Author: Euronews

Inflation is proving more stubborn in central, eastern and southeastern Europe, says the International Monetary Fund, meaning a soft landing must be handled carefully. ADVERTISEMENTEurope’s post-pandemic recovery is outperforming dismal predictions but progress is uneven across the region, claimed Alfred Kammer, European Department Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).Speaking at a Croatian economics forum on Friday, he explained that Europe’s inflation crisis can be tackled without provoking a recession, what’s known as a soft landing.Kammer nonetheless added that a cautious monetary policy is needed, in some nations more than others.”Core inflation, a measure of underlying price dynamics which excludes…

Issues have been noted in Italy, Sweden and the UK, among other countries. ADVERTISEMENTSystem outages at McDonald’s have been reported around the world on Friday, shuttering restaurants and leading to social media complaints.McDonald’s in Japan posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “operations are temporarily out at many of our stores nationwide” and earlier called it “a system failure.”It added that it apologised for the inconvenience. The website Downdetector also reported a spike in problems with the McDonald’s app in the past couple of hours.Media outlets reported that customers from Australia to the UK have complained of issues with ordering, including…

President Vladimir Putin is all but guaranteed to win six more years of power in Russia’s upcoming elections. Opponents – many of them behind bars, exiled abroad, or dead – say EU officials must intensify their efforts to hit Moscow where it hurts. ADVERTISEMENTCritics of Russian President Vladimir Putin say the EU must do more to help them crack the elite’s grip on power ahead of a presidential election so tightly controlled by the current Kremlin resident that it leaves no room for any opposition to his 25-year rule.Despite EU efforts to sanction Russian authorities for their full-scale invasion of…

Entrepreneur, futurist and author Dominique Jaurola believes that change is possible through the implementation of new structures for human engagement. ADVERTISEMENTHaving witnessed Nokia’s transformation from a small company into a household name and having helped numerous organisations to navigate change, Dominique Jaurola has launched Hunome, a startup aimed at connecting the dots to foster better understanding.My Wildest Prediction is a podcast series from Euronews Business where we dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries. In this episode, Tom Goodwin talks with Dominique Jaurola, CEO of Hunome, about the future of decision-making.A new approach to social mediaMark Zuckerberg…

Xiaomi was one of the few new electric vehicle manufacturers to get approved by China, amidst a rush of prospective new entrants wanting to take advantage of the country’s EV boom. ADVERTISEMENTXiaomi has revealed that it will begin deliveries for its first electric vehicle – named Speed Ultra 7 or SU7 – later this month, marking the Chinese technology company’s entry into the global automobile market.Following the news, Xiaomi’s shares saw their largest intraday jump in over a year, at 11.34%, clocking in at HKD 14.92 (€1.74) at market close on Tuesday.The company’s CEO, Lei Jun, said when announcing the…

Large corporate groups, concentrated local markets and lack of proper information may lead to weakened competition and pet owners being overcharged for their animals’ medicine, the UK competition authority warns. ADVERTISEMENTThe UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has concerns over a lack of transparency in the veterinarian industry, affecting both pet owners and vets alike. The competition authority said on Tuesday that it received over 56,000 responses from the industry and its clients during a survey conducted last September, suggesting that pet owners may be overpaying for medicines and not being given enough information about treatments.Overcharged pet ownersThe UK’s…

Strong spending in the services sector has seen the UK return to growth. ADVERTISEMENTThe UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.2% in the month to January, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.The GDP indicator, which measures the nation’s output, offers a glimpse of hope after the UK fell into a shallow recession last year, marked by two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.”While the [overall growth] figure is tiny, the fact it is growing at all is a positive,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.”Investors want the UK’s recession status cast into…

Defence policy is gaining increasing prominence in the European Union, with Brussels putting forward concrete proposals. ADVERTISEMENTDefence, security, autonomy. This vocabulary has become almost a mantra in the speeches of European Union (EU) leaders since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and this week the European Commission finally announced the first-ever defence industrial strategy.Although it expands existing initiatives to jointly produce ammunition and acquire weapons, it will not create the €100 billion fund previously promised.But it is a first step that can no longer be postponed, said EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell: “Unfortunately, peace is no longer a given.…

The US House of Representatives has cited data privacy and security concerns as some of the reasons behind this bill. ADVERTISEMENTThe US House of Representatives has just passed a milestone legislation which could potentially see popular social media application TikTok banned in the US. The bill, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was first introduced on 5 March and passed with a massive 352-65 vote, while one member voted present.Fifteen Republicans and 50 Democrats voted against the bill.  The bill requires Chinese tech company ByteDance to divest TikTok within the next six months. Failing that, the app…

Aid ship sets sail from Cyprus to Gaza, where hunger is worsening five months into war. ADVERTISEMENTAn aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food set sail Tuesday from Cyprus to Gaza, the international charity behind the effort said.The shipment is a test for the opening of a sea corridor to supply aid to the territory, where starvation is spreading five months into the Israel-Hamas war.World Food Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, posted on the X social media platform that a ship set sail on Tuesday. Associated Press live footage showed it being towed out…