Author: staff
Lammy, who had served as the U.K.’s top diplomat since Labour won the election last year, will now become justice secretary — and also step into the post of deputy prime minister vacated by Rayner. While Cooper has never before served in an international brief, she is one of the most experienced members of the Cabinet, first serving as a minister under Tony Blair. She went on to become chief secretary to the Treasury and work and pensions secretary under Gordon Brown, before acting as shadow home secretary in opposition. In recent months she has negotiated bilateral agreements with France…
The Commission’s multibilllion-euro fine falls short of the €4.34 billion fine the EU executive slapped on Google in 2018 over abuse of dominance related to Android mobile devices, but is higher than the €2.42 billion fine the firm faced for favoring its own comparison-shopping service in 2017. The Commission’s decision comes as a parallel case before the U.S. courts will soon come to trial. In April, a U.S. federal judge found that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in display search advertising, and a trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 22. The U.S. government is seeking a divestment of Google’s…
Investors are hoping that the US job market has slowed by just the right amount to trigger a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in two weeks time. A move which could boost the economy, but not so much that it brings a recession. Leading stock indexes on Wall Street quickly gave up their early gains on Friday, after the report from the US Labor Department said employers across the country hired far fewer workers in August than economists expected. The leading US stock indexes were all in losses, after 6pm in Europe, S&P was down more than 0.4%, Dow…
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU’s 19th package of sanctions against Russia — designed “to bring President Putin to the negotiation table” — would be unveiled in early September. Ukraine and its allies have long called for the U.S. to follow suit and inflict more punishing sanctions on Moscow in a bid to drain Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump set a two-week deadline for the Kremlin to end its invasion of Ukraine or else face “massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both” — but he has yet to pull the trigger.…
Ribera, during a speech at Sciences Po on Thursday, became the highest-level official from an EU institution to use the term “genocide” in reference to Israel’s war on Gaza. “The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe’s failure to act and speak with one voice, even as protests spread across European cities and 14 U.N. Security Council members call for an immediate ceasefire,” she told students. Her comments drew swift condemnation from Israel. Its foreign ministry described Ribera’s remarks as “baseless allegations,” adding that Ribera had “made herself a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda.” Ribera has been one of Brussels’ staunchest critics of…
“Politics is downstream from culture,” the late American conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart once famously argued. This is the maxim now guiding MAGA ideologues as well as the likes of Farage, who is now posing as a free-speech defender and stirring the pot for the benefit of populists. Never one to mute his hyperbole, Farage was touring Washington this week, stirring up trouble as only he knows how. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee — a panel chaired by Republican Representative Jim Jordan, who’s been examining the impact British and European online safety rules are having on U.S. tech giants —…
Lucy Powell became the first minister to be sacked, with a key figure on Labour’s soft-left faction losing her post as the leader of the House of Commons. Powell said in a statement confirming her exit that it had “been an honour to serve,” but she acknowledged it had not “been an easy time for the government.” Starmer’s Labour swept to power on a landslide just last year, but is now consistently below the insurgent right-win Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, in the polls. Rayner, who also served as Britain’s housing secretary, was subject of an investigation by the…
Starting this autumn, some travellers heading to the US will have to pay an increased fee for their visa waiver. Citizens of 41 countries, including those in the EU, have to apply for the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) for visits up to 90 days. The fee for the ESTA is set to almost double at the end of September. The price hike comes as the US is experiencing a steep decline in foreign tourists, and could potentially further dissuade visitors. ESTA fee to almost double at the end of September The ESTA fee will rise from $21 (€18)…
LONDON — Poppy Gustafsson has resigned as Britain’s investment minister. The tech entrepreneur was brought in by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year. She is one of the co-founders of Darktrace, a leading British cybersecurity firm. Earlier this year, Gustafsson faced scrutiny after POLITICO reported on her rapid-fire appointment to the House of Lords to take on the gig. It’s the second exit from Starmer’s embattled government in a single day, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner also leaving following a probe into her tax affairs. This developing story is being updated.
Despite concerns of a backlash from Israel and the US, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot told Euronews the country had no option but to commit to recognise Palestine given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “We have concerns, but frankly speaking it’s quite difficult to refuse to act according to our legal obligation when we face the current situation in Gaza,” Prévot told Euronews’ the Europe Conversation. Belgium announced on Monday it would join France and the UK in a commitment to recognising Palestine in New York later this month. The five-party coalition government also announced plans to discontinue imports of…