Author: staff
While the meeting is not expected to produce binding commitments, it will set a broad political direction for the European Commission, which is due to draw up proposals ahead of a formal summit in late March. “Everyone around the table must … face a moment of truth,” said Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, whose members include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Leaders should “not complain about each other” but do their “homework” to ensure reforms can be completed, he added. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told POLITICO ahead of the summit that…
Culleton has been Ireland’s top news story since the Irish Times on Monday reported on his case and on the allegedly appalling conditions he faces in Camp East Montana, the ICE facility inside Fort Bliss army base near El Paso. The same day, Culleton appeared live on air on Ireland’s RTÉ radio to describe conditions of overcrowding, filth, disease, hunger and violence — and a personal fear, now set aside, that speaking out might make matters even worse for him. “I definitely am afraid of rotting away here. It feels like I’m just stuck and there’s no way out,” Culleton…
By AP with Associated Press Published on 10/02/2026 – 20:04 GMT+1 China’s government estimates that 9.5 billion trips will be made during the 40 day-period around the Lunar New Year on 17 February – a record high, according to information from the National Development and Reform Commission. Some 540 million of those trips will be made via train, and 95 million by air. The rest will be on the road. In a country where workers are expected to put in long hours – including on weekends – and get few days of annual leave, the Lunar New Year festival is a precious time.…
His push comes amid a flurry of comments from EU leaders seeking to shape the meeting’s agenda, with French President Emmanuel Macron advocating for joint debt and a European preference policy in an interview with several media outlets published Tuesday morning. The Austrian chancellor’s comments echo other leaders including Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, both of whom have called on the EU to do away with environmental rules they blame for high energy prices. “The approach we took with the Green Deal was certainly not sustainable: in Austria, for example, the reduction in CO2…
Among difficult items, lawmakers agreed to a clause mandating the European Commission to review the deal six months after its entry into force if the U.S. has not lowered tariffs to a 15 percent baseline level on EU products containing steel, instead of the current 50 percent. “If the United States is not reducing the tariffs for these products — more than 400 products — in six months, we will re-establish the tariffs for steel and steel relevant products inside the EU, automatically,” said Bernd Lange, a German Social Democrat who chairs the Parliament’s trade committee. Lawmakers also settled on…
Published on 11/02/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Political groups of the European Parliament reached an agreement on Tuesday on the EU-US trade deal, which was struck in July 2025 by US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and still needs to be ratified. The agreement sets US tariffs at 15% on EU exports, while the EU committed to cutting its tariffs on US goods to zero, but its approval has proven controversial in recent weeks due to Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland. The Parliament froze the approval process in January after Trump said on…
Published on 10/02/2026 – 19:27 GMT+1 A group of Buddhist monks reached Washington on foot on Tuesday, greeted by crowds of onlookers as they marked the end of a 108-day “Walk for Peace” across the United States. The monks in their saffron robes have become fixtures on social media, along with their rescue dog Aloka. Thousands have gathered along Southern roadsides in support as the monks’ quiet procession made its way East for more than 3,700 kilometres. Since beginning their walk at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, the monks’ message of peace has resonated across…
Updated: 10/02/2026 – 18:00 GMT+1 Amid Rome’s crowds of tourists and souvenir stalls, a Renaissance palace offers an escape from the chaos. Just steps from the city’s busiest sights, Palazzo Altemps is a hidden gem where world-class Roman antiquities sit in near-empty rooms. Watch the video above for more. … More
Nearly four decades on from Jamaica’s debut at the 1988 Calgary Olympics that inspired the cult film Cool Runnings, the Caribbean country’s bobsledders are now preparing for their tenth Winter Games in Italy. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Jamaica will compete in both the women’s and men’s bobsleigh events between 15 and 22 February. In the women’s monobob, the green, black, and yellow flag will be worn by Mica Moore — a former Great Britain athlete who has switched allegiance. In the men’s competition, Jamaica will field two crews. The four-man bobsleigh team will feature Shane Pitter, Andrae…
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