Author: staff
LONDON — The British government dismissed on Wednesday Vladimir Putin’s claim that Europe wanted a war with Russia as “Kremlin claptrap.” The Russian president accused Europe on Tuesday of being “on the side of war” and made clear Moscow was “ready right now” to fight a war just hours before peace talks with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. But Keir Starmer’s spokesperson dismissed Putin’s comments as “yet more rhetoric” that was “as dangerous as it is wrong.” They said “European nations are united in supporting Ukraine’s right to self-defense under international law” and “NATO’s…
Published on 03/12/2025 – 11:54 GMT+1 The European Commission just announced a list of 235 energy projects eligible for fast-track funding. It includes 100 hydrogen projects, with a total investment of over €80 billion. That is a big budget for the energy transition. But there is a catch. Critics warn that 90% of these hydrogen projects were submitted by gas operators. They worry the EU might be financing hydrogen-ready pipes that will actually carry dirty fossil gas for years, because the green supply is simply not there yet. That could be seen purely as greenwashing. Ideally, we want green hydrogen…
The world’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) companies are failing to meet their own safety commitments, according to a new assessment that warns these failures come with “catastrophic” risks. The report comes as AI companies face lawsuits and allegations that their chatbots cause psychological harm, including by acting as a “suicide coach,” as well as reports of AI-assisted cyberattacks. The 2025 Winter AI Safety Index report, released by the non-profit organisation the Future of Life Institute (FLI), evaluated eight major AI firms, including US companies Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, xAI, and Meta, and the Chinese firms DeepSeek, Alibaba Cloud, and Z.ai.…
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview published Wednesday that conditions for a just peace in Ukraine are unlikely to be met.“The reality is that peace can be good, bad, or some kind of compromise. The reality is also that we Finns must prepare for the moment when peace comes, and that all the conditions for a just peace we’ve talked so much about over the past four years are unlikely to be fulfilled,” Stubb said in an interview with MTV Uutiset.He added that “we are closer to peace today than yesterday” and that the coming days and weeks…
Updated: 03/12/2025 – 12:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this December 3rd, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
Devastation swept across parts of Asia this week following record-breaking rainfall and storm surges. Emergency crews are still racing to reach survivors after days of flash floods and landslides, which left thousands of citizens stranded and more than 1,300 dead. People have been found clinging to rooftops or trees to stay alive, with roads rapidly transforming into fast-flowing rivers of mud and thousands of homes being destroyed. Indonesia, the hardest-hit nation, has recorded 753 deaths as of Tuesday 2 December. This is followed by Sri Lanka and Thailand, which suffered 410 and 181 fatalities, respectively. Three people have also been…
By Sarah Miansoni with AP Published on 03/12/2025 – 12:12 GMT+1 With December now underway, nativity scenes are returning to Christmas markets around Europe. In Brussels, the installation of a new nativity design on the city’s Grand-Place has turned into a scandal with the theft of the infant Jesus icon. The figure was snatched from his crib between late Friday night and early Saturday morning after days of a maelstrom on social media over the faceless depictions of the scene’s holy characters. It all started with a desire for change after 25 years of the same nativity design in the old historic centre…
China currently controls 90 percent of rare earth refining, according to a government critical minerals strategy published last week. McDonald said China’s dominance of mineral processing risks driving up prices for the net zero transition. The U.K. has made a legally-binding pledge to reduce planet-damaging emissions to net zero by 2050. McDonald fears China has become a “monopoly provider” of critical minerals and that its dominant role in processing allowed China to control the costs for buyers. “We want to capture this supply chain in the U.K. as part of our industrial strategy. To do that … means, ultimately, we’re…
Published on 03/12/2025 – 12:30 GMT+1 A court employee fled to the United Kingdom with approximately 25 kilograms of gold and 50 kilograms of silver stolen from an Istanbul courthouse evidence safe, Turkish authorities announced on Wednesday. Erdal T, who worked at the Büyükçekmece Courthouse’s evidence office, disappeared after failing to return from leave. Prosecutors discovered the theft on 1 December when the safe was opened and found empty. Investigations revealed Erdal T fled Turkey on 19 November with his wife Esma T and children, boarding a flight from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to London at 8:22 am local time. Before…
FRANKFURT (MAIN) – Für die Beteiligungen des Bundes an den Energieunternehmen Uniper und Sefe gibt es konkretes Interesse von Investoren. „Ich nehme mit Interesse zur Kenntnis, dass beide Unternehmen als interessant, als attraktiv eingeschätzt werden“, sagte Wirtschaftsministerin Katherina Reiche am Mittwoch bei einer Investorenkonferenz zu Energie und Infrastruktur in Frankfurt. Details wollte sie nicht nennen: „Ob und mit welchen Investoren wir dazu sprechen, das kann ich zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt nicht sagen“, so die Ministerin. „Aber dass große Player, gut aufgestellte Player in der Energiewelt“ interessiert sind“, sei „nach den Krisen ja auch ein gutes Zeichen“. Sefe ist die frühere Gazprom…