Author: staff

His iconic designs, including the Experiment chair, grace homes, offices, and museums like New York’s MoMA and London’s V&A. Yrjö Kukkapuro, a renowned Finnish interior architect and furniture designer whose postmodern style of chairs graced waiting rooms, offices and living rooms across Finland as well as collections across the globe, has died, aged 91. His daughter, Isa Kukkapuro-Enbom, confirmed his passing on Saturday at his home near Helsinki. The cause was not disclosed.“Almost every Finn has sat on a chair he designed — at a metro station, in a bank, at school, or in a library,” Studio Kukkapuro said in…

She told Sky News: “We have a very balanced trading relationship with the U.S., I think £300bn worth of trade between our countries, and I think it’s in the best interests of both of us, as long-standing allies and neighbors, that we carry on with that balanced trade. “We will have to wait and see whether the president gets more specific about what he meant by that comment on the way to the Super Bowl.” Retaliation risk About one-tenth of the U.K.’s total steel exports were sent to America in 2024. But for a struggling U.K. steel industry facing long-term decline, these…

This week’s key events presented by Euronews’ senior energy and environment reporter Robert Hodgson . Key diary datesMonday 10 February – Tuesday 11 February: AI Intelligence action summit, Paris. Tuesday 11 February: EU Parliament plenary to debate ‘preparedness for a new trade era’. Wednesday 12 February: EU Parliament plenary to debate Competitiveness Compass.In spotlightDeregulation, lightening the burden on European companies or, as the European Commission prefers to call it, ‘simplification’.This week will see a divided European Parliament discuss the second von der Leyen commission’s controversial pro-business agenda, with left-wing and environmentalist groups highly suspicious of what they perceive as an opportunistic move by…

Updated: 10/02/2025 – 12:02 GMT+1The Baltic States are celebrating their accession to the European energy network, marking the end of electricity transmission with Russia. … More On Sunday, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia celebrated their accession to the European energy system with a symbolic ceremony, after cutting the transmission lines of the Soviet-era power grid, thus interrupting the flow of electricity between the Baltic countries and Russia.The decision is both geopolitical and symbolic for Europe. The Baltic states are now dependent on connections with Finland, Sweden and Poland.

The CDU leader said that Germany may need to loosen its debt limit to finance defence spending, although other solutions should be prioritised. Friedrich Merz, the leading contender in Germany’s upcoming federal election, has said he is open to reforming the country’s debt rules.In a televised debate on Sunday, organised by ARD and ZDF, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) said such a measure may be necessary to finance greater defence spending.Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leading the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), argued that it was “ridiculous” to suggest a bigger defence budget could be financed through spending cuts and…

Trump, flying to the Superbowl on Sunday, told reporters he would announce the tariffs on Monday and further “reciprocal” tariffs on Tuesday. Imposing the tariffs is likely to trigger a forceful reaction from Brussels. Steel and aluminum are are at the center of an unresolved dispute between Washington and Brussels dating back to 2018, when Trump imposed tariffs that were later suspended. The EU’s retaliatory tariffs on bourbon whiskey, motorbikes or cranberry juice were paused during the Joe Biden administration. The truce is expected to lapse on the European side at the end of March.  The European Commission said there…

The European executive has announced that it would retaliate against US tariffs on aluminium and steel if they are confirmed, considering them unlawful and counterproductive. The EU will react to protect its interests against “unlawful and economically counterproductive” tariffs on aluminium and steel if these confirmed, the Commission said in a statement today.“The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures,” the statement read.“The imposition of tariffs would be unlawful and economically counterproductive, especially given the deeply integrated production chains…

Trump’s comments on 25% tariffs are the latest example of his willingness to threaten, and in some cases to impose, import taxes. Tariffs are coming much earlier in his presidency than during his previous four years in the White House, when he prioritised tax cuts and deregulation. President Donald Trump said he will announce on Monday that the United States will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, including from Canada and Mexico, as well as other import duties later in the week.”Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff”, he told…

Syphilis cases also continued to rise: There were 40,000 confirmed cases in Europe in 2023, a 13 percent increase compared to 2022, and a 100 percent increase compared to 2014. While chlamydia remains the most frequently reported bacterial STI in Europe, the ECDC noted that there was a “slowdown” of chlamydia cases in 2023. That year there were more than 230,000 cases reported across Europe, an increase of only 3 percent from 2022 and of 13 percent from 2014. The new data confirms the increasing trend already seen in 2022, when with gonorrhea and syphilis cases had gone up by 48 percent and…

President Emmanuel Macron said that he wants to review the amount of time French pupils get off for the summer, claiming that France has longer holidays than other countries. How does it compare to the rest of Europe? French President Emmanuel Macron caused a stir last week by saying he wanted to reopen the debate on the length of school holidays.The president suggested that by rethinking holidays, particularly summer holidays, the pressure could be taken off schools to help students learn better.”France has longer holidays than many countries”, Macron said in response to a question by a child during a…