Author: staff

If you are a Western leader who has been on the receiving end of United States President Donald Trump’s mercurial decision-making, chances are you are considering a trip to Beijing. The past two months have seen France’s Emmanuel Macron, Ireland’s Micheál Martin, Canada’s Mark Carney, Finland’s Petteri Orpo and Britain’s Keir Starmer make the journey to the Chinese capital. Germany’s Friederich Merz is expected to land later this month. The official visits, largely focused on securing greater access to the notoriously restrictive Chinese market, coincide with a steady rise in transatlantic tensions caused by Washington’s ever-expansive foreign policy, including, most…

Published on 03/02/2026 – 6:34 GMT+1 A court in Bangladesh sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in prison on Monday, and her niece, Tulip Siddiq, who is a UK lawmaker, to four years, in two cases involving a government township project near the capital, Dhaka. Judge Mohammed Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge’s Court-4 also handed down seven-year prison terms to another niece of Hasina’s, Azmina Siddiq, and nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq. The country’s official corruption watchdog filed the cases alleging that Hasina colluded with government officials to illegally secure six plots in the Purbachal New Town…

Food prices in the EU rose by 2.8% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Inflation was much higher for some products, reaching 10% for certain items according to Eurostat. Which countries recorded the highest food inflation in 2025? Which food products saw the biggest price increases? And were there any products where prices fell? Prices in Turkey skyrocket Turkey was a clear outlier when it comes to food inflation, with prices going up by a whopping 32.8% in 2025, underscoring Turkey’s wider inflation problems. The next-highest increase was far lower, at 7.6% in Kosovo. Within the EU, Romania recorded…

Published on 03/02/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Shark bites dominated headlines earlier this year after four unprovoked attacks were recorded within just 48 hours along Australia’s east coast. The series of disturbing incidents saw a 12-year-old boy rushed to hospital with critical injuries after swimming in Sydney Harbour on 18 January. He later died from the attack. The next day, an 11-year-old had their surfboard destroyed by a shark at Dee Why Beach. Hours later, a man was attacked in the nearby suburb of Manly. On 20 January, a surfer “sustained a wound to his chest” after a shark struck around…

The worries are fueled by the sycophantic nature of chatbots, which aim to be helpful for their users and please them as much as possible. “The AI is trying to make us, in the immediate moment, feel good, but that isn’t always in our interest,” Bengio said. In that sense, the technology has similar pitfalls to social media platforms, he argued. Bengio said to expect that new regulations will be introduced to address the phenomenon. He pushed back, however, against the idea of introducing specific rules for AI companions and argued that the risk should be addressed through horizontal legislation…

Published on 03/02/2026 – 6:06 GMT+1 Tourists hoping to get close to the Trevi Fountain in the Italian capital, Rome, had to pay €2 starting on Monday, as the city inaugurated a new fee structure to help raise money and control crowds at one of the world’s most celebrated waterworks. The first tourists to pass through the new ticket check seemed unbothered, noting that it was a small fee to pay to gain access to the historic fountain, made popular by Federico Fellini’s film “La Dolce Vita”. “Before, there were problems accessing the fountain. There were a lot of people.…

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European countries already collectively field advanced air forces, world-class submarines, significant naval power, cutting-edge missile and air-defense systems, cyber expertise, space assets and one of the largest defense-industrial bases in the world. And when it comes to the defense of Ukraine, European allies — including France — have significantly expanded their intelligence contributions. The problem, therefore, isn’t so much scarcity but national and industrial fragmentation, coupled with the risk of technological stagnation and insufficient investment in key enablers like munitions production, military mobility, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, satellites, air-to-air refueling and integrated command structures. As demonstrated by satellite projects like…

Szijjártó said Hungary’s case was based on three arguments. “First, energy imports can only be banned through sanctions, which require unanimity. This regulation was adopted under the guise of a trade policy measure,” he said. “Second, the EU Treaties clearly state that each member state decides its choice of energy sources and suppliers. “Third, the principle of energy solidarity requires the security of energy supply for all member states. This decision clearly violates that principle, certainly in the case of Hungary.” Slovakia has also said it will challenge the law in court.

DRI — with the support of the Society for Civil Rights and law firm Hausfeld — is now appealing to a higher Berlin court, which has set a hearing date of Feb. 17. Sites including X are obliged to grant researchers access to data under the European Union’s regulatory framework for social media platforms, the Digital Services Act, to allow external scrutiny of how platforms handle major online risks, including election interference. The European Commission fined X €40 million for failing to provide data access in December, as part of a €120 million levy for non-compliance with transparency obligations. The…