Author: Euronews

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to extend free trade with Ukraine until June 2025, but with a new tweak to enable the type of national restrictions that Kyiv has complained about. ADVERTISEMENTThe U-turn means that if one or several member states face a glut of Ukrainian agricultural products, Brussels could give the green light to limit the sale and storage of these products inside the affected country. An all-out ban will also be possible, as the proposed law has been deliberately drafted in open-ended terms.The so-called “remedial measures” will have to be backed by economic evidence, which is prone…

Demand for obesity drugs has pushed Novo Nordisk’s share price to new highs. ADVERTISEMENTThe rush on weight loss drugs has sent Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s market value to new records as its share price has also soared rapidly after Europe’s biggest company posted better-than-expected results in its latest earnings report.The firm behind weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic has reported that its sales increased by 31% and its net profit surged by 51% in 2023 compared to the previous year (both in Danish kroner).Growth was driven by Novo’s obesity care sales which jumped by 154% compared to the…

The EU executive assists French President Emmanuel Macron proposing a partial derogation to the green architecture for farming subsidies – a key demand of farmers causing unrest in France. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission today (31 January) proposed loosening green farming requirements under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) while maintaining the full level of payments for farmers, answering French farmers’ concerns that the rules lead to income losses.“By taking this stabilising action, we can help alleviate the pressure that we know our farmers are feeling to ensure that they can stay economically viable during these times of high uncertainty,” said Commission Executive…

The price of an average house in the UK increased further in January, at the swiftest rate since October, according to mortgage provider Nationwide. ADVERTISEMENTBritish house prices climbed by 0.7% month on month in January, with a yearly decline of just 0.2%, according to the latest figures from mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society.”UK house prices rose by 0.7% in January, after taking account of seasonal effects. This resulted in an improvement in the annual rate of house price growth from -1.8% in December to -0.2% in January, the strongest out-turn since January 2023,” Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said commenting…

A European Union naval mission to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from missile attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen is expected to be launched on February 19, the bloc’s top diplomat announced on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT”Maritime security in the Red Sea has significantly deteriorated over the last weeks and we are very much advancing the work of a new maritime operation in order to act in a purely defensive mode to protect merchant vessels,” Josep Borrell confirmed after an informal meeting of defence ministers in Brussels.”Our goal is to establish and launch this mission, Aspides, at the latest on the…

Euronews takes a deeper look at the farmer protests taking place in Germany, France, Romania, the Netherlands and Belgium – and explores how much it could cost Europe. ADVERTISEMENTIn order to put the current protests taking place across Europe into context, it is important to understand where it all started.The history of the current protests can be traced back to the Green Deal (2019) which involved significant alterations to achieve climate neutrality. The purpose of the deal was to decarbonise and digitalise Europe’s economy. It suggested some serious alterations of policies with an objective to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. However,…

Brussels is on Thursday set to be the scene of a momentous summit where European Union leaders will plead with Viktor Orbán to lift his intractable veto on a €50-billion special fund for Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENTThe Hungarian premier is single-handedly blocking the release of fresh money for Kyiv, despite repeated pleas from the war-torn nation, which needs $37.3 billion, or €34.45 billion, in Western donations to keep its economy running in 2024 and sustain essential services such as healthcare, education, social protection and pensions.The sense of urgency ratcheted up in mid-December when Orbán made good on his threat and blocked the proposed…

Three tech giants reported results after the market closed. Meta to pay dividend after jump in profits. ADVERTISEMENTThursday’s quarterly earnings reports revealed a striking narrative as Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, and Apple not only surpassed Wall Street’s forecasts but also delivered a resounding message of resilience for the US tech sector.These three tech titans, with their over $5 trillion (€4.6 trillion) combined market valuation, have effectively countered the creeping doubts about tech growth triggered by the less-than-stellar performance of Alphabet and AMD earlier in the week. Meta Platforms leaps forward with AI and the MetaverseMeta Platforms announced a significant revenue boost to…

Iconic buildings in Nantes have been draped in Nazi banners over the past few days, which has caused a stir on social media. The Cube takes a look at why they’re there. ADVERTISEMENTSocial media users are sharing images of the Graslin Theatre in Nantes, western France, covered in Nazi flags. Some of the posts include outlandish claims that the city is under occupation or invasion, while others describe a bizarre atmosphere in the air.Others show old-style cars, or seemingly portray Nazi soldiers in the city.The pictures are indeed real, but any claims on social media that the flags’ presence is due…

Industrial production in France has shifted at its most dramatic rate since May, showing a 1.1% jump in December. ADVERTISEMENTThe data, released on Thursday, looks at output in a number of areas, including the gas, electricity, goods, and mining sectors.December’s results were particularly upbeat, with production rising by 1.1% on the month, following a marginal increase of 0.5% from October to November.Compared with the fourth quarter of 2022, industrial production also jumped by 1.1% in the last three months of the year.Despite this, France’s national statistics agency (INSEE), has warned that seasonal adjustments may have inflated the figures.INSEE boosts end-of-year results…