Page 57 - European Union

EU suspends 'all payments immediately' to Palestinians post Hamas attack

European Union Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said Monday the bloc is suspending all payments immediately to the Palestinians because of what he called the scale of terror and brutality during the attacks of Hamas against Israel. The surprise announcement by Varhelyi came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money whatsoever was going to Hamas in the first place and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years. The EU considers Hamas a terror group. Queries about what the move entailed and whether it would hit all humanitarian aid to Palestinians were not immediately answered. Varhelyi said that as the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, which he said amounted to 691 million euros. It was not immediately clear what funds were included and excluded. Varhelyi said the measures include that all payments (be) immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals... postponed

Meta mulls paid option for ad-free Instagram, Facebook in India: Details

It follows Meta's talks to launch a similar plan in the European Union (EU) to conform with its privacy concerns

EU Parliament condemns 'gender apartheid policy' of Taliban in Afghanistan

They also condemned the increase in human rights violations in Afghanistan, particularly arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture by former security forces

EU summit to look at changes bloc needs to make to welcome Ukraine, others

A day after pledging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their unwavering support, European Union leaders on Friday will face one of their worst political headaches on a key commitment - how and when to welcome debt-laden and battered Ukraine into the bloc. The 27-nation EU has said since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022 that at the end of the war it would work steadfastly on lasting unity that would eventually translate into Ukraine's membership in the wealthy bloc. For a nation fighting for its very survival, that moment cannot come quickly enough. For the bloc itself, that remains to be seen. On Friday, the leaders will assess enlargement as they call it at their informal summit in southern Spain's Granada. Beyond Ukraine, several western Balkan nations and Moldova are also knocking with increasing impatience at the door. In his summit invitation letter, EU Council President Charles Michel asked the leaders critical questions, such as: What do we do together?

EU approves world's first green bond standards to avoid greenwashing

Europe is the world's biggest issuer of green bonds, accounting for more than half of global volume in 2021, though issuance is still only 3% to 3.5% of the overall bond market

Russia starts fresh attacks on Ukraine as Zelenskyy attends European forum

Russia targeted Ukraine with drones in another major attack early on Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Spain to rally support from Western allies at a summit of around 50 European leaders. Ukraine's air force said that the country's air defences intercepted 24 out of 29 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the southern Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions. Andriy Raykovych, head of the Kirovohrad regional administration, said that an infrastructure facility in the region was struck and emergency services were deployed to extinguish a fire. He said there were no casualties. The attack came as Zelenskyy arrived in Granada in southern Spain to attend a summit of the European Political Community, which was formed in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defense, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners, he said in a statement posted on his ..

Instagram without ads: Meta to charge $14 per month from mobile users in EU

Meta will charge the users $17 for the desktop versions of Facebook and Instagram together in the coming weeks

EU announces plans to better protect sensitive tech from foreign snooping

The European Union announced plans on Tuesday to better protect its cutting-edge technologies from foreign snooping that might threaten its economy and security in the wake of repeated warnings that the bloc needs to de-risk its relations with China. Technology is currently at the heart of geopolitical competition and the EU wants to be a player, and not a playground, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said. To better protect its relatively open market, the European Commission wants the member states to immediately carry out risk assessments of its most sensitive industries, including advanced semiconductor, artificial intelligence, quantum and biotechnologies. Those are considered highly likely to present the most sensitive and immediate risks related to technology security and technology leakage and are up for the highest level of protection. Even though the European Commission refrained from putting the onus on any specific country, the EU itself has repeatedly said

Our support for Ukraine permanent: European Union Chief Borell in Kyiv

The foreign ministers of the European Union arrived in Kyiv on Monday for the first meeting of the 27 member states ever held outside the EU

Ukraine confident of broad support as EU ministers convene in Kyiv

Monday's meeting in Kyiv was touted by Borrell as an historic first but it comes at an awkward time for the Western alliance that has supported Kyiv

Indian companies prep for EU's CBAM as transitional phase kicks in

Starting from October 1, the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will be applicable to exports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, and hydrogen to the EU

Emission reporting phase of EU's carbon tax regime starts from October 1

Indian firms must share emission data in the format prescribed by the EU with the declarant much before this date

Inflation drops sharply in Europe, but higher crude oil prices loom

Inflation that has been plaguing Europeans declined sharply in September, strengthening hopes that consumers will eventually get relief from costlier groceries, vacations and haircuts and that the European Central Bank won't have to further restrict the economy by raising interest rates from already-record highs. The annual rate was 4.3% this month, a drop from 5.2% in August. But recently higher oil prices are casting a shadow over prospects for beating inflation back down to the central bank's target of 2%. Core inflation, which excludes volatile fuel and food prices, fell more than analysts expected to 4.5% from 5.3%, according to data released Friday by the European Union's statistics agency, Eurostat. The ECB closely watches this figure to assess how inflation is coming down. The fall in core inflation reinforces our view that the ECB has finished raising interest rates, said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics. He predicted that the ...

Amazon wins court backing for now against EU tech rules' ad clause

Amazon took its grievance to Europe's 2nd highest court in July after EU antitrust regulators in April designated it as a VLOP along with 18 other platforms and search engines

Poland's hard-right party pushes new, less friendly course on Ukraine

Poland's hard-right Confederation party opened its electoral campaign convention as if it were a rock concert, with a singer riding up on a motorcycle, its engine revving, and a pyrotechnic show of flames and sparklers. The party has been growing in popularity, especially among young men fed up with the political parties that have dominated Poland for most of the post-Communist era. Its convention in Katowice on Saturday, billed as its largest ahead of parliamentary elections on October 15, was aimed at energising more voters and at playing down antisemitism and other extreme views among some of its members. Through smoke and fire, Confederation's leaders made their case for lower taxes, less regulation and an anti-European Union and anti-Ukraine foreign policy. Confederation has turned up the heat on the Polish political establishment, riding a wave of support for nationalist conservative parties across Europe. Similar political forces have surged on opposition to widespread ...

DPDP Act: Firms in disarray, seek more time, clarity for implementation

Companies feel that the "timelines are too short," as the new DPDP Act will require a complete overhaul of their entire internal systems

EU's industry chief Breton tells Apple CEO to open its ecosystem to rivals

Be it the electronic wallet, browsers or app stores, consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers," he said

Net Zero by 2050 still possible with rapid renewables expansion: IEA

The report comes amid concerns of backsliding on climate and environmental commitments in Europe after the UK deferred its own ban on combustion engine cars by five years to 2035

EU calls for balanced trade with China, warns Ukraine could divide them

The European Union's trade commissioner called for a more balanced economic relationship with China on Monday, noting an EU trade deficit of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion), while also warning that China's position on the war in Ukraine could endanger its relationship with Europe. Valdis Dombrovskis, in a speech at China's prestigious Tsinghua University, said that the EU and China face significant political and economic headwinds that could cause them to drift apart. The strongest, yet not the only, headwind is Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and how China positions itself on this issue, he said. Dombrovskis spoke before high-level economic and trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. EU leaders have expressed concern about the bloc's growing trade deficit with China, which reached 396 billion euros last year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently announced an investigation into Chinese subsidies to electric vehicle makers, saying

India mulling its own carbon tax on exports along the lines of CBAM

A tax on imports and goods coming into India from the EU is also being planned