Author: staff

The World Health Organization is freezing recruitment and slashing travel in response to the withdrawal of the U.S., its biggest funder, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. “As you know, the United States of America has announced that it intends to withdraw from WHO.  We regret this decision and hope the new administration will reconsider it,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told staff in an email sent Thursday night. “This announcement has made our financial situation more acute, and we know it has created significant concern and uncertainty for the WHO workforce,” he added. In response, the WHO is…

A non-profit has detected the well-known ‘Doppelgänger’ campaign spreading content aimed at swaying German voters. Russia has revived its disinformation tactics to boost the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and discredit its rivals, weeks before Germans are set to vote in a new government on 23 February.German non-profit CeMAS said this week it had detected hundreds of posts spreading misleading claims about the election on X, formerly Twitter, with indications they belong to Russia’s notorious Doppelgänger campaign.Doppelgänger involves cloning the websites of renowned media outlets by purchasing similar-looking domains and imitating their layout and style. The falsified articles are…

A number of aviation firms, including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, have also shown interest in the Portuguese carrier but BA owner, IAG, is widely viewed by analysts as the frontrunner. Airline group IAG is set to be a primary contender to buy a $1 billion stake in state-owned Portuguese carrier TAP, said Reuters.Analysts and bankers with knowledge of the deal said IAG was the strongest candidate to secure a deal, winning out against competitors Lufthansa and Air France-KLM.The analysts cited IAG’s successful management of Iberia airline in Madrid, which could create a powerful Southern European hub if merged with TAP…

Alright, what we really watched was a 30-second video of Melania Trump skillfully giving her husband an awkward air kiss while protected by her incredible accessory of choice — a hat. Not just any hat, but a Carmen Sandiego-inspired, flying saucer-size, eye-covering piece of art that created the most strategically effective buffer zone of modern political history: around Doland Trump’s lips. It’s likely he didn’t notice. The whole day was a giant wet kiss to Trump, and if there’s one thing Donny the Menace loves, it’s himself. I mean, check out his phone wallpaper. A Pulitzer-prize deserving photographer managed to…

Dominique Pelicot was sentenced last month along with 50 other men for the repeated drugging and rape of Gisèle Pelicot in case that stunned France. France must change its rape law to include consent, a cross-party panel of lawmakers has said in the wake of the Gisèle Pelicot mass rape trial that shocked the country.A consent-based rape definition should urgently be added to the existing law, which defines rape as an act committed on someone using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise” — with no clear mention of consent — the MPs said in a report presented to parliament on Tuesday.”Nearly…

As Donald Trump settles back into the White House, all eyes—even in snowy Davos—are on Washington. Host Sarah Wheaton reports from the World Economic Forum, joined by Josh Lipsky, Senior Director at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, and MEP Eva Maydell, to discuss Europe’s weakening relevance amid tariff threats, tech battles, and shifting power dynamics. Plus, a special Davos update from our sister podcast Power Play— host Anne McElvoy shares a secret fondue tip and reflects on the Davos vibe after producing daily episodes featuring, among others, historian Niall Ferguson and former Trump insider Anthony Scaramucci. You can listen to…

In 2024, member states collectively spent an average of 1.9% of GDP on defence, while Russia was spending 9%, Kaja Kallas told the audience of the European Defence Agency annual conference on Monday. The European Union must boost its defence spending to “prepare for the worst” and be able to defend itself “alone if needed” against a belligerent Russia, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday. “Many of our national intelligence agencies are giving us the information that Russia could test the EU’s readiness to defend itself in three to five years,” Kallas told the audience at the European…

In 2019, one Germany’s leading policymakers Thomas Bagger laid all this out in an essay detailing the consequences of Trump 1.0 more vividly than anyone had before. He juxtaposed countries like France, with its traditions and strong sense of national interest, and Germany, which has nothing but its post-war principles to fall back on. And suddenly, all the democratic gains that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall were up for grabs. “The Trump challenge goes much deeper than just policy disagreements — his approach pulls the rug from under the feet of German foreign policy thinking since the…

In a speech before the European Parliament, Donald Tusk called for a major boost in Europe’s defence spending and a “critical review” of the Green Deal. “Europe was, is and will always be great,” Donald Tusk declared on Wednesday as he made a passionate plea for ramping up military spending to ensure the continent can defend itself against its adversaries without relying on America’s security umbrella.”If Europe is to survive, it must be armed,” the Polish prime minister told the European Parliament in a wide-ranging address with a heavy focus on security matters.”This is not our choice. I am not…

This year’s annual jamboree in the Alps is drawing to a close. And the man who’s dominated the week — Donald Trump —spoke to the World Economic Forum. He’s hardly the centrist “Davos Man” but he had a message from Washington for the gathering. In Power Play’s final edition from the World Economic Forum in Davos, host Anne McElvoy talks to William Browder, financier and activist, who has been a leading campaigner against Vladimir Putin’s regime since his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and died in custody in Russia 15 years ago. Does he think Trump can strike a deal with…