Author: staff
Europe regularly positions itself as a prime place to invest: direct investment stocks held by foreign investors amount to nearly 10 trillion in the EU alone, the world’s largest single market by number of consumers. With that in mind, outside companies are always on the lookout for where best to grow their business, but the old continent’s political, legislative and administrative fragmentation makes it harder to work out exactly which country might be best. A new study may be able to help point them in the right direction, however, as it ranks the best and worst places for companies looking…
Published on 22/01/2026 – 11:33 GMT+1 The restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant was suspended in Japan on Thursday just hours after the process began, its operator said, but the reactor remains “stable.” Operations to relaunch a reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata province, closed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, began late on Wednesday after it received the final green light from the nuclear regulator despite divided public opinion. But its operator the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said that “an alarm from the monitoring system…sounded during the reactor startup procedures,” causing them to suspend operations. “We…
Iran is often described as a sleeping economic giant. The country of over 85 million people holds vast oil and gas reserves, as well as occupying a strategic location linking the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. Even so, the nation trades far below its potential because of decades of sanctions. The scale and persistence of the recent protest movement has revived hopes of a future inflection point — one that could force a political break and, eventually, a reopening to trade. If that happened, the consequences would extend far beyond Iran’s borders. After decades of isolation, the country could…
By Euronews Published on 22/01/2026 – 12:38 GMT+1 Held at the Euronews Hub at the Hotel Davoserhof on January 20, the invitation-only event looked at the ways in which tourism can contribute to economic growth, job creation and international cooperation at a time of global uncertainty. Opening the programme, Gombojav Zandanshatar, prime minister of Mongolia, set out Mongolia’s view of tourism as a central element of its development strategy. Speaking about the country’s efforts to diversify its economy, he said, “Tourism is viewed as the second sector of Mongolia. This is the strategic pillar of our economic diplomacy and long-term drive…
Merz urged European nations to move swiftly to boost their defense spending and economic competitiveness in order to be able to exert power amid the “tectonic” shifts in the global order. At the same time, he urged Germans and other Europeans not to give up on the transatlantic alliance and NATO, advocating, in effect, a middle path. “Despite all the frustration and anger of recent months, let us not be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership,” Merz said, switching briefly to German. “We Europeans, we Germans, know how precious the trust on which NATO is based is.” Merz…
US envoy Steve Witkoff says Trump is considering ideas like a “tariff-free zone” for Ukraine that could help industry develop in the war-torn country. “The president has talked about a tariff free zone from Ukraine that I think would be game changing,” Witkoff said at the Ukrainian Breakfast on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. “I think we made a lot of progress. I think in the beginning of this process there was a little bit of confusion. I was going to Moscow quite a bit but I think it was important that we go…
By Seth Borenstein with AP Published on 22/01/2026 – 12:03 GMT+1 Warm Arctic waters and cold continental land are combining to stretch the dreaded polar vortex in a way that will send much of the United States a devastating dose of winter weather later this week. The country is expecting swaths of painful subzero temperatures, heavy snow and powerline-toppling ice. Meteorologists said the eastern two-thirds of the nation is threatened with a winter storm that could rival the damage of a major hurricane and has some origins in an Arctic that is warming from climate change. They warn that the frigid weather is…
Published on 22/01/2026 – 11:34 GMT+1 People in Denmark are turning to mobile apps to help them boycott American products in a push back against US President Donald Trump’s recent comments about acquiring Greenland, a Danish territory. Danish shoppers have been using two apps in particular to help identify American-made goods and suggest local alternatives—sending these apps soaring to the top of Denmark’s app charts. One of the apps, called UdenUSA or NonUSA in English, is climbing the charts and is currently the most downloaded app in the country, just above ChatGPT, on the App Store. The app allows users…
Published on 22/01/2026 – 10:46 GMT+1 Another day, another page in the history books for Taylor Swift. The high priestess of pop has been become the youngest female artist to be inducted into the America’s Songwriters Hall of Fame. The 36-year-old has undeniably shaped pop music trends over her relatively short but sensational career and will be formally invited to join the prestigious club at a New York ceremony in June. Before Swift’s induction, the record holder was Carole Bayer Sager, who was 43 when she became a member in 1987. This year inductees will also include Kiss founders Gene…
“We do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she added. The foreign secretary stressed Britain will still provide practical support for the Palestinian committee which is due to run Gaza and ensure humanitarian aid reaches citizens and Hamas’ weapons are decommissioned. She stressed “the other crucial issue that has a direct impact on U.K. security is getting a peace agreement for Ukraine. “And so far we have seen no sign that…