Author: staff

From social media to AI, new technologies have changed the way that we produce and consume poetry. For World Poetry Day, we take a deep dive into the trends that brought a renewed popularity to this genre. When French writer Marion Fritsch began posting short texts on Instagram in 2023, she did not think her work qualified as poetry. That was, until everybody else told her so. “When I chose my status for my Instagram account, I hesitated between ‘writer’ and ‘artist.’ I put ‘poet’ just for fun. In the end, what started out as a joke has become serious”,…

What happened at Heathrow airport? A fire broke out Thursday night at an electrical substation in Nestles Avenue in Hayes, which is less than 5 kilometers from Heathrow. Around 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines were working to douse the fire at the substation, which was still burning Friday morning. The fire caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes, local businesses and Heathrow airport. Around 150 people were evacuated from the surrounding area and a 200-meter cordon established. The fire brigade advised local residents to keep windows and doors locked to keep smoke out of their homes.…

The protest movement aims to reaffirm the EU’s importance for Slovakia as the country’s government tilts towards Russia. As massive anti-government demonstrations in Slovakia reach the three-month mark, protest organisers and political observers alike say that the country is at a crossroads in the face of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico’s turn away from the EU and towards Moscow.   On Friday, crowds will take to the streets across the country once again to voice their discontent with Fico, who has pivoted to the east since taking office for a fourth time in October 2023. Since then, critics have decried his government…

Mariah Carey didn’t steal ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ from other writers. A judge has ruled that Andy Stone’s song of the same name was not “substantially similar” to Carey’s festive classic. Mariah Carey has been cleared in the lawsuit over her 1994 Christmas colossus ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani granted Carey’s request for summary judgment, giving her and co-writer and co-defendant Walter Afanasieff a victory without going to trial.The country singer Andy Stone – who performs under the stage name Vince Vance – had filed a $20 million suit against Carey in…

Pipeline problems That said, the storage plan faces a raft of logistical problems — and may not be realistic. Aura Sabadus, a senior gas market expert at the ICIS consultancy, said the proposal is a “good idea” since it would also allow Ukraine to earn revenues from storing gas. But the capacity of the so-called Trans-Balkan pipeline that travels through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine can currently only carry around 2.5 bcm of gas, she said — far short of the proposed 10 bcm. That’s because Romania and Bulgaria have not made enough gas trading capacity available, Sabadus said. The…

U.S. President Donald Trump upped the ante last week by threatening 200 percent tariffs on European alcohol. Such a move would disproportionally affect winemaking countries including France, which exported €15.4 billion worth of wine and spirits last year, according to the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS), most of which went to the United States. France is the EU’s top exporter of wine and spirits, and the sector is particular influential in French politics and society. With one of its most valuable exports now in the White House’s crosshairs, French leaders appear to be getting cold feet on…

Uncertainty around trade will have a major impact on global growth, reducing business investment in the EU and the UK by 2% this year, Oxford Economics finds. Businesses across major economies including the EU are expected to cut back on investment plans due to increased uncertainty.In particular, this climate has been created by the trade policies of the Trump administration in the US, which currently affect third-country imports as a broader trade war is shaping up.According to the latest report from Oxford Economics, trade policy uncertainty alone is predicted to dramatically cost the global economy, mainly due to a drop…

Influential tech industry group DIGITALEUROPE suspended Chinese member Huawei in the wake of a probe by Belgian prosecutors into suspected bribery at the European Parliament. Tech industry group DIGITALEUROPE has temporarily suspended Chinese tech giant Huawei from membership in the wake of a probe into alleged bribery, Director General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl has told employees of the group in an email seen by Euronews.The note said that the suspension was a “precautionary measure to safeguard the effective operations of the association”, making clear it “does not imply any assumption of guilt”. On Tuesday, five people were charged in a corruption probe linked…

London’s Heathrow Airport will be closed for the entirety of Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation cut power to the area. Heathrow, which is Europe’s busiest airport, advised passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact airlines for further instructions. “Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” the airport said in a post on social media. The London Fire Brigade said in a statement that around…

Regierungsbildung unter Hochdruck:Thorsten Frei, Erster Parlamentarischer Geschäftsführer der Unionsfraktion, spricht über die Koalitionsverhandlungen zwischen CDU und SPD, die Kehrtwende in der Schuldenpolitik und geplante Sozialkürzungen. Welche Steuererleichterungen wird es geben, wann kommen sie? Was wird aus der Mütterrente? Wie sieht die künftige Finanz- und Sozialpolitik Deutschlands aus? Ein Gespräch über Machtfragen, Strategien und die politische Zukunft – direkt aus dem Berliner Regierungsviertel.  Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es morgens um 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team bringen euch jeden Morgen auf den neuesten Stand in Sachen Politik — kompakt, europäisch, hintergründig. Und für alle Hauptstadt-Profis:Unser Berlin Playbook-Newsletter liefert…