Author: staff
French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested extending France’s so-called nuclear umbrella over its European allies, amid fears an aggressive Russia could one day turn its sights from Ukraine, which it invaded in 2014 and again in 2022, to the European Union’s eastern flank. With around 300 nuclear warheads, France is the only EU member country to possess such weapons, and one of three NATO members along with the U.S. and the U.K. Poland and Denmark have previously expressed openness to the idea of sheltering under France’s nuclear protection. In March, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk — who comes from a…
Bordeaux might soon have competition for the mantle of the world’s most famous wine region.As climate change affects rainfall and temperatures continue to rise, experts predict that regions as far north as Yorkshire in the UK could become premier wine producers by the end of the century.According to a recent Fine Wines and Restaurants Market Monitor report, Hull could be known for its cabernet sauvignon as soon as 2100, as climate change batters Bordeaux and transforms northern England into a hotspot for production.‘Regions that couldn’t grow certain grapes can do that now’Over the past decade, renowned vintages have emerged from…
After his inauguration in January, Trump passed an executive order slashing the funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has resulted in major setbacks for many HIV/AIDS programs that rely on USAID funding.The World Health Organization (WHO) said: “A funding halt for HIV programmes can put people living with HIV at immediate increased risk of illness and death and undermine efforts to prevent transmission in communities and countries,” warning that Trump’s prolonged pause on foreign assistance could take “the world back to the 1980s and 1990s when millions died of HIV every year globally”.Now, Elton John…
The secretary of state added that while the United States is “prepared to do whatever we can to facilitate that and make sure … that [the war] ends in a durable and just way,” if that is “not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is probably at a point where he’s going to say, well, we are done.” Rubio had traveled to the French capital alongside special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg for ceasefire talks on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and high-level delegations from Germany,…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US may be ready to “move on” from efforts for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days.Speaking in Paris after a marathon day of landmark talks among US, Ukrainian and European officials, Rubio said the discussions had been constructive and produced an outline for steps toward peace.French officials said a new meeting in the same format is expected in London in the coming days.Rubio said he could join that meeting.”We are not reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible…
It was a week when penguins, bonds, the new German coalition, Louisiana soybeans, fossil fuels, the EU’s Digital Markets Act, France’s creaking politics and American bourbon all became one news story. POLITICO explains what got us all yippy. Apr 11 11 mins read
Following the news that US President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs on most of the world, markets went into freefall.On so-called ‘liberation day,’ on April 2, Trump announced sweeping taxes on imports that triggered market crashes in the US and Asia. After the US president suspended the tariffs for 90 days, prices bounced back slightly and have been extremely volatile since.Trillions were wiped off the stock market after tariff announcements. The biggest losers were undoubtedly billionaires, who saw billions wiped off their market value, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.But…
Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, called on Thursday for a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States and said that unresolved trade tensions could seriously hurt European industries.His remarks, in the wake of the tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, appeared to echo a similar call by Elon Musk on 5 April for a zero-tariff zone between the US and EU. The EU has long pushed for a “zero-for-zero” trade agreement — with both sides dropping tariffs — but Trump has rejected the offer.Speaking at LVMH’s annual shareholder meeting, Arnault said…
Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said over the weekend that the country would “resist” von der Leyen’s proposals. Putting a new tax on top of strict EU regulation on Big Tech would be “putting petrol on [the] fire,” he said. Ireland is among the European countries most exposed to a trade war with the U.S. because it hosts subsidiaries of U.S. digital giants and also exported over €44 billion worth of pharma products to America in 2024. “Ireland has an extremely concentrated corporate tax base, which is heavily reliant on U.S. multinationals in particular,” said Aidan Regan, a professor of political economy at…
The trouble is, the finance industry makes money from the practice. Governments, heavily lobbied by asset managers, insurers, and others who benefit from the kickbacks, pressured the Commission into removing the ban before the text was even officially proposed back in 2023. A final agreement on the proposal still hasn’t happened. Another proposal, for an EU ticker tape which would publish data on the prices and volume of traded securities in the EU, improving overall price transparency and competition, was hollowed out after — again — pressure from governments lobbied by their stock exchanges, whose business model of distributing that…