Author: staff
Updated: 23/04/2026 – 7:00 GMT+2 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this April 23rd, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
“Of course, if you say, well, we need to reform the EU to make it faster, then the question is OK, but how?” said Gilles Pittoors, a political science lecturer at KU Leuven. “You could, for example, introduce QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) in the European Council on these foreign policy issues. But that raises a hell of a democratic issue,” he said. Creating new bodies would solve nothing, he argued. “I think the best way forward here, if you’re really serious about reforming the EU to make it more agile, to make it respond more quickly, is to basically strengthen…
Published on 23/04/2026 – 7:00 GMT+2 Artificial intelligence systems can slip into abusive language when asked to respond in a heated argument, according to new research. The study, published in the Journal of Pragmatics, examined OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0 by feeding it the latest human message in a series of five escalating disputes and asking it to generate the most plausible response. Researchers then tracked how the model’s behaviour evolved as the conflicts intensified over time.As the conversations progressed, ChatGPT mirrored the hostility it was exposed to, eventually producing insults, profanity, and even threats. In some instances, the model generated statements…
Is the 9 to 5 rat race quietly hampering our wellbeing? The World Health Organization seems to think so with its definition of burnout as a syndrome rooted in the workplace, marked by feelings of exhaustion, detachment and a decline in personal efficacy. However, these feelings don’t just clock out at the end of the workday when the laptop closes. According to Mental Health UK, as many as nine in 10 Brits reported experiencing “high or extreme levels of pressure and stress” within the last year – a trend that has stubbornly remained constant since 2024. While it may be…
On today’s show, Ian is in the sunny Mediterranean nation of Cyprus for the biggest gathering of EU leaders on the island for many, many years. Sarah joins from Brussels and Nick dials in from Greece, where he’s attending the Delphi Economic Forum. Expect the agenda of the leaders’ summit today and tomorrow to be heavy on geopolitics. High on the list of topics to discuss are the Iran crisis, high energy prices, the EU’s long-term budget and how the bloc can defend itself. So, pretty high stakes, then. Over in Greece, Nick points out that — much to his surprise — several high-profile MAGA…
Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them on Wednesday, intensifying its attacks in the strategic waterway. The attacks came less than a day after US President Donald Trump extended a fragile truce while maintaining a US blockade of Iranian ports. The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait — where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime — and shows no end in near sight. Iranian media said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was bringing the two ships to Iran,…
Kanzler Friedrich Merz reist heute nach Zypern, wo der informelle Gipfel der EU-Staats- und Regierungschefs unter der aktuellen Ratspräsidentschaft der Republik beginnt. Im Fokus stehen die Antworten auf den Iran-Krieg und die anhaltende Energiekrise. Gordon Repinski berichtet von der Reise und analysiert gemeinsam mit Hans von der Burchard, wie sich die EU weiter schwer tut Antworten auf die akute Iran-Krise zu finden, aber auch auf langfristige Fragen, wie den anstehenden Haushalt zum Beispiel. Während die EU berät, empfängt Berlin heute Reza Pahlavi, den Sohn des letzten Schahs des Iran. Er wird unter anderem auch mit Armin Laschet sprechen, dem Vorsitzenden…
Nearly two months into the crisis, the troubles for Gulf oil and gas exports are far from over. And the world is so dependent on fossil fuels that these problems will continue to deepen and create economic shock waves whenever tensions flare up again in the Middle East — and they will. In Europe, this makes it a good moment to think of waters quite unlike the Strait of Hormuz: dams and reservoirs. Indeed, they may be the future of European energy security — or at least part of it. Dams have controlled river waters for decades, generations even. The…
The move is part of efforts to show Washington that the U.K. — which has angered U.S. President Donald Trump by staying out of offensive missions during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran — is prepared to make a serious contribution to policing the key passage through the Persian Gulf. Britain and France have jointly convened a series of meetings aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation in the trade artery and alleviating some of the economic pressure which has been caused by its closure at the beginning of March. However, participating countries are split on what role the U.S. should play…
A video posted on social media shows a despairing Ukrainian soldier panning his camera around to reveal trenches lined with bodies of dead and injured soldiers. These videos reveal the chilling reality experienced by many Ukrainians battling Russian troops on the frontline — a key component of modern-day warfare. However, in reality, this widely shared footage is in fact AI-generated, as verified by forensic AI detection company Sensity AI. Researchers from Sensity warn that deepfakes are being used to manipulate public opinion and undermine trust in the military, off the back of authentic videos of Ukrainian soldiers documenting their daily…