Author: staff

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has stirred up public debate over politicians’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) after telling local media he uses ChatGPT to brainstorm and seek a “second opinion” on how to run the country. Kristersson told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri that he uses ChatGPT and the French service LeChat, and that his colleagues also use AI in their everyday work. “I use it myself quite often, if for nothing else than for a second opinion. ‘What have others done? And should we think the complete opposite?’ Those types of questions,” he said. The comment sparked backlash,…

Published on 07/08/2025 – 14:26 GMT+2 More than 50 years after his death, J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy masterpieces never cease to enchant audiences around the world. Now, a rare first edition of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” has been sold for £43,000 (€49, 500) at an online auction on Wednesday. The first edition was expected to fetch between £10,000-£12,000 at auction, ultimately selling for four times that amount. The book is one of 1,500 original copies of Tolkien’s beloved novel, which was published in September 1937. Only “a few hundred” from the initial print run remain and are considered “some of the…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was not on the call with Trump, a spokesperson for the Commission said on Thursday. But she was “extensively debriefed by several EU leaders,” the spokesperson told reporters. The Kremlin confirmed on Thursday that the two leaders plan to meet “in the coming days.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that, following Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin, the U.S. government has a better understanding of the conditions under which Moscow would be prepared to end the war. “We now have to compare that to what the Ukrainians and…

Reeves’ decision last year to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions and jack up the National Living Wage have led companies to shed jobs, pushing unemployment up to its highest in four years. The Bank said in its new Monetary Policy Report on Thursday that it expects the jobless rate to continue rising in the coming months, after hitting 4.7 percent in June. The cut is the fifth in 12 months but still leaves rates at a level that most economists think is holding the economy back. The Bank warned again on Thursday that stubborn inflation — most visible in food…

A Berlin court ruled in June that the government’s push to turn away asylum-seekers at its borders violates European law. Dobrindt, however, challenged the scope of the court’s decision, suggesting it only applied to the three Somalis mentioned in that case. Dobrindt’s migration shift is an apparent attempt to deliver on the conservatives’ campaign pledges to radically restrict the flow of asylum-seekers into Germany. Center-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz made those promises under pressure from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which surged in the polls on an anti-immigration message ahead of the Feb. 23 snap election and is now…

Trump on Wednesday briefed European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his plan to meet with Putin in the coming days, and also floated holding a trilateral with the Russian president and Zelenskyy. In his evening address Wednesday, Zelenskyy said “Russia now seems to be more inclined toward a ceasefire,” adding “the pressure is working.” But, Zelenskyy cautioned, “the key is to ensure they don’t deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States.” In July, Trump gave Putin 50 days to come to a truce agreement with Ukraine, and then last week shortened the deadline to…

The cubs, three females and one male, have spent recent weeks in the Czech zoo’s outdoor enclosure with their parents, Khalila and Bart. They will soon be transferred to other zoos involved in the breeding programme, including Beersheba Zoo in Israel. Barbary lions once roamed across North Africa but were declared extinct in the wild by the 1960s. Fewer than 200 are thought to remain in captivity worldwide. Early discussions have taken place with Moroccan authorities about a possible reintroduction of the Barbary lion to its natural habitat. A conference of experts is planned later this year or in early…

EU officials did not assess the economic or environmental impacts of a contentious plan to pay poorer countries to cut pollution on Europe’s behalf, the EU executive has admitted in response to a records request. The use of carbon credits, which can be purchased by funding carbon reductions outside the EU, would be allowed under a European Commission proposal to cut climate pollution by 2040. But the basis for this choice did not involve any formal advice from the experts in the European Union’s climate department, DG CLIMA. In response to a document request by POLITICO seeking the Commission’s analysis of…

Hackett describes the situation as “at a T-Junction.” “You go one way, and it’s redundancies, it’s decline, it’s stagnation,” he said. “You go the other way and it’s growth, it’s investment, it’s jobs, it’s prosperity.”  A British government spokesperson said: “We recognise this is a concerning time for workers and their families which is why we entered into negotiations with the company on potential financial support last month.” They added: “We will continue to take proactive steps to address the long-standing challenges the company faces and remain committed to working closely with them throughout this period to present a plan…

Backroom deals, embassy contacts and brown liquor built a booming export trade. Now, the lobbyist who saw it all says the U.S. president’s dalliances with Vladimir Putin are an incoming “asteroid” for the industry. Jul 31 18 mins read