Author: staff
Thousands descended on the town of Ivrea in northern Italy to take part in the messiest, fruitiest of fights: The Battle of Oranges, the highlight of Ivrea’s annual carnival. Tons of oranges are thrown during the three-day battle. Thousands of fighters, in Italian “Aranceri”, or “Orangiers” are involved in final day’s battle. The origins of the food fight are believed to date back to around 1,200 AD with the revolt against a tyrannical baron. He was overthrown, his castle destroyed and a free municipality was created. According to the legend, the rebellion was led by Violetta, daughter of a miller…
Published on 19/02/2026 – 16:44 GMT+1 Airbus may have just delivered a record year, but in Washington the political winds still seem to blow in Boeing’s favour. As US President Donald Trump doubles down on domestic industry and defence spending, European aerospace executives are watching closely. For Airbus, the numbers themselves are solid, even enviable. The group delivered 793 commercial aircraft in 2025, lifted revenue by 6% to €73.4bn and posted adjusted operating profit of €7.1bn. “2025 was a landmark year, characterised by very strong demand for our products and services across all businesses, a record financial performance, and strategic…
“Some years ago, we were one, maximum two Governing Council members arguing in favor of eurobonds,” Stournaras recalled. “The rest of us thought, ‘You are coming from the European South, so it’s understandable.’ But now we have all realized how important it is.” Now, even Germany’s Bundesbank, the de facto leader of the skeptics, has turned. As Stournaras sees it, the fact that southern EU countries that were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy a decade ago are now performing well has helped to shift views. Certainly, the subsidy from Berlin to other capitals that is implicit in joint borrowing has shrunk…
Paris is demanding an explanation from the European Commission for its decision to send the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, as an observer to the first formal gathering of United States President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Thursday, saying she doesn’t have a “mandate”. “We are surprised because she doesn’t have a mandate from the Council to go and participate in this meeting of the Board of Peace,” spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told reporters in Paris on Thursday. “She will have to explain it when she returns.” France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and Portugal were among a handful…
Azerbaijan is expanding the use of domestically developed remote-controlled demining machines to speed up humanitarian clearance in former conflict zones, contributing to global mine-action efforts. The unmanned systems are produced by local engineering firm ImProtex and operated by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA). Built for high-risk environments, the machines are deployed in areas where manual clearance remains slow and dangerous, in line with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). The scale of contamination makes technological solutions a priority for Baku. “For Azerbaijan, the landmine issue remains a serious humanitarian and security challenge long after the end of the…
Washington has deployed 2 aircraft carrier strike groups to the Middle East, positioning forces that could be used in potential strikes on Iran. Listen AI generated Text-to-speech
Published on 19/02/2026 – 14:53 GMT+1 The European Commission has called an extraordinary meeting of its Oil Coordination Group to address a growing dispute between Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine over the Druzhba oil pipeline. On Wednesday, Hungary and Slovakia halted diesel supplies to Ukraine after a Russian attack on the pipeline in Ukrainian territory knocked it out of service. Budapest and Bratislava, who both rely heavily on Russian crude oil transported through the pipeline, have accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying repairs for political reasons. The Commission announced on Thursday that the emergency meeting would take place the following Wednesday, with…
Published on 19/02/2026 – 14:56 GMT+1 The head of Italy’s state sports broadcaster Paolo Petrecca resigned, RAI said Thursday, after his commentary during the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony became an international embarrassment. Petrecca stepped down as director of RaiSport following his live commentary on 6 February, during which he confused Italian actress Matilda De Angelis with Mariah Carey and mistook the president of the International Olympic Committee for the Italian president’s daughter. The errors sparked a revolt among RAI journalists, who withdrew their bylines from all coverage and announced strikes after the Games end on Sunday. Petrecca had replaced…
Seven countries in Europe — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Spain and the U.K. — have reported gastrointestinal issues in infants that had consumed formula. However, investigations are still ongoing to establish whether these cases are linked to the formula products. The agencies cautioned that linking common symptoms to the toxin “can be challenging.” The assessment comes after large scale recalls began in December of last year, when cereulide was found in formula products containing an ingredient supplied by a Chinese based producer. Even more products were pulled off shelves in February following an EFSA assessment on safe levels of…
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and US officials announced the launch of a joint Uzbekistan–US investment platform during meetings in Washington. Mirziyoyev travelled to the US capital at the invitation of President Donald Trump to attend the inaugural summit of the Board of Peace, the US leader’s diplomatic initiative focused on Gaza. Uzbekistan signed the body’s founding declaration earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Economic cooperation between the two countries has expanded in recent years. Bilateral trade exceeded $1 billion (€850mn) last year, and almost 340 US companies operate in Uzbekistan. A three-year Economic Cooperation Programme worth…