Author: Euronews

Hungarian house prices have climbed by more than 166% since 2015, but there’s a country with an even more eyewatering increase. ADVERTISEMENTThe price of an apartment in Istanbul is now in close competition with those in infamously expensive cities such as Paris and London, as figures show that Turkish house prices are 12 times higher than they were nine years ago in nominal terms. Among OECD member states, northern European countries such as Sweden and Finland have seen the smallest change, with more than 4% increases in nominal housing prices since 2015. On the other end of the scale sits transcontinental Turkey,…

Ahead of the congress of the European People’s Party (EPP), the French delegation has come strongly against the re-election bid of Ursula von der Leyen, denouncing her as “the candidate of Mr Macron and not the right.” ADVERTISEMENTVon der Leyen is expected to be elected by acclamation as the EPP’s lead candidate for the elections of the European Parliament during a two-day congress in Bucharest, which kicks off on Wednesday. The nomination will make von der Leyen the indisputable frontrunner to preside over the European Commission for another five years.But in a deliberately timed letter, the French delegation of the EPP…

Aggrieved employees claim the organisation’s green stance undermines principles of diversity and inclusion. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Central Bank’s staff committee has criticised a member of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) executive board for “disrespectful” comments made last month.Dutch lawyer Frank Elderson provoked backlash when he said at an internal meeting in February: “Why would we want to hire people, whom we have to reprogramme because they came from the best universities, but they still don’t know how to spell the word ‘climate’.”In a letter first reported on by the Financial Times, ECB staff complained that Elderson’s position on climate change threatened…

A new draft circulated to Member States seek to rescue landmark sustainability legislation as elections loom. ADVERTISEMENTNegotiators are seeking a last-ditch compromise on new EU corporate supply-chain rules, as opposition from Italy and Germany and looming elections threaten to quash hopes for the environmental law.The bloc’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) would require companies to check their supply chains for poor working conditions or pollution – but was blocked by major EU nations, led by German finance minister Christian Lindner.In a document dated 5 March and seen by Euronews, the Belgian government – which currently chairs the EU Council…

“As a result of the continually challenging trading conditions over the last six months, we have taken the sad and very difficult decision to reduce the number of colleagues in our Starbucks MENA stores,” the company said. ADVERTISEMENTThe Middle East franchisee of Starbucks has begun firing around 2,000 workers at its coffee shops across the region after the brand found itself targeted by activists during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.The Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, a private family firm holding franchise rights for a variety of Western companies including The Cheesecake Factory, H&M and Shake Shack, issued a statement…

The new plans won’t see direct weapon purchases, nor offer lavish funding previously promised by officials. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission today unveiled a new defence industrial strategy as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen seeks to make the topic a centrepiece of her bid for a second term in office.Though the commission proposal expands existing initiatives to produce ammunition and jointly procure arms, it won’t see direct purchases of weapons or set up the €100bn fund previously promised by Commissioner Thierry Breton.“Today the European Union demonstrates again our firm determination and commitment to scale up our defence and support to Ukraine,”…

The only company on the list with better full-year results than in 2022 was French Total Energies, which in February reported the highest net profit of its history for 2023. ADVERTISEMENTProfits for oil and gas companies have fallen significantly since their highs of 2022, the year when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and energy prices soared.A drop in oil prices and a slowing of demand for gas has led to the largest players in the market seeing profits being cut by tens of billions of dollars last year, according to data from AltIndex.com, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total Energies,…

Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin has said Russian President Vladimir Putin will be “prosecuted and tried” for atrocities committed in Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT”I believe that our case will be prepared, and when (the) time comes, when and if Putin will be available, he will be prosecuted and tried by the International Criminal Court or by a special tribunal,” Kostin said in an interview with Euronews on Monday.”It’s our obligation as prosecutors to document all of the evidence (…) and make a case against Putin. This is our obligation, and we are committed to fulfil it.”The Ukrainian prosecutor general – who was…

From housing to travel costs, singles regularly see higher costs than their coupled-up counterparts, which could get worse due to the current cost of living crisis. ADVERTISEMENTThe cost of living crisis currently sweeping across Europe is affecting most people in one way or another – but single people are potentially being hit the worst. Being single can be great for you, however, it could also come with a steep price tag.According to finance and insurance company Ocean Finance, UK singletons pay about £3,195.24 (€3,739.8) every year, on things such as rents, mortgages, utilities and more.UK and European single people have,…

Hans Leijtens, the executive director of Frontex, responded on Tuesday to the findings of the European Ombudsman, who found severe shortcomings in the agency’s mandate, operations and relations with member states. ADVERTISEMENTThe report, published last week, concluded that Frontex is overly dependent on the consent of national authorities and is therefore ill-equipped to uphold European Union values and save lives at sea. The office of Emily O’Reilly also recommended the agency should “terminate, withdraw or suspend its activities” in countries that persistently disregard their search-and-rescue obligations or violate fundamental rights.Otherwise, O’Reilly warned, the EU risks becoming “complicit” in migrant deaths.On Tuesday, almost a…