Author: staff

For many people in Germany, the week begins with stocking up on fireworks for New Year’s Eve at their supermarket of choice. In Germany, the sale of fireworks is permitted by law only on the last three working days of the year: this year, 29, 30 and 31 December. By statute, fireworks may only be set off on 31 December and 1 January, and they remain an essential part of New Year’s Eve celebrations in the eyes of Germans. But not everyone sees them as a symbol of cheer: the loud bangs can retraumatise people who have experienced war, military…

With festive decorations and bright adornments, wooden chalets and the smell of mulled wine, Europe’s holiday markets draw millions of visitors each winter. People go to enjoy the atmosphere, meet friends, and spend on food, drinks and gifts. Some visitors are drawn to high-adrenaline attractions such as giant Ferris wheels or the thrilling Starflyer ride. For many cities, Christmas markets are not just about tradition but also about growing visitor spending and tourism, which help boost the local economy. Across 20 European holiday markets, visitor spending has increased by an average of 15% per year since 2022 according to Visa’s…

This year’s extreme weather has hit marginalised groups the hardest, as experts call for an “urgent” transition away from fossil fuels. A new impact report from World Weather Attribution (WWA) analyses 22 climate-fuelled disasters from the last 12 months, warning that heat-trapping emissions are driving global temperatures up and fuelling destructive weather events across every continent. While 2025 will not break the global heat record set by 2024, the report identifies extreme heat as one of the deadliest forms of extreme weather. While floods and storms leave a trail of physical destruction, extreme heat is a “silent killer’ – it…

From Moon missions to an expedition to Mercury, 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year for space. The first part of the year will see four astronauts orbit the Moon for the first time since the Apollo missions of the late 1960s. The goal is to start testing the Orion spacecraft they will be flying in for an eventual human landing on the Moon. All eyes will also be on China as the country brings astronauts to some of the Moon’s darkest corners in the summer, looking for clues that life could one day thrive there. The European…

2025 proved to be a pivotal year for high-stakes elections across the European Union. Romania found itself at the centre of coordinated foreign interference campaigns on social media, while Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk failed to consolidate his party’s position against conservatives in the presidential race. And while the Christian Democrats returned to power in Germany, right-wing billionaire Andrej Babiš was re-elected in the Czech Republic. Now, the EU is entering 2026 with Russia’s war in Ukraine continuing on its eastern flank. With member states divided on how best to support Kyiv and tensions rising between the bloc and the…

Talks between Washington and Kyiv on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine have reached a crucial stage, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss peace terms. Zelenskyy reported that Trump had offered Ukraine 15 years of security guarantees from the U.S. The Ukraine leader has repeatedly accused Moscow of feigning interest in ending the war while continuing to attack its territory. Russia had used the Oreshnik, armed with conventional explosives, to strike an industrial complex in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the time that…

Der Berlin Playbook Podcast verabschiedet das Jahr 2025 mit einer Feedback-Folge. Gordon blickt zurück auf ein intensives politisches Jahr und nach vorn auf das, was 2026 bringt. Grundlage sind eure Hörer-Kommentare und Emails: Lob, Kritik, Anregungen und Fragen zum Podcast, zu Formaten, Interviews und thematischen Schwerpunkten.Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei die Entwicklung des Podcasts, die 200-Sekunden-Interviews, die Machthaber-Serie, Spaziergang-Formate und der Umgang mit politischen Akteuren aus dem gesamten Parteienspektrum. Gordon erklärt, warum er weiter auf Experimente setzt, wie Interviews geführt werden sollen und wo er selbst Grenzen sieht.Dazu gibt es Einblick in redaktionelle Entscheidungen, den Ausbau von POLITICO-Formaten, neue thematische Schwerpunkte…

On Dec. 16 the Commission published its Biotech Act and Safe Hearts Plan, which landed just days after a long-awaited update of the pharmaceutical legislation. Taken together, they seek to incentivize industries to innovate and do business in Europe, improve access to medicines, and tackle the burden of cardiovascular disease. The pharma industry broadly celebrated the biotech proposal. The Biotech Act “reflects priorities we’ve intensively advocated to keep Europe globally competitive in life sciences,” Ognjenka Manojlovic, head of policy at European pharmaceutical company Sanofi, told POLITICO. That includes accelerating clinical trials, boosting intellectual property, and strengthening financing for Europe’s biotech…

Hanh said she is seeing more anti-immigration messages on social media, such as “why are you in my country, get out,” she said. “Then that’s being dragged into school by students who are seeing this … it’s coming into school environment, which is not good for learning.” News snooze Look away now, journalists: The group largely agreed that the news is boring. Some listen in when their parents have the television or radio on, but all said they get most of their news from social media or the odd push alert. Asked why they think the news is so dull,…

Published on 30/12/2025 – 22:07 GMT+1 Citi has secured the internal approvals needed to proceed with the sale of its remaining business in Russia, as Western companies continue to face legal and financial hurdles in exiting the market. In a statement earlier this week, the US bank said it had obtained the necessary internal clearances to sell AO Citibank, which conducts Citi’s remaining Russian operations, to Renaissance Capital. “Citi confirmed today that it has obtained the internal approvals required to proceed with the planned sale of AO Citibank, which conducts Citi’s remaining operations in Russia, to Renaissance Capital (RenCap),” the…