Author: staff
Allies believe the public will have some sympathy for Rayner over the circumstances of her resignation, as her ambition had been to keep her son out of the public eye. A second MP allied to Rayner said her team “don’t seem at all fazed or panicked” by what HMRC will uncover. “The mood is that they need HMRC to expedite this so that she can pay what she owes and put it behind her,” they said. But trying to move before HMRC makes a decision would be nightmarish. One government official said: “Angela would get 80 MPs [needed for a…
The political damage to Merz and his conservatives appears substantial. Two-thirds of Germans oppose the proposal of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to make it harder to work part-time, according to Germany’s benchmark ARD-DeutschlandTrend survey. More consequentially for Merz, his conservatives are losing points on their core issue: the economy. Only 31 percent of Germans surveyed said they trust the chancellor’s conservatives to improve the economy. That still beats other parties, but is 6 percentage points less than last year — tying the conservatives’ lowest economy rating on record. So it came as no surprise, earlier this month, when Merz’s party…
There’s also a 5 percent import duty on all foreign cars. Trading partners that have deals with Canberra — like Korea and Japan — saw that removed but are still charged the luxury car tax. The potential is there: Japan sold $8 billion worth of vehicles to Australia in 2024, with German only in fifth position at $2 billion. While the EU would love to pave the way for more high-end German autos to be sold Down Under, the tax is domestic legislation and not formally part of the talks. Australia was rumored in 2023 to be willing to get…
EU leaders on Thursday head to Alden Biesen castle in the Belgian countryside for a retreat to discuss how to make Europe more competitive as it seeks to reduce dependence on Donald Trump’s America. Slashing red tape will be a major focus of the talks, and on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that EU countries, not just Brussels, are to blame for excessive rules. Scroll down for the latest news and analysis.
Published on 10/02/2026 – 6:06 GMT+1•Updated 10:08 Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate and former girlfriend of late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, refused to answer questions from the US House Oversight Committee during a deposition on Monday. However, Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at a federal prison camp in Texas for sex trafficking, said that if she were pardoned by US President Donald Trump, she would be willing to testify that neither Trump nor former President Bill Clinton had done anything wrong in their connections with Epstein. In a video released by the committee, Maxwell can be…
LONDON — Britain should be part of any “Made in Europe” club giving preference to European goods, the U.K.’s finance chief has said. Rachel Reeves said she was in favor of the plan — floated by France last week as a way to boost European industry — but that it should be “as broad a club as possible.” The proposal would see minimum levels of European-made content mandated in public contracts. “I actually support the idea of some sort of ‘Made in Europe’ or ‘Made in countries that share each other’s values,’” she told an event hosted by the LSE…
Published on 10/02/2026 – 13:18 GMT+1 The US military has boarded another Venezuela-linked tanker after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea, as part of an oil quarantine meant to squeeze Caracas. Venezuela has faced US sanctions on its oil and been accused by Washington of relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Following the US raid to apprehend then-President Nicolás Maduro in early January, several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast, including Aquila II, the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean in the early hours of Monday. “US military…
The prolonged uncertainty appears to be working against Le Pen, whose was found guilty last year of illicitly using European Parliament funds to pay for assistants who solely did domestic political work. A recent survey by pollster Odoxa found that 69 percent of National Rally supporters now believe Bardella would be a stronger candidate than Le Pen. According to the same poll, Bardella also enjoys higher approval ratings than his mentor across party lines — and, unlike Le Pen, is viewed positively by a majority of voters backing the conservative Les Républicains party, whose support the far right would need…
By Euronews Published on 10/02/2026 – 14:12 GMT+1 French President Emmanuel Macron has warned Europe must use a common EU debt capacity to boost investment in strategic sectors or risk being “swept aside” by the US and China, ahead of an EU summit on Thursday focused on competitiveness. Macron said Europe should brace for further clashes with the US and treat the recent “Greenland moment” as a wake-up call to push through long-delayed economic reforms, in interviews published on Tuesday in major European outlets. The French leader cautioned that US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European countries that…
James Van Der Beek, the teen heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” has died at the age of 48. “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come,” a statement from the actor’s family said. “For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother…