Author: staff

The only time Martin politely pushed back was when Trump complained that Ireland had hoovered up far too much U.S. corporate investment with “smart” tax incentives — and vowed that his administration would somehow reverse this. (Trump pulled the U.S. out of OECD-led international cooperative efforts to address aggressive tax competition earlier this year.) Micheal Martin, a diplomatic veteran, spent long periods sitting in bemused silence, his hands clasped tightly on his thighs and a Mona Lisa smile on his face. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Martin stressed, as expected, that U.S.-Irish trade was growing strongly in both directions to the…

Party leaders advocate for snap elections, which may occur on either 11 or 18 May. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is convening the Council of State tomorrow, will make the decision. Nobody wanted early elections, but if they were to be held, they should occur as soon as possible. Today, the President of the Portuguese Republic listened to the parties with parliamentary seats in Belém to gather all the information necessary to determine the best solution to the current political impasse.Luís Montenegro was the first to be received. The Prime Minister advocated for the swift holding of elections alongside…

La Commission a laissé la porte ouverte à un accord avec Trump, affirmant qu’elle “reste prête à travailler avec l’administration américaine pour trouver une solution négociée”, et ajoutant que ses mesures “peuvent être annulées à tout moment si une telle solution est trouvée”. Cela n’a pas convaincu le représentant américain au commerce, Jamieson Greer. “L’action punitive de l’UE ne tient absolument pas compte des impératifs de sécurité nationale des Etats-Unis — et même de la sécurité internationale — et montre une fois de plus que les politiques commerciales et économiques de l’UE sont en décalage avec la réalité”, a-t-il indiqué…

“This is the war that is going on in the shadows,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas told Belgian broadcaster VRT in response. Recent incidents across Europe range from cyberattacks and espionage to targeted arson, undersea cable sabotage and GPS jamming. These attacks “against us are on the rise,” Kallas said. The EU and NATO have ramped up their defenses against such “hybrid threats” in the past months. Kallas singled out Russia and Iran as countries particularly active in Europe. A potential cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia won’t stop these types of attacks in Europe, security…

It’s a relationship that may have seemed unlikely, especially given the past tension between Britain and France over Brexit. But as the heads of Europe’s two nuclear-armed military powers, the pair have formed a bond and worked as a tag team to encourage Trump and Zelenskyy to move closer to a deal, sharing ideas and alternating between hosting meetings in Paris and London. Starmer is “doing a great job,” especially with Trump, one French official said recently.  British officials were convinced that Zelenskyy had to patch things up with Trump. Eventually, the Ukrainian leader relented. In a conciliatory letter that was…

In parliament Wednesday, Starmer said the U.K. is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed.” But the U.K. — which has so far avoided retaliation on Trump’s metals tariffs — will “will keep all options on the table,” he said. “We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the U.S. to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit U.K. businesses and our economy,” Reynolds said soon after Trump’s metal tariffs took effect. “Next week you can expect the business secretary to go to Washington to discuss the…

The Hague-based court has been investigating the mass killings linked to Duterte’s so-called war on drugs. Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived at the Hague on Wednesday after being arrested in Manila the day before on the order of the International Criminal Court (ICC).He is facing a charge of crimes against humanity linked to the deadly crackdown on drugs he oversaw while in office.Police arrested Duterte at Manila’s airport as he returned from a trip to Hong Kong, where he was put on a plane to Dubai. Flight tracking data showed that the jet waited for hours in Dubai before…

Price pressures eased more than expected in February, a relief for US consumers concerned about looming tariff effects. US inflation slowed last month for the first time since September and a measure of underlying inflation fell to a four-year low, even as widespread tariffs threaten to send prices higher.The consumer price index increased 2.8% in February from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labour Department showed, down from 3% the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in January. The core figure is the lowest…

Moreover, the lawmakers added, the U.S. foreign policy shift means EU member countries have become Ukraine’s primary allies and must therefore increase military aid. With U.S. President Donald Trump having aligned his country with Russia, the EU is facing its single most existential threat since World War II. MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday laid out how Europe can fortify itself. In a separate non-binding resolution on European defense, which passed by a margin of 419 votes to 204 with 46 abstentions, the Parliament demanded that member countries and the European Commission beef up the bloc’s defense capabilities amid Trump’s continuous…

Washington announced it would resume sending military supplies to Ukraine following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The US has resumed sending weapons supplies to Ukraine, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The returned flow of weapons comes after the US and Ukraine issued a statement following discussions on Tuesday in which Ukraine said it accepted a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire. Following the talks, the Trump administration announced it had lifted its suspension of military support. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that he was “happy” that Ukraine backed the process, and the focus was…