NewsBite

EU

Today

Supporters of the far-right Zukunft Heimat (Homeland Future) movement, including some with black T-shirts that read: “Love of homeland is not a crime,” at a gathering on German Unity Day on October 3, 2023.

The ordinary Germans turning to the far-right

It’s not disillusioned old people hankering back to Germany’s past, but overwhelmingly young people who want a future free of multiculturalism.

  • Judith Woods

September

Boris Johnson at the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, earlier this month.

AUKUS was part of plan to punish Macron, says Boris Johnson

Writing in his upcoming memoirs, the former UK prime minister accused the French president of being a “positive nuisance” during talks to leave the EU.

  • Updated
  • Daniel Martin
Approaching Madeira, a volcanic island with a mountains and caves.

Small ship, big adventures: Island-hopping in Portugal and Spain

This voyage aboard Windstar Star Pride included plenty of time ashore to explore volcanoes, deserts and tucked-away beaches.

  • Tim Johnson
A BYD launch in Brazil this month. South America is an important market for the company.

BYD shrugs off planned US ban of Chinese smart car software

Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD’s auto sales division for Asia-Pacific, said the Chinese EV giant had turned its attention to markets with receptive EV policies.

  • Updated
  • Jessica Sier
Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the Scranton Army ammunition plant.

Zelensky to push Biden for advanced weapons to end war

The Ukraine president will meet Joe Biden in Washington this week, and will ask him to provide an official invitation to join NATO.

  • Daryna Krasnolutska
Advertisement
Boris Johnson, the man who ‘got Brexit done’.

Brits regret Brexit, but can the country turn back?

Boris Johnson ‘got Brexit done’, but most Brits now seem to wish he hadn’t. Polls show more people see it as a failure, and would even vote to rejoin the EU.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
An aerial view of a flooded neighbourhood in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Death toll mounts in Central Europe floods

The flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains.

  • Karel Janicek and Monika Scislowska
China is embracing EVs while European enthusiasm has ebbed.

Friend or foe? Europe’s big Chinese EV dilemma

Bad news hasn’t been enough to get European carmakers and politicians to rethink their anti-China strategy. But that’s exactly what might need to happen.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
A BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany. A recall on some models is another blow to the Germany auto industry.

BMW recall and VW job threat deepen German industry crisis

BMW shares plunged after the company disclosed the spiralling cost of a recall affecting 1.5 million vehicles.

  • Joshua Gallu and William Wilkes
Margrethe Vestager: “Before this case, the prevailing belief was that digital companies should be left to operate freely.”

Google and Apple face billions in penalties after losing EU appeals

The decisions, handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union, were seen as an important test of efforts to clamp down on the world’s largest technology companies.

  • Adam Satariano and Jenny Gross
 Andrii Sybiha’s most important qualification may be proximity to Ukraine’s wartime power centre.

Ukraine’s new foreign minister Is Zelensky’s latest power play

Ukraine’s new foreign minister has cultivated deep contacts in NATO states during postings to Ankara and Warsaw. He’s also close to Ukraine’s wartime power centre.

  • Volodymyr Verbianyi and Natalia Ojewska
Gabriel Attal, France’s outgoing prime minister, left, and Michel Barnier, France’s incoming one, in Paris.

Macron turns to veteran Brexit hardman as French PM

The French president, boxed in by the parliamentary deadlock he created via a snap election in June, has named 73-year-old Michel Barnier as prime minister.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
The signing of the new treaty illustrates a more cohesive, international approach.

US, Britain and Brussels set to sign agreement on AI standards

The convention, which was drafted by more than 50 countries, requires signatories to be accountable for any harmful and discriminatory outcomes of AI systems.

  • Madhumita Murgia and Javier Espinoza
After the column ran, Microsoft gave Bing a lobotomy, neutralising the chatbot’s outbursts and installing new guardrails to prevent more unhinged behaviour.

Could a kill switch help us control dangerous AI?

The government is calling for business responses to its plans to rein in the use of potentially dangerous forms of artificial intelligence.

  • Tess Bennett
Andres Centino.

Why the Philippines is the new China flashpoint

Most people have never heard of the Sabina Shoal, but it’s become the latest global testing ground for confrontation with China. Will it trigger broader conflict?

  • Jennifer Hewett
Advertisement
The VW Golf assembly line at the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen mulls closing German plants for first time in its history

The German brand has faced falling sales, amid decreased demand in Europe, especially for its electric vehicles, and cut-throat competition from China.

  • Melissa Eddy
Rachel Goldberg, left, and Jon Polin centre, parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, along with other relatives of hostages take part in a protest calling for their release in the Kibbutz Nirim, southern Israel.

Israel braced for industrial action as ceasefire pressure grows

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in cities around the nation on Sunday, in what appeared to be the largest protests since the October 7 attacks.

  • Updated
  • Galit Altstein and Dan Williams

August

Happy holidays for some. Garachico town of Tenerife.

The Canary Islands are revolting against British tourists

Permanent residents are dependent on an industry overwhelming their towns and destroying the environment.

  • Stephen Smith
Zhejiang Geely displays its latest EVs at a launch event in Hong Kong.

Canada tries to halt China’s EV flood with 100pc tariffs

The move replicates US and EU measures as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says China “is not playing by the same rules” as everyone else over electric vehicles.

  • Promit Mukherjee and Akash Sriram
Antony Blinken leaves for Egypt after talks with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Onus on Hamas as Israel backs plan to break ceasefire impasse

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the proposed accord “a bridging agreement” and acknowledged that not everything was spelt out in detail.

  • Courtney McBride and Dan Williams

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/european-union-5wv