Author: Press Room

Steinach am Brenner is an Alpine village in Tyrol and one of the largest construction sites in Europe. The Brenner Base Tunnel is being built here. The tunnel connects Austria with Italy and is the central link in the trans-European railway corridor between southern and northern Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT With a total length of 64 km, the gigantic structure will be the longest underground railway line in the world. Project manager Sebastian Reimann: “Europeans can be proud of what they are creating here. This is a joint effort by Europeans.” His colleague Andreas Ambrosi adds: “Eleven nations from all over…

Published on 01/05/2026 – 15:07 GMT+2•Updated 15:26 A proposal for a new US-led coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would complement and not compete with a similar mission spearheaded by France and the UK, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking in Abu Dhabi, Barrot said he had briefed Gulf allies on the UK-France initiative which was now at an “advanced” stage. It comes after a US State Department announced on Thursday the “Maritime Freedom Construct” (MFC), an initiative that will “take steps to ensure safe passage, including providing real-time information, safety guidance, and coordination…

Published on 01/05/2026 – 15:36 GMT+2 A 33-year-old man will appear in court next week after he was detained on suspicion of plotting an attack on two Dutch princesses, prosecutors said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to details in a court scheduling order published on the website of The Hague Public Prosecutor’s Office, the man is suspected of preparing an attack on the 22-year-old heir to the Dutch throne, Princess Amalia, and her 20-year-old sister, Princess Alexia, in The Hague in February. “The suspect was allegedly in possession of two axes in early February with the words ‘Alexia,’ ‘Mossad’ and…

Published on 01/05/2026 – 14:51 GMT+2 A UK jury convicted a Kuwaiti migrant on Friday of trying to break into Israel’s London embassy to launch a knife attack, shortly after Britain refused his asylum application. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Jurors at London’s Old Bailey court found 34-year-old Abdullah Albadri guilty of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two knives following the incident in April last year. Armed police had tackled Albadri as he scaled an eight-foot-high fence at the west London embassy while carrying two knives, with the court hearing he wanted to “exact revenge” for the killing of children in…

A court ruling expected on Monday could clarify a growing legal dispute in Dutch football over player eligibility, after a passport dispute over a single player spiralled into a crisis engulfing 11 players across eight clubs. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In the worst case, the court’s decision could result in the Dutch Eredivisie being forced to replay 133 matches and potentially leave this season unable to reach a conclusion. The case centres on Go Ahead Eagles defender Dean James, who was born in the Netherlands but obtained Indonesian citizenship in March 2025 to qualify for the Indonesian national team, making his debut…

More than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to job strain, such as long working hours, job insecurity and workplace harassment, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) study. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT These psychosocial risks can cause depression, burnout and cancer among workers, while companies are in turn hit with lower staff retention, suffering work performance and absenteeism. While cardiovascular diseases cause most of the attributable deaths, mental disorders are most likely to cause workers to lose healthy life years, reflecting their chronic and disabling nature. This results in an estimated loss of 1.37% of global GDP…

Competitiveness and innovation are at the core of Ursula von der Leyen’s second mandate as chief of the European Commission. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Recent developments, such as proposals for new business-friendly legal frameworks like the 28th regime and repeated calls for deregulation, have raised concern among some observers, who argue that workers’ rights risk being overlooked, or even eroded. Meanwhile, people are concerned that new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) will replace them, while stress on the job is causing a burnout crisis. On International Labour Day, Brussels, My Love? explores the challenges and opportunities faced by European workers in…

Dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Crete disembarked on Friday in the Greek island, according to reports. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Escorted by Greek coast guards, some 175 activists were taken in four buses to a town whose name was not disclosed by the authorities. Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20 boats on Thursday. Flotilla organisers put the number at 211. “In coordination with the Greek government, the individuals transferred from the flotilla vessels to the Israeli vessel will be disembarked…

For almost two years, Ukraine’s ambition to one day join the European Union has been defined not by its progress but by its lack thereof. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Hungary’s veto, imposed in June 2024 and since entrenched, has effectively paralysed Ukraine’s membership application, pushing Kyiv and Brussels towards informal avenues to advance the legal and technical work in the hope of a breakthrough. As a result, Ukraine today finds itself in a highly unusual position: on paper, it is ready to open the six clusters of negotiations that structure the accession process, but in practice, it is unable to open any…

When confirmation of the conviction on appeal came through, Nessy Guerra was still in Egypt, where she has been living for some time and which she is not allowed to leave. The woman, an Italian citizen originally from Sanremo, is the mother of a three-year-old girl and has for months been at the centre of a legal saga combining criminal law, a family dispute and diplomatic tensions. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The ruling hands down six months in prison for adultery. An offence that no longer exists in Italy, but which is still prosecuted under the Egyptian system. The case stems from…