Gorbachev in hospital in Moscow
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was urgently admitted to hospital in Moscow after falling ill Monday night, Russian media reported. Gorbachev, 84, was hospitalized in mid-July...
View ArticleRussia carries out air strikes in Syria, target unclear
Russia carried out its first air strikes in Syria Wednesday just hours after President Vladimir Putin received authorization from parliament for the operation, but media reports said the U.S. was...
View ArticleEU pushes for business without borders
The European Commission will seek once again to equalize access and prices of products and services around the 28-country bloc, and will foster startups and boost the sharing economy, according to the...
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6 takeaways on the EU single market plan
The “last chance” European Commission on Wednesday released its third-and-final attempt to forge a single market that allows to sell across the 28 member countries. Creating a seamless European market...
View ArticleThe test of Apple’s different political thinking
Apple products are everywhere in Brussels. Now try to find an Apple lobbyist in the European capital. Company executives rarely visit the European Parliament or Commission. Apple spends a fraction of...
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EU vows to cut off terrorists’ financing networks
Europe’s justice and interior ministers tasked the Commission on Friday with finding ways to starve terrorist groups of their funding, in response to last week’s attacks in Paris by Islamic State...
View ArticleWith terror on your doorstep, you still need bread
On Saturday morning, a little over a week after the Paris attacks and the first day of the Brussels lockdown, we discuss survival strategies over our first cup of tea of the day. “I’d play dead,” I...
View ArticleDeal close on EU passenger name records
Fear of easy transit for terrorists appears to have galvanized political leaders to finish legislation to track airline passengers within the European Union and abroad. The next round of three-way...
View ArticleNo desire for permanent Turkey sanctions, says Russian minister
Russia’s embargo on Turkish tourism and trade is temporary, and the continuation of the sanctions depend in part on whether Russia can find alternatives to Turkish produce, Russia’s economic...
View ArticleFewer Russians back democratic elections: poll
Russian support for democratic elections has fallen to its lowest point in eight years, according to new polling data. A survey of 1,600 people, published Thursday by the Levada Center, a research...
View ArticleComing soon: Netflix on holidays
You may soon be able to take your music, film and TV streaming subscriptions with you wherever you go in the EU, if the European Commission gets its way. If the Commission’s proposal is implemented,...
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How the EU is using Netflix to fight Brexit
Netflix could stop Brexit. The European Commission proposed or approved three laws this year aimed at the hearts and minds of the masses: two to improve consumer rights for online purchases, another to...
View ArticleEU strikes deal on data protection rules
Marking the biggest changes to privacy laws in the European Union in two decades, negotiators agreed on data protection rules Tuesday night that will give consumers more muscle and threaten companies...
View ArticleOmbudsman made U-turn on telecoms complaint
The European Union’s new telecoms single market rules are still controversial, and getting more so. The European Ombudsman flip-flopped over whether the lack of public input was justified, according to...
View ArticleEurope: the world’s top tech Luddite?
Europe could win an international tech award. But don’t break out the champagne just yet — it’s a prize no one wants. In another blow to its reputation as an innovation killer, the Continent is one of...
View Article‘Scrooge’ Brussels mayor dampens Uber’s Christmas spirit
In a Dickensian twist to the holiday season, Brussels’ Mayor Yvan Mayeur has pressured a charity to pull out of a partnership with Uber to deliver Christmas donations for the needy. Ride-hailing...
View ArticleApple to pay €318 million in tax in Italy: reports
U.S. tech giant Apple has agreed to pay Italy’s tax authorities €318 million in back taxes after a two-year investigation, Italian media reported Wednesday. La Repubblica said Agenzia delle Entrate...
View ArticleThe court case that could sink safe harbor
The next defining blow to data transfers between the United States and the European Union could be a transatlantic own goal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York will decide within months...
View ArticleCommission approves FedEx bid for TNT
FedEx’s €4.4 billion bid to take over Dutch rival TNT Express got the green light from the European Commission today. Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, had expressed...
View ArticleBelgian tax rules are illegal state aid
The European Commission will force Belgium to claw back about €700 million from at least 35 multinational companies, claiming the country’s tax rules amounted to illegal state aid and hurt smaller...
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