European Union countries on Monday gave their final approval to the bloc’s plan to ban Russian gas imports by late 2027, allowing it to pass into law. The policy makes legally-binding the EU’s vow to cut ties with its former top gas supplier, nearly four years after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. FRANCE 24’s […]
Continue ReadingVerified videos emerging from Iran show bodies piled up in a hospital, snipers stationed on buildings and CCTV cameras being destroyed, following the unprecedented crackdown on protests earlier this month. BBC Verify has been tracking the spread of protests across Iran since they first erupted in late December, but the near total internet blackout imposed […]
Continue ReadingThe Parliament froze ratification of the agreement, signed by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July, after the U.S. president threatened tariffs on European allies backing Greenland. Lead negotiators will meet Feb. 4 to decide next steps, the Parliament’s International Trade Committee Chair Bernd Lange said. At the meeting, lawmakers broadly […]
Continue Reading“This would be a very good story for our agriculture sector. I believe we are aiming to start a completely new chapter in the field of cooperation in the automotive sector, in machinery,” EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told POLITICO. On trade in services, the trade chief said that sectors like telecoms, maritime and financial […]
Continue ReadingThe verdict also lands as countries such as France are actively discussing restrictions on social media platforms for children. The decision focuses particularly on WhatsApp Channels in which admins can broadcast announcements to groups of people in a feed, making it different from the messaging feature. WhatsApp’s private messaging service is explicitly excluded. WhatsApp was […]
Continue ReadingOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Finland is set to establish a new maritime surveillance centre in the Gulf of Finland, a move aimed at protecting critical undersea infrastructure amidst heightened regional tensions. The initiative, […]
Continue ReadingLeaders rubber-stamped the law on Monday, but Hungary and Slovakia — which are highly dependent on Russian fossil fuels — voted against the measure, arguing that it would send energy prices skyrocketing. Hungary said it would begin proceedings against the EU as soon as the law is formally adopted, which is likely to be in early […]
Continue ReadingKeir Starmer will travel to China on Tuesday for the first British prime ministerial visit to the country in eight years, Downing Street has confirmed. The UK prime minister will also fly to Japan this week, No 10 said. The visit marks a significant moment in Mr Starmer’s bid to build bridges with Beijing after […]
Continue ReadingElon Musk’s X has been hit by a European Union probe over concerns it failed to prevent its Grok AI chatbot from spewing out deepfake images “that may amount to child sexual abuse material.” The European Commission said the investigation, which risks another wave of criticism from White House, will check whether the social-media platform […]
Continue ReadingKelly Ngand Shaimaa Khalil,Tokyo correspondent EPA Twin cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will return to China on Tuesday Thousands of people flocked to a zoo in Japan on Sunday to say farewell to the country’s last two giant pandas, who are set to return to China on Tuesday. Emotions ran high at the Ueno […]
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