Author: France 24

The European Commission triggered a political meltdown this week with proposals to loosen some of the EU’s landmark digital regulations. The package, announced on Wednesday as part of a push to boost European innovation, drew condemnation from privacy advocates and lawmakers who accuse the Commission of capitulating to pressure from Washington and Big Tech.

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As 2025 draws to a close, the European continent is facing the most pressing of problems: how to raise financial support for Ukraine, almost four years into Russia’s full-blown invasion. Kyiv’s financial resilience is eroding and thanks to an unpredictable Trump administration questioning the cost of collective defence, Europe is now faced with shouldering the burden. EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen warned this week that urgent measures are needed to fill Ukraine’s €135 billion budget shortfall for the next two years. One option would be tapping €185 billion in frozen Russian assets –a move that has faced opposition…

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Russia has long been a preferred destination for students from across Africa seeking affordable higher education. In 2023, Russia estimated that 32,000 students from the Middle East were living in the country — nearly half of them Egyptian. But in recent months, controversy has erupted in Egypt following the publication of a YouTube video that showed a Ukrainian-held prisoner of war. The young man, Amar Mohamed, was an Egyptian student in Russia who had been persuaded by Moscow’s propaganda machine to join the army.

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It’s been a week that’s seen Ukraine brace for a fourth winter of war as President Zelensky shores up support amid reports of a secret 28-point peace plan involving territorial concessions and military cuts — a proposal blasted by European allies — while rolling blackouts, relentless strikes, and a corruption scandal trigger calls for a no-confidence vote. In Washington, a defining moment in President Trump’s second term saw a MAGA rebellion force through the release of all government and FBI files on the Epstein investigation, prompting a visibly irritable President to sign it into law while insisting it marked a…

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