Author: staff

Several projections, including by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, suggest that not only could this coming El Niño reach 2C, but it may far exceed that threshold.  The most recent El Niño, in 2023, ranked among the five strongest on record and helped turn 2024 into the world’s hottest year. WMO experts already warned last week that the next such event may see 2027 break global temperature records once again.  However, the WMO stressed on Tuesday that the strength and peak of this El Niño are as yet uncertain.  “We will speak about moderate or strong when we…

As the shortage of labour in the agricultural sector becomes increasingly evident across all Western European countries – and particularly in Greece – an interstate agreement that had remained inactive for several years is now moving into the implementation phase. The deal between Greece and Egypt provides for the legal employment of up to 5,000 Egyptian seasonal farm workers in crops and agricultural work in various Greek regions. According to Christos Giannakakis, a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, the process is already underway. As he told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, around 150…

Published on 02/06/2026 – 12:58 GMT+2 A bear injured four people in a residential area of Japan on Tuesday in the latest case of an attack by the animals in an area of the country where bears have increasingly encroached on the human population in recent years. Police and fire department officials rushed to the scene in the Sasakino district of Fukushima in northeastern Japan after receiving an emergency call from the Fukushima Steel Works reporting bear attacks on two employees. Security camera footage shows a black bear appearing and chasing an employee near the entrance. As the man in…

The labour market improved again in May, a month traditionally marked by the start of hiring linked to the summer season. The number of people registered with employment offices fell by 36,323 compared with April, to 2.32 million, the lowest figure for a month of May since 2007, according to data published on Tuesday by the Ministries of Labour and of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Compared with the same month last year, unemployment fell by 134,162 people. The decline spread across all productive sectors, although the group of people with no previous employment recorded a slight increase. Social Security…

Published on 02/06/2026 – 11:43 GMT+2 It’s been stolen. Again. The Pompidou-Metz museum in eastern France, a branch of the famous Pompidou Centre in Paris, reported the theft of Maurizio Cattelan’s provocative artwork “Comedian” – which many know as the banana that’s been taped to a wall. Valued at €5.8 million, the conceptual artwork by celebrated Italian artist went missing this weekend, with a security guard noticing the theft on Sunday. Now, the Pompidou-Metz museum has not only replaced the banana (something which occurs every three days to keep the fruit fresh) but also lodged a criminal complaint for theft…

“There are many who, ahead of the elections, are expecting support from the Russian Federation and are trying in any way to say the worst things about us,” Vučić said. “There is no talk of that, nor will such a decision be made. Even if they were to make it, it would be immediately revoked.” Belgrade’s close relations with Moscow are increasingly complicating its ambitions to join the EU. Serbia became an official EU candidate in 2012 and opened accession talks in 2014, but its membership bid has since stalled. In April, Brussels said Serbia risked losing up to €1.5…

Published on 02/06/2026 – 13:33 GMT+2 The “era of deportations” has begun in the European Union, according to Charlie Weimers, a Swedish conservative MEP and one of the negotiators of the bloc’s strictest-ever migration law, which was agreed on Monday and marked the most significant shift in the EU’s migration policy in decades. Speaking to Euronews’s Europe Today show, Weimers — who is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group — said the new rules will lead to a significant change in migration management. “We’re moving from words to actual enforcement of our laws and our borders,” he…

A 21-metre statue of Lionel Messi has been removed in Kolkata after engineers warned that the structure was unsafe. The sculpture, which showed the Argentina captain lifting the World Cup trophy, was unveiled in December during the football star’s GOAT Tour of India and quickly became a popular local landmark. Officials said the statue was swaying in strong winds, raising concerns about its structural integrity. The decision to take it down came less than a year after it was installed. What began as a tribute to Messi’s visit has now become a public safety issue.

Published on 02/06/2026 – 12:19 GMT+2 Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has unveiled plans to secure up to $80 billion (€68.7bn) in fresh capital to support its growing AI ambitions, underlining the enormous financial commitments now required in the new technological race. The company stated on Monday that the proceeds will help expand its AI infrastructure and global computing network, as demand from businesses and consumers increasingly exceeds existing capacity. A key element of the capital raise is a $10 billion (€8.6bn) private placement from Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate associated with veteran investor Warren Buffett. The agreement includes purchases of both…

Published on 02/06/2026 – 12:43 GMT+2 Algorithms and computer programmes are now considered trade secrets by the Chinese government. The new regulations, called “Trade Secret Protection,” went into effect on Monday. The rules say that any “information related to technology, such as structure, raw materials, formula, materials, samples, patterns, processes, methods, data, algorithms, computer programmes and codes,” is considered a trade secret. Technical or business information that “is not publicly known, has commercial value,” and is confidential also falls under the regulation. Anything that has already been described in the media or in open reports is not considered a trade…