Author: staff

The drug is expected to cost €381.1 million per year within three years. The National Health Service (NHS) in England will make a new weight loss drug available next year – but fewer than 10 per cent of eligible people will have access to it.It comes as governments across Europe grapple with how to approach the surging demand for blockbuster anti-obesity treatments.The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro for patients dealing with obesity and at least one weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.That criteria makes 3.4 million…

The Resolution Foundation, which focuses on low pay in the U.K., said putting this at the center of the government’s mission is welcome, but also warned that improving living standards is the “absolute bare minimum for any functioning government.” Put that on the re-election bumper sticker! The government has highlighted that many children are not adequately prepared for starting school. | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Starmer said the government will work with businesses to help create good jobs. However, his budget in October hiked taxes for employers, which could make them less likely to hire new staff or give higher wages…

Andrius Kubilius is expected to draw up a White Paper on European Defence within his first three months in office, including ways to finance what he has described as a “big bang” in military spending. The new European Commissioner for defence on Thursday reiterated his support for issuing common bonds to arm the continent, arguing that repaying the debt would be cheap for member states if part of their national defence budgets is pooled.Andrius Kubilius, in his first appearance in front of the Security and Defence (SEDE) subcommittee since taking office on Sunday, said that “for the time being, we are…

The regime in Damascus had held Hama since the start of the civil war in 2011, and its loss threatens the nearby city of Homs. Rebel groups have captured the central Syrian city of Hama, just days after they seized Aleppo from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in a surprise offensive. Led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former affiliate of al-Qaeda, and the Syrian National Army, a group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias, the insurgents entered the city on Thursday after days of fighting with regime forces. The Syrian army, which remains loyal to al-Assad, said it had…

Kosovo plans to develop its military industry and transition its security forces into an army by 2028, despite tensions with Serbia and mixed NATO signals. Kosovo Security Forces (KBS) have doubled in size and tripled their budget, with plans to transition into an army by 2028, the country’s prime minister said.Tensions with Serbia have risen following a recent attack on Kosovo’s infrastructure, which the government in Prishtina blamed on Belgrade despite a lack of evidence.Kosovo was a Serbian province until NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a conflict between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanians, spurred by a series of crackdowns…

Computing giant Nvidia will also establish operations in the US city of Memphis to support Musk’s AI ambitions. Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) start-up xAI plans to expand its supercomputer to incorporate more than one million graphics processing units (GPUs), it was announced on Wednesday, as the company aims to compete against generative AI (GenAI) rivals such as OpenAI.Musk’s supercomputer, “Colossus,” was built earlier this year in Memphis, Tennessee, in three months and currently has 100,000 Nvidia GPUs to train xAI’s chatbot, Grok. AI companies are in a race to build large clusters of GPUs, or interconnected chips, which can lead…

On the evening of 5 December, Dutch friends and families get together to celebrate their unique take on the festive season. While many Europeans will wait until the end of December for their Christmas celebrations, the Dutch have already got going. This evening (5 December) signifies the Sinterklaas evening with the following day celebrated as the Feast of Sinterklaas for Dutch people in the Netherlands, Belgium and around the world. As Dutch people get ready to celebrate Sinterklaas for another year, it’s worth looking into the traditions and how they’ve evolved over time. In particular, there’s the longstanding discussion over…

Macron is scheduled to deliver a televised address at 8 p.m. on Thursday, though it’s unclear if he plans to name a new premier by then. There are no obvious successors to Barnier, though several names have been floated in French media, including Sébastien Lecornu, the minister of armed forces; centrist Macron ally François Bayrou; and former prime ministers Jean Castex and Bernard Cazeneuve. Caretaker governments in France typically remain in place for only a few days. However, after last summer’s snap elections, former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal served as a caretaker for several weeks after formally submitting his resignation…

While the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen landed in Uruguay to finalize the Mercosur agreement, France, in the midst of a political crisis, continues to voice its opposition to the trade agreement. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has landed in Latin America to finalise the Mercosur agreement whilst Europe’s key opponent against the deal suffers government collapse.“Touchdown in Latin America, the finish line of the EU-Mercosur agreement is in sight,” von der Leyen posted on Twitter on Thursday, adding: “Let’s work, let’s cross it. We have the chance to create a market of 700 million…

While the pledges have been praised by campaigners, investigations show universities have still accepted millions of euros in funding from fossil fuel companies in recent years. Universities across the UK are severing ties with the fossil fuel industry following years of campaigning by staff and students. Just yesterday, the eight universities in Wales agreed to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry after a landmark decision by the University of South Wales (USW). Over three-quarters of British institutions have committed to exclude oil and gas companies from their investment portfolios, according to student-led environmental justice group People & Planet. Birmingham…