Italy has passed a one-off 40% tax on the profits banks earn from higher interest rates, in a shock move that has seen shares plummet. A hike in official interest rates has resulted in record profits for Italian banks, prompting the government’s move. Proceeds will be used to help mortgage holders and to cut taxes,…
The French president went on to also blame social networks for contributing to the unrest. Emmanuel Macron has called for “order, order, order” and the “return of authority at every level” in the wake of recent urban violence. From the violence that led to “the burning of schools, town halls, gymnasiums, libraries” and from this…
AMSTERDAM, June 27 (Reuters) – European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900 million euros ($980 million) in seized assets. The system had an estimated 60,000 users when it shut down abruptly in…
The European Union has blocked grain imports to Poland and four other countries following concerns low-cost products will damage farmers’ businesses The European Union has again extended a ban on Ukrainian grain imports to five countries, including Poland. The move follows anger and protests from Polish farmers who were left with unsold grain or forced…
The European Central Bank pressed ahead with another interest rate hike Thursday and made clear more are on the way, aiming to crush inflation that is driving up the cost of groceries even after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a break from its own string of increases. The quarter-point rate boost, to 3.5%, is the eighth straight…
ANNECY, France, June 8 (Reuters) – Four toddlers and two pensioners were stabbed in a knife attack in the tranquil French mountain town of Annecy on Thursday and the government said the suspected assailant was a Syrian refugee. A video of the attack, taken by a bystander and verified by Reuters, showed the assailant jump…
EU ministers expressed “discomfort” on Tuesday at political outlier Hungary taking on the bloc’s rotating presidency next year, but Budapest vowed nothing could prevent it filling the prominent role. The European Parliament is to vote on a non-binding resolution on Thursday urging European Union capitals to deem Hungary unfit to assume the EU presidency in…
France signed into law this week a ban on domestic, short-haul flights when the journey can be completed in less than two-and-a-half hours by train. The new decree, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions, prohibits “regular public passenger air transport services.” However, the ban does not appear to extend to private jet travel. According to Greenpeace, private jet…
DUBLIN, May 22 (Reuters) – Meta (META.O) was hit with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine by its lead European Union privacy regulator over its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States. The fine, imposed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), came after…
Twenty-one rivers burst their banks after heavy storms across country cause landslides and submerge villages Nine people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after heavy storms wreaked havoc in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, causing severe flooding and landslides. People sought refuge on the rooftops of their homes after 21…