Ukraine and Russia end their latest round of direct peace talks in Istanbul
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02/06/2025
'There's been a fundamental impasse between Hamas' objectives about the endgame and Netanyahu's'
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Jubilant PSG party into night with Champions League trophy in Paris
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Donald Trump admirer, Nawrocki wins Polish presidential election
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Gaza: Dozens said killed near aid site, Israel denies account
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02/06/2025
Karol Nawrocki, the nationalist historian who won Poland's presidency
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Mexico has its very first elections for judges under shadow of crime, corruption
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France 24
20 minutes ago
- France 24
Yes, Trump reposted a conspiracy theory that Biden is a 'robotic clone'
US President Donald Trump has amplified an outlandish, unfounded conspiracy theory to his 10 million followers on Truth Social: that former president Joe Biden was "executed in 2020" and replaced by robotic clones. Reposting the false claim opened the floodgates for misinformation online, with users on X sharing compilations escalating the conspiracy theory. Vedika Bahl goes through Trump's latest foray into conspiracy theories in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Euronews
36 minutes ago
- Euronews
Amazon outlines job initiatives in Europe's low-employment areas
Washington has doubled its tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50% as President Donald Trump seeks to exclude foreign producers from the US market. The directive, which the White House shared on X, claimed that the rise would 'provide greater support' to US industries, and would 'eliminate the national security threat' posed by imported steel and aluminium. 'Nobody is going to get around that,' Trump said when first discussing the raise at a rally in Pennsylvania last Friday. 'At 25%, they can sort of get over that fence. At 50% they can no longer get over the fence.' While Washington claims that excluding foreign producers will support employment in the US, critics argue that it also jeopardises domestic jobs. As materials become more expensive and the price of production rises, US firms may let go of staff to trim costs. It's estimated that steel and aluminium tariffs introduced during Trump's first term in 2018 destroyed 75,000 US manufacturing jobs, while creating 1,000 extra jobs in the steel industry. Wednesday's tariff hike also creates added friction with international trade partners ahead of Trump's 9 July deadline, when his so-called 'reciprocal' tariff pause will end. In April, Trump temporarily halted proposed duties on a number of countries. The president's team at the time said they were aiming for '90 deals in 90 days'. So far, the US has only managed to secure a trade deal with the UK, meaning that British steel and aluminium producers will continue to pay a rate of 25% — at least for now. The president's tariff proposals also faced a significant legal blow last week. The New York-based Court of International Trade and a federal court in Washington DC ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs on nearly every one of the world's countries — a battle predicted to end up in the Supreme Court. Steel and aluminium levies were not part of that ruling, although Washington will likely want to show its determination to push ahead with duties. As the latest hike comes into effect, EU trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will meet his US counterpart Ambassador Jamieson Greer on Wednesday on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. In 2024, Amazon contributed over €41 billion to Europe's GDP, and over €29 billion to the EU27, according to their latest impact report, released on June 4. To put that in perspective, €41 billion is just a little bit more than the entire GDP of Latvia. "Our economic impact in Europe goes far beyond the numbers," explains Mariangela Marseglia, VP of Amazon Stores EU. "We're creating opportunities where they're needed most, supporting local economies, and helping to revitalize communities across the continent.' And whilst the impact may 'go beyond the numbers', let's take a closer look at the stats. In the EU, Amazon directly employs 150,000 people and the impact on communities outside of traditional employment hubs has created an interesting ripple effect on the local economies. In France's Hauts-de-France region, where unemployment sits at 8.7% - well above the national average of 7.3% - Amazon has created over 6,000 jobs in the past decade. This region has previously suffered from the deindustrialisation that has plagued many communities in Europe, with the loss of mining, steelmaking and wool industries. The retail giant's fulfillment centre at Lauwin-Planque employs over 2,600 permanent staff, with 84% living within a 30-minute drive. Eleven years after opening, 71% of locals report the site has had a positive or very positive impact, with 94% highlighting job creation as a key benefit. This is echoed across the EU as over 90,000 of Amazon's employees are based in areas with higher than average unemployment rates, according to a report from Eurostat. Research from Ipsos further revealed that 81% of residents near an Amazon logistics facility report increased job opportunities since the company's arrival and over half say financial improvements have led them to consider major life decisions like purchasing property or starting a family. While zero-hour contracts are banned in several EU countries, in the European countries that do allow them, Amazon confirmed this is not an employment method they practice. In 2024, Amazon invested more than €55 billion in infrastructure and its workforce across Europe (€38bn in the EU27), bringing its total investment since 2010 to €320 billion. Although most people know Amazon for its e-commerce platform, a huge part of its business also comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its cloud computing offerings. Future investments from the company seem centred around AWS and will drive employment in diverse skill sets. Some €8.8 billion is planned in the Frankfurt region through 2026, supporting 15,200 full-time equivalent jobs and contributing an estimated €15.4 billion to Germany's GDP. Moreover, £8 billion (€9.5 bn) will be invested in the UK before the end of 2028, supporting 14,000 jobs annually and contributing £14 billion (€16.6 bn) to the UK's total GDP. A further €6 billion is being invested in France to develop cloud infrastructure until 2031. Predictions estimate this will contribute €16.8 billion to France's GDP and will support an average of 5,271 full-time jobs annually. In Spain, a €15.7 billion injection will support 17,500 jobs annually and contribute an estimated €21.6 billion to Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) through to 2033. The Eurozone unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in April from 6.3% in March, matching the record low recorded in December 2024, according to Eurostat. This decline was mainly driven by easing energy and intermediate input prices as well as stabilising inflation. These developments have given companies greater financial flexibility, reducing the need to lay off workers in order to afford materials and cover bills. The creation of more job opportunities through the ongoing green and digital transition has also contributed to decline in Eurozone unemployment. The number of people without jobs fell by 207,000 in April compared to the previous month, bringing the total to 10.7 million. In the European Union, there were 12.9 million people without a job in April, which was a decrease of 188,000 compared to March 2025. Similarly, the youth unemployment rate in the Eurozone, reflecting job seekers under the age of 25, fell to a four-month low of 14.4%, down from 14.8% in March. Germany recorded one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Eurozone in April, at 3.6%, while the Netherlands' unemployment rate was 3.8%. On the other hand, Spain recorded an unemployment rate of 10.9% in April, while Italy's unemployment rate was 5.9%. The French unemployment rate was 7.1%.
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
Israel attends EU meeting despite bloc's hardening stance over Gaza
The EU's 27 foreign ministers are scheduled to meet their Israeli counterparts on 23 June for an EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting which is aimed at deepening the bloc's cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners including Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia. 'The objective is for Israeli representatives to be present at the meeting,' a senior Israeli official told Euronews, adding that the participation of Gideon Saar, Israel's foreign affairs minister 'is still to be confirmed'. But the meeting comes at a time of unprecedented cooling of relations between the EU and Israel following the country's blockage of food from entering into Gaza and after Palestinian health officials and witnesses alleged recent shootings by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians headed for humanitarian aid sites. The Israeli army has said it fired 'near a few individual suspects' who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots. The meeting also comes after the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated in late May that the bloc would examine if Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which defines the trading and diplomatic relations between both sides. No timeline has been fixed for the review, which will be conducted by the EU's external action service (EEAS). Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein has "completely" rejected the direction taken in Kallas' statement, saying it reflected "a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing". The Netherlands, which tabled the move and is considered a firm ally of Israel, said that Israel's 'humanitarian blockade' on Gaza, where a limited quantity of critical supplies entered for the first time in more than eleven weeks on Monday, is in "violation of international humanitarian law" and therefore of Article 2. An EU official said that the 23 June meeting involving Israel will not be a forum to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza but a routine gathering conducted under the EU's Southern Neighbourhood partnership, which is meant to strengthen existing cooperation with 10 southern neighbours on a wide range of issues, including governance, climate change, economic development, energy and migration. In addition, the EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, with the trading relationship valued at more than €45 billion each year. The EU's Southern Neighbourhood partnership derives from the 1995 Barcelona Declaration which committed to turn the Mediterranean into 'an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation, guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity', according to an official Commission document. In 2020, trade between the EU and the region represented €149.4 billion and the bloc's imports were worth €58.0 billion. In 2021, the EU 27 agreed to strengthen their partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood following the COVID-19 pandemic and meet their counterparts every year. Their cooperation is based on 'good governance, human rights and fundamental freedoms promotion and protection, democratic institutions and the rule of law", according to 2021 European Council summit conclusions. One of the last EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meetings took place in 2022 in Barcelona, where participants discussed regional cooperation as well as the war in Ukraine. Under pressure from the French government, TikTok has banned the hashtag #SkinnyTok, a controversial trend linked to the glorification of extreme thinness and unhealthy weight-loss advice. The move comes amid mounting concerns across Europe over the platform's influence on young users and its role in promoting body image disorders. The French Ministry for Digital Affairs celebrated the removal as a significant step toward protecting minors online. 'This is a first collective victory,' Digital Minister Clara Chappaz wrote on X on Sunday, adding that she wants to ban social media platforms for minors under 15 years of age. The now-banned hashtag had amassed more than half a million posts, many glamorising extreme thinness, sharing guilt-inducing messages like "you aren't ugly, you are just fat." The content overwhelmingly featured young women, often filtered to appear thinner, reinforcing toxic body standards for millions of viewers across the world. However, despite the removal of the hashtag, concerns persist. Typing 'SkinnyTok' into the app now redirects users to wellness advice, but similar harmful content still thrives under altered or misspelled hashtags. For Charlyne Buiges, a nurse specialising in eating disorders who started the petition that helped push the issue into public view, the ban is a moment of validation: 'It's a great victory, I was very happy,' she said. 'I immediately reinstalled the TikTok application and went to see if it was really real. Once I saw the hashtag was banned, I told myself I didn't do all this for nothing," she told Euronews. Ella Marouani, a 22-year-old nursing student who has battled an eating disorder that she says was fueled by social media told Euronews she felt frustrated by the lack of action from the platform: 'I made several reports to TikTok about videos that were problematic and each time I was told that the rules of the community had not been violated' she said. Ella's experience paints a sobering picture of how early - and how easily - such content can shape a young person's self-image. 'I came across a few #SkinnyTok videos in my algorithm and they made me deeply angry,' she said. 'A few years ago, I would have probably believed in these videos so I am deeply angry for the young people who come across this content," she said. Health professionals have also been sounding the alarm. Lea Tourain, a Paris-based nutritionist, sees firsthand how distorted body ideals impact teenagers. 'I think it's really dangerous, and it scares me because it's becoming more and more fashionable,' she said. 'In my consultations, I have young girls who come with an image of themselves, with a filter, or simply with someone they follow on social media, who advocates extreme thinness and they ask me how to achieve the same body. It's very worrying," she explained in an interview with Euronews. Despite TikTok's claims that it enforces 'strict rules against body shaming and dangerous behaviour related to weight loss,' many say enforcement is either too weak or too slow. That's one of the key concerns for French Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte, who leads a parliamentary commission investigating social media's role in spreading harmful content. Delaporte is calling for a coordinated European response and tougher penalties for platforms that fail to act. 'We need to stop the digital giants from setting up dangerous and flawed algorithms that ultimately aggravate mental disorders,' he said. 'We do need to impose sanctions at European level, sanctions at an international level, fines if need be… at some point we need to bang our fists on the table and consider even banning the platform.' The European Commission, which launched a formal investigation into TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in February 2024, remained largely on the sidelines during this latest move. The absence of the Commission in this decision raised doubts about the EU's role in enforcing its own tech rules. Meanwhile, a growing number of European countries, including Belgium and Switzerland, also took their steps against the platform, just as France had done, circumventing Brussels. Belgium's Digital Minister Vanessa Matz had filed a formal complaint against TikTok and referred the issue to the Commission. In Switzerland, lawmakers are exploring ways to regulate the platform, possibly through age restrictions.
