BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  The EU exported US$1.1 billion (€1.1 billion) worth of bicycles in 2022 (both electric and non-electric, a rise of 22 percent compared with 2021), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union on the World Bicycle Day. The imports were double the exports, with US$2.6...

European Central Bank vice president Luis de Guindos on Wednesday previewed the slowing eurozone inflation rate, calling it "positive" but cautioning that "I would not say that the victory is there".

Gita Gopinath said she believes there are grounds to provide subsidies to help stimulate innovation. Gopinath's intervention into the debate on subsidies follows frustration in Europe over US President Joe Biden's major climate plan, which grants generous subsidies to new electric vehicles manufactured in the United States.

Neither the army nor the defence ministry commented on their role in Monday's developments at Homesh when contacted by journalists. The United States, Israel's top ally, said this month it was "deeply troubled by the Israeli government's order that allows its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh...

US President Biden said he hoped to work with Erdogan on "shared global challenges". Russia's President Putin, who has collaborated closely with Erdogan on key international issues despite some disagreements, told Turkey's leader that his win was "the logical result of your dedicated work".

ABU DHABI, UAE - Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei headed the UAE delegation to the Development Road Conference in Iraq. The one-day conference brought together transport ministers and officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Jordan and representatives of the European Union...

Iraq looks to have renewable energies cover a third of its electricity needs by 2030 and has signed several contracts for solar plants. Its huge oil reserves are enough to produce crude at current rates for another century, but as the world works to wean itself off hydrocarbons, the country...

Twitter has decided to leave the EU's disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but "its obligations remain," EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted. Launched in 2018, the EU's code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and...

Brussels, Belgium -- The European Union approved a historic agreement banning harmful fisheries subsidies on Thursday, joining a small group of countries that include the United States. After more than two decades of negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability fish stocks worldwide, a deal, albeit...

BERLIN, GERMANY — No employee should be “subject to the will of a machine”, European trade union chief Esther Lynch has warned, calling for regulation to ensure humans remain in control as artificial intelligence technology advances at breakneck speed. In the same way that European Union treaties protect health and...

Colonna nevertheless said Paris would not be changing its policy towards the Syrian ruler. "We have to remember who Bashar al-Assad is. He's a leader who has been the enemy of his own people for more than 10 years," she said. A lifting of European Union sanctions on the Syrian...

The European Union imposed an asset freeze on the investment arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, over Tehran's brutal crackdown on protests over the death of Mahsa Amini. The sanctions - the eighth imposed by the EU over the repression - came after Iran hanged three more men convicted in relation...

Meta said it was "disappointed to have been singled out" and the ruling was "flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies". "We intend to appeal both the decision's substance and its orders including the fine," Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg and chief legal...

Known to his inner circle as "beyefendi" (sir) and to admirers as "reis" (the chief), Erdogan prides himself on being able to woo doubters through tireless campaigning. This passion has helped him and his party win more than a dozen local and national elections, allowing Erdogan to claim a people's...

Regulators worldwide are increasingly worried about the lack of oversight of the digital currency sector but the European Union has already taken steps to protect investors. Last month, EU parliament approved the world's first comprehensive rules covering crypto assets.

Ghannouchi, 81, a former speaker of parliament, was arrested last month over different accusations, part of what Human Rights Watch (HRW) called last week a move "to neutralise the country's largest political party". He had appeared in court at the end of February on the terror-related charges after being accused...

The deal is also under threat in the US, where last year the Federal Trade Commission launched a legal action to block it, one of Washington's biggest ever interventions to stop tech industry consolidation. Microsoft launched its bid for Activision Blizzard early last year to create the world's third biggest...

the EU delegation to Israel said it would still celebrate Europe Day on Tuesday but regretted that "this year we have decided to cancel the diplomatic reception, as we do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the European Union stands for."

Jabbet Al-Dhib , Palestinian Territories -- Israeli forces on Sunday demolished a Palestinian primary school in the occupied West Bank, citing safety issues and drawing sharp criticism from the European Union which had funded the project. Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli forces who fired tear gas at them as bulldozers moved...

Leaders in the United States and Europe sent congratulations to Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla on their coronation on Saturday, while China called for "cooperation" and "peace". Charles III was crowned monarch of the United Kingdom and 14 Commonwealth realms on Saturday at Britain's first coronation for 70...

Consumer prices edged up from 6.9 percent in March, which could further encourage the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates on Thursday. Analysts for FactSet and Bloomberg had predicted the rate would remain stable. The ECB has hiked rates repeatedly since July last year to rein in inflation.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  - In the European Union countries, 75 percent (193.5 million) of people in the 20-64-year- age group were employed, the highest since the start of the time series in 2009, as per the labor force data published by Eurostat. The employment rate dropped to 72 percent in 2020...

A split between Hamas and the PA, which administers the Israeli-occupied West Bank, often leads to disputes over taxation and Hilu said the new fees are harming Gaza's "already ailing economy". The territory has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since Hamas -- designated a "terrorist" entity by the United States, the...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - A UAE delegation led by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, visited Belgium, aiming to strengthen economic ties and promoting investment opportunities with Brussels and the wider European Union (EU). The delegation discussed growing trade relations with Vladis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner...

Aviation emissions in Europe were on an upward curve of around five percent per year between 2013 and 2019, dropping off after that only because of travel curbs under the coronavirus pandemic. Those curbs are now largely lifted, and aviation traffic is bouncing back.

The UK and the Netherlands have announced LionLink, a subsea energy link project that will connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea to the two countries. The largest of its kind project in the world is will be operational by the early 2030s and was announced during the North...

China insisted it respects the sovereignty of all ex-Soviet countries, after comments by its ambassador to France drew ire in Europe. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, the European Union's three Baltic countries, summoned China's envoys to account for Ambassador Lu Shaye questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states.

Tehran, Iran -- The West has intensified economic pressures on Iran in recent months and imposed nearly 800 sanctions on Iran since September last year alone, an Iranian expert has said. Mohsen Pakaeen, a foreign policy analyst, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that US, Europe along with Canada...

Brussels, Belgium - Comments made by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries were "unacceptable," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday. Borrell added that he hoped the comments did not reflect Beijing's official stance. "Unacceptable remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France," Borrell tweeted. "The...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - EU lawmakers this week adopted new laws boosting Europe's climate change fight, but a parallel drive to protect biodiversity in bills to be finalized before the end of next year looks to be on shakier ground. Negotiations between the European Commission, EU member states and the European Parliament...

The European Union's central data regulator said it was forming a task force to help countries deal with AI chatbot ChatGPT, ramping up the pressure on its US maker OpenAI. Italy temporarily banned the program over allegations its data-gathering broke privacy laws, and France's regulator said it had opened a...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  - The EU trade in goods registered a large deficit of US$469 billion (€432 billion) in 2022, reaching its lowest level since the start of the time series in 2002. The deficit was due, in particular, to a steep rise in the value of energy imports, which started...

Women earn on average nearly 13 percent less per hour than men for the same work in the 27-nation European Union, according to official data for 2020. Under the new rules, workers can demand to know individual and average pay levels, broken down by gender, in their workplace.

The provisional political agreement, which was reached after nightlong negotiations between the EU parliament and states, seeks to raise the share of renewable energy to 42.5 percent, from 22 percent today. The EU has set an ambitious target to become a "climate neutral" economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas...

Warsaw, Poland - Poland's prime minister on Wednesday appealed to Brussels to limit the amount of Ukrainian grain entering the European Union, saying it was destabilizing local markets. Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, saw its traditional Black Sea export routes blocked or limited by Russia's invasion. The EU...

The 10 nitrosamines -- which are not intentionally added to food but which can form during its preparation and processing -- are carcinogenic and may damage DNA.

If the company raided is guilty of antitrust violations, it risks large fines but can be granted immunity if it cooperates with the commission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had warned Monday that if crisis-torn Tunisia "collapses economically or socially then we will be in a situation where new flows of migrants will come to Europe". An EU delegation arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday to examine "the political and socio-economic situation" and...

Amman, Jordan - Jordan king Abdullah on Monday discussed his country's modernization efforts in a meeting  with a number of ambassadors of European Union countries to Jordan at Al Husseiniya Palace here. According to a royal court statement, the meeting covered Jordan’s modernization efforts, with King Abdullah reaffirming the Kingdom’s...

The ultimatum to TikTok came from the US interagency board charged with assessing risks foreign investments represent to national security. Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused...

Most of the MEPs who signed are from Green or left-wing parties. They were joined by non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, supported by a dozen economists and by 20 millionaires. The signatories claimed that in 2018 Tesla owner Elon Musk, "then the second-richest man in the world, did not pay a...

Volkswagen is also setting up a series of battery plants in Europe - one will open in 2023 in Sweden, followed by one in Salzgitter, Germany in 2025 and the company has chosen Valencia, Spain for a third. Volkswagen said last year it planned to open a total of six...

Brussels, Belgium - The European Union must urgently lower energy prices and ease regulations to stop industry fleeing the continent, European businesses said on Monday, as Brussels prepares plans to stimulate the green economy. The European Union is racing to make Europe more attractive for the companies that could be tempted...

TikTok executives said the company was working with a third-party European security company to oversee and check how it handles European users' data, which will be stored at two centers in Dublin and one in Norway from 2023 onwards. European users' data are currently stored in the United States and...

The World Bank estimated last week that the devastating quake, which flattened entire cities, had caused damage worth more than $34 billion in Turkey, with recovery likely to double that sum. But Louisa Vinton of the UN Development Program said the Turkish government had calculated far higher damage.

Panama City, Panama - Delegates to a global conference on saving the world's oceans pledged US$19 billion, the host country Panama said. The total included a $6 billion commitment from the United States, announced on Thursday by White House climate envoy John Kerry. Panamanian deputy foreign minister Yill del Carmen Otero...

"I also read news in the press,” the Hungarian President Novak said. “In Hungary, a decision so far has not been made on moving our embassy in Israel,” he added. “The ministry would provide updates on any changes to the embassy in all cases,” Hungary’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mate Paczolay...

Investors' appetite for "green debt", used to finance renewable energy projects, low-carbon transport or well-insulated housing, is growing exponentially. But the European Union until now did not have a common standard to certify the sustainability of investments.

Another two weeks of negotiations ended with no agreement in August last year, but advocates and officials have expressed cautious optimism ahead of the coming session. "There are a lot of negotiations and discussions happening between delegations trying to find middle ground on some of the key sticky issues... at...

The oil firm posted a net profit of $4.55 billion in 2022.