Author: staff
Published on 24/11/2025 – 18:51 GMT+1 The pot is massive: An estimated €300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets are frozen across the G7 countries. The vast majority — to the tune of €185 billion — is locked here in Belgium by Euroclear, a securities depository. Brussels planned to use the Russian frozen assets to issue an unprecedented reparations loan for Ukraine. But the US plan flips the script with a controversial proposal: unblock the funds and split them into two investment vehicles. The first fund would be intended for Ukraine’s reconstruction. $100 billion of the frozen assets would be…
Updated: 24/11/2025 – 18:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this November 24th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
Published on 21/11/2025 – 16:14 GMT+1 Planning a budget trip to the Azores? Your options for getting there may soon shrink. Ryanair says it will cut every route to the islands from March 2026, blaming rising airport fees, new taxes and what it calls government “inaction” in Portugal. The move would end the carrier’s year-round connections between the remote Atlantic archipelago and major cities such as London, Brussels, Lisbon and Porto. Why is Ryanair threatening to walk away from the Azores? Ryanair announced the cuts on 20 November, claiming the “French airport monopoly ANA” – which operates Portugal’s airports under…
Die Genfer Gespräche über einen möglichen Ukraine-Deal sorgen für seltene Zuversicht – und zugleich für neue Abhängigkeiten. Während Kanzler Friedrich Merz auf Afrika-Reise ist, verlagert sich die Weltpolitik an seinen Aufenthaltsort: Die USA prüfen einen überarbeiteten Vorschlag, der mit der Ukraine abgestimmt wurde, die heftig kritisierten Territorialforderungen aber nicht mehr enthält. Doch klar ist: Donald Trump muss entscheiden – und Europa hat kaum Einfluss. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis:Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen…
Ukraine’s president might go to Washington as early as this week to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the plan which could put an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to several media reports citing Ukrainian and US officials familiar with the process. Following the first phase of negotiations in Geneva over the weekend, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian delegation would be back in Kyiv on Monday evening with a “full report”. “Based on these reports, we will determine the next steps and the timing. We will continue coordinating with Europe and other partners around the world,” Zelenskyy…
Germany’s Family Business Association, which represents the interests of companies ranging from medium-sized enterprises to giants like BMW and Merck, has lifted the “firewall” that existed around any form of cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A scandal broke out after it was revealed that the group had invited representatives of the AfD to a parliamentary evening event with members of other parties, held in October on premises owned by the Deutsche Bank. On Monday, representatives of the group spoke to German media and confirmed that the firewall — a pledge by German parties, companies, and other…
A senior adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin scoffed at Europe’s plan to end the war in Ukraine and said the Kremlin preferred U.S. President Donald Trump’s original proposal. Yuri Ushakov, a veteran foreign policy aide to the Russian leader, told reporters in Moscow that the EU’s peace plan, launched in response to the 28-point plan presented by Washington, “constructively doesn’t fit us at all.” Ushakov added that Trump’s plan, which included several major concessions to Russia, including ceding vast swathes of Ukrainian territory and capping the size of Kyiv’s military, was more “acceptable” to the Kremlin. This article is…
Optimism for the EU’s future has slumped among Europeans, despite more than half still saying that they feel hopeful. This is according to a recent Flash Eurobarometer survey, which found that levels of optimism fell by six percentage points compared with the same time last year. “An analysis of individual member states indicates this decline is widespread,” the report states. Malta (from 73% to 57%), Austria (from 51% to 41%), Italy (from 60% to 50%), and Greece (from 48% to 39%) have seen the biggest drops. Hopefulness about the EU’s future tends to be higher among younger respondents. “This drop…
Published on 24/11/2025 – 15:52 GMT+1 Last year, ‘brain rot’ was crowned Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year, a term which captured concerns about the impact of consuming “excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.” Now, recent findings from the American Psychological Association confirm that brain rot is not only real and more than a memed side-effect: it’s a real neurocognitive syndrome that causes measurable damage. The study, titled “Feeds, Feelings, and Focus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Examining the Cognitive and Mental Health Correlates of Short-Form Video Use”, directly ties short-form video content (SFV) from algorithm-driven…
Unlike many of Macron’s policy proposals, the idea of creating a voluntary military service has garnered widespread support across France’s otherwise polarized political spectrum. The plan is backed by the conservatives and the far right, including the chair of the Senate’s foreign affairs and defense committee, Cédric Perrin from Les Républicains, and the National Rally’s President Jordan Bardella, who called the ending of conscription “a mistake.” Bardella said military service should eventually become mandatory again, but conceded the armed forces didn’t have enough money now to train the entire French youth. On the left, Conway-Mouret doesn’t anticipate resistance either. “If…