Sunday, February 09, 2025

Bird flu: US detects new type of H5N1 virus in dairy cows

The detection indicates distinct forms of the virus, known as Type A H5N1,

By Euronews with AP
Published on 06/02/2025

Experts said the discovery raises questions about how widely the virus has spread, and underscores the difficulty of controlling infections among animals and people working with them.

Dairy cattle in the US state of Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that is different from the version that has been spreading in the country since last year, according to US officials.

The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus, known as Type A H5N1, have spilt over from wild birds into cattle at least twice in the US.

Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread – and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them.

“I always thought one bird-to-cow transmission was a very rare event. Seems that may not be the case,” said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the US.

Related EU experts warn: Emerging avian flu mutations could adapt to humans and increase risks

A version of the H5N1 bird flu virus known as B3.13 was confirmed in March 2024 after being introduced to cattle in late 2023, scientists said. It has infected more than 950 herds in 16 states.

The new version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle last week, according to the US agriculture department, after it was detected in milk collected as part of a surveillance programme launched in December.

“Now we know why it's really important to test and continue testing,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virus expert at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada who helped identify the first spillover.

The D1.1 version of the virus was linked to the first US death tied to bird flu. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms following contact with wild and backyard birds.
RelatedWHO says risk of bird flu 'still low' after US reports its first human death

It was also tied to a severe illness in Canada, where a teen girl was hospitalised for months with a virus traced to poultry.

At least 67 people in the US have been infected with bird flu, mostly those who work closely with dairy or cattle, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

No human-to-human transmission has been recorded.

Agriculture officials said they would post genetic sequences and other information about the new form of the virus to a public repository later this week.

Scientists said that would be key to understanding whether the spillover was a recent event or whether the virus has been circulating, perhaps widely, for longer.
RelatedHuman case of bird flu detected in UK

“If this turns out to have been something that crossed into cattle a couple months ago, a couple months is a long time not to detect it,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona in the US who has studied the H5N1 virus in cattle.

He added that it is important for federal officials to promptly share information about a virus that has the potential to trigger a pandemic that could “make COVID seem like a walk in the park”.

“It's a vital part of national security, global security, the well-being of people, of animals and of businesses in the US,” Worobey added.

'A huge victory for academic freedom’: German non-profits win public data access lawsuit against X

By Anna Desmarais
Published on 07/02/2025

A Berlin court ruled in favour of two German nonprofits, who sued X for breaching EU law by not giving them access to data to study how posts on the platform could influence the upcoming election.

Two German non-profit organisations won a lawsuit against Elon Musk's X after the social media platform failed to provide them with data ahead of the upcoming election.

Thelawsuit filed by Germany’s Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and the Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte, GFF) on February 4 alleges that X violates the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) that compels platforms to provide researchers with public data “without undue delay”.

The Berlin Regional Court ruled less than 72 hours later that X must grant both organisations "unrestricted access to all publicly available data" now and until shortly after the election, the non-profits said.

The X data will be included in a wider, three-year research project that examines the online political discourse in the run-up to several major elections, including last year’s European Parliament elections.

“This decision is a huge victory for academic freedom and our democracy!"
Simone Ruf
Deputy Director, GFF’s Center for User Rights

“This decision is a huge victory for academic freedom and our democracy," Simone Ruf, lawyer and deputy director of GFF’s Center for User Rights, said in a statement.

"We have secured access to crucial research data and are blocking attempts to manipulate elections. It is a strong signal for protecting fundamental rights in the digital age," Ruf added.

A spokesperson from DRI said it is the first lawsuit to their knowledge in Germany and the EU for this right to access data, though the EU is stillinvestigating X over possible DSA breaches.

Paid data plans ‘dissuade’ researchers, EU says

Under the DSA, “very large” platforms are required to provide access to their data to non-profits, organisations and associations that use it for research on the “detection, identification and understanding of systemic risks” on social media.

The lawsuit said both organisations filled out X’s onlineform for researcher access to data in April 2024 as part of their wider research project. DRI’s application was denied in November.

The statement continued that other platforms have allowed DRI and GFF to access the data they need for their studies, but not X. They say it’s important for them to fulfil their role by researching these risks.
RelatedFrench film academy behind the César Awards quits Elon Musk’s X

X gives limitedfree access to its Application Programming Interface (API), but if people want a higher volume of data, they have to pay a monthlyfee for “Pro access” of up to $5,000 (€4,794), a cost that a spokesperson for DRI said is “prohibitively expensive”.

Plus, the “Pro Access” tier only gives access to one million monthly X posts, which the lawsuit alleges will not be enough to effectively evaluate systemic risks on the platform.

“If researchers ask about posts that have a certain keyword from a disinformation campaign and it’s particularly virulent, your monthly budget can already be used up by this one request,” the lawsuit says.

The European Commission’s initial investigation into X agreed, noting in a 2024 pressrelease that the company “appears to dissuade researchers from carrying out their research projects, or leave them with no other choice than to pay disproportionally high fees”.

Euronews Next contacted X for comment but didn’t receive an immediate reply.

Serbian lithium mine European Parliament film screening fuels dispute

The ‘most politicised mining project in the world’

By Robert Hodgson
Published on 06/02/2025 -

The European Union needs lithium for its energy transition and is eagerly eyeing huge reserves in northern Serbia, but twenty years after making the discovery in the Jadar valley, Rio Tinto’s ambitions to mine the site remain stuck in a mire of environmental opposition and Balkan politics.

Serbian activists were joined by leftist MEPs outside the European Parliament building to protest against the screening of a documentary film on Rio Tinto’s battle with the Serbian authorities, and local environmentalists who the Anglo-Australian mining giant claims have been misled by a shadowy disinformation campaign.

Filmmaker Peter Tom Jones – who heads the Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals at KU Leuven university presented his documentary Not in my Country in the European parliament on Wednesday (5 February) at the invitation of MEPs Hildegarde Bentele (Germany/EPP) and Yvan Verougstraete (Belgium/Renew).

The film makes a strong case for mining lithium in Europe, with Jones arguing it is essential for the energy transition and hence tackling global heating, and underlining the fact that the EU is currently almost entirely dependent on China for the raw materials needed for battery production. The documentary raises the prospect of thousands of new jobs, with processing and production taking place in Serbia itself.

It also gives Rio Tinto a platform to present its promise to abide by the highest environmental and social standards, dismiss concerns voiced by protesters over radioactivity and pollution by dangerous acid – and to profess contrition over past mistakes, notably blasting an ancient aboriginal burial site in Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, in 2020 to expand an iron ore mine.

EU partnership

The Jadar mine issue burst back onto the news agenda last July when protests erupted after Serbia’s constitutional court reversed a 2022 decision by the government of president Aleksandar Vučić to withdrew planning approval for the 220-hectare site amid widespread public opposition.

Within days, Vučić had inked a ‘strategic partnership’ on critical raw materials with the EU, at a summit in the Serbian capital attended by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. August saw a mass protest in the capital Belgrade, followed by reports of intimidation, surveillance and the arrest of activists by the Serbian security services.

Related Serbia: Fresh protests threaten EU-backed lithium mining plan

A demonstration outside the parliament building in Brussels ahead of the screening, which drew several dozen participants, saw Serbian protesters joined by MEPs from The Left group. They clearly saw the film as propaganda for Rio Tinto and the Serbian government.

Jones told Euronews that the film had been updated prior to screening to address criticism by one of the interviewees, the social scientist Jelena Vasiljević, that it was one-sided and that speakers had been “cherry picked”. He acknowledged it had been a “serious omission” in an earlier edit to show harassment of Rio Tinto employees without presenting the state crackdown on opposition activists.

Opponents of the mine cite the global track record of Rio Tinto and the mining industry more broadly, and mistrust in what they view as a corrupt Serbian government as a cause for genuine concern over the potential environmental impact of the planned lithium production.

Serbian politics

Carola Rackete, a German MEP who spoke at the protest, told Euronews she was convinced that a majority of Serbians opposed the lithium mine, and accused the Vučić government of being behind the overturning of its own decision to suspend planning permission for the mine.

Rackete pointed to the fact that several EU countries, including Germany, have deposits of lithium that are not being exploited, but for environmentalists the issue goes beyond the EU’s hunger for the metal needed to secure future electric car production and underpin the energy transition.

“The question generally is that we have to reduce our material consumption…our material footprint is just way too high,” she said. “So we're not just in a climate crisis, but also the biodiversity crisis, and we need a cap on our resource use the same as we have a cap on CO2 emissions.”

Jones said he had been surprised by the depth of the political dispute around the project. “When we embarked on producing this film, our goal was to create a ‘science communication’ documentary, aligned with the mission of our KU Leuven Institute,” he said.

“However, we quickly realized that the Jadar project is so heavily politicised that it is challenging to separate a fact-based discussion on the intrinsic techno-environmental merits and pitfalls of this mining and refining project from the complex nature of Serbian politics.”

Recent weeks have seen fresh anti-government protests across Serbia, this time triggered by the collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station which killed 15 people and has been blamed on corruption and substandard construction work.
RelatedStudent-led protesters blockade bridges in Serbia's second-largest city

Vučić has been walking a fine line recently between a rapprochement with the EU – whose candidacy for membership of the bloc has been given a certain impetus by the promise of access to lithium – and Serbia’s historical sympathy for Russia. The president has repeatedly ruled out imposing sanctions since president Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The ‘most politicised mining project in the world’

Speaking to Euronews in December, Chad Blewitt, Rio Tinto’s managing director of the Jadar project – who appears in the film – asserted that the planned mine had been the object of a “well-funded, concerted campaign” of disinformation designed to “create fear and scare people” about its potential environmental and health impacts.

Aleksandar Matković, a prominent campaigner against of the lithium mine, who in common with actors on both sides of the dispute has received anonymous death threats, criticised the filmmakers for singling out comments by an elderly lady who voiced the opinion that local protesters were being bankrolled from abroad.

Vučić himself has made similar claims, but pointed the finger not at Russia, but at the EU and US. Rackete noted it was “a very common playbook” in post-communist countries, including Russia itself, for governments to accuse critics of being foreign agents.

Julia Poliscanova, who leads the green group Transport & Environment's work on electric vehicles and supply chains, suggested concerns over a possible lack of government oversight could be assuaged by using third-party monitoring through the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), which brings in civil society and labour groups alongside mining firms.

Jones conceded that the argument would not be won on the basis of science alone. “This project is the most politicised mining project in the world, and it's impossible to differentiate or to separate the science from the politics and the geopolitics,” he said.

Hildegarde Bentele, who was parliamentary rapporteur on the EU’s critical raw materials strategy, said the future of the mine was a “sovereign, democratic decision” for Serbia. “I can just tell you from my country, that we want batteries,” she said. “Our young people don't want to work in the farming sector - they want to have highly qualified jobs and they want to be in this future technology.”

Thousands in Slovakia protest against what they say is PM Fico's pro-Russia stance

By Gavin Blackburn with AP
Published on 08/02/2025 -

Fico's views on Russia have largely differed from the European mainstream. He ended Slovakia's military aid for Ukraine, criticised European Union sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

Huge crowds have gathered in dozens of cities and towns across Slovakia to mount vocal protests against what they say are the pro-Russian policies of Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The latest wave of anti-government rallies was fuelled by Fico's recent trip to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, a rare visit to the Kremlin by a European Union leader since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

People take part in an anti-government protest at the Freedom Square organised by political activists in Bratislava, 7 February, 2025AP Photo

Fico's recent remarks that Slovakia’s foreign policy orientation could involve leaving the European Union and NATO contributed to the anger of protesters.

"Slovakia is Europe," the protesters in Bratislava chanted.

"I came to this protest to express my disagreement with our government's policies and actions. I don't think the government has been given a mandate to do what it is doing. That's why I want to make my civil statement. That's why I'm here," said one of the protesters, Marcela Slimakova.

The latest rallies took place in 41 locations in Slovakia, up from 28 two weeks ago.

Protest organisers say rallies also took place in 13 cities abroad.

"Personally, I don't believe the protest will change anything, but at least it will bring those people together to make a difference in an election," said Matej Děbnar, one of the protesters at the Bratislava rally.

Friday's protests were the biggest since major street rallies in 2018 prompted by the killing of an investigative reporter and his fiancée.

The ensuing political crisis led to the collapse of Fico's previous government.

Fico, who survived an assassination attempt in May 2024, is a divisive figure in Slovakia and has escalated tensions by accusing protest organisers of being in contact with foreigners who organised recent anti-government protests in Georgia.

He claims the are working towards engineering a coup in Slovakia.

Government officials have failed to provide evidence for the claim, which has been dismissed by the Peace for Ukraine organisation.

People take part in an anti-government protest at the Freedom Square organised by political activists in Bratislava, 7 February, 2025AP Photo

Fico's views on Russia have largely differed from the European mainstream.

He returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won the parliamentary election on a pro-Russia and anti-America platform

He has since ended Slovakia's military aid for Ukraine, criticised European Union sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

He also declared Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy an enemy after Kyiv halted Russian gas supplies to Slovakia and other European countries.

Thousands of students block traffic in Athens over delays to Tempi rail crash probe

By Gavin Blackburn with AP

Published on 08/02/2025 -

The crash happened just before midnight on 28 February, 2023, when a freight train and a passenger train crashed head-on on the line linking Athens with Thessaloniki, killing 57 people.

Thousands of high school and university students have blocked traffic in central Athens in an anti-government protest against delays in an investigation into a 2023 rail crash that claimed 57 lives.

Protesters marched through the city centre, chanting "Murderers! Murderers!" as hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, monitored the march.

"What is happening today is nothing more than a demand - not only for justice - but, for me, an open and cleaner road. For those who will come after us, for us who are older today and are here. We are not just here for ourselves," said a high school teacher who gave his name only as Pantazi.

A student holds a placard saying 'I have no oxygen' during an anti-government protest in Athens, 7 February, 2025AP Photo

"It is for those who will be after us, when we are no longer here. And that is the most important thing - to fight for something better even if you are not there to enjoy it, for others. This is the dispute today."

The protest in Athens comes just over a week after tens of thousands of people protested in more than 100 cities across the country, the largest protest movement in Greece in more than a decade.

That action came after local media released new audio recording suggesting that dozens of the victims may have died in a fire after the collision.

It was previously thought all the victims of the February 2023 crash had been killed in the crash.

Demonstrators held banners with the slogan 'I Have No Oxygen', which was heard in the audio recording.

A student holds a placard saying ‘I have no oxygen’ during an anti-government protest in Athens, 7 February, 2025

AP Photo

The crash happened just before midnight on 28 February, 2023, when a freight train and a passenger train crashed head-on on the line linking Athens with Thessaloniki.

The collision triggered mass protests across Greece, with many people saying the collision showed the years of neglect of the rail network after a decade-long financial crisis.

A judicial investigation is still ongoing and the cause of death of many of the victims has still not been determined.

But the slowness of that probe has prompted families of the victims to accuse the government of trying to cover up evidence, something Athens denies.

Greece's centre-right government headed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis was re-elected three months after the crash and promised to reform the country's rail network but the European Commission says that so far progress has been slow.

At the Athens protest, a statement from the victims’ families was circulated which claimed the train was carrying an "illegal chemical cargo" which caused the fire after the crash.

Tens of thousands of people demand justice for the victims of the Tempi rail crash at a protest in Athens, 26 January, 2025AP Photo

"The tragedy in Tempi was not an accident. It was a crime born of indifference, irresponsibility and corruption. A crime which must not go unpunished," the resolution stated.

The Athens protest on the 26 January was largely peaceful but there were some clashes between police and protesters.

Police say one protester was arrested and that violence started out after groups of hooded men broke away from the crowd and attacked the police with Molotov cocktails and stones.

"We are here today as a club to protest for the 57 dead, to protest against the crime that took place in Tempi, but also for the policy that puts profits first and human lives second," said student Odisseas Gountaras at the rally in Athens on Friday.

Reporting for Euronews from Athens, George Dimitropoulos said the next mass protest is due to take place on 28 February, the second anniversary of the crash.

Thousands protest across Germany against far-right extremism ahead of snap elections

By Gavin Blackburn with AP
Published on 09/02/2025 -

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany is currently polling in second place as the country prepares to head to the ballot box on 23 February.

More than 200,000 protesters have rallied in the southern German city of Munich against far-right extremism ahead of the country's general election.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is currently in second place in recent polls and that has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters head to the ballot box on 23 February.

The protest at Munich's Theresienwiese, where Oktoberfest takes place each year, attracted a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency.

Thousands take part in a rally against right-wing extremism in Munich, 8 February, 2025AP Photo

The event's organisers estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, "Racism and hatred is not an alternative."

"We are demonstrating against the right. Never again is now. I find it horrible that right-wing ideas are acceptable again, that this is being said openly again," said pensioner, Veronika Frank.

The protest was supported by activist groups as well as the Munich Film Festival, churches and Munich football clubs FC Bayern and TSV 1860.

Police told local media that the demonstration was peaceful.

Similar protests attracted large crowds in Hanover, Rostock and elsewhere in Germany, mirroring other demonstrations that have occurred across the country in recent weeks.

Last month, at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing the AfD.

Activists said they hoped the rally would also draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators have recently also opposed Friedrich Merz, the centre-right leader and frontrunner in the upcoming election, and his Christian Democrats for sending proposals to parliament last month for tough new migration rules that received the AfD's backing.

Protesters say Merz and his party broke Germany's unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule or resolution in parliament with the support of far-right, nationalist parties like the AfD.

Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn't and won't work with the party.

Thousands take part in a rally against right-wing extremism in Munich, 8 February, 2025AP Photo

The 12-year-old AfD entered the national parliament in 2017, benefiting from then Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision two years earlier to allow large numbers of migrants into the country.

The party has consistently denied it is racist and in March last year called party members from immigrant backgrounds to testify in court that it isn't.

But one of its key manifesto promises published last month is 'remigration', a phrase long-used in far-right circles to describe the mass deportations of immigrants.

Some of the party's other manifesto promises have proved equally controversial such as the abolition of the euro and return to the Deutschmark and the reintroduction of military conscription.

GERMANS SAY NEIN TO MUSK

Tesla sales crash in Germany as CEO Musk continues political activism

By Eleanor Butler
Published on 07/02/2025 -

Sales plummeted in Germany after the billionaire expressed his support for the far-right in the country. Sales of Tesla electric vehicles also fell in France and the UK last month.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla saw car sales drop by 59% year-on-year in Germany last month, according to the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority.

Tesla, the world’s largest EV maker which has its only European factory in Germany, registered 1,277 new cars in the country in January.

That’s the lowest monthly figure seen since July 2021.

It’s also despite the fact that Germany’s wider EV market was up 54% in January, reducing Tesla’s market share from 14 to 4%.

Different reasons for sales slump

There are a number of factors that could have contributed to the slump in sales, according to experts.

One likely possibility is CEO Elon Musk’s rising status as a political figure and his vocal support for far-right figures.

As Germany prepares for a federal election later this month, Musk has publicly backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The group is notably campaigning for the mass deportation of migrants in Germany and is known for its eurosceptic and pro-Moscow views.
RelatedThe highs and lows of Elon Musk: How the world's richest man was made
Investors bet on Musk and Tesla making a fortune under Trump

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at an AfD event last month, telling attendees: “It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”

“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” he said - seemingly referring to Germany’s historical Nazi government.

“Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,” Musk argued.

The world’s richest man also hosted Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD, on his social media channel X last month.
Declines in France and the UK

Musk’s foray into German politics comes as the South African entrepreneur has cemented himself as President Donald Trump’s right-hand man in the United States, securing a role as a “special government employee”.

Musk’s mandate is to roll out the government efficiency initiative known as DOGE, a radical cost-cutting programme.

Aside from Musk’s political allegiances, experts note that the slump in Tesla sales could be linked to the manufacturer’s Model Y rollout.

It’s possible that some customers held off buying Tesla vehicles in January as they are waiting for the new Model Y, set to launch in the first half of this year.

Others suggest that inventory shortages may have contributed to the slump, after Tesla made a push to boost sales late last year.

The carmaker also saw sales drop in France and the United Kingdom last month by 63% and 12% respectively.

SAME OLD EUROPEAN FASCISM

'Your time is over:' Far-right leaders take on the EU's mainstream parties

By Paula Soler
Published on 08/02/2025 -

At a leaders summit in Madrid the Patriots for Europe (PfE) party says it will launch a 'reconquest' under the banner of 'Make Europe Great Again.'

The far-right Patriots for Europe party wants to be the new 'normal' in Brussels and across the EU. That's the message its leaders have conveyed in Madrid during its two-day leaders' summit, and it's been mapping out a strategy to take over the Socialists, Liberals and European People's Party to carry it out.

It also seeks to very obviously replicate Trump’s “Make America Great Again” in Europe, adapting policies used in the United States and Latin America to EU member states.

Its "reconquest" of the EU will be under the banner of "Make Europe Great Again," and its leaders say Donald Trump’s recent return to the White House signals it is time for Europe to change.

“We are living in an historic age, and my message to all the old leaders from Macron to Scholz, to your own Pedro Sanchez: It's your time. It's over now. They are history,” Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV party in The Netherlands told an audience of around 2,000 people.

The Madrid summit was the first since the appointment of Spain’s Santiago Abascal as leader of the European party in November. The PfE now aims to secure majorities in national governments and EU decision-making, where only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán currently holds a seat in the Council of the EU, representing the 27 member states.

"We have to do what Trump has told us, fight, fight, fight. We have to reconquer a Europe that is ours and that belongs to us. A Christian Europe," André Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega party in Portugal, said.

Le Pen also stressed that the election of Donald Trump cannot be analysed as a simple shift in a democratic country. "We are facing a truly global turning point (...) Everyone understands that something has changed. Meanwhile, the European Union seems to be in a state of shock," she said.

The PfE says it is founded on national sovereignty, traditional values, and the defence of free speech and security. It consist of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (France), Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz (Hungary), Matteo Salvini’s Lega (Italy), Geert Wilders(The Netherlands), and Andrej Babiš (Czechia), among other parties.

In the European Parliament, Patriots for Europe has 86 MEPs and is the third largest group after the European People's Party (EPP) and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

Viktor Orban, Santiago Abascal and Marine Le Pen during the Patriots for Europe summit in Madrid.Guillermo Sanchez/Patriotas

“We need a return to realistic policies based on a free market and strong nation-states,” said Petr Macinka from Czechia’s Motorists for Themselves party.

Neither liberals, nor progressives, nor socialists — “only patriots can make Europe great again,” Macinka added.

Czechia’s Andrej Babiš echoed these sentiments, arguing that mainstream parties are failing the EU. “They tell us Europe will be competitive, yet they impose regulations that strangle businesses and citizens,” he said.

Ten PfE leaders also discussed strategies for dismantling the Green Deal and the rainbow flag representing LGTBIQ rights, implementing their family and two-gender only policies, and expanding their influence across the EU.

They also hosted Kevin Roberts, president of the American conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, and aired video messages from Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.

“Patriots is a transatlantic party, but we are also open. It is not just an alliance with the North— the United States—but also with the South. That is where VOX plays a key role, bridging the connection with Milei and Peña,” VOX's Spanish MEP Jorge Buxadé told Euronews on Friday.

Buxadé emphasised that under Santiago Abascal’s leadership, one of the party’s main goals is to support each other in winning elections. “We are no longer just the future—we are the real, immediate future,” he declared.

IAEA chief says attacks around Europe's largest nuclear power plant have increased

Published on 08/02/2025 -

Russian forces seized the nuclear plant after invading Ukraine in2022. They've held it ever since, but fighting around it has raised fears of a nuclear accident.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said attacks around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have increased.

Rafael Grossi made the remarks, reported by the TASS news agency, after talks with Alexei Likhachev, the chief of Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom.

"So the situation as I was saying is unprecedented. The operation of such a big, biggest in Europe nuclear power plant in the middle of an active combat zone," Grossi said.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi speaks to the media after his talks with the head of Rosatom in Moscow, 7 February, 2025AP Photo

Grossi arrived in Moscow on Friday to discuss security at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, a facility which Russian troops took control of in the early weeks of the invasion.

The IAEA chief said joint efforts to ensure nuclear safety must continue as "the military activity around the plant site continues and in some cases it has been increasing."

In a statement, Rosatom said Ukraine was constantly shelling the town of Energodar, the closest settlement to the plant.

But TASS quoted Grossi as saying it wasn't possible to determine which side was responsible for the strikes.

Likhachev meanwhile emphasised the "increasing risks" for nuclear security at the Kursk and Smolensk nuclear power plants.

"Over the past months and weeks, there has been an incursion by the Ukrainian armed forces into the Kursk region and the corresponding risks for the Kursk nuclear power plant," he said.

"There are dozens of downed drones, missiles on approach or towards the Smolensk nuclear power plant, a strike on the energy infrastructure."

Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into the Russian region of Kursk in August last year, it says to prevent Russian forces from launching strikes into Ukraine.

Grossi visited an electrical substation in the Kyiv region on Tuesday and said that damage to key power grid facilities during the war poses a threat to nuclear safety by potentially disrupting vital cooling procedures at atomic plants.
International support for Ukraine

Meanwhile, the main international forum for drumming up military support for Ukraine will meet for the first time under the auspices of a country other than the US as uncertainty surrounds the future of Washington’s support for arming Kyiv.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group, a consortium of around 50 partner nations, was brought together by former US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to coordinate weapons support in the months after the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, 5 February, 2025AP Photo

President Donald Trump has expressed scepticism for backing Ukraine, criticising President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and saying last month that his administration had already held “very serious” discussions with Russia about ending the conflict.

Trump told reporters on Friday that he plans to speak with both presidents.

"I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week, and I’ll probably be talking with President Putin," Trump said.

"I'd like to see that war end."

The UK will convene the 26th meeting of the contact group on Wednesday at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

Iran's rial crashes from Trump "maximum pressure"

Iran's rial has nosedived following US pressure. / bne IntelliNewsFacebook

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By bnm Tehran bureau February 8, 2025

The US dollar has surged against the Iranian rial to reach IRR 898,500, posting a 3.3% increase on the previous sales session on Tehran's Ferdowsi Street on February 8, following the US' renewed so-called "maximum pressure" campaign.

On the first day of the Iranian working week, the latest daily dollar rally pushed the greenback up 5.5% in just one week and 11% over the past month over US President Trump's refocused targeting of the country's oil exports and potential threats of "obliteration."

The surge rippled across all major currencies, with the euro climbing 3.47% to IRR 928,300, while the British pound sterling advanced 3.46% to IRR 1,114,400. The UAE dirham and Turkish lira followed suit, rising to IRR 246,700 and IRR 25,050, respectively, representing increases of 3.22% and 3.73%.

In contrast, the official exchange market painted a different picture, with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) reporting more modest rates. The official dollar rate stood at IRR 689,530, with payment order rates at IRR 670,750, while the euro traded at IRR 712,170 with payment orders at IRR 692,770. The UAE dirham settled at IRR 187,750 in the commercial market, with payment order rates reaching IRR 182,640.

Demand for the dollar has surged dramatically, with sellers becoming increasingly scarce. Market players report that the supply of hard currency has dried up, fuelling further speculation and price hikes, with hawkers on Ferdowsi Street selling the US dollar at rates above IRR900,000 by late February 8.

People moving to crypto-havens

A large chunk of demand is now moving online to cryptocurrencies, including Tether (USDT). Although it sells at slightly higher prices than hard currency, the USDT price is now nearly as important as the dollar itself. Bitcoin traders also report bumper traffic with the blockchain crypto, which is popular in Tehran.

While recent discussions about Iran’s potential acceptance into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and US overtures for negotiations briefly lifted sentiment, the renewed prospect of tougher US sanctions has reignited inflationary fears and driven demand for safe-haven assets, especially following Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s recent comments in which he strongly advised against negotiations with the US calling them "unwise."

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that recent settlement issues with UAE dirham transactions have been resolved, with operations expected to normalise after the global weekend. This development could potentially strengthen the central bank's capacity for market intervention, though traders remain sceptical about its impact on the broader market, given the overwhelming influence of political factors and Trump's campaign rhetoric targeting Iran.

Some government critics blame the Economy Ministry's hasty decision to halt operations in the secondary currency market (NIMA) as the key contributing factor behind the dollar price jump.

The measure aimed to end the unhealthy policy of dictating rates for exporters and importers and ultimately boosting currency repatriation to the country. The plan also prepared the ground for adopting a single rate regime in the currency market, though the prices now have a 33% difference.

Market data indicate that the dollar has gained about 48% over the past six months, while the new currency market was established about a month ago.

Iran rules out negotiations with Trump

Following the currency issues, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ruled out negotiations with the United States under its "maximum pressure" campaign while stressing Iran's dual approach to handling sanctions.

"Lifting sanctions requires negotiations, but not under maximum pressure policy. Negotiations cannot take place from a position of weakness as that would not be negotiation but surrender - we will never come to the table in such a manner," Araghchi said on February 8 at Iran's sixth Methanol Seminar in Tehran.

The foreign minister outlined Iran's two-pronged strategy: working to remove sanctions through negotiation while simultaneously nullifying their impact through self-reliance. "Nullifying sanctions is our priority and a general duty," he said.

"Iran has never abandoned negotiations and won't do so. However, the JCPOA experience showed the US cannot be trusted, and Iran won't allow such breaches to be repeated. Iran does not seek talks with a country that simultaneously signs new sanctions documents," Araghchi stated.

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Iran's rial crashes from Trump "maximum pressure"

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