Author: staff
Published on 10/02/2026 – 18:10 GMT+1•Updated 11/02/2026 – 7:01 GMT+1 EU leaders will gather on Thursday to informally discuss priorities for Europe’s economic agenda, including how to strengthen the single market and make Europe more economically independent and competitive. Among proposals on the table include dismantling barriers for European Union-based businesses via a “simplification” agenda, attracting investment from outside the EU, using Eurobonds, and giving preference to EU firms in order to strengthen European industries. Although all leaders agree that the bloc need to be stronger and more resilient in the face of rising Chinese market dominance and the United…
By Euronews Published on 11/02/2026 – 11:58 GMT+1 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday his country is prepared for “any verification” of its nuclear programme, insisting Tehran is not seeking atomic weapons. “We are not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. We have stated this repeatedly and are ready for any verification,” Pezeshkian said during a speech at Azadi Square in Tehran marking the 47th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. “Our country, Iran, will not yield to their excessive demands,” he added, after Tehran resumed indirect talks with Washington on its nuclear programme. The anniversary comes as the country’s ruling theocrats…
Warning: This article contains references to suicide, drug use, and descriptions of crime scenes. When Nirvana frontman and grunge legend Kurt Cobain died on 5 April 1997 at the age of 27, the music world mourned the death of a beloved rock star and a Generation X icon. His body was found at his Seattle apartment and his cause of death was ruled to be a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the face, as Cobain has been wrestling with drug abuse and depression for years. There was persistent conjecture that Cobain had been murdered – with conspiracy theories citing his supposedly…
PARIS — French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview Wednesday that he could “not rule out” the possibility that more French diplomats are in the Epstein files after revelations emerged of a former envoy who was allegedly in close contact with the convicted sex offender. The allegations regarding the former French diplomat, which emerged Tuesday in French media, prompted Barrot to report the individual to the justice system, launch an internal probe and a disciplinary process — which could affect the individual’s lifelong privileges enjoyed by civil servants — the top French diplomat said on X. Barrot…
Establishing a “Made in Europe” preference in public contracts is a “fine line to walk”, Ursula von der Leyen has warned on the eve of an informal summit of European Union leaders where the divisive topic is set to be firmly on the table. “I believe that in strategic sectors, European preference is a necessary instrument that will contribute to strengthen Europe’s own production base. It can help create lead markets in those sectors and support the scaling-up of European production capabilities,” the president of the European Commission said in Strasbourg on Wednesday morning. “But I want to be clear…
Published on 11/02/2026 – 12:43 GMT+1 The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Department has published its annual report, which concludes that Russia does not intend to launch a military strike against Estonia or any other NATO member state in the near future. The agency noted however that Russia is increasing the size of its armed forces and restocking on strategic artillery ammunition. In addition, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being formed on the principle of a mass army. The report also stated that controlling Ukraine is an obsession for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as in his mind it would restore Russia’s position…
Kazakhstan has launched a new investment cycle for 2026–2028. The country aims at attracting over $25.5 billion in annual foreign direct investment. At the same time, almost 54 billion EUR of fixed capital should be put to use in diversifying, from resources to high-value manufacturing and technology. Domestic wealth and investment funds have a critical role to play in boosting key projects but also reinforcing government’s plans to develop the social services in the country. To better understand how this symbiosis of state needs and profit-driven investment works in Kazakhstan we sat down with the Chairman of the Management Board…
Attacking the climate is nothing new for Donald Trump and his administration. The US has slowly been peeling away from acknowledging its involvement in the climate crisis, despite being the world’s second-largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases and, historically, the largest contributor to global warming. It has stopped sending delegates to COP talks, scrubbed all mention of fossil fuels from its Environmental Protection Agency’s website and scaled back on environmental protection. Meanwhile, Trump has been criticising the renewable energy boom and taking his “drill baby drill” attitude global. So, here is everything the POTUS has done so far in 2026.…
Ahead of a Thursday EU leaders’ retreat on competitiveness, von der Leyen said member states need to get their own houses in order. “We must also look at the national level, there is too much gold-plating — the extra layers of national legislation that just make businesses’ lives harder and create new barriers in our single market,” she said. Ahead of the leaders’ summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz published a paper blaming Brussels’ regulation for Europe’s economic malaise. But von der Leyen argued that countries are also to blame: “If we are serious about…
Hungary’s fierce election campaign is pitting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party, Fidesz, against Péter Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party, which independent pollsters say has a strong chance of displacing one of Europe’s longest-serving and most controversial premiers. In the run-up to the 12 April vote, Tisza is having to demonstrate its capacity to govern a country that had been dominated by Fidesz for the past 16 years. Tisza has addressed the issue by recruiting István Kapitány, a global director of Shell, as an energy and economic expert, and Anita Orbán (no relation to the prime minister), a top manager and energy…