Author: staff

Each year, Meltdown chooses a different musical act to direct the festival’s programme.  In February, Mercury Prize-winning artist Little Simz was revealed as the curator of the 30th edition at London’s Southbank Centre, which will take place from 12-22 June.  Last month, we already got an impressive announcement of artists including The Streets, MOBO Award-winning London-born rapper Ghetts and multi-award winning jazz pianist Jon Batiste – best known to many as the co-composer of the Oscar-winning score for Pixar’s Soul.Now, the already stacked line-up gets more names, with Grammy-nominated R&B singer Mahalia, who will play in the Royal Festival Hall on the…

Students in German schools should undergo crisis training, senior conservative lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter said Monday, as the specter of war haunts Europe. “It is absolutely necessary to practice emergency scenarios, as students are particularly vulnerable and especially affected in such situations,” Kiesewetter, who is the deputy chair of the Bundestag’s intelligence oversight committee, told German business newspaper Handelsblatt. “There should also be basic training on how to behave in disaster situations. This would also be wise and forward-thinking with regard to a possible national service,” he said, adding that this type of training already exists in Finland.

Migrant return hubs, a stronger role for Frontex and toughening the criteria for migrants to be joined by their families are among stances touted by a new position paper on migration adopted by the European People’s Party (EPP) group this week, which would align the party with its more right-wing counterparts in the Parliament. Under the title “Harnessing Migration: A Firm, Fair, and Future-Oriented Approach” the 9-point action plan “to halt uncontrolled migration” seen by Euronews is meant to define the group’s stance on issues such as returns, fighting migrant smuggling and protection of external borders as well as the Schengen area, EPP…

A lobbyist, a senior executive and a procurement manager with Huawei were among the suspects in the corruption probe who first faced Belgian judges last week as part of procedural hearings. The officials were preliminary charged with corruption, participation in a criminal organization and money laundering. They are presumed innocent. It is unclear if the three employees fired and suspended by Huawei are the same as the Huawei officials who were preliminary charged. “The company maintains a zero-tolerance stance against corruption. As always, we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations,” the Huawei spokesperson said. The…

Around 10,793 victims of human trafficking were registered in the EU in 2023, an increase of 6.9% compared with the previous year, according to the latest Eurostat figures. So far, this is the highest recorded value between 2008 and 2023. In 2023, there were 24 registered victims of trafficking in human beings per one million inhabitants in the EU – a rise from 23 registered victims per one million inhabitants in 2022. The highest rates in the EU were observed in Luxembourg, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden, while the lowest rates were observed in Croatia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic.”Higher rates could…

Rescue teams in Myanmar, including international responders, continue to clear rubble in Naypyitaw following the devastating earthquake.The 7.7 magnitude quake near Mandalay on 28 March has claimed 3,564 lives, left 5,012 people injured and 210 missing, according to the military.The disaster caused widespread destruction across six regions, leaving many areas without power and communication, complicating relief efforts. In the capital, locals are clearing debris from damaged homes, while rescue teams, including Russian workers, search for survivors. Damage to roads and bridges makes access to affected areas difficult, delaying the full assessment of the devastation.

China has accused the United States of economic bullying, protectionism and unilateralism, following Washington’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese imports. Beijing also urged American firms, including Tesla, to “take concrete actions” to help resolve the dispute.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters that the “America First” approach was harming global production, supply chains and economic recovery. The remarks come after US President Donald Trump announced a further 34% tariff on Chinese goods last week, following earlier rounds of 10% tariffs in February and March. Trump linked the new measures to China’s alleged role in the fentanyl crisis.The raft of tariffs caused…

Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek has introduced a new way to improve the reasoning capabilities of large language models (LLMs) to deliver better and faster results to general queries than its competitors. DeepSeek sparked a frenzy in January when it came onto the scene with R1, an artificial intelligence (AI) model and chatbot that the company claimed was cheaper and performed just as well as OpenAI’s rival ChatGPT model. Collaborating with researchers from China’s Tsinghua University, DeepSeek said in its latest paper released on Friday that it had developed a technique for self-improving AI models. The underlying technology is called self-principled critique tuning (SPCT),…

Trump then threatened to hit European alcohol products with a massive 200 percent tariff. Such a measure could decimate the industry and would disproportionally hurt France, one of Europe’s largest alcohol exporters. The French government has been for weeks urging the European Commission to spare bourbon. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron hinted at the fact that France obtained what it wanted, noting that “difficulties that may have come up on the first versions of the lists have been corrected.” As a European commissioner, Séjourné is expected to act on behalf of the entire EU and not represent France’s interests…

A Russian court has reduced the prison sentence of a US soldier who was convicted last year of theft and making threats of murder, state media reported on Monday, in the latest signal of thawing relations between Washington and Moscow. US Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was sentenced by a court in the port city of Vladivostok in June 2024 to three years and nine months in jail. An appeals court cut that sentence to three years and two months, according to Russia’s RIA and Tass state news agencies.The 34-year-old flew to Vladivostok in April 2024 to see his girlfriend, Alexandra…