Author: staff
France has in recent years struggled to rein in spending and a debt burden that has grown from €2.3 trillion to more than €3.5 trillion and is becoming increasingly expensive to service as interest rates spike across the world. Lecornu, who vigorously opposes tax hikes on any segments of the population, said the country needs to find an additional €10 billion to finance the debt. “The debt burden is weighing increasingly heavily on the budget equation,” he said. The French government had initially planned on reducing its deficit to 4.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) this year — but…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 17:24 GMT+2 The European Commission stepped up pressure on China on Thursday, calling for tangible results with Beijing following a one-hour video call between Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao. The EU executive hopes to secure commitments from Beijing to rebalance the trade relationship, as the bloc’s trade deficit with China has been widening by €1 billion a day. However, Beijing wants to secure access to the EU’s market of 450 million consumers, resisting calls from the Europeans to reduce its exports. “While genuine engagement remains a priority, it is equally important…
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Published on 17/09/2026 – 17:03 GMT+2 No new hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data centres are expected to be approved in Scotland for up to a year, after lawmakers backed a pause on planning decisions while new national rules are developed. Hyperscale data centres are among the largest facilities of their kind, designed to provide vast amounts of computing power and typically requiring tens of megawatts of electricity or more. The Scottish Parliament on Wednesday said no planning or consenting decisions on hyperscale data centre applications should be made until the government publishes national guidance, which is due within 12 months,…
From Formula 1 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup to concerts and food festivals, Qatar has unveiled a calendar of more than 560 events stretching through 2027. The programme comes as the Gulf country looks to build on record visitor numbers following a period of regional uncertainty. Qatar welcomed 5.1 million visitors last year, according to Visit Qatar. Jassim Al Mahmoud, Director of Communications at Visit Qatar, said another 2.9 million arrived in the first half of this year. “The biggest number of visitors arrived to Qatar last year, so this is something that drives us to have such a…
Healy-Rae had his window rolled down and was talking on the phone to his son Jackie, a Kerry councilman, as a man walked into the road and started punching the politician in the face. While the attacker fled on foot, police helped Healy-Rae reach a nearby hospital to have his facial wounds stitched up. Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the attack on Healy-Rae — who had been a junior minister in his coalition government before his surprise resignation in April — could mark a watershed in how Irish politicians operate in public. “We’ve never had this before in our society,”…
Europe is bracing for a potential oil supply shock after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline, also known as Petroline, following drone attacks earlier this month from Iran-backed allied Houthis and Iraq. The Saudi energy ministry announced a precautionary shutdown on 10 September after drone attacks on the pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions the previous day. The siege knocked out one of the kingdom’s most important alternatives to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – the transit ruote for 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies – since the US and Israel launched military attacks on…
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 17 September, Carney backed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to explore making Canada the EU’s first associate member, describing it as part of a broader effort to strengthen their sovereignty and resilience. He called for deeper cooperation on critical minerals, defence, artificial intelligence, energy, space and financial systems, while proposing closer digital trade and stronger links between universities and young people. Carney also made clear that the partnership was not intended to create a new geopolitical bloc. “I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power…
International tourism grew just 0.4% in the first half of 2026, with Europe seeing a 3% uptick in arrivals, according to the latest World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism. The continent was among the strongest performers, with only Africa seeing a larger growth of 4%. Some 350 million international tourists visited Europe between January and June this year – but that growth wasn’t uniform. Both Southern Mediterranean Europe and Central Eastern Europe saw a 4% growth, with Northern Europe up 3%. On the flip side, arrivals in Western Europe declined 1%, with UN Tourism noting this was “partly due to…
Coming after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed admitting Canada as an associate member of the EU, Calviño’s trip is significant given that the EIB typically only operates in developing countries or members of the European Union or European Economic Area. Ahead of this year’s G7 summit, Canada extended a behind-the-scenes offer to alliance members for “priority access” to its critical minerals stockpile, according to a letter seen by POLITICO from Hodgson. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney named boosting critical raw materials as one of the areas in which he wants to boost collaboration between Ottawa…