Author: staff

Germany told Russia to respond to the ceasefire proposal by midnight on Monday or face new sanctions, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said during a briefing earlier in the day.Berlin warned Moscow that if the Kremlin doesn’t agree to the proposal from Ukraine and its European allies, new, tougher sanctions will be prepared and introduced. “The clock is ticking — we still have 12 hours until the end of this day,” Kornelius reportedly said around midday, adding that Berlin is coordinating with European partners on additional sanctions.Over the weekend Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respond to the ceasefire plan and instead…

Updated: 12/05/2025 – 16:52 GMT+2Pope Leo XIV has made a powerful appeal on Monday for the release of imprisoned journalists, highlighting the ‘precious gift of free speech and the press.’ … More Speaking to over 6,000 journalists in Rome, the first US pope urged the media to reject the “paradigm of war” and instead use words to build peace. He praised reporters who risk their lives to expose the truth, calling them “witnesses of justice and dignity.” His heartfelt message earned applause and renewed attention to the challenges facing global press freedom. As Pope Leo exited the audience hall, he…

The world’s best banana growing areas are at risk from the climate crisis, a new report warns.Latin America and the Caribbean currently export around 80 per cent of bananas globally, filling supermarket shelves with the world’s favourite fruit.But 60 per cent of the region’s most suitable banana growing areas could be lost by 2080 due to rising temperatures and extreme weather, according to research from international development charity Christian Aid.“Climate change is impacting banana farmers around the world, who are battling daily with unpredictable weather patterns, scorching sun, floods, hurricanes, and increased pests and diseases,” says Anna Pierides, Fairtrade Foundation’s…

The European Commission’s microchip strategy targeting 20% global market share by 2030 is unfeasible, a group of member states said according to minutes of meetings of national industry policy representatives seen by Euronews. Ten countries – Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, and Spain – said this target should be revised in the upcoming Chips Act 2.0.The representatives discussed a European Court of Auditors (ECA) report from the end of April which said that the bloc is unlikely to meet the EU Chips Act 20% target because investments driven by the Act are “unlikely to significantly enhance”…

“This is a tissue. For blowing your nose” it posted next to another picture of the leaders with the caption, “This is European unity. To build peace.” When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs.This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation. pic.twitter.com/xyXhGm9Dsr— Élysée (@Elysee) May 11, 2025 The Elysée accused “France’s enemies” of spreading disinformation, though it has held back from pointing the finger at anyone specifically. However, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was among those…

France’s digital affairs and artificial intelligence (AI) minister is on a mission to unify Europe to force social media companies to put on age verification markers, adding that there should be no social networks for those under the age of 15. Clara Chappaztold French media on Sunday that the country has three months to “mobilise its European partners” for an agreement that obliges social media platforms to verify the age of their users, and failing to do so would result in sanctions.“My job today is to rally a coalition, with Spain, Greece, and now Ireland, to convince the European Commission,” the…

“The idea was that the three presidents … wanted to celebrate Schuman Day together with Prime Minister Luc Frieden in Luxembourg. Due to scheduling constraints of all the three presidents and the prime minister, the only traveling option to allow all of them to attend the commemoration of the Schuman Declaration together was to take a charter flight,” Pinho said during a daily briefing on Monday. “This is justified because it was really exceptional and it was the only way of making sure that the three presidents could be present,” she added. “And obviously it is indeed considerably faster than…

There’s only a handful of situations where journalists, usually guided by strict rules of the trade, act like anyone else. Meeting the new pope for the first time at the Vatican City’s modernist Paul VI Audience Hall became one of those events.Prior to Pope Leo XIV’s entrance on Monday morning, the crowd representing the world press — filling out about half of the 6,000-seat aula — was restless in anticipation, dropping all pretence there was in the audience for any other presser.Some were busy tying flags of their nations to the safety railings — a couple of Peru ones, where…

If Putin stays away, that could sway the mercurial Trump to back Ukraine more strongly, said Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta Center for Political Research. “If Putin refuses, it means he does not want negotiations, it means he may look like a loser in Trump’s eyes. Although how Trump perceives all this is still a big question,” Fesenko said. Trump made that warning in his Truth Social post, saying there needs to be an effort to reach a deal. “At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if…

Italian UniCredit SpA upgraded its financial expectations for this year, after the lender posted an unexpectedly high net profit rise of 8.3% to €2.8 billion year-on-year for the first three months of 2025.Net revenues were up 2.8% to €6.bn, driven by fees up 8.2% to €2.3bn in the same period, driven mainly by strong growth in investment and financing fees. This offset the declining net interest income, which was down 4.8% quarter on quarter to €3.5bn.“UniCredit posted an outstanding set of first quarter results, beating across all KPIs and widening our positive gap vs. peers,” Andrea Orcel, Chief Executive Officer…