Author: staff
Published on 14/10/2025 – 15:17 GMT+2 A 19th century painting of a tribute to Christopher Columbus that was defaced by activists in Madrid on Sunday will require a “second reconstruction”, according to Spain’s Department of Defence. José Garnelo’s work entitled ‘Primer homenaje a Cristóbal Colón’ (First tribute to Christopher Columbus) was damaged by two members of the Futuro Vegetal collective who allegedly threw biodegradable red paint at the painting in protest at Spain’s national holiday celebrations. “Although it has suffered minimal damage, a second reconstruction will be necessary,” the Defence Ministry announced on social media,coinciding with the Defence Minister Margarita…
PARIS — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday in his first speech to parliament that he plans to freeze an unpopular law that raised the minimum retirement age for most workers. The decision is a major victory for the opposition Socialist Party, who had threatened to vote to topple Lecornu’s nascent government if he did not freeze the pension reform, which was passed in 2023 and is incrementally raising the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62 for most workers. A representative from the Socialist Party is set to respond to Lecornu’s speech in parliament later Tuesday afternoon. This developing…
“We are quite apart from the Council, mainly because there is distrust between our two institutions,” Novakov said, noting that the Parliament had voted on its first position on the proposal way back in 2014. “And after these 11 years, they choose a procedure that is limiting our time for negotiations, which I don’t consider to be a really spirit of cooperation and friendship,” Novakov added. The Parliament’s position also includes the right to carry on one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 7 kilograms for free, even on low-cost airlines, provided it remains “within the maximum dimensions of 100…
Businesses across the EU will see certain obligations eased to help them thrive and contribute to Europe’s competitiveness — at least that is the European Parliament’s pledge. The European Parliament’s objective is to reduce reporting requirements on sustainability and human rights, as lawmakers voted on Monday to water down the bloc’s corporate due diligence rules. Only companies with more than 5,000 employees — instead of the 1,000 adopted last year by the EU — and with a yearly turnover of €1.5 billion — instead of €450 million — will be obliged to comply with the bloc’s due diligence law, according…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney jumped in to thank Trump for accidentally calling him the president. “I’m glad you upgraded me,” Carney grinned. “Oh, did I?” Trump joked, eager to have the last laugh, before adding, “At least I didn’t say governor.” That quip was aimed at Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau, who Trump trolled at length during his two terms as U.S. president. Trudeau, for his part, was unlikely to be paying too much attention given his other priorities right now. Orbán’s bows In a bizarre scene, Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán slowly emerged from behind a cluster…
Germany’s economic outlook showed tentative signs of improvement in October, with the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment rising modestly, although underlying risks —ranging from persistent inflation to sluggish trade — continue to cast a shadow over the country’s recovery. The ZEW index rose two points to 39.3 in October 2025, a modest rebound from September’s reading of 37.3. While marking the highest level since July’s post-pandemic peak, the outcome fell short of economists’ forecasts of 40.5, underscoring lingering uncertainty among financial market experts. “Experts are still hoping for an upturn in the medium term,” said ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.…
Published on 14/10/2025 – 12:33 GMT+2 Nearly three in four employees in the United Kingdom used artificial intelligence (AI) tools under the radar at work, according to a new surveyfrom Microsoft. The study, conducted by British market researcher Censuswide, asked over 2,000 employees across different sectors and company sizes about how they use AI at work. Seventy-one per cent of the respondents said they turned to “shadow AI,” or tools that were not approved by their company. Over 40 per cent of workers who used shadow tools did so because they were familiar with them and used them already in…
“It is problematic that the CEO of the company is still the same Chinese owner,” the U.S. said, according to minutes from the meeting quoted in the court documents. “It’s almost certain that the CEO should be replaced to qualify for an exemption on the entity list.” The emergence of U.S. pressure comes after the Dutch government announced Sunday it had in September seized control of Nexperia, based in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The company was acquired by Chinese Wingtech in 2019. For the period of a year, Nexperia can’t go ahead with major company decisions without explicit approval of…
Updated: 14/10/2025 – 12:00 GMT+2 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this October 14th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
China last year imposed similar controls on materials like graphite, germanium and gallium, all of which are also used in tech, defense and green industries. Šefčovič complained that for those materials “only half of the applications” were properly processed by Beijing. Beijing announced sweeping new export controls on rare-earth magnets and their raw materials last week on grounds of national security. The move requires magnet-makers to get approval from China if they use even trace amounts of Chinese rare earths. Beijing produces 90 percent of the world’s rare-earth magnets, which are used in electromotors, generators for wind turbines and defense…