Author: staff

The Med5, a two-day meeting of the interior ministers of the five European countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, ended in the Royal Palace in Naples. Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta were represented, as well as the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner and Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens.At the end of the summit, the ministers signed a joint declaration.Piantedosi: migrants sent to Albania considered ‘dangerous'”We all recognised the need to strengthen Frontex,” said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi during the press conference at the end of the summit, reiterating that “the fight against human traffickers is…

One group of people is hearing a different message from the Trump administration than most Americans: the nation’s judges. The disparities have emerged across a range of lawsuits and issues amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive political agenda.“You’re saying one thing in public. You’re saying a different thing in court,” Judge Ana Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, told Justice Department lawyers last month in a case over the administration’s policy aiming to bar transgender members from the military. She added: “The court is not going to be gaslit.”In court, lawyers and administration officials often try to minimize the impact of the…

Saying the U.S. was in “great shape,” Trump emphasized the success of his trade policies, explaining that he brought down the tariffs to 10 percent because he “wanted to be fair to other people, other countries.” When asked about the trade war with China, Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping “a very good leader, a very smart leader,” adding that “something positive is going to come.” Beijing on Friday raised tariffs on all U.S. goods to 125 percent, echoing a move by the White House that increased duties on Chinese imports to the same level, in addition to an existing…

Still to be signed off on is contentious language governing the sharing of technology for pandemic-related products such as drugs, vaccines and therapeutics. Developing countries have pushed for strong language that will ensure they are able to scale up production in their own regions, rather than waiting in line for critical technologies. But developed countries, including members of the European Union, have insisted throughout that any tech transfer from pharma companies must be on “voluntary and mutually agreed terms.” Under the latest proposed fix, still subject to final confirmation, the sharing of technology should be “willingly undertaken and on mutually…

Iranian and US officials will meet in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in a high-level diplomatic meeting to discuss Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.While no agreement is likely, the stakes are high for the two countries closing in on almost half a century of animosity.Tension between Washington and Tehran has escalated in recent months. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached.Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.The negotiations are especially important in the context…

Is China an “essential partner” to tackle the greatest challenges of our time or the “key enabler” behind the largest armed conflict on European soil since 1945?At this stage, it just depends on who you ask.The return of Donald Trump to the White House has unleashed seismic changes across the globe, forcing nations to re-evaluate their alliances and rivalries in desperate search of shelter against the president’s go-for-broke policies.His sweeping tariffs, in particular, have deeply unsettled governments, which are now seriously contemplating if the trade flows and supply chains on which they have relied for the past decades are about…

Housing is a major influence on whether teachers will continue teaching as a career in the UK according to a 2023 survey by the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).  In fact, more than half (57%) of teachers who wish to buy a home do not think this will be achievable on a teachers’ salary.So, how realistic is it for European teachers to buy a house? Euronews compared teacher salaries and house prices across Europe, and calculated how many months’ salary a teacher would need to buy a house or flat as in 2023. This estimate is…

De Beukelaer, who attempted to reboot coalition negotiations last month, is scathing. In all the months since the election, politicians haven’t even come around to talking substance, he told POLITICO. “It’s just political posturing that’s blocking Brussels,” he said. “‘You’re my friend. You’re not. I want to work with you. But not with you.’ It’s immature.” A capital liability The overly complicated political architecture confuses and frustrates even Belgians themselves. If the city had a government, getting Brussels’ spending under control would be its number one challenge. | Virginie Lefour/Belga/AFP via Getty Images Put (relatively) simply, Brussels is one of…

Musk’s AI startup xAI has been developing a group of AI models under the name Grok, which are used to power things like the AI chatbot available on the X platform. Grok’s gobbling of EU data was already the subject of scrutiny from the Irish regulator last year, when X — after a battle in the Irish courts — agreed to suspend the use of EU citizens’ data to train its AI models. The Irish regulator said on Friday that its new investigation will examine whether X has been complying with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including whether…

The U.S. has made no secret of its antagonism towards China, and Trump’s America First investment policy explicitly warns firms against getting too close to Beijing.  “There’s no doubt that taking British Steel back into British hands from Chinese ownership will be received favorably by the Trump administration, not least of all because the U.K. makes several steel components for the U.S. defense industry,” said Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) U.K. Foreign Policy Lead Sophia Gaston. Ministers insist that the deal is unrelated to tariff negotiations, but it could give the U.K. a stronger argument to say it should be…