Author: staff

Belgian judicial authorities sealed two offices of parliamentary assistants on Thursday as part of the latest corruption investigation in the European Parliament. The offices of two parliamentary assistants from the European People’s Party and Renew Europe have been sealed by Belgian judicial authorities amid investigations on alledged bribes from Chinese tech company Huawei to influence EU decision-making. One belongs to the assistants of Marco Falcone (Italy/EPP), Paolo Campisi and Francesco Vasta. The other is the office of Adam Mouchtar, assistant to Nikola Minchev (Bulgaria/Renew Europe). Belgian authorities have accessed the offices of Falcone’s assistants around 17:00 CET, for over an hour. As…

To pass the package of three constitutional amendments, Merz needs to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament. When the newly elected Bundestag convenes March 25, the far-right, pro-Kremlin Alternative for Germany (AfD) and The Left — which opposes increased military spending — are likely to block the amendments. Merz must thus secure the Greens’ backing in the coming days. For them, ongoing negotiations with the CDU/CSU and the SPD present their final chance to secure policy concessions before moving into the opposition. To win the Greens over, Merz pledged that defense spending, of which debt limits above 1 percent of…

Les désaccords entre les deux pays sur des questions brûlantes, telles que les accords de libre-échange, ne disparaîtront probablement pas comme par enchantement, mais leurs responsables affirment qu’il est possible de trouver un terrain d’entente sur de nombreux sujets, en particulier sur le front de la défense. “Il y a eu une modification de leur perception du monde. Et là, pour le coup, on se rapproche vraiment de la nôtre”, commente Sylvain Maillard, député Ensemble pour la République et président du groupe d’amitié France-Allemagne à l’Assemblée nationale. L’effet Trump Merz et Macron avaient déjà probablement tout pour bien s’entendre. Tous…

Strong results from Italy’s Generali Group and British Deliveroo, as well as the declining profit of Hugo Boss, were shaping the European market landscape on Thursday. Italy’s top insurer Generali reported record profits for 2024 as Chief Executive Philippe Donnet prepares to face a key shareholder vote next month over his reappointment. The firm’s operating profit came in at a record €7.3 billion, 8.2% more than the previous year, mainly boosted by the strong performance of the Asset & Wealth Management division. The adjusted net result rose to €3.8bn, an increase of 5.4% and an all-time record for the Group, according…

Tech industry groups have rallied behind the Polish presidency’s proposal to extend the current framework for voluntary detection of child sexual abuse imagery online while safeguarding encrypted communication. Tech companies and platforms are calling on member states who continue in the EU Council to debate a new proposal aimed at combating online child sexual abuse to preserve the voluntary detection of illegal content. This would allow the continued use of technologies like CSAI Match and PhotoDNA, which automatically identify abusive images shared on online platforms.Currently, online companies are permitted to flag illegal images under a temporary exemption from the EU’s e-privacy…

Donald’s Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday night in Moscow as the White House pushes the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. “The meeting between Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin will take place in a closed format this evening,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in response to a question from Russian state-owned news outlet Izvestia. Talks have ramped up in recent days, as Trump’s team seeks to quell fighting in Ukraine, which Russia launched a full-scale invasion of in February 2022.

Trump’s threat to impose a 200% tariff on European alcohol rattled markets, sending Campari, Pernod Ricard, and LVMH stocks tumbling. The U.S. accounts for €13.1bn in EU beverage exports, with wine and spirits most at risk. Donald Trump’s latest trade salvo is sending shockwaves through Europe’s wine and spirits industry.  The U.S. president announced Thursday on Truth Social that his administration would impose a 200% tariff on European wines, champagnes, and other alcoholic products unless the European Union removes a 50% tariff on American whiskey.  The move sent shares of major European beverage companies tumbling, while U.S. spirits makers saw a boost. The…

Despite a declining trend since 1997, a significant resurgence of measles was recorded in 2023 and 2024 following backsliding in immunization coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing the risk of outbreaks,” the report said. “Less than 80 percent of eligible children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania were vaccinated with MCV1 in 2023 — far below the 95 percent coverage rate required to retain herd immunity,” the report said. Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever,…

Updated: 13/03/2025 – 15:15 GMT+1Thousands in Kathmandu celebrated Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colours, with vibrant colours, music, and dance, honouring the arrival of spring and the divine love of Krishna and Radha. … More Thousands gathered in Kathmandu on Thursday to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi, dancing to festive music, drumming, and smearing each other with vibrant colours. Known as the festival of colours, Holi marks the arrival of spring in Nepal, India, and other South Asian countries. The celebration honours the divine love between the Hindu god Krishna and his consort Radha, symbolising rebirth…

A confidential document outlining the coalition talks between the conservative Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), reveals just how different this process will be from the chaotic, leak-prone negotiations of 2021. In Germany, coalition talks are long, messy affairs. After the 2021 election, the SPD, Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) formed an alliance known as the Ampel (traffic light) coalition — named after their party colors. To signal fresh cooperation, their leaders took a now-famous selfie, an image that quickly went viral as a symbol of unity. But the unity didn’t…