for Jewish and Arab political cooperation to break the electoral deadlock. The inconclusive result has left Netanyahu and opposition parties searching for a parliamentary…