Author: staff
From the EU, only Hungary and Bulgaria signed up. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — despite speaking in the same room just minutes before the signing — left before it started. Apart from the EU countries, Ukraine was notably absent from the signing Thursday, as well as Russia and Belarus, which were rumored to be considering joining. The room in Davos was far from full, leaving the U.S. administration making excuses for the small number of countries officially signed up during the event. Trump claimed that most countries want to be a part of the board, saying: “Just about every country…
German police arrested three climate activists on Thursday on suspicion of breaking into an airfield to splash pink paint on the private plane of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Police and a protest group calling itself the Resistance Collective confirmed the early-morning incident at the airfield where Merz, a hobby pilot, parks his plane. “The plan was to paint the aircraft pink to effectively take it out of service,” the protest group said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency. The activists carried a banner that read “Mobility for all, not just the super-rich!” and had also planned to leave…
By Dianne Apen-Sadler Published on 22/01/2026 – 14:17 GMT+1 •Updated 14:18 Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism has emphasised the importance of the travel industry in creating bridges between nations in an exclusive interview with Euronews. Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which is taking place under the theme ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’, His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb said that “tourism is a symbol of connecting nations”. “Tourism is a main driver of dialogue. It creates bridges between nations,” His Excellency said. “Therefore, during Davos, we are meeting with different officials and the private sector to continue…
The Litmus Test: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni All eyes are on Meloni, who has simultaneously carved out a special relationship with Trump while also playing a key role in the development of the EU’s foreign affairs policy as part of an elite group of big economies. When she joins forces with those who want to be more assertive, it’s a significant sign that Trump has probably gone too far. Meloni spoke to the president over the weekend by telephone. “Our goal is not to fight with the Americans,” her foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, told POLITICO after the call, arguing…
By Euronews Published on 22/01/2026 – 14:16 GMT+1 The session featured a conversation with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev and convened senior Azerbaijani government officials together with business leaders, investors and decision-makers. The core of the discussion centered around Azerbaijan’s growing role as a regional hub for connectivity, energy, and economic development. President Aliyev offered insights on strategic investment priorities and the country’s vision for sustainable growth. He also highlighted emerging trends and avenues for collaboration between public and private stakeholders. The session was moderated by Jane Witherspoon, Euronews’ managing editor for the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Caucasus. You can…
A spokesperson for Belgium’s foreign ministry told POLITICO on Thursday that it was “monitoring” the case together with the Belgian embassy in Astana. “We are providing our fellow citizens with the necessary consular support,” the spokesperson said. British actor Sacha Baron Cohen created the character Borat, a fictional Kazakh journalist, in a satirical TV show that lampooned attitudes in the U.K. and the U.S. A 2006 movie adaptation, in which Cohen appeared as Borat in a neon-green mankini, became an international hit. The movie initially angered Kazakh officials, who banned it. Years later, Kazakhstan’s then-foreign minister said he was “grateful”…
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…