Page 32 - Europe

Influx of AI startups pumps up battle for technical talent in Europe

Founded in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014, London-based DeepMind made its name applying AI to everything from board games to structural biology

India, four-nation EFTA set to sign free trade agreement on Sunday

India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA will sign a free trade agreement on Sunday with an aim to boost two-way trade in goods, services and investments, an official said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The pact received approval from the Union Cabinet on March 7, the official said. India and EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties. The agreement has 14 chapters, including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, government procurement, technical barriers to trade, and trade facilitation. EFTA has 29 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 partner countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Korea. Under free trade pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum

US Gulf Coast fuel oil imports hit five-year low as domestic supplies soar

U.S. refineries have been running more heavy Canadian crude because of its ample supply, with Gulf Coast refiners ramping up their intake by around 10% on the year, according to data

European inflation eases to 2.6% on falling energy prices, food inflation

The inflation that has ravaged the European economy eased again in February, falling to 2.6 per cent as high interest rates, moderating oil and gas prices, and sluggish growth held back price increases in stores. February's figure for the 20 countries that use the euro currency compares to 2.8 per cent from January, the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat said Friday. Inflation is now far below its peak of 10.6 per cent in October 2022, which it hit after Russia cut off most supplies of natural gas and sent energy prices through the roof. But the return of inflation to 2 per cent, the goal set by the European Central Bank, is taking time. Food inflation eased to 4 per cent from 5.6 per cent, offering some relief to people on modest incomes who spend more of their pay on necessities than the well-off. Another factor was energy prices, which fell by 3.7 per cent. One key sign that inflation is losing steam was so-called core inflation, which excludes swings in food and fuel

Meta hit with European complaints over data for FB, Instagram targeted ads

The groups claim this violates the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which allows fines as high as 4 per cent of annual revenue for the most serious infractions

Global economy weighed down by war, uncertainty & instability: WTO chief

The head of the World Trade Organisation warned on Monday that war, uncertainty and instability are weighing down the global economy and urged the bloc to embrace reform as elections across nearly half the world's population could bring new challenges. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sought to offer some praise for her organisation as it held its binneial meeting in the United Arab Emirates, even as it faces pressure from the United States and other nations. But she was blunt about the risks ahead, as higher prices for food, energy and other essentials sting people's pockets, fuelling political frustration. People everywhere are feeling anxious about the future and this will be felt at the ballot box this year, she said. None are perhaps more critical for the WTO than the US presidential election on November 5. Running again is former President Donald Trump, who threatened to withdraw the US from the WTO and repeatedly levied tariffs taxes on imported goods on perceived

European leaders in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 2 yrs since Russia's invasion

Western leaders descended on Kyiv on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled overnight to Kyiv by train along with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They arrived shortly after a Russian drone attack struck a residential building in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least one person. Three women also sustained severe burns in the attack Friday evening on a residential building, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on his social media account. Rescue services are still combing rubble looking for survivors. The foreign leaders are in Ukraine to express solidarity as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and weaponry and Western aid hangs in the balance. More than ever we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free, von der Leyen said i

Farmers' protest in Europe: What has led to unrest across the continent?

Farmers from at least nine European countries have united in protest, including Greece, Poland, Spain, Germany, France, Romania, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and Lithuania

German economy in 'troubled waters', govt cuts its growth forecast

The German government said Europe's largest economy was in troubled waters and slashed its growth forecast for this year as it struggles with a lack of skilled labour, excessive bureaucracy, high interest rates and lagging investment in new projects while a relatively modest set of tax breaks for business remains blocked in the legislature. The growth forecast was lowered to 0.2% from the previous forecast from last fall of 1.3%. That would follow a shrinking of the economy by 0.3% for all of last year. Germany is recovering more slowly than we hoped from the shock of Russia cutting off most supplies of natural gas after its invasion of Ukraine, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said as he presented the government's annual economic report. The economy is in troubled waters. The loss of Russian gas in Germany led to a spike in energy costs that hammered energy intensive industries and contributed to high consumer inflation that eroded purchasing power and made consumers more reluctant t

LTIMindtree & Eurolife FFH partner to setup GenAl hubs in Europe, India

As a part of the partnership, Eurolife FFH will set up GenAI and Digital Hub in Athens to develop solutions for its insurance businesses in Greece

Indian diesel floods to Asia as Houthis attacks impact flows to Europe

There were no imports of diesel-type fuel into the EU in the first two weeks of February and only one shipment into the UK, according to the data

IT services firm Sonata Software bets on European market to drive growth

The telecommunications sector, a segment of the Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) vertical, contributed 31 per cent to the company's revenue

IPO-bound travel distribution platform TBO Tek seeks to expand in West

Company connects travel agencies and suppliers like hotels, airlines in more than 100 countries

Microsoft, Amazon-backed trade body CISPE in talks over EU dispute

A representative for Microsoft said the company continues 'to work constructively with CISPE to resolve concerns raised by European cloud providers'

French farmers' union call for end of blockades as anger spreads in Europe

Farmers' complaints across Europe include being choked by green rules, taxes, rising costs and unfair competition from abroad

German unemployment edges down by 2,000 to 2.694 million in January

The Federal Labour Office said the number of people out of work decreased by 2,000 in seasonally adjusted terms from December to 2.694 million

Conflict in West Asia remains growing risk for energy markets: J P Morgan

Recent attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have disrupted international commerce on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia

ChatGPT violated European privacy laws, Italy tells chatbot maker OpenAI

Italian regulators said they told OpenAI that its ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot has violated European Union's stringent data privacy rules. The country's data protection authority, known as Garante, said on Monday that it notified San Francisco-based OpenAI of breaches of the EU rules, known as General Data Protection Regulation. The watchdog started investigating ChatGPT last year, when it temporarily banned within Italy the chatbot that can produce text, images and sound in response to users' questions. Based on the results of its fact-finding activity," the watchdog said it concluded that the available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions in the EU privacy rules. OpenAI has 30 days to reply to the allegations. It didn't respond immediately to a request for comment. The company said last year that it fulfilled a raft of conditions that the Garante demanded to get the ChatGPT ban lifted. The watchdog had imposed the ban after finding that some

Europe's economic blahs drag on with zero growth at end of last year

Europe's economy failed to expand at the end of 2023, with the stagnation now lasting for more than a year amid higher energy prices, costlier credit and lagging growth in powerhouse Germany. Zero economic growth for the October-to-December period of last year follows a 0.1 per cent contraction in the three months before that, according to figures released on Tuesday by EU statistics agency Eurostat. That extends a miserable run of economic blahs: The 20 countries that use the euro currency have not shown significant growth since the third quarter of 2022, when the economy grew 0.5 per cent. And the start of this year looks no better, with indicators of business activity still flashing red for contraction. Plus, disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea have constricted global trade through the Suez Canal, a major route between Asia and Europe, surging shipping costs and threatening to boost inflation. The eurozone is still struggling to find a bottom, said Holger Schmieding, chief ..

EAM speaks to Israeli counterpart Katz, discusses regional security issues

Israel on Monday expressed its gratitude towards India for its friendship and support and discussed regional security threats, including the security of shipping and regional projects which connect India with the Middle East. Had a good conversation today with Indian foreign minister @DrSJaishankar in which I expressed my gratitude for his friendship and support of Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. We discussed regional security threats including security of shipping and regional projects which connect India with the Middle East," Katz said in the post. Freedom of navigation in international waters has been a major concern in the region with Iran-backed Houthis disrupting shipping lines, causing major economic concerns raising prices of essential items and also threatening regional peace. The continued attacks will also adversely impact the plans for an India- Middle East- Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) projec