Author: staff
While the document didn’t explicitly name China, it implicitly refered to Beijing by stressing that “some of the European Union’s (EU) main trading partners are breaking with this multilateral framework by imposing new trade barriers or contributing to systemic and structural industrial overcapacity.” The non-paper’s signatories, which include all of the EU’s biggest economies except Germany, urged the Commission to “contemplate more frequently the opportunity to open safeguard investigations in case of sector-wide trade disruptions.” The countries also called for the bloc to “be more proactive” in bringing breaches of trade rules before the World Trade Organization, and to allocate…
By Jane Witherspoon & Toby Gregory Published on 25/05/2026 – 13:52 GMT+2•Updated 13:55 Growing instability in the Gulf and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz are a direct challenge to European energy supply and trade, the UAE president’s top adviser said on Sunday. “We did not arrive at where we are in 2026,” Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President Dr Anwar Gargash told the GLOBSEC conference in Prague. “The seeds of discontent, so to speak, whether it’s in the international system or in the Middle East as a subsystem of the international system, have been there for a long time.” When asked about…
Published on 25/05/2026 – 14:14 GMT+2 Over the weekend, China launched the Shenzhen-23 mission to its space station with three astronauts, including one who is set to stay in space for a year. The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China’s northwestern Gobi Desert with three astronauts onboard: commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying. The astronauts will be conducting dozens of experiments while in space, including an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou-21, the mission before them that has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days. This latest mission…
Published on 25/05/2026 – 13:56 GMT+2 Three of France’s top luxury hotels have lost the country’s coveted “palace” distinction, in the first downgrades since the label was introduced in 2010. Described by Le Figaro as a “devastating blow to the hushed world of luxury hotels”, the French newspaper revealed that the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Mandarin Oriental Paris and Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz have all been stripped of the title. This is following a review by the Palace Commission, the body responsible for awarding the highest distinction in French hospitality. The commission reportedly judged that the properties no longer met…
Rinkevics on Monday green-lit the coalition. Kulbergs is expected to unveil his cabinet appointments on Tuesday, Latvian outlet Diena reported. Under the terms of the coalition deal, caretake prime minister Siliņa, who belongs to the New Unity party, aims to become defense minister. The Latvian parliament could vote on the new government later this week. Security and defense will be among the main priorities of the incoming coalition. Latvia, which shares a 283-kilometer border with Russia, is one of the most outspoken advocates for Ukraine and EU defense policy. The next government will also prioritize negotiations on the EU’s next…
Published on 25/05/2026 – 13:56 GMT+2 The biggest obstacle to housing production is not money but the breakdown in communication between local and central governments, the mayor of Turkey’s sixth-largest city told Euronews at the World Urban Forum in Baku. “What we see in other cities is actually the most important obstacle in the face of housing production, not the financial problem, but the communication problem between the central government and the local administration,” said Uğur İbrahim Altay, mayor of Konya and Executive President of the United Cities and Local Governments network. Altay said housing built without integration into the…
Published on 22/05/2026 – 12:24 GMT+2•Updated 23/05/2026 – 10:03 GMT+2 Italy’s presence in the Persian Gulf and its military cooperation with Kuwait are being strengthened. Leonardo has signed a contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a subsidiary of the EDGE Group, to supply naval combat systems for latest-generation patrol vessels ordered from the shipbuilder by Kuwait. As part of the “Al Dorra” programme, Kuwait has launched a modernisation of its maritime component by ordering eight FALAJ 3 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) built in the United Arab Emirates by ADSB. Military and commercial agreements between Italy and Kuwait Military and…
Nearly 30 percent of eligible voters took part in Sunday’s referendum, which had a 26.98 percent validity threshold. Of those who voted, 97.93 percent backed removing the mayor, while just under 2.1 percent opposed it. In a post on X, Miszalski accepted the results, emphasizing “local democracy is precisely about residents having the final say.” “Not everything was achieved as I had intended,” he added. “I also know that some decisions, and the emotions surrounding them, caused many residents to lose trust in me.” The referendum results represent a major victory for PiS and Confederation, who are casting the recall in…
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reversed his controversial decision on Sunday to close a liberal private university in Istanbul, according to a decree published in the official gazette. Hundreds of students and lecturers demonstrated earlier in the day outside the main campus of Istanbul Bilgi University, which has been closed since Friday, to demand its reopening. Erdoğan on Friday ordered its closure in the middle of the school year, in an official decree. It cited a law allowing for the closure of a private institution if “the expected level of education and training…is insufficient,” a charge rejected by Bilgi students…
The encyclical is the pope’s first since his election last year. Emphasizing its significance, the pontiff took the unusual step of presenting it in person, accompanied by Canadian tech billionaire Christopher Olah, a co-founder of AI giant Anthropic. In his letter to Catholic bishops and faithful around the world, Leo described AI not just as a technological issue, but as a turning point for civilization. The encyclical places particular emphasis on the dangers posed by autonomous weapons systems, algorithmic decision-making and the detachment of human responsibility from acts of war. Leo, who holds a graduate degree in mathematics and once…