Controversy over housing allowance, which is almost 10 times minimum wage, comes amid President Prabowo Subianto’s austerity drive. Riot police have fired water cannon and rounds of teargas at thousands of stone-throwing protesters in capital as anger over the lavish allowances of parliament members has fuelled public anger. Thousands of...
Denmark summons US charge d’affaires over alleged attempts to interfere with Greenland’s status
Foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that “any attempt to interfere in the Kingdom’s internal affairs will obviously be unacceptable.” The move comes after DR reported that Danish intelligence services have uncovered a network of “at least three” people working on “influence operations” in Greenland to drive a wedge between...
EU and Spain risk rights abuse complicity in Mauritania
Racial and ethnic profiling, extortion, mass arrests, detention for days or weeks with little to no food, collective expulsions, beatings and torture: these are just some of the violations migrants, asylum seekers, and others have experienced over the past several years at the hands of security forces in the context...
US explored energy deals with Russia during Ukraine peace talks
US and Russian officials quietly discussed potential energy deals earlier this month, while holding talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine Possible arrangements were presented as incentives for Moscow to consider peace terms and for Washington to ease sanctions, according to anonymous sources cited by Reuters on Tuesday evening...
Von der Leyen or Draghi: Europe’s power under question
Over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stepped in to defend the EU- US tariff deal, after sharp criticism from Mario Draghi, economist, former ECB chief and former Italian prime minister who, just last year, was asked by von der Leyen to compile a report with ideas...
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and export restrictions on countries whose taxes, legislation and regulations target US big tech companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple. In a post on the US president’s social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said “digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are...
Bayrou’s Budget Battle
French prime minister François Bayrou said on Monday that he would seek parliamentary backing for his unpopular plans to shore up France’s ailing public finances on 8 September, asking deputies to “confirm the scale” of spending cuts he says are needed to save €44bn (£38bn) a year. “We face an...
The Czech Republic at a crossroads
With parliamentary elections set for October, the political landscape is shifting toward a possible return to power of Andrej Babiš’s ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens). Polls suggest ANO could secure a majority, forming a government that prioritizes growth over austerity—a clear departure from the fiscal discipline of the current SPOLU-led...
Car finance scandal: shares in UK lenders jump after supreme court ruling
Lloyds and Close Brothers surge after Friday’s court decision slashed the expected bill for compensation on mis-sold loans. Shares in UK lenders surged on Monday after a favourable supreme court ruling significantly slashed the anticipated bill for companies engulfed in the car finance scandal. The specialist lender Close Brothers, which...
Possible countries for Zelenskyy–Putin Peace talks
Despite its neutral status, Switzerland is a signatory to the Rome Statute that founded the court but Ignazio Cassis said that provided Putin was coming for peace purposes, the country could receive him. "This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as (the European) headquarters of the...