Author: staff
But Blair, who highlighted his three-time win record, argued that rather than “Keir’s personality” or “a failure to communicate,” the current government’s main affliction is the total absence of a “worked-out, coherent plan for the country.” In the essay, he urges Labour to avoid a drift to the left and instead to push for a “radical center” policy agenda if it is to hold on to power, including grappling with artificial intelligence policy, capping pension spending, and easing restrictions on oil and gas drilling. “Trying to force the prime minister out before we know what policy direction we’re bringing in,…
Georgia on Tuesday marked its Independence Day with a parade attended by officials and new military service recruits taking their oath, and that saw thousands of Georgians take to the streets later in the day for a pro-Europe rally in the capital, Tbilisi. The rally comes during deep polarisation within Georgian society and in what many critics say is the government’s democratic backsliding and anti-Western tilt. Waving Georgian and EU flags, thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi before staging a rally outside parliament amid a heavy police presence. Many held placards reading “We are Europe” and portraits of jailed…
French operation In a memoir published last year, Fedorova mentions her “deeply personal” bond with Ukraine, where both her parents were born when it was still part of the Soviet Union. She grew up partly in Austria, where her widowed mother — whom she describes as a former journalist-turned-entrepreneur — emigrated with her seven children to escape the chaos that followed the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Fedorova said she had first considered a career in diplomacy and studied international relations before deciding to turn to journalism. Her international background and language skills — Russian, German, English and some French,…
Europe’s railways are about to get an upgrade on paper. The European Commission has launched its “One Journey, One Ticket, Full Rights” proposal. It targets one of rail travel’s most persistent headaches: fragmented cross-border booking. Under the current system, a journey from Brussels to Vienna means juggling tickets from multiple operators on separate websites. Each has different rules and offers no protection if a delay causes a missed connection. The Commission’s package would let passengers search, compare, and buy a single ticket covering every leg of a cross-border journey. It includes full rights to rerouting and compensation if something goes…
Published on 27/05/2026 – 10:32 GMT+2 French luxury department store Galeries Lafayette closed its first flagship shop in China on Wednesday 27 May, thirteen years after it opened. The group said the decision was due to a decline in sales in recent years. While the luxury market experienced strong growth in the mid-2010s, boosted in particular by the rise of the middle class, Covid-19 and the severe property crisis marked a decisive turning point, abruptly curbing Chinese domestic consumption and forcing the sector to adapt to new economic realities. “We have seen a decade of growth in the luxury sector…
In 2021, Frances Haugen, a former employee of Meta Platforms (then known as Facebook), leaked internal documents showing that the company was aware of the harm it was causing to users. For instance, the documents revealed that Facebook knew Instagram was worsening body image issues among teenagers, but downplayed the problem in public. “The company’s leadership knows ways to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but they won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their immense profits before people,” Haugen told the European Parliament during a hearing on 8 November 2021. Haugen’s story made international headlines and sparked discussion…
The El Confidencial news site reported the UCO’s deployment was authorized by the National Court and is linked to an unrelated investigation overseen by Spain’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. Spanish judicial authorities did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. Sánchez’s fragile minority government has been under heavy pressure since news of Zapatero’s indictment. The regionalist parties that allowed his left-wing coalition to form a government in 2023, and which have been essential for getting legislation through parliament since then, have grown wary of being associated with the prime minister and his party, which has been battered by a steady stream…
In 2025, just under half of internet users across 20 EU countries encountered online messages they considered hostile and degrading towards specific groups or individuals, according to the latest figures from Eurostat. The highest shares were recorded in Ireland, Hungary, Finland and Slovakia, while the lowest shares were in Latvia, Greece, Germany and Lithuania. The messages targeted a wide range of groups and individuals. Most people saw hostile content aimed at others for their political or social views, racial and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or religion and beliefs. Hostile messages also targeted people based on sex, disability, age, or other…
Ferrari chairman John Elkann and senior company executives met the pontiff before unveiling the vehicle under a red cover. The Pope inspected the car closely, sat in the driver’s seat and listened as Ferrari test driver Raffaele De Simone explained the vehicle’s controls and driving modes. Images from the Vatican meeting showed the Pope holding a Ferrari steering wheel and posing with engineers and technical staff from the Italian manufacturer. Ferrari said the Luce uses four electric motors, one on each wheel, and delivers up to 1,040 horsepower. The company estimates a driving range of 530 kilometres, while acceleration from…
By Laura Fleischmann Published on 27/05/2026 – 9:01 GMT+2 Global private financial wealth grew by 7.4 per cent in 2025 – significantly outpacing inflation, which remained below 3 per cent in each of the major economic areas. In Germany it stood at 2.2 per cent. That is according to the ‘Global Wealth Report 2026’ published today by the management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Growth driven above all by strong equity markets The main driver of the increase in wealth was last year’s performance on the stock markets. In Germany, total wealth as of the reporting date of 31 December 2025…