Good morning and welcome to Europe Express. The European Commission next week is set to put forward its revised plans on how to decrease the bloc’s energy dependence on Russia and boost green investments. We will run through the draft proposals and why they are likely to meet some opposition from green groups and local
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Hong Kong’s central bank has intervened to strengthen the city’s currency and defend its US dollar peg for the first time since 2019, threatening to raise borrowing costs while the financial hub’s economy is still reeling from harsh Covid-19 restrictions. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on Thursday that it had bought almost HK$1.6bn (US$202mn)
Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. Why do some countries stay poor while others find a rapid path towards growth and development? Economist Stefan Dercon thinks it’s all about the willingness of those in power to prioritise development over protecting their own
Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. Description: Turkish authorities have raised the pressure on the country’s banks to limit corporate clients’ purchases of foreign currency, US consumer prices rose at an annual pace of 8.3 per cent last month, and the EU
The greatest risk of near-term temperature increases, covered by Leslie Hook’s article “World on course to pass critical 1.5C warming threshold within five years” (Report, May 10), is from self-reinforcing feedback loops — where the planet starts to warm itself outside of human influence — and pushes the climate past irreversible tipping points. By crossing
Online dating app users are more interested in romance than friendship. Bumble has tried to differentiate itself from a crowded market with Bumble BFF, a way to meet new friends. But it does not feature in the company’s revenue breakdown. Happily, those looking for love are increasingly willing to pay up. Bumble generates most of
Bonus payments stand at their highest since 2013 as a share of UK earnings, as employers seek ways to pay workers for higher living costs without committing to inflation-busting wage deals. Andrew Bailey, Bank of England governor, warned last week that intensifying pay pressures were one of the main reasons the central bank was worried
Walt Disney reported strong growth at its Disney Plus streaming service in its latest quarter, drawing a sharp contrast with the recent subscriber declines experienced by industry leader Netflix. Disney added 7.9mn new subscribers, well above projections of about 5mn. That healthy increase came just weeks after Netflix warned it would lose 2mn subscribers in
Naomi Osaka, the four-time tennis Grand Slam champion and highest-paid female athlete in the world, said on Wednesday that she and her longtime agent were leaving talent agency IMG to start their own business. Osaka, 24, and her agent Stuart Duguid, acknowledged in posts on Instagram that they were setting up their own talent shop,
A report into the causes of the Mexico City metro collapse that killed 26 people last year pointed to failures across the administrations of two mayors who are now presidential hopefuls. Initial results from an audit by Norwegian consultancy DNV last year said the crash was caused by a series of faults during construction of
Legislation to enshrine the right to an abortion failed to advance in the US Senate on Wednesday, in a vote that tested senators’ stances on the highly polarising issue ahead of the midterm elections. A critical procedural vote on the Democrat-backed Women’s Health Protection Act, which aimed to protect access to abortion and healthcare providers’ ability
The EU will have to spend close to €200bn in the next five years to secure energy independence from Russia, according to draft plans that set out aggressive targets in areas such as clean energy and lowering consumption. A draft of proposals from the European Commission, seen by the Financial Times, shows Brussels projects that
Where do advertising executives go to die? Most, of course, will likely be locked in client-pitch purgatory forever. Where they want to go – or rather, what they’d want to become – is, however, more certain: product owners, founders. Whether in sales, talent management, copy or design, the Don Drapers and Peggy Olsons of today all
Even in the midst of a tumultuous week for all things crypto, Coinbase has managed to stand out. Its shares have tanked 35 per cent in May, taking its decline this year to 77 per cent. Post-close earnings on Tuesday appeared to bear out fears about the company. First quarter results missed forecasts, the company
Aviva’s chief executive Amanda Blanc warned that sexism she has faced as a senior executive has become more intense, after comments made at the insurer’s AGM this week triggered a swift backlash across the sector. Remarks levelled at Blanc, appointed in March 2021 as the UK government’s Women in Finance champion, drew condemnation from senior
Seth Pinsky was in a café on Manhattan’s Upper East Side telling me about events at the 92nd Street Y, the venerable cultural institution he leads, when something on Lexington Avenue caught his eye. “There’s a fight!” he cried. I followed his gaze out of the window and into the street where a stick-wielding young
Arrival, the UK-based electric vehicle group founded by a former Russian deputy government minister, is closing its Russian operations and has no plans to operate there in the future, one of its most senior executives has said. The company has faced scrutiny because it was founded by Denis Sverdlov, a businessman who served as Russia’s
Airbnb is revamping its website in an effort to entice tourists to locations where it has more places to stay, as it seeks to ensure pent-up demand during this year’s peak season is not held back by supply issues. Where searches on Airbnb were primarily narrowed by location and then date, the redesign announced on
Blue Apron helped pioneer the do-it-yourself meal kit delivery industry. But that first-mover advantage has hardly been a recipe for financial success. The company has not made an annual profit since its launch a decade ago. Once the dominant company, its share of the food kit market has been steadily eroded by rivals, including rivals
It was early December when my partner and I walked into a luminous four-bedroom house in Stoke Newington, north London, and made an offer at the asking price. This was the first house we had seen, and though the garden was a bit smaller than we might have dreamt of, the property ticked all the