Author: staff

The EU Tech Commissioner already hinted at the plan before she took office late last year. The European Commission will present a so-called AI Continent action plan on 9 April in a bid to boost businesses application of artificial intelligence tools, Henna Virkkunen, the European Commissioner for Technology said in Brussels on Tuesday.The action plan will consist of five pillars, including infrastructure, data access, cloud, talent and skills and simplification, Virkkunen told the FT Enabling Europe’s AI Ambitions conference.The EU’s AI Act – the set of rules which regulate AI tools according to the risk they pose to society –…

“We should have more time [to decide],” Meloni told reporters last week, adding that the proposed April time frame to activate the mechanism was “a bit too close.” “Von der Leyen’s plan is almost exclusively based on national debt from states,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told lawmakers. | John Thys/Getty Images France, meanwhile, has indicated it does not plan to activate the clause, according to two EU diplomats. With a debt-to-GDP ratio above 110 percent, Paris is wary of spooking markets or endangering its credit rating — a key factor in how much it pays to borrow. Germany, by…

The military deal signed by Albania, Croatia and Kosovo has angered Serbia at a time of growing concern over defence capabilities across the continent. As concerns grow over the future of US support for European security and EU nations ramp up defence spending, three countries in southeastern Europe have signed a military agreement that they say will boost regional stability.The defence ministers of Albania, Kosovo, and Croatia last week met in Tirana to sign a joint declaration of cooperation intended to boost defence capacity, advance military technology and improve regional interoperability through shared training and exercises.However, the new alliance has…

Former MEP Cristian-Silviu Bușoi, a Romanian conservative, stated he never consented to signing. “I looked through my official email and found no correspondence regarding this letter,” he said in a written statement. “I also do not recall giving verbal consent to Mr Martusciello, as is sometimes customary when colleagues seek support for their initiatives,” he also said, adding that neither he or his staff received any compensation nor were aware of any scheme related to the signature of the letter. Aldo Patriciello, a far-right Italian MEP, said in an email: “I honestly struggle to remember whether the request for my…

The ocean plays a vital role in the world’s economy. But it is threatened by climate change and overexploitation. Could the blue economy help? Across Europe, the ocean provides food, energy, and a way to transport goods. Ocean-related activities generated €624 billion in revenue and provided jobs for 3.6 million people in the European Union in 2021. This part of the economy is known as the “blue economy”, which covers a range of sectors, including maritime transport, tourism, fishing and aquaculture, biotechnology and research, resource extraction and renewable energies.But many of these industries are emissions-heavy and harmful to the environment. Maritime transport,…

European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela visited Central Asian countries to advance the Global Gateway investment strategy. European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela has finished a tightly packed visit to the five Central Asian countries, where he met with high-ranking officials and signed several deals to bolster the Global Gateway strategy. The initiative, which aims to mobilise €300 billion worldwide, focuses on four key sectors in Central Asia: transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, and sustainable energy.“There is a huge untapped potential. This visit to the region should not only underline the importance of the region and the…

Updated: 25/03/2025 – 17:54 GMT+1Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers, according to activists and witnesses and later detained by the military in the occupied West Bank before being released on Tuesday. … More Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, one of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, in the occupied West Bank, an activist group reported on Monday.According to the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Ballal was surrounded and assaulted by around 15 armed settlers in Susiya, in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron. Witnesses, including Jewish American activists, said some settlers…

A U.K. diplomat said they had watched aghast as the spectacular leak emerged on Monday night, describing it as “wild.” The diplomat noted that it underlined the impression that Vance was the driver of U.S. hostility towards Europe. This, the person said, forced others including Trump into a tougher position because he “doesn’t want to look weaker than Vance.”  In public, U.K. ministers and officials tried to minimize the damage from the revelations, insisting the alliance with the U.S. was strong and communications remained secure.  But Britain’s former Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said some in the Trump administration clearly need…

Cross-border strikes continued overnight into Tuesday with multiple casualties reported in seven regions of the country. Russian launched around 140 drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, striking seven regions of the country and injuring several people. A residential area in Kherson was one of the regions affected by Russian shelling.Several private homes were damaged, but no casualties were reported, according to Roman Mrochko, head of the Kherson City Military Administration. Emergency teams assessed the damage and began recovery efforts immediately. Residents described the impact, with Svitlana Balezina stating that the first strike landed behind her house before a second…

The EU, meanwhile, has been perceived as being unusually cautious about supporting the protests, while Vučić’s working dinner with the bloc’s top leaders sparked controversy in and outside of Serbia. Last week 32 MEPs demanded in a letter that von der Leyen cancel the meeting.  “It’s important that the Commission engages with him [Vučić],” Slovenian Green MEP Irena Joveva said. “But before giving him a platform to use back home for a surreal show, the EU should clearly state that Serbian protesters are demanding the very things the EU allegedly wants from Serbia but has failed to achieve.” “The EU…