Europe

March 3, 2025 9:19 AM

UK, European leaders join forces to draft Ukraine peace plan to take to US

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the United States, a vital step for Washington to be able to offer security guarantees that Kyiv says are essential to deter Russia. At a summit in London just two days after Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump and cut short a visit to Washington, European leaders offered a strong show of support to the Ukrainian president and promised to do mor...

February 27, 2025 5:05 PM

European Commission President arrives in Delhi, calls India a trusted friend and strategic ally

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the national capital on Thursday for a two-day official visit, reaffirming India’s role as a trusted friend and strategic ally for Europe. Accompanied by the European Union College of Commissioners, von der Leyen's visit will include the second ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council, along with several bilateral ministerial meetings. She is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss ways to...

February 18, 2025 10:53 AM

Europe talks up more defence spending as Ukraine peacekeeper plan divides

European leaders meeting in Paris for emergency talks on Monday called for higher spending to ramp up the continent's defence capabilities but remained split on the idea of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal. The leaders also agreed it would be dangerous to conclude a Ukraine ceasefire without a peace agreement at the same time, and that they were ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine "depending on the level of American support," a European official said. "...

February 18, 2025 9:16 AM

Europe should continue supporting Ukraine, reject peace of dictate, says Germany

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europe should continue to support Ukraine, emphasising that no peace of dictate can be imposed on the country. "Ukraine should have confidence in us. It is clear that we should continue to support Ukraine," Scholz said on Monday after attending an emergency meeting convened by French President Emmanuel Macron on the eve of the Russian-US talks set to take place Tuesday in Riyadh. "No peace of dictate can be imposed on Ukraine... Ukraine cannot accept eve...

February 14, 2025 5:31 PM

Hegseth tells Europe to spend on defence as US presence may not last forever

European countries need to invest now in defence because it is not possible to assume that the United States' presence on the continent will last forever, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday during a visit to Warsaw. Pointing to Poland, which plans to spend 4.7% of GDP on defence this year, as a model ally, Hegseth doubled down on Washington's demands that European NATO allies take on more of the financial burden for their own security. "What happens five or 10 or 15 years from ...

January 29, 2025 10:23 AM

Zelenskiy urges Trump to be on Ukraine’s side, says Putin not afraid of Europe

Ukraine needed broader security guarantees and Russian President Vladimir Putin was not afraid of Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Fox News in an interview in which he urged U.S. President Donald Trump to be on Ukraine's side. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war soon, without saying how. Aides have suggested that a deal could take months. Trump has expressed willingness to speak to Putin about ending the war, a co...

January 1, 2025 11:36 AM

Russia halts gas exports to Europe via Ukraine

Russia's energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that gas exports via Ukraine to Europe had been halted from 08:00 Moscow time (0500 GMT) as the transit deal has expired. The shutdown of Russia's oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014. Russia still exports gas via the TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea. The European Union redoubled its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy after the outbreak of the m...

December 24, 2024 3:44 PM

Israel asks diplomats to seek Houthis’ listing as terrorists

Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen designated as a terrorist organisation. The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what the group describes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israeli forces in Gaza. The attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation...

December 16, 2024 3:00 PM

Global markets wary of Fed rate plans, China retail disappoints

Shares around the world nudged lower on Monday on soft economic numbers from China and Europe and as surging bond yields challenged equity valuations, at the start of a week packed with central bank meetings and major economic data. Figures from China showed retail sales rose just 3.0% in November, compared with a year earlier, well below market forecasts of 4.6% and evidence of the need for much more aggressive stimulus. Industrial production was much as expected, while house prices were still...

October 15, 2024 4:05 PM

AI enhances flood warnings but cannot erase risk of disaster

When floods ripped through parts of Europe in September, the scale of the destruction took people by surprise. The intense rains should not have, because those had been predicted by sophisticated forecasting systems enhanced with artificial intelligence. But forewarned did not mean forearmed. Though the rains were accurately predicted, the effects in the deluged areas were not - a fact that highlights the difficulties of dealing with ever more common extreme weather. AI has supercharged weathe...