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- EU faces potential stagflation risks amid ongoing Middle East conflict.
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EU faces potential stagflation risks amid ongoing Middle East conflict.
European Parliament members have unblocked a crucial milestone in the negotiations for a digital euro, which aims to enhance the EU’s banking sector and modernise its monetary capabilities. The European Central Bank’s ongoing work on the project has gained renewed momentum following this development, paving the way for a potential pilot phase to begin as early as 2024. This decision signals a critical step forward in the EU’s digital strategy amidst global shifts towards digital currencies and increased competition from private digital payment solutions.
In market implications, the latest development is anticipated to bolster investor confidence in the eurozone, positively impacting the euro’s value against the dollar and enhancing its overall stability. This will be particularly relevant as the EU approaches significant policy announcements regarding regulatory frameworks for digital currencies at the upcoming financial summit scheduled for April 2024.
Key developments across Europe
Scoop: Rubio and EU official had heated exchange on Russia at G7 meeting
EU POLITICS — A confrontation occurred between Marco Rubio and an EU official regarding Russia during a G7 meeting.
This incident highlighted escalating tensions over how the EU and the US perceive and engage with Russia amid ongoing geopolitical conflicts. The exchange reflects the broader narrative of transatlantic relations and cooperation in addressing security concerns.
Australia and EU agree sweeping trade deal in face of global uncertainty
EU TRADE — The EU and Australia have finalised a significant trade agreement, strengthening economic ties.
This agreement aims to enhance trade in goods and services, and signals a strategic partnership as both parties navigate global economic challenges. It highlights the commitment to open markets and potentially boosts job creation and economic growth in both regions.
European Parliament approves return hubs outside the EU
EU MIGRATION — The European Parliament has approved the establishment of return hubs for migrants outside the EU.
This measure aims to streamline the process of returning migrants whose applications for asylum have been denied. It reflects ongoing efforts to address migration challenges while ensuring that the EU’s borders remain secure.
EU Warns Porn Sites Over Access by Minors, Probes Snapchat
EU SECURITY — The EU has issued warnings to pornographic sites for failing to restrict access to minors.
This move is part of broader efforts to enhance online safety for children and presages potential regulatory actions. The EU is determined to enforce stricter compliance standards to ensure that minors are adequately protected from explicit content.
European Commission confirms cyberattack after hackers claim data breach
EU SECURITY — Following a reported data breach, the European Commission has confirmed a cyberattack.
The attack accentuates vulnerabilities within EU institutions and raises concerns about the security of sensitive data. The Commission is likely to implement stricter cybersecurity measures in response to this incident.
What to watch — Upcoming discussions on further trade relationships and security protocol adjustments are anticipated in the EU.
Further reading from across European news sources
Financial Times
The EU economy’s slow-burning problem
Euronews
European Parliament gives conditional approval to EU-US trade deal
Politico Europe
Britain should be inside EU ‘steel wall,’ says Dutch trade minister
Euronews
Are Europe’s roads getting safer, or simply less dangerous?
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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