Author: staff
Updated: 20/02/2026 – 12:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this February 20th, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
Published on 20/02/2026 – 12:22 GMT+1 Are you still smarting over the end of Game of Thrones? Or unsatisfied with the spin-offs? Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company may have the answer to your woes. It’s announced plans to stage Game of Thrones: The Mad King, a new play based on the novels by George R. R. Martin, adapted by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke. The RSC says its stage is a natural home and the perfect setting for fans to reacquaint themselves with the houses of Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon and Martell as Martin’s work was “Shakespearian in its…
A mix of heavy security around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, organizational confusion, and unforgiving Delhi traffic made even basic planning difficult. At points, attendees were warned not to come at all or abruptly told to leave. One POLITICO reporter arrived at the designated entrance only to find it closed — and was then redirected to another closed entrance. Inside, signage was poor, crossing the venue could mean multiple security checks, and everyday items like car keys or laptops were occasionally treated as potential hazards. Then again, several Delhi regulars noted that, by local standards, summit week was comparatively well organized.…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 12:34 GMT+1•Updated 12:35 European steel shipments to the US declined 30% between June and December 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to recent Eurostat data compiled by Eurofer, the Brussels-based industry group. The decline underscores the impact of the US’s 50% tariffs on EU steel, even after the EU and US signed a trade agreement in July 2025 agreeing a blanket 15% US tariff on EU goods. Steel was carved out of that deal and talks to ease duties remain stuck. “A 30% drop in steel exports to the US within just…
Tina, a white stoat chosen by public vote in 2024, represents the Winter Olympics and their Alpine roots. Ayo, a young lion from Senegal whose name means joy in Yoruba, arrived for a friendly visit before the Youth Olympic Games. The pair posed in Piazza del Duomo and by Castello Sforzesco, drawing families and tourists. Tina will stay in the spotlight until the Winter Olympics close on Sunday. Ayo now looks ahead to Dakar, where the Youth Olympic Games run from 31 October to 13 November 2026.
Published on 20/02/2026 – 11:32 GMT+1 Chart-topping French rapper Naps has been sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a young woman while she was asleep in October 2021 in a Paris hotel room. The 40-year-old artist from Marseille, whose real name is Nabil Boukhobza, was convicted by the Paris criminal court, which cited an “absence of consent” in its ruling. Judges noted that the complainant had consistently maintained she was asleep and said the “pain of vaginal penetration” woke her. Boukhobza, who has more than three million subscribers on YouTube, and best known for his 2021 hit “La…
Former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s sudden departure from No. 10 in 2016 after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union triggered a period of unprecedented churn in British politics. None of his successors — Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak — served a full parliamentary term. Three were ousted from high office by their own side. It wasn’t always this way: Prime ministers used to last. Margaret Thatcher completed 11 years at the top, spending the whole of the 1980s in No. 10. Her successor John Major lasted six-and-a-half years, and Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair enjoyed…
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…