Author: staff
By Rebecca Ann Hughes Published on 19/02/2026 – 13:10 GMT+1•Updated 09/03/2026 – 13:58 GMT+1 Brussels Airport is bracing for severe disruption this week as some of Belgium’s largest trade unions plan industrial action. A strike notice has been issued for Thursday 12 March, lasting 24 hours. The walkout will see widespread flight cancellations and delays. Here’s what travellers need to know. Brussels Airport cancels all departures on 12 March Key Belgian trade unions, including FGTB/ABVV, CSC/ACV, and CGSLB/ACLVB, are staging a nationwide strike on 12 March, protesting against unpaid labour and pension reforms. The walkouts will affect various sectors, including public…
At a dinner last week attended by the European Commission president’s chief of staff, Bjoern Seibert, EU ambassadors rejected the possibility of allowing in new members with limited privileges. Kallas’ words offer heavyweight backing to the idea that enlargement isn’t simply a bureaucratic process by which candidates fulfill EU criteria but a geopolitical choice — as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested. “Enlargement has been described as the union’s most successful foreign policy, extending the area of stability, peace and prosperity,” Kallas said, citing Eurobarometer data showing wide support for expanding the 27-member bloc. But, she added, “it…
Belgium’s federal judicial police anti-terrorism unit and the federal prosecutor’s office are investigating the incident. A spokesperson for the Liège mayor’s office told POLITICO: “The mayor and the municipal executive express their strongest condemnation of this extremely violent act of antisemitism, which runs counter to Liège’s tradition of respect for others. There can be no question of importing external conflicts into our city.” According to the mayor’s office, the blast caused damage to the building. Local media reported that windows on the building’s front façade were blown out. The mayor’s office said a press briefing would be held later in…
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said Slovakia is ready to block the European Union’s €90 billion loan package for Ukraine after April if Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán loses the election and Kyiv fails to restart oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline. Hungary is currently blocking the EU’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine over the Druzhba pipeline, a key source for Russian oil to Hungary, which was damaged in a Russian drone strike in January. Orbán is struggling in the polls ahead of the 12 April election, with the opposition Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar, holding a substantial…
European stock markets were all in negative territory on Monday morning after weak sentiment in Asian markets, where Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 5% and Taiwan’s benchmark fell 4.4%. Other Asian markets also tumbled after oil prices soared to nearly $120 a barrel, casting a shadow over economies heavily dependent on imported crude and gas from the region. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.6%, while Frankfurt’s DAX, Paris’s CAC 40 and Milan’s FTSE MIB were all down more than 2.4%, as of 09:30 CET. Madrid’s IBEX 35 fell nearly 2.7%, and the pan-European Stoxx 600…
A stranded cruise ship on the Polish Baltic coast – only it won’t be moving again. The “Gołębiewski” hotel in Pobierowo, West Pomerania, should have opened in 2021, but it still hasn’t. In a Facebook post from 21 January, the company announced: “We will soon be opening a new hotel in Pobierów.” In the post, the hotel advertises for staff. They are looking for housekeepers, cooks, receptionists – there are quite a few positions that need to be filled. Alarm bells are ringing in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Will guests and workers be poached on a grand scale in future? The project was…
But with wars raging in Iran and Ukraine and with U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take Greenland from Denmark, von der Leyen used her speech Monday to make a full-throated case for the EU to rip up the way it does foreign policy, much of which requires unanimity from all 27 member countries. That requirement has seen individual countries repeatedly block EU decisions, such as Hungary’s recent move to stall Ukraine’s much-needed €90 billion loan. “We urgently need to reflect on whether our doctrine, our institutions and our decision making — all designed in a postwar world of…
Published on 09/03/2026 – 11:19 GMT+1 Bahrain’s state energy company declared force majeure on its oil shipments on Monday after an Iranian attack set its only refinery ablaze, becoming the latest Gulf state to invoke the clause as Iran widens its campaign against regional energy infrastructure. A strike targeting Bahrain’s sprawling Al-Ma’ameer oil facility caused a fire at the complex along with material damage, the Bahrain News Agency reported, though no casualties were recorded and firefighting operations were under way. Videos widely shared on social media showed thick smoke billowing from the industrial zone housing the refinery. In its force…
Published on 09/03/2026 – 10:48 GMT+1 “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY,” reads a White House post accompanying a propaganda video that celebrates the US and Israel’s bombings of Iran. The video is a supercut of drone footage spliced with extracts from action films and TV shows, featuring the likes of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark from the Marvel films, Russell Crowe as Maximus in Gladiator, Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars franchise and Bryan Cranston as Walter White in Breaking Bad. Also featured are shots from Braveheart, John Wick, Superman, Deadpool and…
PARIS — Les ministres des Finances des pays du G7 discuteront lundi de la possibilité d’utiliser les réserves pétrolières d’urgence dans un contexte de flambée des prix de l’énergie déclenchée par la guerre des Etats-Unis et d’Israël contre l’Iran. “Le recours aux réserves stratégiques est une option envisagée”, a déclaré lundi un conseiller de l’exécutif français. Le ministre français des finances, Roland Lescure, qui assure la présidence tournante du groupe des finances du G7, présidera la réunion virtuelle prévue à 13h30. Les discussions sur l’utilisation des réserves stratégiques de pétrole — de l’ordre de 300 à 400 millions de barils…