european union

Macron Wants EU-US Trade Deal 'As Soon As Possible'

France's President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he wanted an EU-US trade deal "as soon as possible, with the lowest tariffs possible", with a Washington-set deadline looming to reach an accord. "The right deal for me is the deal that is struck as soon as possible, with the lowest tariffs possible, and that must be fair and firm," Macron ...

Fate of Major Trade Deal with EU Hangs Over Mercosur Summit

The fate of a landmark trade deal with the European Union, which France is trying to block, loomed over a gathering of South America's Mercosur bloc which began Wednesday in Buenos Aires. Brussels in December struck a deal with Mercosur's founding members -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- to create a free trade zone of around 700 ...

China, EU Should not 'Seek Confrontation': FM Wang

China's top diplomat warned his EU counterpart against "confrontation", his foreign ministry said Thursday, after she urged Beijing to stop undermining Europe's security. Meeting Kaja Kallas in Brussels on Wednesday, Wang Yi said China and the European Union "should not be regarded as opponents because of differences, nor should they seek ...

European Security Tops Denmark's EU Presidency Priorities

Pushing countries to keep vows to boost defense spending and bolstering Europe's "dangerous" security will top Denmark's agenda as it takes over the European Union's rotating presidency on Tuesday, according to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Denmark is among European nations put on edge by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and who have already ...

Armenia Tilts Toward EU as Russia Warns Against Breaking Alliances

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas urged Armenia to protect its democratic values amid "hybrid threats" from Russia on a visit to Yerevan on Monday. Ties between Armenia and its traditional ally Russia have been strained since Azerbaijan's 2023 offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Moscow did not intervene. Russia has for years been the main ...

Renewables and Diversification: The Gulf’s Strategy

After decades of prosperity built on fossil fuels, the Gulf monarchies are increasingly turning toward green hydrogen, pursuing a dual goal: diversifying their economies and demonstrating a credible commitment to tackling climate change. As Karim Elgendy, an ecological transition specialist, told AFP, “The Gulf states want to lead the global ...

AI is Learning to Lie, Scheme, and Threaten its Creators

The world's most advanced AI models are exhibiting troubling new behaviors - lying, scheming, and even threatening their creators to achieve their goals. In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic's latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital ...

China's Top Diplomat to Visit EU, Germany, France Next Week

China's top diplomat Wang Yi will head to Europe next week for talks with counterparts from the European Union, Germany and France, Beijing said on Friday as it seeks to shore up fraught ties with the bloc. Beijing has sought to improve relations with Europe as a counterweight to superpower rival United States, though frictions remain over trade ...

After NATO Deal, How Far Will EU Go for Trade Peace with Trump?

After satisfying Donald Trump's calls for Europe to ramp up defense spending in NATO, EU leaders in Brussels turned Thursday to the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader. Time is running out. The European Union has until July 9 to reach a deal or see swingeing tariffs kick in on a majority of goods, unleashing ...

When Faith Challenges Power: Armenia’s Deepening Rift

A political bombshell in an already turbulent Armenia. On June 26, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, a rising figure in the opposition, was placed in pre-trial detention in Yerevan. As leader of the Srbazan Paykar (“Sacred Struggle”) movement, he stands accused of plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government by force. ...

Trading Peace for Firepower? Europe’s Rush to Rearm

At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in The Hague, under mounting pressure from both the Russian threat and the United States’ demands, the Alliance crossed a historic threshold: member states committed to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. But behind the bold figure lies a fractured Europe, torn between rearmament ...

Child Vaccine Coverage Faltering, Threatening Millions: Study

Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday. These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid ...