Author: Euronews

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…

The sister of Johan Floderus, the 33-year-old Swedish EU diplomat who has been held captive in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for more than 600 days, has said her brother is being used as a “pawn” in a “political game.” ADVERTISEMENTFloderus was arrested by Iranian authorities in April 2022 at Tehran airport, after visiting a friend working for the Swedish embassy in Iran. He has since been held under harrowing conditions in the country’s Evin prison.At the time of his arrest, Floderus worked on the Afghanistan desk of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc’s diplomatic arm.The Iranian prosecutor is…

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,…