Author: Euronews

The European Union will, if needed, find a way to bypass Viktor Orbán’s veto and approve the €50-billion special fund for Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENTThe package, which is designed to provide Kyiv with financial support until 2027 and plug the government’s ballooning public deficit, is being held up by Hungary, an impasse that has left Brussels effectively without any money for the war-torn nation.Following a dramatic summit in mid-December, where Orbán made good on his threat and derailed the unanimous vote, EU leaders are set to reconvene again on 1 February to give the so-called…

Euronews’ Angela Barnes spoke to EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik in Davos about the economic risks we face as the world heads into 2024. ADVERTISEMENTTalking to Euronews Business at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Beata Javorcik said, though headline inflation has declined, “fighting core inflation [ed: excluding food and energy prices] is a lengthy and more painful process.”She also added, that the ongoing shipping disruptions in the Red Sea due to Yemeni Houthi attacks could potentially continue inflaming prices this year.Several shipping companies such as Maersk, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Hapag-Lloyd have already paused trips through the…

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has told Euronews she is “confident” that mainstream, pro-European political parties can ward off a far-right surge in June’s European elections. ADVERTISEMENTSpeaking in an interview in Strasbourg on Monday, Metsola said Europe’s moderate, pro-European parties needed to offer an “alternative” to voters.”I’m worried that if we don’t – as part of the pro-European, constructive (…) majority at the centre – appeal to our voters, then our voters will feel that they have no choice, that they have to retreat to the fringes, to those people who want to destroy rather than to build,” Metsola explained,…

A new EU law set to be agreed Wednesday may mean extra checks for major football clubs, and curbs on cash usage ADVERTISEMENTThe EU is on the cusp of agreeing new anti-money laundering curbs for major football clubs, cash payments and the super-rich.Though negotiations on the anti-money laundering regulation foundered in December, lawmakers and governments are poised to now extend its reach, after global standard-setters drew attention to the large and often unexplained flows of money flowing through international football.A meeting to be held Wednesday evening, known as a trilogue, is likely to finalise the bloc’s new anti-money laundering regulation,…

Record-breaking antitrust fines were justified as the search engine promoted its own services, Advocate General Juilane Kokott said ADVERTISEMENTA record-breaking €2.4 billion fine imposed on Google for anti-competitive promotion of its shopping service should stand in the face of a challenge by the tech giant, an opinion produced for the EU’s top court has said.In 2017, the European Commission said the company had acted unlawfully by making its own price-comparison service, Google Shopping, unduly prominent in search results.Now Juliane Kokott, one of the advisory Advocates-General of the EU Court of Justice, appears to agree.Google “was leveraging its dominant position on…

The consumer group slammed Starbucks’ alleged failure to adopt “meaningful reforms” to its coffee and tea sourcing practices. ADVERTISEMENTA consumer advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, saying the company’s claim that its coffee is ethically sourced is false and misleading.In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the National Consumers League cited media reports of abuses on farms that supply coffee and tea to Starbucks. The group said the cases cast doubt on Starbucks’ packaging, which states that the company is “committed to 100% ethical coffee sourcing”.Starbucks said Wednesday it was aware of the lawsuit and will “aggressively defend against…

Euronews Business looks at the new data on how tourist online platforms are performing and identifies the top destinations to head to. ADVERTISEMENTAirbnb has been around for over a decade and a half. The online platform, which was launched to connect people interested in renting out their homes as holiday rentals with those seeking accommodation, is now valued at over $90 billion (€82 billion) as of 10 January.The company’s revenue primarily comes from fees paid by both guests and hosts, usually a percentage of the booking cost for each. The exact amount depends on the location and booking details.In an…

The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ could fetch as much as €5 million. ADVERTISEMENTThe 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ is part of a limited-edition series of just 30 models. The highly sought-after hypercar is capable of hitting speeds of just over 490 kmh (304.773 mph). Putting this speed into context, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A 380, seating more than 850 people, takes off at around 300 kmh.The Franco-Italian luxury sports car manufacturer celebrated its 110th anniversary with a significant achievement in 2019: former Le Mans-winner Andy Wallace drove a new prototype to maximum acceleration at an unprecedented 304.777 mph. Following…

House prices and rents in the EU show significant trends that vary across the country, according to new official data. ADVERTISEMENTHouse prices and rents in Europe increased by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of the same year, according to new data released by Eurostat. For rents, this reflects a 3.0% increase compared to the third quarter of 2022. However, for house prices, there has been a decrease of -1.0% during the same period.House prices more than doubled in some EU countriesFrom 2010 to the third quarter of 2023, there was a 48% increase in…

The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it would check whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI falls under the bloc’s merger laws. ADVERTISEMENTThe Big Tech giant has reportedly pledged to invest $13 billion (€11.8 billion) into the thriving start-up behind ChatGPT, the chatbot that has revolutionised the industry and unleashed a global furore over artificial intelligence (AI).But OpenAI’s pioneering product has also fuelled fears over the unchecked development of AI-powered systems and the lack of appropriate legislation to crack down on their most damaging side effects, such as impersonation, deep fakes, privacy violations, copyright infringement and the spread of propaganda and…