Author: staff

The delegation toured the white tower that was to host the authority, visited the Flemish old town, and interrupted lessons at the European school, named after late Commission President Jacques Delors. At the end of the day, several guests acknowledged that being the first to declare was an advantage in itself. In reality, the behind-the-scenes lobbying had started far earlier, with France assuming the role of thought leader on how to cope with the exponential growth in e-commerce packages flooding into the EU from online retailers like China’s Shein and Temu. Paris sounded the alarm on unsafe products months before…

Updated: 02/04/2026 – 15:11 GMT+2 Massive explosions and thick plumes of smoke rose in Isfahan after a powerful wave of strikes hit central Iran on Wednesday. The attacks follow earlier US strikes in the same region that triggered a large fireball. Tehran retaliates with strikes on Gulf facilities and missile launches toward Israel. … More

The virtual meeting came days after the U.S. president called for NATO countries to “take the lead” and send warships into the Strait, whose retaliatory blockage by Iran has set off a global energy crisis. Trump doubled down Wednesday night, telling POLITICO: “They gotta get guts and go in.” A readout of the meeting, provided by the U.K. side, said participants agreed to turn up international heat “including through the UN, to send clear and co-ordinated messages to Iran to permit unimpeded transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz and to comprehensively reject the imposition of tolls on vessels which…

The heart of Holy Week has opened on Thursday as Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, warning against the abuse of power and the desire for domination. Before cardinals, bishops and hundreds of priests, the pontiff blessed the oils to be used across Rome during baptisms, confirmations and the anointing of the sick, while urging Catholics to choose service over force. Later that day, in Rome at the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, he marked the traditional Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 priests. His…

Under Austrian law, all foreign military flights must apply for permission and declare their purpose before entering the country’s airspace. Requests tied to active conflicts are rejected, but routine transit or training missions are eligible for approval on a case-by-case basis. Bauer declined to say how many requests the U.S. had made, telling POLITICO he did not yet have the figures and that compiling them would take time. “The question is — why submit a request to a neutral state in the first place?” he added, hardening Vienna’s stance against Washington. Austria has been “permanently neutral” since 1955, when its…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 16:34 GMT+2 Iran has threatened “crushing” attacks on the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump vowed to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” Tehran will continue fighting until the US and Israel face “permanent regret and surrender,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson of the Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, said in comments carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. He said Iran would step up military operations and launch “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks on its enemies. Those comments come after a prime-time address at the White House in which Trump…

Even before the war in the Middle East, airlines had signaled the bloc was facing a structural kerosene deficit, due in part to sanctions on Russian oil and declining European refining capacity. European jet fuel production relies on crude imports, mainly from the Middle East. “Europe has long been a net importer of jet fuel, with imports accounting for roughly 30 percent of regional demand,” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airline lobby warned last year. “This growing reliance on imports, combined with uneven infrastructure development, underscores the risk of localized shortages and price volatility, particularly if geopolitical shocks or…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 18:54 GMT+2 Russia plans to send a second oil tanker to Cuba, the country’s Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilyov said on Thursday, citing the island’s ongoing energy blockade and reiterating Moscow’s solidarity with the Caribbean nation. The announcement comes just two days after sanctioned Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin docked at the Cuban port of Matanzas carrying 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. Experts have said that shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.…

In an announcement on Thursday, the government confirmed it had agreed a text with the U.S. that exempted the U.K. from tariffs on pharmaceuticals as well as mechtech for at least three years. It added that the countries had also agreed to work together towards mutual recognition of medical device approvals.  The U.K. has also pledged to raise pharmaceutical spending to 0.6 percent of GDP by 2035. Industry figures see the text as a stepping stone to set out a credible timeline for reaching the 0.6 percent target. The government’s oversight committee, led by Science Minister Patrick Vallance and Medicines…

Published on 02/04/2026 – 17:19 GMT+2 An increasing number of Ukrainians are returning home to the frontline areas despite Russia’s attacks and the dangers of Moscow’s all-out war, a new report revealed. According to Save the Children’s research, over 1.6 million Ukrainians returned to the regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Sumy. For most of them, feeling homesick turned out to be more decisive than living under constant Russian attacks. According to Save the Children’s research, three-quarters of the interviewed parents and caregivers admitted that missing their home and community, along with feeling isolated in places they fled to, contributed…