Joint project with EU involves more than 500 scientists and engineers and more than 70 companies
The world’s biggest operational experimental nuclear fusion reactor – a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs – has been inaugurated in Naka, Japan.
Fusion differs from fission, the technique used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.
Continue reading...Representatives from 10 countries sign statement warning of rising hate crimes against Muslims and Jews
Anti-racism officials across Europe have called on law enforcement agencies to remain alert for hate crimes against Muslims and “spare no effort” to protect them, in one of the first statements aimed at addressing a rise in Islamophobia amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The statement, signed by representatives from 10 European countries as well as EU officials, notes the rising number of hate crimes, hate speech and threats to civil liberties that have targeted Muslim and Jewish communities across Europe in recent months. Both “have become targets of physical and verbal attacks”, with people feeling “more and more unsafe and threatened, online and offline”, it read.
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen hopes young people can drive a rapprochement but polls show they have other things on their minds
“We goofed it up, you have to fix it,” the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Tuesday in a message to the younger generation about Brexit.
Fixing it would be “the direction of travel” with regard to the UK rejoining the EU, she told an audience in Brussels. But as the fourth anniversary of Brexit approaches, is it likely that Britain’s millennials and generation Z will demand a rapprochement?
Continue reading...Exclusive: ‘Cushion’ for carmakers facing looming tariff under deal for vehicles traded between EU and UK from start of 2024
The European Commission has hatched confidential Plan B proposals to “cushion” the impact of a looming 10% tariff on imports and exports of electric vehicles, the Guardian has learned.
The proposal was presented to member states on Monday in response to pressure from carmakers to amend some of the conditions imposed when the UK left the EU in January 2021.
Continue reading...European Commission president said Brexit could be fixed because leaders had ‘goofed it up’
Rishi Sunak has rejected the suggestion that Brexit could be in peril after Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, claimed that the UK could be on a path to rejoining the European Union.
At an event in Brussels on Tuesday night, von der Leyen admitted that European leaders had “goofed up” over the departure of Britain from the bloc and suggested the younger generation could “fix” it.
Continue reading...Decision made in case of Muslim employee in Belgium states that restrictions must be applied equally
Government offices across the EU can ban employees from wearing religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, in the interest of neutrality, the EU’s top court has ruled, though it stressed that such restrictions must be applied equally to all employees and fit within the legal context of each member state.
The decision, published by the court of justice of the European Union on Tuesday, said such bans were permissible in order to enforce an “entirely neutral administrative environment”.
Continue reading...War of words between Athens and London escalates after Rishi Sunak’s snub to Greek prime minister
Rishi Sunak’s snub of his Greek counterpart over the Parthenon marbles raised fresh questions about Britain’s fraught relations with its European neighbours as a war of words between Athens and London escalated on Tuesday.
A meeting on Tuesday between Sunak and Kyriakos Mitsotakis was cancelled because the Greek prime minister reneged on assurances that he would not use a UK visit as a “public platform” to lobby for the return of the marbles to Athens, Downing Street said. The Greek side has denied any such assurances were given.
Continue reading...Home Office data reveals impact of end of free movement and raises questions over Border Force hostility
The number of EU citizens refused entry to the UK since Brexit has increased fivefold, Home Office figures show.
In the first three quarters of 2019 just over 2,200 people from the EU were turned away at the border – compared with 11,600 in the first three quarters of 2023.
Continue reading...European Environment Agency says half of deaths could have been avoided by cutting pollution to recommended limits
Dirty air killed more than half a million people in the EU in 2021, estimates show, and about half of the deaths could have been avoided by cutting pollution to the limits recommended by doctors.
The researchers from the European Environment Agency attributed 253,000 early deaths to concentrations of fine particulates known as PM2.5 that breached the World Health Organization’s maximum guideline limits of 5µg/m3. A further 52,000 deaths came from excessive levels of nitrogen dioxide and 22,000 deaths from short-term exposure to excessive levels of ozone.
Continue reading...Rising interest rates have boosted profitability but are likely to limit demand and increase risk of bad debts, says central bank
The balance sheets of eurozone banks are showing “early signs of stress” after a rise in loan defaults and late payments by customers, the European Central Bank has warned.
Higher interest rates have boosted banks’ income and profits for the time being, the ECB said, but lenders are facing pressures from higher funding costs, worsening asset quality and lower lending volumes.
Continue reading...Incident happened in Moldovan presidential residence when Alexander Van der Bellen tried to pet Maia Sandu’s rescue dog
The dog of the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has overturned protocol by biting the visiting Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen, on the hand.
The incident occurred on Thursday when the two leaders were strolling in the courtyard of the Moldovan presidential residence in the capital, Chișinău, and Van der Bellen tried to pet the dog, Moldovan media reported.
Continue reading...Rules, still subject to formal approval, stop exports to non-OECD countries and limit them elsewhere
The EU has struck a deal to stop ships of waste plastic landing in ports of poor countries.
European lawmakers and member states agreed on Friday to ban exports of plastic rubbish to countries outside the OECD group of mostly rich countries from the middle of 2026. The deal comes as diplomats meet in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out a global treaty on plastic pollution.
Continue reading...Josep Borrell says ‘one horror does not justify another’ and calls for unconditional release of hostages
The EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has urged Israel not to be “consumed by rage” in its response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, acknowledged splits in Europe on the conflict.
Speaking from Kibbutz Be’eri – where at least 85 of the 1,200 people killed that day died and from where about 30 of the more than 240 were kidnapped – Borrell said “Israel must be defended”, but, “one horror does not justify another: innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have died in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Proposals aimed at choking off commercial revenues include total ban on sale of Russian rough diamonds
The European Commission is proposing a 12th round of sanctions against Moscow, including restrictions on scores of individuals apparently including the son of the former president Dmitry Medvedev and a relative of Vladimir Putin’s.
Among the 47 individuals the commission wants added to existing sanctions lists are Putin’s cousin Anna Tsivileva, who chairs the “defenders of the fatherland” foundation that supports Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Sauli Niinistö says this is Russia’s response to Finland’s cooperation with US and vows to take ‘very clear action’
The Finnish president has vowed to take “very clear action” over the growing number of asylum seekers arriving from Russia, which he said appeared to be a Kremlin act of revenge for Finland’s cooperation with the US.
Sauli Niinistö’s comments come after the Finnish border guard reported steadily increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving at border crossing points in south-east Finland in recent days.
Continue reading...Research in 21 countries suggests a growing ‘a la carte’ approach where states ‘mix and match’ partners on different issues
As the US and Chinese presidents meet on Wednesday in high-stakes diplomacy intended to reduce tensions between the world’s two superpowers, a survey of 21 countries shows that geopolitical alliances no longer fit a “west v the rest” frame.
Many in the west think it is in decline, many outside it want China to be more active in their economies and believe Russia will win its war against Ukraine, and many beyond Europe reckon the EU will not last another 20 years, according to the research, which concludes that global relations are becoming increasingly “a la carte”.
Continue reading...As former UK PM makes a return to cabinet, we look at his somewhat chequered record on global stage
David Cameron has made a shock return to the UK government as foreign secretary.
A profile on the government’s website credits him with developing “a foreign policy that responded to the new challenges of the Arab spring and also evolving challenges from various state and non-state actors”.
Continue reading...Legislation will set targets to restore 20% of EU land and seas by 2030, and 90% of degraded habitats by 2050
EU lawmakers and member states have struck a deal on a landmark law to protect nature after watering down rules that critics argued would trouble farmers.
The nature restoration law, a hotly contested pillar of the European green deal, will force EU countries to restore at least 20% of the bloc’s land and seas by the end of the decade. It contains binding targets to restore at least 30% of degraded habitats by then, rising to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Alongside Moldova, Ukraine is officially on the path to EU accession – what does that mean for the future of both countries and the continent?
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Good morning. Ukraine has been hoping for EU membership for decades, but the prospect of it actually happening only became likely after Russia’s invasion posed an existential threat to Europe for the first time since the second world war. Weeks after the war erupted in February last year, Ukraine and Moldova applied for membership of the EU; in June they were both granted candidate status.
After waiting just under 18 months, the European Commission announced yesterday that it was recommending that formal talks begin on Moldova and Ukraine joining the European Union.
Conservatives | Suella Braverman has launched a full-throated attack on policing “double standards” after the head of the Metropolitan police gave the go-ahead for a pro-Palestine march on Saturday, Armistice Day.
Israel-Hamas war | The US, for the second time in recent weeks, has carried out strikes against a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and affiliated groups, as fears grow that the Gaza war could spread in the region.
Strikes | The RMT union has reached a possible deal with train operators to resolve their long-running national rail dispute, allaying fears of a repeat of last year’s Christmas strikes.
Environment | Japan has gained another island to add to its already impressive collection, after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km south of Tokyo created a new landmass.
US news | Hollywood actors are set to end their nearly four-month strike, the Sag-Aftra union announced on Wednesday, bringing to a close a historic work stoppage that had brought the film and television industry to a standstill for months.
Continue reading...Invasion of Ukraine has fast-tracked timetable for the countries to join bloc after years of ‘economic warfare’
Long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow had already been accused of launching an economic war against its neighbours. With bullying, cajoling and outright threats, the Kremlin’s campaign to warn its former Soviet subjects away from the EU involved telling them they would be blocked from the Russian market and its own customs union, and face cutoffs of crucial supplies of natural gas.
Wednesday’s recommendation by the European Commission to open EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova marks the latest casualty of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine: its own war for economic domination, or at least competitiveness, in eastern Europe.
Continue reading...