Author: staff
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…
Merz urged European nations to move swiftly to boost their defense spending and economic competitiveness in order to be able to exert power amid the “tectonic” shifts in the global order. At the same time, he urged Germans and other Europeans not to give up on the transatlantic alliance and NATO, advocating, in effect, a middle path. “Despite all the frustration and anger of recent months, let us not be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership,” Merz said, switching briefly to German. “We Europeans, we Germans, know how precious the trust on which NATO is based is.” Merz…
US envoy Steve Witkoff says Trump is considering ideas like a “tariff-free zone” for Ukraine that could help industry develop in the war-torn country. “The president has talked about a tariff free zone from Ukraine that I think would be game changing,” Witkoff said at the Ukrainian Breakfast on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. “I think we made a lot of progress. I think in the beginning of this process there was a little bit of confusion. I was going to Moscow quite a bit but I think it was important that we go…