Author: staff
“I think [a decision] is possible by the end of the year,” Macron told journalists at the summit’s conclusion, adding that failure to strike a deal this year would not “be a good method from a democratic standpoint.” Instead, leaders spent much of the two-day summit trying to gain a tactical upper hand over rivals on EU climate rules and migration policy. Trench warfare A push led Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to water down an emissions trading scheme known as ETS2 hijacked discussions for hours on Thursday. But despite wider support for Tusk’s position than at previous summits, it…
Romanian President Nicușor Dan has said the Black Sea would only become safe after Russia’s war in Ukraine ends, as he called for greater NATO oversight in the region following drone strikes on commercial vessels in an interview with Euronews. “I’m very optimistic that we’ll have the support and the capabilities in order to be better protected, because it’s an important economic question for Ukraine and for the whole region,” he said on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels held Friday. The Romanian leader said frequent drone incursions into his country’s territory had begun roughly a year and…
By Serguei Doubine & Euronews Russian Published on 16/10/2026 – 14:25 GMT+2 Ukrainian drones forced all four of Moscow’s main airports to close overnight, with Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo suspended for up to seven hours and more than 160 flights cancelled. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 94 drones heading towards the capital had been shot down. Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg was twice forced to halt operations during the same night. Governor of Leningrad region Alexander Drozdenko said four drones were destroyed over the region. Euronews could not independently verify the claims. According to Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo, Moscow’s four airports were…
The Scottish government — led by the SNP since 2007 — released a draft energy strategy in 2023 which set out its “presumption against” new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. That draft strategy is “out of date,” one senior Scottish government official said. They said a new strategy, expected by the summer, will not contain this wording. A second person with knowledge of the policy said the new strategy will “reflect the world as it is.” The shift in policy comes with the U.K. government widely expected to give the go-ahead to the Jackdaw gas field next…
EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday and Friday with a packed agenda, from the long-term budget and financial support for Ukraine to migration, energy and China. The summit alternated between entrenched positions on the bloc’s budget, a warm welcome for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and clashes over energy and migration policies. Here are the five highlights. Rallying behind Ukraine The bitter row between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump dominated the second day of the summit. Leaders closed ranks behind Zelenskyy and promised to keep sanctions in place for as long as Russia pursues its full-scale invasion. They also…
Japan’s first female PM says makeup and housework add hours to her working day Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sparked debate over gender roles and work-life balance after saying household chores and personal grooming add three to four hours to her daily routine compared with male prime ministers. Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Takaichi said she prepares breakfast, cleans up and applies makeup before starting her official duties. “In the morning, I take a bath, prepare breakfast, clean up afterwards, and then do my makeup. When you add all that up, I feel I may be spending an extra…
1) Energy stole the show right out of the gate The summit’s first major clash came Thursday morning, with EU leaders split over whether to delay ETS2, the bloc’s second phase of carbon pricing, to address high energy prices, triggering a three-hour-long standoff. Italy and Greece joined the Visegrád Four — Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — in calling for a delay, a push rejected by the majority of countries. The debate dragged on, delaying lunch (spare a thought for our hungry leaders!) and leading to the cancellation of a press conference on Thursday night. 2) Budget negotiations are a…
The world’s official time standard will stop adding leap seconds from 20 May 2027. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) decided to end the practice on Thursday 15 October 2026. The resolution was adopted at the conference’s 28th meeting in Versailles, where delegates discussed the future of world time. Until now, leap seconds have been added from time to time to keep atomic time in line with the Earth’s rotation. But from 20 May 2027, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) will run continuously, with no interruptions. Why the leap second is being scrapped The old rules were meant to…
Thousands of pumpkins have transformed the grounds of Groot-Bijgaarden Castle near Brussels into a colourful autumn wonderland for the annual Pumpkimania festival. This year’s theme, “The Magic of the Forest”, features towering sculptures of foxes, owls and deer covered in pumpkins of every shape and size, sourced from Belgium, Germany and Portugal. The star attraction is a giant pumpkin weighing 772 kilograms, grown for the castle’s traditional weigh-off on 26 September. Visitors can also watch giant pumpkins being turned into makeshift kayaks for rides across the castle lake. Organisers expect around 50,000 visitors before the festival closes on 1 November.…
Ireland’s lucrative tech sector has been rattled by waves of AI-driven layoffs — and the country’s fledgling tech union has seen an exponential spike in sign-ups from workers who are worried about their future. There’s an “awakening” happening right now among workers in Ireland’s tech sector, and a growing “awareness that they’re not bulletproof,” said Sinéad Gibney, a social democrat lawmaker who previously worked for Google. “I do think what we will see is that parts of roles will be automated, which means that people will be competing more heavily for the same roles,” she said. “They won’t have…