Author: staff

Häkkänen’s comments echo those of German Defense Boris Pistorius, who last month asked his U.S. counterpart Pete Hegseth to “develop a roadmap to avoid gaps in capabilities, organize burden sharing progressively, to know who does what” in case the U.S shifts forces from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. Pistorius said he got no answer from either the White House or the Pentagon. European countries are scrambling to recalibrate the continent’s defenses as the administration of Donald Trump wages economic war against the EU, warms ties with Russia, warns it may not defend NATO allies it feels underspend on defense, and threatens…

Did you know that the EU was the world’s biggest importer of textiles and apparel in 2023, importing about €176.9 billion worth of apparel, according to the World Trade Organisation?  France, Germany, Italy and Spain were some of the largest importers within the bloc. Much of this is because of the surge in fast fashion seen in recent years, boosted by companies such as Temu and Shein, who offer products at extremely low prices. According to Cascale, a global non-profit alliance bringing together brands, manufacturers and retailers, European consumers each buy about 42 pieces of apparel yearly and send approximately 12kg of…

– Schwarz-rote Koalitionsverhandlungen:Warum Merz und Linnemans Problem nicht die SPD und Klingbeil sind, sondern die CSU und Söder.  – Im 200-Sekunden-Interview:Die stellvertretende CDU-Vorsitzende Silvia Breher über innerparteilichen Ärger über die Ergebnisse der bisherigen Gespräche zwischen CDU und SPD zur Koalition und wie viel Wirtschaftswende in Projekten wie Mütterrente oder Agrardiesel-Subvention wirklich steckt.  – Reaktion auf Trumps Zölle:Hans von der Burchard über das heutige Treffen der EU-Handelsminister in Luxemburg zwischen Entschlossenheit zu antworten und Sorge vor weiterer Eskalation.  – Überraschende Wortmeldung:Wie Elon Musks Hoffnung auf eine “Free Trade Zone” zwischen der EU und den USA ganz ohne Zölle womöglich einen endgültigen…

 Empowering our workforce These are powerful examples of how AI technology complements the work and day-to-day lives of our talented teams. Our guiding principle is that AI must work hand-in-hand with human ingenuity, enhancing productivity and freeing our employees to have more time to think critically and creatively. Starting my career in academia impressed upon me the importance of remaining curious. To me, curiosity is the birthplace of creativity, which is why it’s essential to me that our people remain curious and that we provide them with opportunities to develop their skills and careers. For these reasons, we make it a…

Working with Starlink “is a dependence that can be decided in the White House or [Trump’s private residence] Mar-a-Lago,” Eutelsat Chief Executive Officer Eva Berneke told POLITICO. “It’s good to have multiple options.” But today’s Starlink alternatives aren’t ready to take on Musk — including Eutelsat, by Berneke’s own admission. “If we were to take over the entire connectivity capacity for Ukraine and all the citizens, we wouldn’t be able to do that. Let’s just be very honest,” Berneke said. “But I do think we can provide capacity for some of the critical use cases of government.” Few firms have…

The new PM, an endocrinologist with no political experience, will likely be in place until at least 2027, when Serbia holds simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections. Lawmakers have until April 18 to approve him, or risk setting the stage for an early election. Vučić added he expects to meet United States President Donald Trump in the coming months and will raise the issue of tariffs. On April 2, as part of a wave of U.S. levies on countries around the world, Trump announced a 38 percent tariff on Serbia, which is set to take effect this week. That figure was…

During an aggressive speech to the crowd on Sunday, Le Pen again claimed that the verdict was politically motivated and that her fight was for “truth and justice.” Le Pen called the European Union’s anti-fraud unit, OLAF, a “totalitarian organism” and pinned the investigations into her party on the Parliament’s former social democratic president, Martin Schulz. “The system’s only purpose is to stay in place, no matter the cost,” Le Pen said. Boasting support from other far-right politicians in Europe, Le Pen said that “in all European countries, national leaders are prosecuted,” pointing to her Italian ally Matteo Salvini. She…

A French government spokesperson already said last week that the EU’s retaliation against U.S. tariffs could include “digital services that are currently not taxed.” That suggestion was fiercely rejected by Ireland, which hosts the European headquarters of several U.S. Big Tech firms. Technology is seen as a possible area for Europe to retaliate. The European Union has a €157 billion trade surplus in goods, which means it exports more than it imports, but it runs a deficit of €109 billion in services, including digital services. Big Tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta dominate many parts of the…

Trump on Friday criticized the court decision that prevents Le Pen from running for French president. “They get her on a minor charge that she probably knew nothing about — sounds like a ‘bookkeeping’ error to me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Le Pen’s four-year prison sentence for embezzling EU funds — two years of which are suspended — would be served under house arrest. The court ruling is under appeal. Le Pen’s National Rally party has planned a demonstration in Paris on Sunday in support of her. Bayrou also shed some light on the impact of the…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government is ready to use industrial policy to mitigate the impact of the tariffs that the Trump administration just imposed, adding that all options are being considered in Britain’s response. “We stand ready to use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm,” Starmer wrote in an op-ed published late Saturday in the Telegraph. “Some people may feel uncomfortable about … the idea the state should intervene directly,” the prime minister admitted. “But we simply cannot cling on to old sentiments when the world is turning this fast,” he said. Starmer…