Author: staff

EU and Central Asian are set for historic new impulse in their relationship, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov told Euronews, as the two regions’ leaders convened more than 5,000 kilometres away in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the first EU–Central Asia Summit.Baisalov was interviewed in Strasbourg where he was meeting MEPs and the Council of Europe to promote closer cooperation between the European Union and the increasingly assertive Central Asian states, which he described as the future “tiger economies” of the region. Speaking to Euronews between meetings, Baisalov welcomed the momentum generated by the Samarkand summit, which brought together high-level officials from both…

Russia has banned the Elton John AIDS Foundation, accusing it of taking a negative stance towards countries like Russia and claiming the charity undermines “traditional spiritual and moral values”. Russia’s general prosecutor said the ban applied specifically to two non-governmental organisations, one registered in the US and the other in Britain, both called the Elton John AIDS Foundation.“When a musician plays along with the promoters of democracy, you get propaganda. And if Elton John is at the piano, it is not just anti-Russian propaganda,” the Russian general prosecutor’s office said in a statement on its official Telegram channel. “The NGOs actively participate in…

Fico said he respects people’s right to protest, but dismissed the comparison with the Russian foreign agent bill. “The draft law concerning nongovernmental organizations has nothing to do with Russian, American or Israeli legislation,” Fico said after a government meeting on Wednesday, adding that it is a “European law that has been consulted.” “They’ve run out of things to protest about, so now they’re just making up another lie,” he added. Stasselová said that the most dangerous aspect of the law is that it discredits NGOs that receive foreign funding in the eyes of the public. “It stigmatizes and criminalizes…

Celebrity doctor and TV host Dr Mehmet Oz was confirmed by the US Senate to lead the country’s agency that oversees healthcare for millions of Americans. Oz, a former heart surgeon at Columbia University who became famous for his eponymous daytime talk show, was picked by US President Donald Trump last year to lead the Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS).On Thursday, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed him to the position by a party-line vote of 53-45.He launched his own television programme, “The Dr Oz Show”, in 2009, where he doled out health and wellness advice to viewers alongside true crime stories…

A notice to customers dazzled by the low-priced products on Chinese shopping apps: the days of getting trendy clothing, tools and gag gifts that cost less than lunch delivered to your door in 10 days are probably numbered.President Donald Trump is ending a little-known but widely used exemption that has allowed as many as 4 million low-value parcels- most of them originating in China- to arrive in the US every day tax-free.An executive order that the president signed Wednesday will eliminate the “de minimis provision” for goods from China and Hong Kong on 2 May. The tax exemption, which applies…

Considering the times we live in and how we’re faced with constantly escalating global crises, the lunatic behaviour of multi-billionaires and the out-of-touch elites shining by their mediocrity on a daily basis, it’s hardly surprising that the ability to tolerate the rich has become as rare as… well, finding a unicorn in the wild.  This has been mirrored through the zeitgeist-flooding trend of Eat The Rich movies, with the likes of Parasite, Triangle of Sadness, Knives Out, The Menu and Saltburn – all delivering some cathartic goods. TV hasn’t fared too badly either, with the ubiquity of shows like Succession and White Lotus…

Along with the retaliatory tariffs, China also raised the bar for exports to the U.S. of critical raw materials, such as samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. These metals are used in magnets, nuclear tech, cancer research, oil drilling or other high-tech sectors. In recent trade disputes with the U.S. and EU, China has already restricted trade in more common metals like graphite, gallium and germanium. In a statement, the Chinese finance ministry said: “This practice of the U.S. is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical…

Argentina’s Senate has rejected two Supreme Court candidates that President Javier Milei nominated by decree, dealing a huge blow to the libertarian leader. The Senate voted down both candidates, federal judge Ariel Lijo and conservative legal scholar Manuel García-Mansilla, who were appointed by presidential decree during Congress’s summer recess — an act that provoked accusations of executive overreach.Senators and human rights campaigners said Milei’s move challenged institutional norms and risked upsetting the balance of power between Argentina’s branches of government.”It’s a serious institutional conflict that the executive branch has initiated against the legislative and judicial branches,” said Senator Anabel Fernández…

After a long wait, the Senate is launching action on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts at a risky moment for the US and the global economy. More than a month after House Republicans surprised Washington by advancing their framework for Trump’s $4.5 trillion (€4.1tn) in tax breaks and $2tn (€1.8tn) in spending cuts, Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to start working on their version. The largely party-line vote, 52-48, sets the stage for a potential Senate all-nighter on Friday, spilling into the weekend.But work on the multitrillion-dollar package is coming as markets at…

Lombard said that if the trade war escalates and it has a negative impact on France’s economic growth, the government plans to accept the fact that its deficit for this year will worsen and won’t cut spending nor raise taxes to prevent that. “Even if the situation worsens, I don’t want to further cut public spending,” Lombard said, also excluding tax raises. France had aimed to bring its budget deficit to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product this year, down from 5.8 percent in 2024. The country is already facing an excessive deficit procedure in Brussels after breaching EU spending…