Page 15 - Europe

Poland shaken by reports consular officials took bribes to help migrants

Poland's conservative governing party was hoping to make migration a key campaign theme ahead of the country's national election. But not like this. The Law and Justice party is being rocked by reports that Polish consulates issued visas in Africa and Asia in exchange for bribes, opening the door for migrants to enter the European Union which some used as a launching pad to enter the United States. Details about the corruption scandal are coming to light a month ahead of the country's parliamentary elections Oct. 15, leaving Law and Justice struggling to control the damage. On Friday, a former deputy foreign minister who was dismissed amid reports of his involvement was hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt. Law and Justice has been the election frontrunner in a field of several parties, and it's not clear if the affair will dent its support. But opposition politicians have seized on the issue, accusing the government of corruption and hypocrisy, given its strong ...

The storytellers' bazaar

The enduring legacy of trade routes lies in shared stories and religious diversity. Can the India-Middle East-Europe Economic corridor harness this legacy to empower nations?

TikTok is hit with $368 mn fine under Europe's data privacy rules

European regulators slapped TikTok with a USD 368 million fine on Friday for failing to protect children's privacy, the first time that the popular short video-sharing app has been punished for breaching Europe's strict data privacy rules. Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead privacy regulator for Big Tech companies whose European headquarters are largely in Dublin, said it was fining TikTok 345 million euros and reprimanding the platform for the violations dating to the second half of 2020. The investigation found that the sign-up process for teen users resulted in settings that made their accounts public by default, allowing anyone to view and comment on their videos. Those default settings also posed a risk to children under 13 who gained access to the platform even though they're not allowed. Also, a family pairing" feature designed for parents to manage settings wasn't strict enough, allowing adults to turn on direct messaging for users aged 16 and 17 without their ..

EU lawmakers approve deal to raise renewable energy target to 42.5% by 2030

European Union lawmakers endorsed a deal on Tuesday to raise the share of renewables in the bloc's energy mix, another step to accelerate its green transition away from fossil fuels. The bill, adopted by a large majority 470 lawmakers voted in favour, 120 against and 40 abstained foresees an updated renewable energy target of 42.5 per cent of total consumption by 2030, with the aim of reaching 45 per cent. The current goal is 32 per cent. Today's vote in the European Parliament clears the way for a massive boost towards the energy transition, in a way that is affordable for citizens and reinforces the EU as an industrial bastion, said Green MEP Ville Niinist. The EU is saying goodbye to fossil fuels in our energy mix. The energy crisis has shown that we must be fully independent of oil and gas, especially from Russia. A review by global energy think tank Ember showed that wind and solar generated a record 22 per cent of the EU's electricity last year and for the first time overto

US praises India for G20, hails 'India-Middle East Europe Corridor'

The US lauded India for hosting the G20 summit, calling it a big "success" and hailing the landmark 'India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor' which will usher in a new era of connectivity from Europe to Asia and will stimulate economic growth across the two continents. The G20 Leaders' two-day summit, held under India's presidency, wrapped up on Sunday. On Saturday, the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was jointly announced by the leaders of the US, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi. The new economic corridor is seen as an alternative to China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). During a regular press briefing on Monday, the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters," It was a landmark India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that we believe will usher in a new era of connectivity from Europe to Asia that will

India-Middle East-Europe corridor to make supply chain more resilient: EEPC

The proposed 'India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor' announced during the just-concluded G20 Leaders' Summit in Delhi will prove to be a game-changer project and provide huge impetus to global trade, Engineering Exports Promotion Council India (EEPC India) said on Monday. The corridor will also make the "global supply chain more resilient", EEPC India chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said. The project seeks to connect India with Europe via the Middle East by sea and port. This will redefine the movement of goods and services across the continents as it will bring down logistics costs and ensure quicker delivery of shipments, Garodia said in a statement. For India's engineering exports sector, both the Middle East and Europe are key markets, and having transport infrastructure of this scale will greatly enhance its competitiveness globally, he said. Garodia also said the investment in the transformative project will greatly boost economic activities, create jobs, and most important

'India-Europe-Middle East corridor largest cooperation project in history'

Welcoming the announcement of the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as the "largest cooperation project in our history" that will "change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and will affect the entire world". The new economic corridor, which many see as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative, was jointly announced on Saturday by the leaders of the US, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi. In a video message released late Saturday evening, Netanyahu said that Israel is at the focus of an unprecedented international project that will link infrastructure from Asia to Europe. "I welcome the statement that was released today by the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the European Union, as well as France, Italy and Germany," Netanyahu said. "A good week to you, citizens of ..

G20: India-Middle East-Europe mega connectivity corridor deal announced

A connectivity corridor through India, the Middle East and Europe will soon be launched, sources said on Saturday. They said it will be a historic and first of its kind initiative for cooperation on connectivity and infrastructure involving India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Europian Union, France, Italy, Germany and the US. The development comes amid the ongoing G20 summit which, in a major diplomatic breakthrough for India, agreed on a join declaration.

India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor launched at Delhi G20 Summit

Lauding the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe connectivity corridor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a historic agreement was concluded today

BofA expects to ECB hike all three policy rates by 25 bps next week

The brokerage expects "very little" forward outlook for the following meetings but said the bias would be towards pausing and not cutting rates

PM Modi proposes economic corridor between Asean & Europe through India

PM Modi tells East Asia Summit that free and open Indo-Pacific is in everyone's interest

Rahul Gandhi leaves for Europe tour; to meet EU lawyers, students: Report

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday left for an almost week-long Europe tour during which he will hold meetings with European Union (EU) lawyers, students and the Indian diaspora, sources said. Gandhi will meet a group of EU lawyers in Brussels on September 7 and also hold a similar meeting in The Hague, they said. According to the sources, the former Congress president will address students at a university in Paris on September 8. He is also slated to participate in a meeting of the Labour Union of France in Paris on September 9. Thereafter, he will visit Norway, where he will address a diaspora event in Oslo on September 10, they said. Gandhi is likely to return by September 11, a day after the G20 summit concludes. The G20 Leaders Summit will be held from September 9-10 in Delhi. India is hosting the G20 summit in its capacity as the current president of the grouping and it is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of state, top officials from the European Union and .

Meta to drop 'Facebook News' tab in some European countries this year

Meta has started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada in response to a new law requiring internet giants to pay news publishers

Israel PM pitches fiber optic cable idea to link Asia-Middle East to Europe

Israel's prime minister on Sunday floated the idea of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's quite confident such an infrastructure corridor linking Asia to Europe through Israel and Cyprus is feasible. He said such projects could happen if Israel normalises relations with other countries in the region. The 2020 U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and the Bidensadministration is trying to establish official ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. An example and the most obvious one is a fiber optic connection. That's the shortest route. It's the safest route. It's the most economic route, Netanyahu said after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The Israeli leader's pitch is itself an extension of proposed energy links with Cyprus and Greece as

Microsoft to stop packaging Teams and Office software in Europe

Microsoft will stop packaging its Teams videoconferencing app with its Office software in Europe in an effort to head off antitrust penalties by regulators. The tech giant also said Thursday that it would take steps to make it easier for competing products to work alongside its software. The announcement comes a month after the European Union's executive Commission, the 27-nation bloc's top competition enforcer, opened a formal investigation over concerns that bundling Teams with Office gives the company an unfair edge over competitors. The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed in 2020 by Slack Technologies, maker of popular workplace messaging software. Slack, owned by business software maker Salesforce, alleged that Microsoft was abusing its market dominance to eliminate competition in violation of EU laws by illegally combining Teams with its Office suite, which includes Word, Excel and Outlook. "Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to

Outlook of Europeans towards India has turned more negative: Pew Survey

The most significant change is seen in France, where just 39 per cent now have a favourable view of India, compared with 70 per cent in 2008

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to leave for Europe in Sept to meet lawmakers

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Europe next month and meet European Commission lawmakers in Belgium besides addressing students at a university in Paris. He is also likely to address the Indian diaspora at an event in Oslo early September, sources said. Notably, his visits abroad will come at a time when the crucial G20 Summit will be held from September 9 to 10 in the national capital. India currently holds the G20 presidency. The sources said the Gandhi scion is likely to leave for Paris in the the first week of September for a five-day tour. He will attend a meeting with European Union members in Brussels on September 7. According to the sources, the former Congress chief will address students at a university in Paris on September 8 and deliver a lecture there. He is also slated to participate in a meeting of the Labour Union of France in Paris on September 9. Thereafter, the sources said Gandhi is slated to visit Norway where he will address the Indian diaspor

Risk of fatal heatwaves rises sharply over 2 decades, finds study

The risk of fatal heat waves has risen sharply over the past 20 years, and such extreme weather will become more frequent in the future, increasing heat-related excess mortality, a study shows. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that Europe will be particularly affected. Heat waves of the kind we are currently experiencing are particularly deadly for the elderly, the sick and the poor, the researchers said. The 2003 heat wave, which saw temperatures in Europe reach 47.5 degrees Celsius, was one of the worst natural disasters of recent decades, claiming an estimated 45,000 to 70,000 victims in the space of a few weeks, they said. The researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland found that such heat waves could become the new norm in the coming years. Since 2013, they have been systematically collecting data on daily heat-related excess mortality for 748 cities and communities in 47 countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the US and Canada. T

Awaiting India's response on setting up dispute settlement mechanism: EU

The European Union on Saturday said it is awaiting India's response to its proposal for setting up of a dedicated dispute settlement mechanism under the bilateral investment protection pact that is being negotiated along with an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) by the two sides. The EU's Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis told a small group of journalists that both sides are engaged in "intensive" negotiations on the proposed FTA and that "progress" has been made on various issues. But at the same time the top EU official, currently on a visit to India, noted that there is "still a lot of work ahead of us". Asked when the FTA can be sealed, he said the main focus has been on "substance over deadlines". To a question, Dombrovskis said there is no direct impact of New Delhi's trade ties with Moscow on the India-EU trade negotiations, adding: "In a sense, we do not see new topics emerging which could be obstacles for the FTA in this ...

Diesel exports to Singapore set for highs in Aug, drop for Europe: Trade

India is on track to ship between 330,000 and 439,000 tons of diesel in August to Singapore, shiptracking data from Refinitiv, Vortexa and Kpler showed