Author: staff

The pact caps most U.S. tariffs on EU goods at 15 percent, including on cars and pharmaceuticals, and carves out exemptions for generics and aircraft parts. Critics, including former World Trade Organization boss Pascal Lamy, have warned the accord risks undermining Europe’s credibility as a defender of rules-based trade. But von der Leyen insisted the EU had secured a unique outcome: a single tariff ceiling of 15 percent, unlike the layered rates Washington applies to other partners. She also stressed that EU food safety, health and digital rules remain untouched, and pointed to Brussels’ efforts to diversify trade ties, including…

Crypto firms, which had lobbied for years for a stablecoin bill, insist the matter is settled. The GENIUS Act “is settled law,” said Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a leading industry trade group. “There was robust debate on the Hill, and the way this bill came out was a compromise from policymakers. So we really shouldn’t be trying to go back and reopen that.” Paige Pidano Paridon, executive vice president at the Bank Policy Institute, which represents large banks, said the group wanted to work collaboratively with the crypto industry to develop “clear, fair rules.” This isn’t bank vs.…

Lagarde singled out Germany and Spain as examples. Germany’s GDP would be about 6 percent lower today without migrant labor, while Spain’s strong recovery also “owes much” to foreign workers, she said. Across the eurozone, employment has expanded by more than 4 percent since 2021, even as central bankers pushed through the steepest rate hikes in a generation. The ECB president argued that migration has played a crucial role in offsetting Europe’s shrinking birth rate and growing appetite for shorter working hours. That, she said, helped companies expand output and damped inflationary pressures even as wages lagged behind prices. But…

Ukraine marked its 34th Independence Day on Sunday amid tit-for-tat drone strikes, with Moscow targeting cities across Ukraine and Kyiv hitting a Russian nuclear power plant and a major port. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 70 Shahed drones and a missile overnight, mostly from bases in Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. Air defenses downed 48 of them, but others hit targets in at least 10 regions, setting off fires and injuring civilians. A rocket attack in the city of Pavlohrad caused a large blaze, while local officials reported nine injuries and one death in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Kyiv…

As Ukraine marks its Independence Day, artist Lesia Khomenko is bringing powerful new meaning to one of the country’s busiest public spaces. Khomenko has turned the main hall of Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi train station into her temporary studio, creating a 21-by-12 metre painting that mirrors the movement and spirit of a nation fighting for its survival. Installed in partnership with Ukrainian Railways, the work marks a bold return to public art for the artist and arrives just ahead of her upcoming solo exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre, opening 28 August.  “The Central Train Station in Kyiv is a very emotional place for everyone…

Published on 24/08/2025 – 8:03 GMT+2 Antarctica, Earth’s last great wilderness, is facing growing pressure from human activity. A new study published in Nature Sustainability warns that surging tourism and expanding research bases are polluting the southern continent, accelerating snow melting and threatening fragile ecosystems already at risk from climate change. Researchers from Chile, Germany and the Netherlands spent four years travelling 2,000 kilometres across Antarctica to measure contamination. They found that in areas where humans have an active presence, concentrations of toxic metals such as nickel, copper and lead are now 10 times higher than they were four decades…

Early childhood education and care are key to success in school, work and life. The EU says every child has the right to affordable, high-quality early education and care. A child’s future should not depend on family background. However, childcare costs remain a heavy burden for many families in Europe. While some countries offer strong support, in others parents must spend a large share of their income on nurseries. So, how do childcare costs differ across Europe? What do families pay for care before and after benefits? And what share of household income goes to nurseries or day-care centres? What…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that security guarantees for Ukraine will be ready “in the coming days,” following intensified efforts to end Russia’s war on his country. “At present, the teams of Ukraine, the United States, and European partners are working on their architecture,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on the social media platform X, after a phone call with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. “There is now a real chance to end this war, and Ukraine is ready for constructive steps that can bring true peace closer,” Zelenskyy said in the post. “However, Russia is showing no intention…

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage will push for the mass deportation of asylum seekers in a new Illegal Migration Bill expected on Aug. 26. In an interview with The Times published on Saturday, the far-right politician, whose party currently leads consistently in the polls, said migrants coming to Britain by small boats should be arrested on arrival, detained in Royal Air Force bases, denied the right to asylum, and deported within 30 days. “The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,” Farage told The Times, pointing to “a massive crisis in Britain” that is “not only posing a national…

Veldkamp’s colleagues from the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party also resigned on Friday. Their departure put additional pressure on the already weak Dutch government, which collapsed in June after Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) left the coalition over a dispute about the country’s migration policy. A majority of MPs backed a call on the Israeli government to let international and national journalists into Gaza. MPs also agreed on putting “maximum pressure” on countries that “condone” Hamas leaders, according to local media reports. Some 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip immediately following…