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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday raised concern about China’s arms buildup and military drills near Taiwan and called on the 32 alliance’s members to work together to keep free and open sea lanes in the region.  “China is supporting Russia’s efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters during his first visit to Japan since the beginning of his mandate.  “We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening,” the NATO chief added from the Japanese navy port of Yokosuka.…

Kukies dismissed the idea that Washington has gained the upper hand in trade talks after announcing the latest tariffs. “The willingness to negotiate existed long before the tariffs were announced,” he said. “I don’t see that the U.S. has gained any great advantage.” Kukies also backed the European Commission’s strategy of preparing tough countermeasures if talks fail, while offering to eliminate tariffs on industrial goods if the U.S. reciprocates. “There’s a broad consensus in German politics behind this strategy,” Kukies said. He also pointed to deteriorating sentiment in the U.S. economy. “All the reactions we’re seeing from U.S. businesses and…

France’s trade in goods deficit rose to €6.4 billion in February, up from €5.8bn in January, as well as above analyst expectations of €5.4bn, according to Banque de France. This was mainly because of a drop in exports of transport equipment and agricultural products. Electrical, mechanical and computer equipment exports also fell. On the other hand, the surplus on trade in services went up marginally in February, coming in at €4.1bn, up from €4bn in January. The seasonally and working-day adjusted current account deficit touched €1.9bn in February, compared to a downwardly revised deficit of €1.3bn in January. This was the biggest…

But Guersent downplayed speculation over the size of these fines, saying that it does not make sense to compare these with fines handed out in the past for antitrust infringements, such as the €1.8 billion the Commission fined Apple in March last year for abusive app store rules. That’s because antitrust penalties reflect repeat offenses, according to Guersent. “Fines in antitrust are the result of reiterative infringements of a very long duration,” he said. As the DMA is only one year old, “by definition, DMA infringements cannot be reiterated,” and the duration of noncompliance will be “short,” he added. Appearing…

Belgium’s Prince Laurent has lost a legal bid to receive social security benefits on top of his six-figure royal allowance, in the latest setback for the ever-controversial prince.The 61-year-old — the younger brother of King Philippe — had argued that his work should entitle him and his family to welfare on top of his €388,000 royal allowance and rent-free accommodation. Laurent had maintained that he was partly self-employed due to his role as a royal and because he had run an animal welfare charity for the past decade. “This is not about financial means but principle,” Laurent told Belgian broadcaster…

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈 It’s the final episode before recess so Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy wonder, given the turbulent times, who’ll be the first to call for Parliament to be recalled? And talking of the Lib Dems, there’s some new polling which might put a spring into the step of Ed Davey – is his party’s position on Trump and trade doing them some favours? Of course, there’s plenty of time to talk about the onslaught of US tariffs and implications for the UK – watch out for if…

Many Swiss, from the government to chocolatiers to watchmakers and other businesses, are sensing “shock” over the tougher American position on trade, but many are also taking a wait-and-see stance.At the Festichoc chocolate festival in Geneva over the weekend, the Trump administration tariffs announced last week were on many minds, though they seemed to do little to sour the mood on Switzerland’s most famous sweets.Julie Jammes, marketing manager for Canonica, a Geneva chocolatier with three stores in San Francisco, said her company hasn’t yet made any decision on what actions might be taken. “We’re waiting a little longer, but it’s…

Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence (AI) technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.Microsoft accused one of the workers in a termination letter on Monday of misconduct “designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event”. Microsoft said the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to leave five days early.The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive announced new product features…

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Turkey was hit with a baseline 10% tariff in US President Donald Trump’s trade announcement last week, compared with higher tariffs for many other countries, raising the prospect that the world’s 17th largest economy could leverage an advantage from the tariff regime.Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Monday that the country’s focus on domestic demand rather than exports would also mean a more limited impact on the economy.“Turkey has free trade agreements with a total of 54 countries outside the US and the EU,” he said, adding that “68% of our exports go to these countries”. Turkey has a customs union…