Author: staff
Gérard Araud, the highly connected former French ambassador to the United States, said Ursula von der Leyn is exceeding the powers of her mandate by tapping into foreign policy while pushing a German-like approach in an interview with Euronews. From Ukraine peace negotiations to the ongoing war in Iran, von der Leyen has managed to grow her role closer to that of a head of state in a move not without controversy. Von der Leyen was the first EU official to call for a political transition in Iran in line with the goals of the United States and Israel, who…
The carmaker also has to battle to protect its key European market from Chinese encroachment. With the U.S. effectively blocking Chinese cars thanks to steep tariffs and a ban on connected cars, Beijing’s carmakers are on the hunt for new customers — and have set their sights on Europe. “We will need to do more because our costs are still too high in Europe, and we have to pitch ourselves against our competitors in Europe,” Blume said, adding that includes Chinese brands “because it’s a big business potential here for the Chinese in Europe so we have to fight back.”…
Published on 10/03/2026 – 17:33 GMT+1•Updated 17:35 The ongoing Iran war is another example of the changing nature of warfare in the 21st century. One that is dominated by one technology above all: drones, especially cheap ones. Iran’s armed forces are dwarfed by the US’ $900 billion (€773bn) military-industrial complex, with defence spending in 2025 at roughly $23 billion (€19.7bn). It is for this reason that the country has used drones to engage in asymmetric warfare to level the playing field. The most visible example of this is the HESA Shahed 136 attack drone – an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle…
Porsche AG booked two large one-time accounting charges in 2025 that, on paper, reduced its operating profit by 98% — from €5.3 billion to just €90 million, according to Volkswagen Group’s earnings report for the full-year. The charges do not mean Porsche AG lost that money in the conventional sense. They are accounting entries, required under standard reporting rules, that reflect the cost of a major change in strategy. The first, worth €2.7 billion, is a goodwill impairment. Goodwill is the value attributed to Porsche’s brand, future earning potential and market position as carried on Volkswagen’s balance sheet. When a…
SONDAGE CLUSTER 17 X POLITICO. La maire Ecologiste, Anne Vignot, et son adversaire LR, Ludovic Fagaut, sont au coude-à-coude. Avec le RN et LFI aux portes de la qualification, le second tour pourrait être un duel, un triangulaire ou une quadrangulaire. Mar 6 3 mins read
After a long series of advances and setbacks, the controversial EU-US trade deal could soon be approved by the European Parliament. Negotiators from the Parliament’s political groups met on Tuesday with Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to discuss the recent developments, and according to sources, they are set to strike an agreement in the next meeting on March 17. If so, the deal would be voted on two days later in the Committee on International Trade, eventually get the final green light by the Parliament’s Plenary on March 26. Commissioner Šefčovič urged lawmakers on Tuesday to move ahead even after US…
By Sertac Aktan with AFP Published on 10/03/2026 – 17:52 GMT+1•Updated 17:52 Israel’s new West Bank settlement initiative is a “big mistake,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday. At a press conference with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in Berlin, Merz described the developments as “annexation moves” and called on Israel to halt the settlement push. Merz added that advancing the project would “complicate the two-state solution,” and urged the Israeli government to reconsider its decisions. The so-called “E1 project” was authorised last August, paving the way for 3,400 housing units across a 12-square-kilometre area to the east of Jerusalem, in West…
Published on 10/03/2026 – 17:29 GMT+1 The European Parliament adopted on Tuesday a series of recommendations urging lawmakers to find a “permanent” solution to protect copyright from use by artificial intelligence (AI), a move that creative industry groups say signals strong political backing for artists and rights holders. Drafted by Parliament’s committee on legal affairs, the report calls for EU copyright law to apply to all AI systems made available to users within the bloc. Among its key proposals is the creation of a European register at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that would list every copyrighted work…
BRUSSELS — The head of the International Energy Agency on Tuesday summoned an extraordinary meeting to decide whether to tap millions of barrels of emergency oil supplies amid soaring energy costs. The meeting, to be held at an undisclosed time on Tuesday, will “assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to make emergency stocks of IEA countries available to the market,” the agency’s chief, Fatih Birol, said in an emailed statement. The IEA’s 31 members — mostly advanced Western economies — have grown increasingly panicked as Iran and a U.S.-Israeli coalition trade airstrikes, imperilling…
Published on 10/03/2026 – 16:15 GMT+1 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he reached agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the need to restore the Druzhba oil pipeline, following a meeting on the sidelines of the World Nuclear Forum. The pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and Hungary, was struck in a Russian drone attack in late January and has yet to be repaired. Bratislava and Budapest maintain that it remains operational, and accuse Kyiv of using the matter for political blackmail. “We discussed the need to resume the transit of Russian…