Author: staff
Published on 11/09/2026 – 13:42 GMT+2 Portugal’s economy and employment growth are the best-performing in Europe, according to the country’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. But how true is that? Montenegro made the comments while speaking to the Assembly of the Republic, Portugal’s parliament, on 8 September. Here, MPs were debating a motion of no confidence in the government put forward by the far-right Chega party. The motion came about after Montenegro refused to sack Interior Minister Luís Neves over allegations of misconduct while he was head of Portugal’s Judiciary Police between 2018 and 2026. Other opposition parties came together to…
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis took control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Friday, after capturing an island located in the middle of the crucial Red Sea waterway, a local government official and eyewitnesses said. “Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island after government forces withdrew from it yesterday,” the official said, referring to a rocky volcanic island also known as Perim that divides the narrowest part of the strait into two shipping lanes. “The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb area and Mayyun Island, which is located in the middle of the strait,” he added, speaking on…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 9:48 GMT+2•Updated 11:40 While the economies of its main European neighbours continue to grow, France is an exception.The government has cut its growth forecast for 2026 to 0.5%, from 0.7% previously, and now expects growth of 1% in 2027, economy minister Roland Lescure said on Friday. The government is also projecting inflation of 2.1% this year and 1.8% next year. This downward revision makes the government’s budget equation more complicated. Weaker growth is likely to weigh more heavily on the public finances, even though the government had set itself the goal of bringing the deficit down…
Travellers to cities and regions in England could soon have to pay a tourist tax after the government announced it will allow mayors to charge visitors for overnight stays. The visitor levy is uncapped, but is expected to be under 5% of the accommodation cost. Tourist taxes are widespread across Europe – and the Scottish capital Edinburgh introduced an overnight fee in July – but the hospitality industry has criticised the move in England. Opponents say it will deter visitors and put further pressure on a sector already battling tax hikes and employment issues. What to know about England’s new…
Biotechnology at scale: Europe’s next competitiveness test Key findings Biotechnology is increasingly important to Europe’s healthcare, food security, industrial decarbonization and strategic autonomy, generating €75.16 billion in gross value added in 2022. The EU retains major scientific strengths, but struggles to translate research into companies, manufacturing capacity, commercial value and broad societal benefits. Three factors will determine whether Europe can close this innovation translation gap. First, regulatory simplification will need to extend across the innovation pathway. Biotechnology increasingly cuts across rules governing medicines, clinical trials, data, agriculture, intellectual property and trade. The European Biotech Act seeks to improve coordination, but…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 12:40 GMT+2•Updated 12:47 The European Union is set to provide Ukraine with €6.1 billion in additional assistance to help the war-weary country purchase military equipment, notably the Patriot interceptors badly needed to shoot down Russia’s devastating ballistic missiles. The funding, announcedon Friday, will come from the bloc’s €90 billion support loan, which reserves €28.3 billion for military aid and €16.7 billion for budget aid this year. The loan’s “Made In Europe” requirement will be lifted to procure Patriots, which are made in the United States, and drones, which depend on Chinese components. The newly allocated €6.1…
Russia is illegally recruiting foreign nationals into its military by using deception, blackmail, document confiscation and the threat of deportation to coerce migrants into fighting in Ukraine — a practice that amounts to human trafficking under international law, Amnesty International said in a report Thursday. The finding follows interviews with prisoners of war from more than a dozen countries held in Ukrainian captivity, almost all of whom described abuses during recruitment that brought them into Russia’s armed forces. Practices documented by Amnesty International — including contracts signed without informed consent, confiscated passports, restricted freedom of movement, inadequate training and threats…
Government bond yields jumped again this week, with some reaching levels last recorded around the global financial crisis, as the escalating conflict in the Middle East threatens to keep energy prices and therefore inflation elevated. With the conflict showing no sign of ending, investors are bracing for another surge in inflation that could put pressure on central banks to tighten monetary policy further, making borrowing more expensive. The outlook for crude supplies has deteriorated further after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels hit several Saudi energy targets and advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway is a key alternative route for…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 11:12 GMT+2 The number of European leisure travellers visiting Saudi Arabia is forecast to increase by at least 130% between 2025 and 2030. According to new research from Tourism Economics, published this week at WTM Spotlight Riyadh, Europe is among the long-haul markets expected to drive the next phase of Saudi Arabia’s tourism growth. Leisure arrivals from Asia Pacific and North America are also predicted to more than double. As a result, longer-haul markets are expected to account for 54% of Saudi Arabia’s international leisure arrivals by 2030, compared with 47% in 2025. Germany and Italy…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 11:30 GMT+2 The only documentary selected to this year’s Venice Film Festival main competition premiered yesterday and has emerged as a serious Golden Lion contender. NAZA, the new film from Israeli No Other Land directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to its official synopsis. The 80-minute hot-button doc, shot in secrecy at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv during the ongoing Gaza war, features interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers, soldiers and whitleblowers. They discuss how Palestinians are…