Author: staff
Having seen the festival through the pandemic, McCarthy leaves as Edinburgh Fringe CEO. What is next for the festival? After nine years in the top role, Shona McCarthy is stepping down as CEO of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. McCarthy will officially leave the role in spring 2025. She will be replaced in time for the next edition of the festival which is the world’s largest performing arts festival and runs across hundreds of venues in Scotland’s capital during the month of August. Taking over from Kath Mainland in 2025, McCarthy’s leadership has seen the festival grow to host over 3,700…
The 21-year-old climate activist was invited to a pro-Palestinian protest camp in Dortmund after attending a similar protest in Berlin on Monday. Politicians in Germany think that climate activist Greta Thunberg should be banned from entering the country over her participation in pro-Palestinian protests, according to the domestic policy spokesman for Germany’s biggest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union.Alexander Throm told BILD newspaper that it would be “not only appropriate but even necessary that the Federal Minister of the Interior issues an entry ban against this anti-Semite in the future”.Throm said of the climate activist, “Anyone who enters Germany to…
The European Commission says it will ‘robustly’ challenge China’s decision to impose provisional antidumping measures on imports of brandy from the EU. The European Commission has reacted angrily to China’s decision to bring in temporarily anti-dumping measures on imported brandy from the European Union (EU).In a statement issued after China announced its plans, the European Commission said: “The EU takes with utmost seriousness any unfair use of trade defence instruments against any sector of our economy.”Abuse of trade defence for inappropriate reasons is a clear breach of WTO rules. Accordingly, the Commission will robustly challenge at WTO level the announced imposition…
Every year, the bookies odds predict who might pick up the highest prize in literature. Every year, they’re completely wrong. Tomorrow, the latest laureate for the Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced as part of the Nobel committee’s rollout for 2024 winners. Chinese author Can Xue is once again the frontrunner in the bookies odds to win the 2024 prize. Can, 71, was the top prediction to win last year’s prize. However, she was pipped to the 2023 Nobel by Norwegian writer Jon Fosse. Fosse was considered a somewhat surprising choice for the prize, as his work in plays,…
The gloves were off as Viktor Orbán appeared before the European Parliament in Strasbourg and faced off with Ursula von der Leyen. Viktor Orbán and Ursula von der Leyen clashed head-on during a fiery debate at the European Parliament on Wednesday that saw both leaders portray opposing visions for Europe’s future and lay bare their strong dislike for each other.Russia’s war in Ukraine, how best to tackle Europe’s growing competitiveness issue and migration were among the many areas of contention between the two.The Hungarian premier dismissed the EU’s response to the Ukraine war as “poorly planned and poorly implemented” and…
More than a quarter of The Great Escape music festival’s line-up boycotted this year’s edition due to the sponsor’s ties to Israel’s war on Gaza. It has been announced that the 2025 edition will not be associated with the bank. More than 130 artists cancelled their performances at this year’s The Great Escape, one of the UK’s best music festivals when it comes to showcasing upcoming new talent.They did so to protest the Brighton festival’s ties with Barclays bank, who are accused of investing in several companies that supply arms to Israel. Following the boycott in solidarity with the people…
Updated: 09/10/2024 – 9:46 GMT+2 King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark hosted a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace on Tuesday evening to honour Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir and her husband, Björn Skúlason, during their official visit to Denmark on October 8 and 9. This marks the first state visit between the Danish royals and the Icelandic president. King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark hosted a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace on Tuesday evening to honour Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir and her husband, Björn Skúlason, during their official visit to Denmark on October 8 and 9. This marks the…
A new book by Séan Scullion, “Churchill’s Spaniards – Continuing the Fight in the British Army 1939-46”, tells the story of about 1,200 Spaniards who enlisted with the British army to fight Hitler in the war. Ángel Camarena took part in one of the most dangerous SAS operations of the Second World War when 30 troopers lost their lives after being ambushed by the Nazis.He survived the battle to fight again for the elite fighting force in another operation as the British army crossed the Rhine in the dying days of the war in their trademark jeeps.Camarena also took part…
More than six years after it took effect, Europe’s mighty data-protection rulebook is getting its second wind — by stymieing the artificial intelligence plans of Big Tech giants. In just a few months, Google, Meta, X and LinkedIn have paused or delayed AI projects in the European Union, blaming an old yet familiar foe: Brussels red tape. The regulatory flex is coming mainly from data protection authorities, which have the power to enforce the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) in particular has wielded its significant powers to block AI rollouts from the world’s biggest…
The U.K. and the EU are finally talking again. But the City of London is still out in the cold. Despite being the U.K.’s most globally important industry, accounting for 12 percent of GDP and providing 2.5 million jobs, the finance sector is stuck on the sidelines even as relations with the EU thaw. The two sides are rekindling their friendship as the new Labour government in Britain pushes to improve tense relations via a Brexit “reset.” That drive culminated in a first meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels Oct.…