Author: staff

Two environmental NGOs, ClientEarth and Oceana, have filed a lawsuit against the Spanish government, alleging failures to investigate and sanction Spanish-flagged vessels suspected of illegal fishing in West African waters.The lawsuit, filed in Madrid, accuses Spanish authorities of neglecting their obligations under EU law by ignoring vessels that have repeatedly switched off their tracking systems while operating off the coasts of Senegal and Guinea Bissau.“Fishing in the dark”At the heart of the legal challenge is the use of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). This tracking technology is mandatory for all boats over 15 metres in length and supports safety and transparency…

“A sobriety of language and presence” — that’s how Filippo Sorcinelli describes Pope Francis, whom he has quietly clothed since the earliest days of his pontificate. The stylist from the Marche region is the founder of the Atelier Lavs, an acronym for Laboratorio Arte Vesti Sacre, which has been working for over twenty years with the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.Sorcinelli, the 49-year-old who specialises in liturgical garments, has made some of the most significant robes of Pope Francis’ ministry, including those worn during his historic pontificate inauguration Mass, broadcast worldwide in 2013.Even on Pope Francis’ final…

The French president’s comments come a day after his office took the unusual step of publicly shooting down on X the Bloomberg report that new elections were being considered. 🚨 FAUX – La Présidence de la République dément, comme elle l’a déjà fait en amont de la publication de l’article. pic.twitter.com/qcPc46VVhh— Élysée (@Elysee) April 23, 2025 POLITICO reported last week that rumors in the National Assembly had begun circulating that inside the Elysée discussions were being had about whether or not to call new snap elections in the coming months. The French president is constitutionally barred from dissolving parliament more than once…

Forget the Colosseum and what you’ve seen in the Gladiator film franchise – the latest evidence of ancient Roman brutality comes not from the heart of Italy, but from a quiet field in Yorkshire.A Roman-era skeleton unearthed in York, England, has given archaeologists the first physical proof that gladiators in Britain clashed not just with each other, but with ferocious beasts.Experts say the man’s pelvis bears bite marks from a large feline – most likely a lion – revealing that brutal man-versus-beast spectacles weren’t confined to the Colosseum, but reached the far-flung corners of the Roman Empire, including ancient Eboracum…

“I had agreed, as I always do, to debate the various reforms with socialist trade unionists before the start of our conference,” Bouchez wrote on his social media following the incident. “When I arrived, one of their members threw a glass of beer at me, insults, threats, obscene gestures. The police had to intervene,” he said. He argued that although he could have have asked for police protection, he decided to stay and confront the protesters to show he was not intimidated. According to members of the FGTB trade union, however, Bouchez provoked the demonstrators who had come outside the…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cut short a visit to South Africa as a result of Russia’s deadly overnight attack on Kyiv. Zelenskyy, who only landed in the country on Wednesday evening, said he would leave after a meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria on Thursday morning. The move came in response to a large-scale Russian missile and drone strike which killed nine and injured more than 70 in Ukraine’s capital. The Ukrainian leader had travelled to South Africa, which currently holds the presidency of the G20, in an attempt to “bring a just peace closer”.…

China has launched three astronauts into space on Thursday, marking a further step in the country’s ambitions for a crewed mission to the Moon and explore Mars.The Shenzhou 20 spaceship was launched as planned atop China’s workhorse Long March 2F rocket at 17:17 local time. It was set to reach the Tiangong space station about 6.5 hours later.The rocket lifted off from the launch centre in Jiuquan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. The ship will remain in space before returning the current crew.While in space, the astronauts will conduct experiments in medical science and new…

Joyce’s intervention ran counter to the sentiments expressed by most other speakers at the summit, including U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and French Minister for Industry and Energy Marc Ferracci, who said: “As long as we remain massively dependent on fossil fuels, there will be no energy security for Europe.” The U.S. has pressured Europe to increase its imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas. But Ferracci said: “We need to accelerate the phasing [out] of imported energy, and this means decarbonization.” One U.K. energy industry figure said of Joyce’s speech: “That went down like a fart in a phone box.”…

Germany’s corporate morale edged higher for the fourth straight month in April, reaching its highest point since last summer, yet business leaders remain wary of storm clouds gathering over global trade and geopolitical risks.The Ifo Business Climate Index, a key barometer of sentiment among German firms, edged up to 86.9 in April from 86.7 in March, beating expectations and marking the strongest reading since July 2024. While the marginal gain suggests economic resilience, underlying data reveals a more nuanced picture, with rising optimism about current conditions offset by waning expectations for the months ahead.What’s driving Germany’s business morale?The improvement was…

At least eight people have been charged by the Belgian prosecutor — including one of Huawei’s most senior executives in Europe — with active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization, after a series of police raids of premises in Belgium, France and Portugal. Huawei is listed as a member of 22 associations in the European Union’s transparency register, which tracks corporate lobbying activities. Several of these, like DigitalEurope, BusinessEurope and the European Internet Forum, have already moved to suspend the Chinese company in response to the bribery scandal. Several other organizations told POLITICO at the end of March that they were “closely…