Author: Press Room
Published on 07/03/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1•Updated 11/09/2026 – 22:42 GMT+2 France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and lawmakers, skipping translation into the bloc’s 24 official languages, according to several sources. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The slow ratification of the contentious EU–Mercosur trade deal has frustrated the Commission, which wants to accelerate negotiations and bring deals into force more quickly as it seeks new markets amid rising geopolitical tensions. Translating the agreements into every official EU language can take months due to the legal…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 22:02 GMT+2 Police in southern England have banned face coverings at an anti-immigration rally as well as in a counter-protest planned in Portsmouth on Saturday, amid concerns over potential unrest. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The demonstration, organised by protesters calling themselves “patriots”, is expected to begin at around noon. Hampshire Police, which has responsibility for Portsmouth, said the mask ban was to “reduce opportunities for violence, intimidation and criminality”. It said the move followed “recent incidents of violence and intimidation by a minority of those who have been intent on disrupting peaceful protest”. A separate order will allow…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:15 GMT+2 UK lawmakers on Friday rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Following an impassioned four-hour debate in the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected by 286 votes to 270. The outcome marked a notable reversal from last year, when an almost identical bill passed with a majority of 23 votes. The bill would have allowed adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death,…
A French court has sentenced a man to six months in prison after he threatened to “cut off the head” of a teacher at his son’s school last week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The defendant confronted his son’s teacher in the school car park in the southwestern town of Le Fauga last week, after the nine-year-old was moved to another class because of his behaviour. He threatened to decapitate the 58-year-old teacher before entering the school, where he repeated the threats in front of the headteacher. Remarks of ‘great violence’ The court sentenced the defendant to six months in prison, to be…
By Luca Bertuzzi & Maria Tadeo & Jorge Liboreiro Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:37 GMT+2•Updated 19:00 The French government has joined Slovakia in seeking the delisting of Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, causing “huge frustration” among other EU countries, four EU diplomats told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Slovakia has long pushed for Usmanov and another Russian oligarch, Mikhail Fridman, to be removed from the EU’s sanctions list targeting individuals close to Vladimir Putin’s regime and the military-industrial complex sustaining the war in Ukraine. But Bratislava is no longer alone. Paris has also called for Usmanov, who has been under EU sanctions since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022,…
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Thursday criticised a proposal by left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to cancel France’s debt held by the central bank. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Lagarde said the proposal by the La France Insoumise (LFI) leader was “really not a good idea” during a press conference following the ECB’s announcement of another increase in its key interest rates. The president added that the move would amount to a “clear violation of the treaty” on the European Union. Mélenchon’s proposal essentially entails cancelling the 18% of France’s debt that is currently held by the country’s central…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 17:14 GMT+2 Norway’s Princess Astrid, the older sister of the late King Harald, died on Friday at the age of 94, the Norwegian Royal Palace said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Aunt Astrid was an important source of support for King Harald and the rest of our family. We learned a great deal from her, and she was never afraid to speak her mind,” King Haakon VIII said in the statement. “Her passing is a great loss to us. We will miss her.” The King added that Princess Astrid had stepped into the role of First…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 15:49 GMT+2 The immobilised assets from the Russian Central Bank are not “the primary focus” at the moment, the European Commission said on Friday amid growing calls to channel the €210 billion into additional support for cash-strapped Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, backed by the Baltics, have asked the executive to devise new legal options to tap the assets. Ukraine has endorsed the initiative and pitched creating an EU-owned custodian to hold the assets kept at Euroclear, a depository in central Brussels. And this week, a cross-party group of 122 members of…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 15:00 GMT+2 Work begins at dawn in Corticeira Amorim’s cork oak forests. Cork harvesting takes place between late May and August, and much of it is still done by hand. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “On average a tree can produce for 170 years, 200 years more or less, giving us 15 to 17 extractions.” explains Carlos Abreu, from the Communication Department at Amorim Florestal. A cork oak takes at least nine years to regenerate its bark, and around 25 before it can be harvested for the first time. These long timeframes are difficult to reconcile with the needs…
Published on 11/09/2026 – 14:31 GMT+2 The European Commission transmitted the EU-India trade deal, clinched last January, to EU member states for ratification on Friday – but only in English, despite opposition from France. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU executive wants to fast-track the ratification process for trade deals by skipping the translation of agreements into the bloc’s 24 official languages. “When President von der Leyen went to India in January to conclude negotiations for this landmark trade agreement, she made a commitment to try to get it over the line within this calendar year,” Commission Deputy Chief Spokesperson Olof Gill…