The European Union

July 9, 2026 9:34 AM

Death toll from Venezuela quakes rises to 3,811 as government seeks frozen funds

The death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes has risen to 3,811, according to figures released by National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez on Wednesday. The latest tally puts the number of injured in the June 24 quakes at 16,740, and the number of homeless at 17,907. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez renewed calls for international sanctions on Venezuela to be lifted to assist the earthquake recovery, saying the country had enough overseas assets to help finance reconstruction if blocke...

May 20, 2026 10:06 AM

EU strikes provisional agreement to finalise US trade deal

The European Union struck a provisional agreement on Wednesday on legislation to remove import duties on U.S. goods, a key part of the trade deal reached with Washington last July, in a move likely to avert higher U.S. tariffs on EU products. Under the terms of the deal struck at U.S. President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last July, the EU agreed to remove import duties on U.S. industrial goods and grant preferential access to U.S. farm and sea produce. In exchange, the Uni...

May 8, 2026 11:41 AM

19 members of the WTO, including US, agree among themselves not to impose duties on e-commerce

The U.S. and more than a dozen other countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia on Thursday launched their own pact to not impose duties on e-commerce after no agreement was reached to end deadlock with Brazil, a document showed. Brazil upheld its opposition to a four-year extension of a global deal at World Trade Organization talks in Geneva which concluded on Thursday. However, Turkey, which had previously been against it, dropped its opposition, a WTO spokesperson said. ...

April 23, 2026 7:52 PM

EU formally approves Ukraine loan and 20th sanctions package against Russia

The European Union formally approved on Thursday a 90-billion-euro ($105-billion) loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia, ahead of an informal summit of the bloc's leaders in Cyprus which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend. The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's needs for the next two years. Economists had said Ukraine would start to run out of money by June if the EU loan was not disbursed by then, requiring deep cuts to public services. "We are on our ...

March 17, 2026 2:01 PM

Iran renews attacks on US Gulf allies, Trump says that was not expected

Iran launched fresh attacks on the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the kind of strikes on U.S. Gulf allies that President Donald Trump said had not been expected, but which sources said he had been warned about before the conflict. Six foreign diplomats in the Gulf and the wider Middle East have told Reuters it was widely anticipated that Tehran would target Gulf Arab states if the U.S. or Israel attacked Iran, an assessment they said was shared by regional and Western governments. The U.S.-I...

March 2, 2026 9:32 PM

EU calls gas supply group meeting in response to Iran conflict

The European Union's gas supply coordination group will meet on Wednesday to discuss the impact of the expanding conflict in the Middle East, a European Commission spokesperson told Reuters after European gas prices leapt by more than 50%. The gas coordination group includes representatives from EU governments, monitors gas storage and security of supply, and coordinates response measures during crises. The EU's oil coordination group will also meet within 48 hours. Earlier on Monday, a spokes...