Author: staff

Travellers flying to France or over French airspace were bracing for severe disruption this week caused by industrial action. SNCTA, the main French air traffic control union, had called a three-day strike from Tuesday 7 October to Thursday 9 October. However, the union has called off the walkouts after consultations with the Civil Aviation Authority. The industrial action was originally planned for September 18 but was postponed following the collapse of the French government on 8 September. French ATC workers cancel October strike SNCTA told news agency AFP that it had called off the strike after having “made progress on…

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MANCHESTER, England — The Brexit agreement should be reexamined to stop EU citizens with settled status in Britain from claiming welfare benefits, a prominent Conservative MP said Monday. Katie Lam argued that EU citizens with the right to remain in the U.K. after Brexit should not have access to welfare payments — something they are currently allowed under the withdrawal agreement struck by the last Tory government. Speaking at the POLITICO Pub during Conservative conference, Lam — seen as a rising star in the opposition outfit and a potential future leadership contender — said: “My view is that all state…

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French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his government resigned Monday, merely 12 hours after the Cabinet was appointed.  Opposition parties and some of Macron’s minority coalition partners reacted with fury, as many of the ministers were either holdovers from the last government or had previously served in high-level posts.   The 39-year-old Lecornu was Macron’s fifth prime minister since his reelection in 2022, and was tapped just a month ago for the top job. He was tasked with passing a slimmed-down budget to rein in France’s budget deficit and assuage financial markets that the eurozone’s second-largest economy had not become ungovernable. …

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Published on 06/10/2025 – 7:47 GMT+2 •Updated 7:49 Syria held its first parliamentary election on Sunday, nearly a year after a surprise rebellion toppled longtime President Bashar al-Assad in December. Security forces were deployed around polling stations nationwide. Electoral college members entered polling booths to fill our their ballots, which were then placed in a sealed box until they were pulled out and counted in front of candidates, journalists and observers from the Syrian bar association. The election however did not feature a direct vote by Syrian citizens. The new People’s Assembly features 210 seats, 40 less than under al-Assad.…

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Hoffnung im Nahen Osten – und Realismus in Berlin: Außenminister Wadephul reist nach Katar, Kuwait und Israel, um Deutschlands Rolle beim Gaza-Friedensplan von Donald Trump zu definieren. Parallel telefoniert Friedrich Merz erstmals seit Wochen wieder mit Benjamin Netanjahu. Gordon Repinski spricht mit Hans von der Burchard über die aktuellen Fortschritte, die Fallstricke und die Rolle Deutschlands auf dem Weg in Richtung Ende des Gaza-Kriegs.  Aber wie groß ist der deutsche Einfluss wirklich? Norbert Röttgen sagt im 200-Sekunden-Interview: „Wir sind in Wahrheit politisch abgemeldet – das ist die Folge jahrelanger Fehlentscheidungen.“ In der Innenpolitik geht es um Wachstum: Katherina Reiche legt…

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Three months after surviving her first-ever motion of censure, Ursula von der Leyen faces not one but two simultaneous attempts to topple her European Commission. The debate in the European Parliament will take place jointly on Monday at 5 pm CEST, while the votes will be held separately on Thursday at noon CEST. Though the motions, filed by the far right and the far left, are doomed to fail, they represent a new challenge to von der Leyen’s stay in power and governance style, which has been under mounting scrutiny since the start of her second mandate. One common thread…

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Published on 06/10/2025 – 5:40 GMT+2 Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of trying to topple his government and vowed a further crackdown on dissent on Sunday, just hours after the ruling party claimed a landslide win in local elections snubbed by its main rivals. Tens of thousands of people protested in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on polling day against the government’s repressive policies, and what they see as Georgia’s steady drift into Russia’s orbit. Protesters were met with fierce opposition as police deployed riot units and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds who attempted…

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Hyundai is probably one of South Korea’s most globally recognisable brands, with only the likes of Samsung and LG also vying for the title.  The Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Kia and Genesis, first arrived in Europe in the late 1970s. However, it was only in 1997 that they opened their first production site outside of South Korea, in Turkey.  “If you look at personal cars we’re at 4% market share in Europe, we’re ranked number 10 on the market,” said Xavier Martinet, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Europe.  “When you look back in time, 10-15 years ago we…

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Published on 06/10/2025 – 7:01 GMT+2 Six hundred and twenty light-years from Earth, a young rogue planet is experiencing an extraordinary growth spurt. Astronomers have spotted a planet named Cha 1107-7626 taking in gas and dust from the disc around it at a rate of six billion tonnes per second, which is a record for a planet of its size. Similar behaviour has been seen in stars, but not in planets. “We were trying to study how fast is the rate of material getting into the object. And what we suddenly found is that there was a very strong growth…

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