Markets
Browsing: Europe
Fact check: Which EU economy is performing the best?
Published on 11/09/2026 – 13:42 GMT+2 Portugal’s economy and employment growth are the best-performing in Europe, according to the country’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. But how true is that? Montenegro made the comments while speaking to the Assembly of…
EU Commission pushes all-English trade deals despite French opposition
Published on 11/09/2026 – 14:31 GMT+2 The European Commission transmitted the EU-India trade deal, clinched last January, to EU member states for ratification on Friday – but only in English, despite opposition from France. The EU executive wants to…
The Netherlands, Spain push for EU-wide minimum age on social media
Published on 11/09/2026 – 14:46 GMT+2 The Hague and Madrid are pushing for an EU-wide minimum age for social media use, potentially extended to other online services, as the European Commission prepares to announce its own proposal next week. The social media…
From bottle stoppers to rockets: How Portugal is reinventing cork
Published on 11/09/2026 – 15:00 GMT+2 Work begins at dawn in Corticeira Amorim’s cork oak forests. Cork harvesting takes place between late May and August, and much of it is still done by hand. “On average a tree can produce for 170 years, 200 years more or…
ECB chief Lagarde rejects Mélenchon’s debt cancellation proposal
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Thursday criticised a proposal by left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to cancel France’s debt held by the central bank. Lagarde said the proposal by the La France Insoumise…
French blockade looms over EU plan to speed up trade deals in English
Published on 07/03/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1•Updated 11/09/2026 – 22:42 GMT+2 France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and…
UK police ban face coverings at planned anti-migrant protest
Published on 11/09/2026 – 22:02 GMT+2 Police in southern England have banned face coverings at an anti-immigration rally as well as in a counter-protest planned in Portsmouth on Saturday, amid concerns over potential unrest. The demonstration, organised by…
NATO’s deterrence ‘weakened’ by lack of response to Russian attacks
Incidents of Russian-orchestrated hybrid war attacks across NATO territory are entering a new dangerous, kinetic phase, leaders across the continent agree. At a meeting in early September, EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said Russian President Vladimir…
French father jailed for threatening to behead his son’s teacher
A French court has sentenced a man to six months in prison after he threatened to “cut off the head” of a teacher at his son’s school last week. The defendant confronted his son’s teacher in the school car park in the southwestern town of Le Fauga last week…
France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov
By Luca Bertuzzi & Maria Tadeo & Jorge Liboreiro Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:37 GMT+2•Updated 19:00 The French government has joined Slovakia in seeking the delisting of Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, causing “huge…