Author: staff

Trump has repeatedly said he plans to end Russia’s war against Ukraine soon, and claims to have made progress toward that end already in conversations with President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader, Trump says, “wants people to stop dying in the war” — the U.S. president’s team concedes, however, that both sides will have to give something up to end the conflict. Russia, meanwhile, has launched several massive drone attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure recently, continues to advance in the Donetsk region in the east of the country, and does not seem to be open to deals. “In the Kursk region,…

The shooting, which left one person dead, has terrified residents in the Brussels area of Anderlecht, who have become all too familiar with the city’s notorious rival drug gang violence. As police continue a manhunt for suspects in four shootings that took place last week in the Belgian capital of Brussels, attention is once again being drawn to drug gang violence in one of the city’s most affected neighbourhoods – Anderlecht.The incidents, which left one person dead, have terrified some of the local residents, who have become all too familiar with the city’s notorious rival drug gang violence. Local media…

“I assure you that I have never been informed of any incidents of violence, let alone sexual violence,” Bayrou said. “A libel suit will obviously be filed.” Representatives for the French prime minister and Mediapart did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. Bayrou, a former education minister, had previously said he had heard “rumors” of “slaps” but not sexual abuse at the school, French daily Le Parisien reported last year. In 1998, the school’s former director, a priest, was put under formal investigation in a probe into the alleged rape of a student. A second complaint was later…

After a meeting in the margins of an AI Summit in France, Von der Leyen welcomed Vance to Europe via a post on Elon Musk’s X platform. “From security and stability to the great promise of technology and the critical challenge of non-market overcapacity,” she said.  Non-market overcapacity is trade lingo for China and a host of other countries making more steel than the EU requires, often aided by state aid that Europe, the U.S. and Japan cannot offer.  Vance told reporters that the “Trump administration has been very clear that we care a lot about Europe,” according to Reuters.…

“The EU cannot fill this gap left by others,” the European Commission told Euronews as disability NGOs seek emergency aid from Brussels after US President Donald Trump blocked international development projects. Funding of international humanitarian aid, including to Ukrainians harmed by the Russian war of aggression, has been severely hit by the dismantling of USAID under the Trump White House, but the European Union cannot fill the gap, the European Commission has acknowledged.  NGOs supporting people with disabilities in the Balkans and Eastern Europe have seen their work disrupted due to the US decision to halt foreign aid funding. In response,…

TUI Group had a strong performance in the last three months of 2024, boosted by increasing demand for short and medium-haul destinations. German travel and tourism giant TUI Group announced its first quarter financial year 2025 earnings on Tuesday, for the October to December 2024 quarter. It noted that 3.7 million clients travelled with the company during this period, which was a rise of 6% on an annual basis. TUI experienced an 18% surge in dynamically packaged holidays compared to the same period the previous year, coming up to 0.7 million holidaymakers. These packages are tailor-made holidays, with clients being able to…

Two NGOs allege that bottom trawling is at odds with biodiversity conservation and France’s legal commitments to protecting marine ecosystems. The French government is being taken to court to end destructive fishing practices in marine protected areas. The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Défense des Milieux Aquatiques (DMA) have launched legal action against France for not banning bottom trawling in Natura 2000 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The NGOs are taking the case to the country’s highest court – the Conseil d’Etat – over what they say is the government’s failure to comply with its obligation to protect the marine environment…

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron tried to brush off any indication that there were hard feelings over billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s decision not to attend the French president’s showpiece artificial intelligence summit in Paris. “It’s normal, he now has federal responsibilities and he’s working on his task of simplifying the American administration,” Macron told reporters after a meeting at a start-up incubator in the French capital on Tuesday. Musk is leading U.S. President Donald Trump’s government-downsizing team known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The Tesla, SpaceX and X boss had been invited to the AI…

An European arrest warrant for a 44-year-old Austrian woman identified as Mariana M was issued by Austrian police on Monday. Austrian police have issued a continent-wide arrest warrant for a woman they say pretended to be a shaman to defraud people in multiple European countries of their money and possessions. Police say they discovered cash, jewellery and gold worth over €10 million at the women’s house in the Lower Austrian town of Mödling.They named the suspect as 44-year-old Austrian citizen of Serbian origin, Mariana M, who went by her shaman name Amela.Police believe Mariana M may have defrauded people in…

In a letter to US bishops, the Catholic leader warned that the plan will harm the already vulnerable. Pope Francis has rebuked the Trump administration over its planned mass deportation of migrants, warning that such a policy “will end badly”.In a letter to US bishops, the Catholic leader said that nations have the right to protect themselves, but stressed that forcibly removing immigrants “damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defencelessness”. It is not the first time that the pope, who has long urged countries…