Author: staff
Travellers to cities and regions in England could soon have to pay a tourist tax after the government announced it will allow mayors to charge visitors for overnight stays. The visitor levy is uncapped, but is expected to be under 5% of the accommodation cost. Tourist taxes are widespread across Europe – and the Scottish capital Edinburgh introduced an overnight fee in July – but the hospitality industry has criticised the move in England. Opponents say it will deter visitors and put further pressure on a sector already battling tax hikes and employment issues. What to know about England’s new…
Biotechnology at scale: Europe’s next competitiveness test Key findings Biotechnology is increasingly important to Europe’s healthcare, food security, industrial decarbonization and strategic autonomy, generating €75.16 billion in gross value added in 2022. The EU retains major scientific strengths, but struggles to translate research into companies, manufacturing capacity, commercial value and broad societal benefits. Three factors will determine whether Europe can close this innovation translation gap. First, regulatory simplification will need to extend across the innovation pathway. Biotechnology increasingly cuts across rules governing medicines, clinical trials, data, agriculture, intellectual property and trade. The European Biotech Act seeks to improve coordination, but…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 12:40 GMT+2•Updated 12:47 The European Union is set to provide Ukraine with €6.1 billion in additional assistance to help the war-weary country purchase military equipment, notably the Patriot interceptors badly needed to shoot down Russia’s devastating ballistic missiles. The funding, announcedon Friday, will come from the bloc’s €90 billion support loan, which reserves €28.3 billion for military aid and €16.7 billion for budget aid this year. The loan’s “Made In Europe” requirement will be lifted to procure Patriots, which are made in the United States, and drones, which depend on Chinese components. The newly allocated €6.1…
Russia is illegally recruiting foreign nationals into its military by using deception, blackmail, document confiscation and the threat of deportation to coerce migrants into fighting in Ukraine — a practice that amounts to human trafficking under international law, Amnesty International said in a report Thursday. The finding follows interviews with prisoners of war from more than a dozen countries held in Ukrainian captivity, almost all of whom described abuses during recruitment that brought them into Russia’s armed forces. Practices documented by Amnesty International — including contracts signed without informed consent, confiscated passports, restricted freedom of movement, inadequate training and threats…
Government bond yields jumped again this week, with some reaching levels last recorded around the global financial crisis, as the escalating conflict in the Middle East threatens to keep energy prices and therefore inflation elevated. With the conflict showing no sign of ending, investors are bracing for another surge in inflation that could put pressure on central banks to tighten monetary policy further, making borrowing more expensive. The outlook for crude supplies has deteriorated further after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels hit several Saudi energy targets and advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway is a key alternative route for…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 11:12 GMT+2 The number of European leisure travellers visiting Saudi Arabia is forecast to increase by at least 130% between 2025 and 2030. According to new research from Tourism Economics, published this week at WTM Spotlight Riyadh, Europe is among the long-haul markets expected to drive the next phase of Saudi Arabia’s tourism growth. Leisure arrivals from Asia Pacific and North America are also predicted to more than double. As a result, longer-haul markets are expected to account for 54% of Saudi Arabia’s international leisure arrivals by 2030, compared with 47% in 2025. Germany and Italy…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 11:30 GMT+2 The only documentary selected to this year’s Venice Film Festival main competition premiered yesterday and has emerged as a serious Golden Lion contender. NAZA, the new film from Israeli No Other Land directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to its official synopsis. The 80-minute hot-button doc, shot in secrecy at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv during the ongoing Gaza war, features interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers, soldiers and whitleblowers. They discuss how Palestinians are…
“A mention is a signal, a specific commitment is politically meaningful, a commitment with a deliverable and timetable is the real outcome.” But whether lobbyists can even get the access that matters is another question. The Commission president “keeps her cards exceedingly close to her chest in the whole process,” said one former Commission cabinet member, granted anonymity to speak freely. “In the end, von der Leyen writes the whole thing herself — there are literally four people involved,” the person said, adding that the speech is written only in the few days before it’s presented. Among the few who…
Emma Bonino has died aged 78. The founder of More Europe, a longtime leading figure in Italy’s Radical Party and former government minister, passed away after her health deteriorated in recent weeks. Bonino had recently been admitted to the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome after a respiratory crisis. She arrived in critical condition and was transferred to intensive care so that her condition could be monitored. After an initial improvement, on 10 September, she left the ward and was moved to a private facility. In 2015, Bonino revealed she had a tumour in her left lung. She underwent treatment for…
Emergency responders and military personnel paid tribute those killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks during the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday. The usually jovial crowd fell silent as an honour guard performed a solemn bell salute to remember the victims and mark the occasion, the eve of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The event saw thousands of people gather at the American Airlines Center to pledge their support for GOP candidates running in the crucial upcoming midterm elections, which will determine the makeup of Congress for the final two years of US President Donald Trump’s…