Author: staff
Canada recently signed up to the EU’s Security Action for Europe agreement (SAFE) — a loan scheme aims to speed up procurement for defence equipment across the bloc — becoming the first non-European member state to do so. On X, allegations that the European Union asked Canada for a €10 million participation fee to participate in SAFE fully, while demanding €6 billion from the UK have gained traction. One post viewed more than 139,000 times, claimed that the EU is treating the UK unfairly and offering it a rough deal compared to Canada, sparking a debate over the difference in…
Frankfurt and Brussels are abuzz with speculation over the future leadership of the European Central Bank, after indications that ECB President Christine Lagarde may be weighing an early departure. Lagarde is said to be considering an earlier-than-planned exit to ensure a successor is in place ahead of France’s next elections, where the far right is polling strongly and could reshape the political landscape in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. An ECB spokesperson told Euronews on Wednesday that no decision has been made and that Lagarde remains focused on her mission, but the response stops short of an explicit denial of a…
Christine Lagarde said her “baseline” is that she will stay at the European Central Bank until her term as president ends in October 2027. “I think that we have accomplished a lot, that I have accomplished a lot,” she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published on Friday. “We need to consolidate and make sure that this is really solid and reliable. So my baseline is that it will take until the end of my term.” Her comments come two days after a report in the FT, sourced to a single person “familiar with her thinking,” suggested…
The EU’s envoy to Ukraine on war, resilience — and Nordic walking – POLITICO Skip to main content
At a busy mall in western Beijing, three humanoid robots are dancing their way into the Lunar New Year. Among lion dances and pop hits, the robots move with uncanny precision. One even lies down for a quick ‘rest’ before springing back to life, a small moment that gets big laughs. Attendees say the improvement is striking: last year, these machines could only shuffle awkwardly; now their movements are smooth and almost human. Visitors see them as more than entertainment. Some hope robots will help in fields like elderly care. For now, though, the trio’s show captures the spirit of…
Participating in food experiences is one of the best ways to learn about the culture, community and history of a destination. And in Europe, myriad hyperlocal specialities can also lead you off the (b)eaten track and away from the crowds. From a newly developed blackcurrant trail in France to a historic route used by fishermen in Spain, here are five food roads to follow for a mouthwatering trip in Europe. Discover Burgundy’s ‘black gold’ The Burgundy region of France is renowned for its grapes, but another fruit also has deep roots in the area. Blackcurrants have grown here since the…
Yes, France is now a different size. Presumably, after causing a distraction by wearing those sunglasses, Emmanuel Macron was able to take over parts of Belgium and Spain without anyone noticing. Alas, he simultaneously lost a couple of eastern regions (albeit ones that were basically German anyway). At least that’s the version of France presented by the National Basketball Association, which introduced French superstar Victor Wembanyama at its All-Star Game by showing a very outdated map of France. “I want to reassure our neighbors, we did not provide the map,” Macron tweeted in response to the NBA’s gaffe. The NBA…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:48 GMT+1•Updated 8:02 On today’s show: An interview with Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our Maïa de La Baume brings us an update on the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace yesterday. Geopolitical expert Tomi Huhtanen elaborates on whether rising tensions in Iran could turn into a direct confrontation between the US and the mullahs’ regime. Our Aïda Sánchez takes a look at the game of thrones unfolding over who will succeed European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Tokunbo Salako reports from London on the latest developments surrounding the…
By Seth Borenstein with AP Published on 19/02/2026 – 12:27 GMT+1•Updated 20/02/2026 – 7:04 GMT+1 The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy – ideal to spark extreme wildfires – has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows. And more than half of that increase is caused by human-caused climate change, researchers calculated. What this means is that as the world warms, more places across the globe are prone to go up in flames at the same time because of increasingly synchronous fire…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots often refuse to answer political questions or echo official state narratives, suggesting that they may be censored, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, compared how leading AI chatbots in China, including BaiChuan, DeepSeek, and ChatGLM, responded to more than 100 questions about state politics, benchmarking them against models developed outside of China. Researchers flagged responses as potentially censored if a chatbot declined to answer or provided inaccurate information. Questions related to the status of Taiwan, ethnic minorities or those about well-known pro-democracy…