Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview that the European Union must use “the full firepower” of its 500 billion euro ($534.10 billion) rescue fund to confront Europe’s economic crisis during the coronavirus outbreak. The Italian Prime Minister told the Financial Times newspaper that monetary policy alone is …
Read More »World leaders rush in to shore up panic-hit global financial system
World leaders raced to shore up panic-stricken global markets on Thursday, pouring liquidity into the financial system as investors everywhere dumped assets, switching to dollars in cash amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic. Policymakers in the United States, Europe, and Asia resorted to emergency action as the pandemic left their economies …
Read More »European country arrested More than half of its traffic police for fraud
More than half of Malta’s traffic police force was arrested on Tuesday for suspected overtime fraud, forcing officers to draw up emergency plans to ensure they have enough police to put on the streets, officials said. Police said some 30 members of the unit, which numbers about 50, were being …
Read More »Britain, EU split over financial market access
Britain wants a stable relationship with the European Union for “decades to come” in financial services, Britain’s finance minister Sajid Javid said on Tuesday but received an instant rebuttal from Brussels. Britain left the EU last month and its large financial services sector will lose privileged access to EU customers …
Read More »Brexit trade deal clash: UK and EU spar over rules
The European Union and Britain clashed over a post-Brexit trade deal on Monday, with the two sides set out very different visions of a future relationship that could result in the most distant of ties. Almost three days since Britain officially left the EU, both sides presented their aims, with …
Read More »Austria: Sebastian Kurz threatens to veto EU post-Brexit budget
Austria’s conservative leader has said he will not accept the EU’s push for an increased budget of 1.11%. The departure of net contributor Britain from the EU diminishes the bloc’s shared budget, straining member states. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced Saturday that Austria and other countries will veto the European …
Read More »Euro Adoption Breakthrough Is Near, Bulgarian Central Bank Says.
Bulgaria’s efforts to set itself on a firm path to adopt the euro single currency have entered the “final stretch,” its central bank chief said. “Bulgaria is really very close to a strategic breakthrough on its path of European integration,” Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev said Tuesday at a …
Read More »European shares drop from a record high on the threat of US auto tariffs
European shares reversed course and edged lower on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on imports of cars from the European Union, pushing automobile stocks to a three-month low. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump warned of the tariffs if the …
Read More »EU, UK Bracing for Tough Post-Brexit Trade Talks
The European Union is bracing for a stormy opening to post-Brexit trade talks as it puts the finishing touches to a negotiating mandate that will offer Britain worse trading terms than it has given Canada. Senior EU figures expect a series of early rows over the conditions attached to market …
Read More »Ankara spars with EU over fresh drilling off Cyprus: report
Turkey on Sunday called for the European Union to end what it said was the bloc’s prejudice against Turkish Cypriots, defending its launch of a fresh round of hydrocarbon drilling off the Mediterranean island, Reuters reported. Turkey began drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus last year despite warnings from …
Read More »UK Plans Brexit Celebrations but Warns Businesses May Suffer
The British government has announced plans for special events on the night of Jan. 31 when the country officially leaves the European Union but the country’s treasury chief has admitted that some U.K. business sectors will suffer as a result. Sajid Javid told the Financial Times in an interview Saturday …
Read More »EU-UK trade deal cannot allow ‘race to the bottom’: EU
The European Union’s central interest in forging a free trade agreement with Britain is to agree common social and environmental standards and avoid a “race to the bottom”, the EU chief Brexit negotiator wrote in an opinion piece. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday there would be no …
Read More »Trump is ‘perhaps the most difficult challenge’ for Europe: Tusk
U.S. President Donald Trump poses one of the biggest challenges for the European Union because he is “praying” for the breakup of the bloc, European Council President Donald Tusk said. Trump has welcomed Britain’s decision to leave the EU, labeling Europe a trade “foe” and questioning the value of the …
Read More »Powerful quake kills 13 in Albania as buildings bury residents
At least 13 people were killed when the most powerful earthquake to hit Albania in decades shook the capital Tirana and the country’s west and north on Tuesday, tearing down buildings and burying residents under rubble. Residents, some carrying babies, fled apartment buildings in Tirana and the western port of …
Read More »Greece to ‘shut the door’ to migrants not entitled to asylum, PM says
Greece said on Friday it was deploying more border guards to “shut the door” to migrants not entitled to stay, the latest sign of a hardening stance against asylum seekers since a new surge in the number of arrivals. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament he had approved the hiring …
Read More »Europe agrees to develop more weapons independently of US
European Union governments gave the green light on Tuesday for 13 new defence projects in a step to develop more firepower independently of the United States. Under plans agreed by EU defence ministers in Brussels, work will begin on a new patrol vessel, an electronic jamming weapon for aircraft and …
Read More »Boris Johnson frustrated over choosing Brexit vs. election.
UK PM Boris Johnson has grown frustrated over whether to hold a snap election or try instead to push his Brexit-enabling withdrawal agreement bill through the House of Commons again. Although MPs approved Boris Johnson’s bill during a second reading this week, they rejected his accelerated timetable, saying they needed …
Read More »Johnson threatens nuclear option on Brexit
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to abandon his Brexit bill, known as the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) if the House of Commons opposes his proposed three-day ratification timetable. A Downing Street source reportedly briefed the BBC that if MPs tried to block the three-day timetable then the PM will …
Read More »Britain clinches Brexit deal; Johnson must secure parliament’s backing
Britain secured a Brexit deal with the European Union on Thursday, more than three years after Britons voted to leave the bloc, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson must still win a knife-edge vote in parliament to get the agreement approved. The deal comes after years of divisive and frequently acrimonious …
Read More »Brexit talks hang in the balance
With only a couple of days to go before a Brexit deal on Britain’s scheduled date of departure (October 31) from the European Union (EU) becomes impossible, there is much confusion about the outcome. In the latest development, the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Leo Varadkar, has said there are “many …
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