Author: staff
The EBU in Geneva also agreed on measures to “curb disproportionate third-party influence, including government-backed campaigns,” and limited the number of public votes to 10 “per payment method.” RTVE called the change “insufficient.” Controversy earlier this year prompted the changes, when several European broadcasters alleged that the Israeli government had interfered in the voting — after Israel received the largest number of public votes during the final. The EBU has been in talks with its members about Israel’s participation since the issue was raised at a June meeting of national broadcasters in London. Eurovision is run by the EBU, an alliance of public…
Poland’s Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek has informed the parliament speaker that charges have been brought against three key politicians associated with the previous government led by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party. They are former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak and the former head of the Ministry of Agriculture Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski. According to the prosecutor’s office, they are all alleged to have committed violations of the law in connection with their official functions, the Prosecutor General’s office announced on Thursday. According to law, the prosecutor is obliged…
Speaking before the final round of negotiations, Danish Agriculture Minister Jacob Jensen argued that the bloc needs to have NGTs in its toolbox if it wants to compete with China and the U.S., which are already making use of the new tech. The deal “is about giving European farmers a fair chance to keep up” echoed center-right MEP Jessica Polfjärd, the lead negotiator on the Parliament’s side of the deal. She added that the technology will allow for the bloc to “produce more yield on less land, reduce the use of pesticides, and plant crops that can resist climate change.”…
Published on 04/12/2025 – 19:50 GMT+1 Britain and Norway have announced new joint naval patrols aimed at protecting undersea cables from Russia, the UK said Thursday, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre held talks on defence. The UK government said a combined fleet of at least 13 warships will “hunt Russian submarines and protect critical infrastructure in the North Atlantic.” Norway’s Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik, who signed the deal with his British counterpart John Healey, said it would allow both countries to “defend themselves together.” It follows a £10 billion (€11 billion) deal…
The court considered several social media posts in which Žemaitaitis blamed Jews for the “destruction of our nation” and for “contributing to the torture, deportation, and killing of Lithuanians.” After Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian school on May 7, 2023, Žemaitaitis wrote: “After such events, it is no wonder that statements like this emerge: ‘A Jew climbed the ladder and accidentally fell. Take, children, a stick and kill that little Jew.’” His lawyer, Egidija Belevičienė, told local media that while her client’s remarks “may have been inappropriate and may have shocked some people, they did not reach the level of danger…
Spain and the Netherlands announced on Thursday they are pulling out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organisers decided to allow Israel to compete. The announcements came after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that runs Eurovision, met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation, which is opposed by some countries due to its conduct of the war in Gaza. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said that the participation of Israel “is no longer compatible with the responsibility we bear as a public broadcaster.” Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE said that the country is pulling out after the EBU voted to let…
Interviewing Tice on the Today program on Thursday morning, Barnett said: “Let’s talk about your leader Nigel Farage’s relationship when he was younger with Hitler.” Tice then dismissed the claims as lies. “I thought this morning’s performance by one of your lower grade presenters on the Today program was utterly disgraceful,” Farage told a BBC reporter at the press conference on Thursday. “To frame a question around the leader of Reform’s relationship with Hitler, which is how she framed it, was despicable, disgusting beyond belief.” While denying he had ever racially abused anyone, Farage accused the BBC of “double standards and…
Updated: 04/12/2025 – 18:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this December 4th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
Published on 04/12/2025 – 17:33 GMT+1 The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group has confirmed it will support the European Commission’s project to create large artificial intelligence “gigafactories” across the European Union. The agreement was signed in Brussels on Thursday by Commission Executive Vice-President for Technology Henna Virkkunen, EIB President Nadia Calviño and European Investment Fund Deputy CEO Merete Clausen. The goal is to speed up the development of the massive computing centres needed to train advanced AI models. “The EU is determined to become a global leader in artificial intelligence” Virkkunen said. “These gigafactories will form the backbone of Europe’s…
Spanish police said on Thursday they had broken up a criminal network linked to smuggling 300 workers into the country, mostly from Nepal. The workers were placed illegally on farms in central and eastern Spain. Police arrested 11 people and are investigating two others. A total of 322 people, most from Nepal, were among the victims. Of those, 294 lacked proper documentation to live and work in Spain. In a statement, police said most of those smuggled had entered on tourist visas, including for other countries within the European Union’s Schengen area, which is made up of 25 of the…