Category: Politico News

ROME — After Mario Draghi’s coalition government collapsed, plunging Italy into fresh turmoil, an unsettling question is hanging in the air: was the Kremlin involved? Two incidents involving contact between right-wing party chiefs and Russian diplomats have triggered a round of finger-pointing in Rome as the election campaign gets into gear. The row threatens to damage […]

Hungary expects to agree on a new deal with Russia this summer that would provide the country with an additional 700 million cubic meters of gas, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday. “We are negotiating with the Russians … this deal can be signed during the summer, and then we will be safe,” he said, […]

Rich countries broke their main climate promise to developing nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development confirmed Friday.  In 2009, high-income countries pledged to deliver $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries reduce emissions and prepare for the effects of global warming.  An OECD report released Friday found they fell short […]

FRANKFURT – The eurozone economy expanded more than expected in the second quarter, while inflation in July overshot expectations once again to hit a fresh record high, data released by the EU statistics agency showed Friday. The data suggest the European Central Bank is more likely to tighten policy more aggressively in the coming months. […]

FRANKFURT — German economic growth ground to a halt in the second quarter of this year, disappointing expectations of a slight expansion, according to data released by Germany’s statistics office Friday. After posting 0.8 percent growth in the first quarter of the year, Europe’s largest economy stagnated. “Difficult global economic conditions with the ongoing corona […]

President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s more than two-hour “in-depth and candid” phone meeting Thursday made no tangible progress on key policy issues, suggesting the bilateral relationship remains at a standstill because of worsening tensions around Taiwan, trade and a deadlocked diplomatic policy agenda. The call was the fifth conversation between the two […]

LONDON — Senior Conservative politicians who have been sanctioned by China are demanding that the U.K. parliament takes down its newly created TikTok account. Senior MPs and members of the House of Lords laid into parliamentary authorities for setting up an account on the social media platform, which is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance. […]

Europe is courting some extremely dodgy regimes for oil and gas. Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine means EU leaders are spending the summer cozying up to presidents, and the odd crown prince, who rank among the world’s most autocratic heads of state; from warmongers to human rights abusers and serial polluters. Call it European […]

EDINBURGH — At least once a month, on average, in the small Scottish county of Fife, an addicted user of heroin or other drugs will need to have their leg amputated — the result of injecting an illegal substance directly into their groin. “[The groin] is a very difficult place to inject safely and cleanly,” […]

Viktor Orbán is striding back into the global culture wars — deflecting from economic woes at home and aware the EU is unlikely to challenge his rhetoric. The longtime Hungarian leader, a onetime liberal who is now Europe’s leading far-right figure, prompted cries of outrage this week after he declared Hungary does not want to […]