EURACTIV News
G7 ambassadors snub Nagasaki atomic bomb memorial over Israel’s exclusion
Nagasaki's mayor said he would stick to a decision to exclude Israel's ambassador from this year's event to mark the city's atomic bombing, though senior diplomats of the US and other G7 nations said the snub would keep them away.
Categories: EurActiv
X suspends processing of some personal data for AI training
Social media giant X has suspended the processing of some personal data from EU users' public posts to train AI models, two days after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) launched court proceedings over the practice.
Categories: EurActiv
Novo Nordisk confirms huge increase in sales despite supply constraints
Novo Nordisk is on track to make a significant contribution to Denmark's GDP through its obesity and diabetes treatments, despite supply constraints, according to the company's financial report for the first half of 2024.
Categories: EurActiv
UK competition authority launches merger inquiry into Amazon-Anthropic partnership
The UK's main competition watchdog has formally opened an investigation into the merger between Amazon and AI company Anthropic, a statement released on Thursday (8 August) reads.
Categories: EurActiv
Europe’s teenage ‘TikTok terrorists’ target Taylor Swift
The foiled jihadist terrorist plot targeting Taylor Swift‘s concerts in Vienna highlights an increasing terrorist threat coming from radicalised European teenagers, which experts blame on social media.
Categories: EurActiv
Puigdemont the ‘great Houdini’ of Spanish politics, escapes again
Former Catalan president and separatist leader Carles Puigdemont staged a scene worthy of one of the best performances by escape artist Harry Houdini when he gave a speech in Barcelona on Thursday, where he was actively sought by the Spanish authorities before escaping again.
Categories: EurActiv
EU potato sector points to climate, changing consumer habits as production drops by 37% in over 20 years
From Belgian frites to Spanish tortilla de patata and Italian gnocchi, potatoes are a culinary cornerstone across Europe. Yet, a new Eurostat report confirms a persistent decline in production, despite a slight uptick last year.
Categories: EurActiv
EU urges Mexico to arrest Putin if he accepts inauguration invite
The European Commission has urged Mexico to arrest Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader attends the inauguration of Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum later this year.
Categories: EurActiv
Econ vice chair Boeselager: Plans for European champions akin to ‘government capture’
Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA), co-founder of the pan-European Volt party, warned that EU officials' focus on encouraging European firms to "scale up" risks pushing the bloc's competition policy "in a completely wrong direction".
Categories: EurActiv
European Commission opposes amending GDPR, focusing on enforcement instead
The European Commission does not plan to reopen the General Data Protection Regulation, instead focusing on enforcement, as privacy in the age of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly controversial.
Categories: EurActiv
Puigdemont returns to Spain as a “free man”, condemning his “repression”
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain from southern France, and before some 3.500 separatist supporters gathered in Barcelona on Thursday lamented the “repression” of which he said he had been a victim since 2017, while escaping the the police force set up to capture him.
Categories: EurActiv
WHO to convene International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on new Mpox variant
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Director General announced that he is convening an emergency committee to advise on whether the new outbreak of Monkeypox (Mpox) constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
Categories: EurActiv
Tech industry groups ask to extend deadline to contribute to general purpose AI Code of Practice
Big Tech industry groups say six weeks in the middle of summer are not enough time for them to offer views on a Code of Practice for general-purpose AI.
Categories: EurActiv
US prosecutors say Romanian businessman hired Hunter Biden as lobbyist
Prosecutors in the US criminal tax case against Hunter Biden accused him of accepting payments from a Romanian businessman who sought to "influence US government agencies" in connection with a criminal probe in Romania.
Categories: EurActiv
Taylor Swift Vienna concerts cancelled, terrorist attack reportedly averted
Taylor Swift's three concerts in Vienna this week were cancelled after the government confirmed a planned attack at the stadium, the organiser announced late on Wednesday (7 August), and Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said "a tragedy was prevented".
Categories: EurActiv
Ukraine pierces Russian border, Putin calls it ‘major provocation’
Russia said on Wednesday (7 August) it was fighting intense battles against Ukrainian forces that had penetrated its southern border near a major natural gas transmission hub, in one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since the war began.
Categories: EurActiv
Second hottest July breaks 13-month record streak, EU scientists say
Last month was the second hottest July for the planet on record, breaking a 13-month period when each month was warmest, which had been in part fuelled by the warming El Nino weather pattern, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.
Categories: EurActiv
Anti-racism protests sweep Britain after far-right riots
Thousands of police and anti-racism protesters gathered on streets across Britain on Wednesday (7 August) to challenge expected far-right groups that failed to materialise following more than a week of violent racist attacks targeting Muslims and migrants.
Categories: EurActiv
EU, France, UK slam Israel minister for Gaza starvation comment
The European Union, France and the UK on Wednesday (7 August) condemned a far-right Israeli minister for suggesting it would be "justified and moral" to starve two million Gazans to free scores of captives held in the Palestinian territory.
Categories: EurActiv
COVID-19 infections surging in Europe
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that COVID-19 is surging worldwide and is unlikely to decline in the immediate future. Dr Van Kerkhove warns that in Europe, percent of test positivity is above 20 per cent.
Categories: EurActiv