
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
-
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit Moon
-
Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed
-
Countries eye trade talks as Trump tariff blitz roils markets
-
AI could impact 40 percent of jobs worldwide: UN
-
US trade partners eye talks after Trump tariff blitz
-
Dollar, stocks sink as gold hits high on Trump tariffs
-
Trump tariff blitz sparks retaliation threats, economic fears
-
Lessons and liquids: buried alive in Myanmar's earthquake
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report
-
Tesla first quarter sales sink amid anger over Musk politics
-
World's tiniest pacemaker is smaller than grain of rice
-
Nintendo says Switch 2 console to be launched on June 5
-
Certain foreign firms must 'self-certify' with Trump diversity rules: US embassies
-
Nigerian president sacks board of state oil company
-
Heathrow 'warned about power supply' days before shutdown
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre 'stable' after car crash
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Stock markets mixed as uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Warner showcases 'Superman' reboot, new DiCaprio film
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
RBGPF | -0.41% | 67.72 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.62% | 22.361 | $ | |
RIO | -1.45% | 59.045 | $ | |
NGG | 5.39% | 69.53 | $ | |
GSK | 2.52% | 38.615 | $ | |
RELX | 1.35% | 51.68 | $ | |
SCS | -6.21% | 10.79 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.93% | 22.62 | $ | |
BP | -7.56% | 31.435 | $ | |
BCC | -7.51% | 94.94 | $ | |
BTI | 3.66% | 41.78 | $ | |
VOD | 2.72% | 9.375 | $ | |
AZN | 3.4% | 74.76 | $ | |
JRI | -1.36% | 12.865 | $ | |
BCE | 2.1% | 22.289 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.31% | 9.75 | $ |

EU court to deliver key rule-of-law judgement
The EU's highest court will rule Wednesday on whether European Union funds can be slashed for member states flouting democratic standards, a case with major implications for Poland and Hungary.
Both EU countries -- which Brussels says are backsliding on rule of law -- launched the legal challenge being heard by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). They want the so-called "conditionality mechanism" to be invalidated.
But in December the court's advisor, the advocate general, concluded that the Polish-Hungarian challenge should be rejected, arguing that the conditionality mechanism was compatible with the EU's treaties.
Should the judges decide the same, it would open the door to the European Commission cutting their funding.
The European Parliament, which approves the EU's multi-year budgets, has for months called for the commission to do just that, stressing that the conditionality instrument has been available since the beginning of last year.
It has even launched its own legal action, accusing the commission of inaction.
But the EU executive, wary of being wrong-footed by court rulings and aware it needs a qualified majority of member states to approve the mechanism's use, has been determined to build a cast-iron case, step-by-step.
In November, it sent formal letters to Warsaw and Budapest setting out what it sees as the democratic shortfalls.
For Poland, it criticises judicial reforms it believes undermine judges' independence and a refusal to accept the primacy of EU law over Polish law.
For Hungary, it is about public procurement, conflict of interests and corruption.
- Live broadcast -
In a sign of how anticipated Wednesday's judgment is, the court will for the first time broadcast its ruling live.
That decision will then be debated in the European Parliament, where EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn will stand in for commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who pulled out to focus on the military crisis over Ukraine.
If the ECJ confirms the right to cut money on these grounds, "we expect the European Commission to start putting the mechanism into action right away", said the head of the conservative EPP bloc in the parliament, Manfred Weber.
Poland's Constitutional Court is due to issue its own conclusions on the EU conditionality mechanism on Thursday. The court is considered to be close to the ruling Law and Justice party that continues to defy Brussels.
If the ECJ ruling goes against Poland and Hungary, it is expected that both countries will throw up more legal challenges to try to overturn it.
The conditionality mechanism was created in 2020, after a summit at the height of the coronavirus pandemic that agreed common borrowing to build an 800-billion-euro ($900 billion) pile of grants and loans for EU countries to recover.
Budget hawks, including Austria and the Netherlands, demanded the conditionality mechanism to put guard rails around the spending of taxpayers' money.
St.Ch.Baker--CPN