Author: Euronews

Spain’s unemployment inched up by 2.2% (60,404 people) in January as the country continues to deal with lower productivity. ADVERTISEMENTIn total, the number of unemployed people hit 2.77 million last month. This was mainly due to an uptick of 58,721 jobless people in the services sector, as well as a rise of 1,256 unemployed people in the agriculture sector.  Industry also witnessed 440 more job seekers. However, the number of unemployed people in the construction sector reduced by 1,234.The number of net formal jobs also increased by 38,357 in January, taking the total number of jobs to 20.88 million, according to…

Against the backdrop of massive farmers’ protests in Brussels, a special EU summit approved a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine. The deal was possible after the last hold-out, Hungary, was pressured into submission. ADVERTISEMENTOn Thursday, the normally quiet Belgian capital woke up to traffic jams, the sound of tractor horns and the smell of burning tires. The European quarter, normally a place populated by politicians, officials, lobbyists and journalists was suddenly a cauldron, as one observer put it. Thousands of farmers rode their tractors into town to denounce what they believe is a deeply unfair and incoherent agricultural policy.Official…

Tesla has been forced to recall some 2.2 million cars in the US, because of its warning lights’ font sizes not being correct. ADVERTISEMENTIn one of the biggest moves of this kind, Tesla has recalled almost all of its US units, amounting to about 2.2 million cars, due to the warning lights’ font sizes being too small. This mainly impacts the cars’ park, brake and anti-lock brake functions.The recall applies mostly to Tesla’s 2012-2023 Model S, 2017-2023 Model 3, 2024 Cybertrucks, 2016-2024 Model X and 2019-2024 Model Y.For these vehicles, the warning light font size for the brake, anti lock…

EU countries today agreed on the technical details of the AI Act, the world’s first attempt to regulate the technology according to a risk-based approach, following a political agreement in December. It now needs a sign-off from EU lawmakers before the rules enter into force. ADVERTISEMENTWhether or not a deal would be reached today remained uncertain until the very end. France in particular has been sceptical about regulating so-called foundation models such as ChatGPT; the country opposed any binding obligation for providers of such models. It also had reservations about transparency requirements and trade secrets, but in today’s meeting of EU…

The European Commission urges Kosovo to give more time to Serb minorities using the dinar before phasing out the currency completely from the country’s monetary system. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission has added its voice to calls for Kosovo to allow more time before phasing out the dinar, the currency used by its Serb minorities, from its monetary system.  Political tensions are high and the Commission is the latest among Western countries to express its disapproval after Kosovo rolled out a new regulation ordering the complete removal of the dinar from its monetary system. The rule, which came into force on 1 February,…

A bid to cut a rising source of payments fraud could leave telco operators on the hook. ADVERTISEMENTImagine the scene – you receive a call from the taxman, asking why you haven’t paid your bill.Flustered – and seeing it’s from a legitimate number – you agree to settle right away to avoid any extra fine.Only this call wasn’t from the government, but arose from a sophisticated and increasingly common fraud known as spoofing – that EU lawmakers are now on a mission to stop.In legal plans put forward in June last year, the European Commission said that banks should reimburse…

The German software giant has changed direction, and more than 5,000 employees have signed an internal petition saying they feel ‘betrayed’. ADVERTISEMENTWhen a CEO promises that the firm is “a 100% flexible and trust-based workplace as the norm, not the​ ​exception,” it is difficult to change course. That is why one of Europe’s biggest tech companies SAP is facing more than 5,000 angry employees as the company is turning its back on CEO Christian Klein’s 2021 words above by ordering employees back to the office. The new guidelines, announced last month, order staff, who work around the world, to work in…

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews. The EU rests on its single market, its singular crowning achievement. To ensure the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity, its leaders must act now to truly empower it, Jacques Pelkmans writes. ADVERTISEMENTWhen the EU marked 30 years of the single market in 2023, a report should have been written about it but was not even requested. The core of the unwritten report would have concluded that the union’s single market is far weaker than assumed and not nearly…

Europe’s reliance on Russian gas was challenged as an aftermath of Russia Ukrainian war. Afterwards the continent turned to US as it became the largest supplier of LNG. ADVERTISEMENTRecent developments in the US show “Europe just traded one risk for another” through its increased reliance on the US for its LNG supply. How the US became the largest LNG supplierThe US pioneered the process of chilling natural gas to -256F at a commercial scale. This process makes the liquid natural gas occupy 600 times less space than its original form. Due to a increasing energy deficit, US LNG imports began to surge…

European Union leaders reached on Thursday morning a deal to establish a €50-billion plan for Ukraine after Viktor Orbán lifted his veto. ADVERTISEMENTThe decision was taken surprisingly fast at the beginning of an extraordinary summit in Brussels, where financial aid for Kyiv was at the very top of the agenda.The special fund, known as the Ukraine Facility, combines €33 billion in loans and €17 billion in grants and will be gradually disbursed between 2024 and 2027. Payments will be conditional on the completion of structural reforms related to public administration, good governance, the rule of law and the fight against…