Author: staff
Ireland officially nominated former EU agriculture and trade commissioner Phil Hogan to the top job at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the government said today.Hogan’s name emerged last week as a potential contender for the role of FAO director, with Ireland’s Department of Agriculture signaling him as their preferred candidate.The Irish politician played a significant role pushing forward the Mercosur agreement during his time as the EU’s farm chief under under Jean-Claude Juncker, before briefly serving as trade commissioner in Ursula von der Leyen’s first Commission. He resigned in 2020, after he attended a dinner that breached Ireland’s coronavirus restrictions…
Published on 03/03/2026 – 16:41 GMT+1•Updated 16:53 Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday that France would start facilitating the evacuation of its nationals from the Middle East as the Iran war continues for a fourth day. “We are preparing to charter flights so that the most vulnerable people…can benefit,” Barrot told reporters. He said around 400,000 French nationals were in many of the countries across the Gulf region currently being targeted by Iranian drones and missiles as they attempt to strike US military assets. “Most countries have closed their airspace, so it’s hard to leave these countries. But if…
Presenting the latest economic forecasts compiled by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, insisted the plan she has pursued since Labour returned to power in the 2024 general election is beginning to deliver results. This despite the OBR, the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, downgrading its growth forecast for 2026 to 1.1%, down from the 1.4% expansion projected in the Autumn Budget just three months ago. The UK GDP is also projected to be stronger than previously anticipated in 2027 and 2028, at 1.6%. Inflation and government borrowing are also forecast to fall more…
Published on 03/03/2026 – 16:11 GMT+1 Europe is building a federated cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure that its architects say could fundamentally change the continent’s relationship with big US and Chinese technology providers. Telecom giant Telefónica announced the project, called EURO-3C, which is backed by the European Commission, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It brings together more than 70 organisations — spanning telecommunications operators, technology companies, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. “We will provide the first federated secure and sovereign model where cloud, AI and edge are going to be able [to work together] so we…
The statement comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece agreed to engage with France on the country’s nuclear deterrent. Macron said France will set up “exchange bodies at the political level” in the coming days with the seven nations. Cooperation will include allowing European allies into French “strategic locations,” joint exercises and, ultimately, potentially deploying French nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets in other countries on a temporary basis. Eide said nuclear talks would be part of negotiations on a strategic defense agreement with France. He said Norway — one of…
Published on 03/03/2026 – 14:40 GMT+1 Tehran warned European countries on Tuesday against joining the Iran war, after multiple countries said they could take “defensive action” in the face of Iran’s missile-launching capabilities. In a statement, Tehran warned that such a move would be viewed as a direct provocation and would expand the country’s retaliatory strikes to target European cities and countries. “It would be an act of war. Any such act against Iran would be regarded as complicity with the aggressors. It would be regarded as an act of war against Iran,” said Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson.…
In a bid to strengthen connectivity and close coverage gaps across Europe, German telecom company Deutsche Telekom is partnering with the US satellite company Starlink. The announcement arrived during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where non-terrestrial networks (NTN) are a major talking point among cellular networks hoping to expand their services in both scope and efficiency. Telekom is currently the largest telecommunications provider in Europe, but many areas still remain underserved due to topographical and conservation restraints. The company sees partnering with Starlink as a way to connect Europeans better – and to achieve their goals of becoming an…
The Bank of Russia is suing the European Union for keeping its state assets frozen “for an indefinite period” to serve as collateral against a €90 billion loan to Ukraine. The lawsuit will test rare emergency powers that the European Commission used last year to keep Russian state assets across the bloc, worth some €210 billion, on ice through a qualified majority. The legal loophole nullified vetoes that Kremlin-friendly countries in the EU, such as Hungary, would otherwise have had. EU leaders agreed in mid-December to raise common debt without Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia to finance Kyiv’s defense against Russian…
Pro-government Iranians living in Moscow and their supporters gathered outside the Iranian embassy on Monday to lay flowers in remembrance of the late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Images showed portraits, flowers and flags placed near the embassy entrance, with police present at the scene. Several mourners expressed condolences and described his death as a major loss. The gathering took place amid escalating tensions following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The warship could take several days to reach the region. France has already resolved to send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus, while Greece has ordered frigates and fighter jets to the island following drone incursions on Monday. A Shahed-type drone hit Britain’s RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus in the early hours of Monday, while more strikes targeting the base were intercepted later in the day. Akrotiri and the nearby villages have been evacuated. The Cypriot government has criticized the U.K.’s handling of the Iran conflict, suggesting that a lack of clarity regarding the use of British bases on…