Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years for fraud: US media


By AFP
December 11, 2025


In 2019, Do Kwon featured in Forbes' 30 under 30 Asia list - Copyright AFP/File SAVO PRELEVIC

South Korean cryptocurrency tycoon Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday over fraud linked to his company’s failure, which wiped out $40 billion of investors’ money and shook global crypto markets, US media reported.

Kwon, who nurtured two digital currencies central to the bankruptcy, was sentenced at the New York court where he pleaded guilty in August after an international manhunt spanning Asia and Europe.

He still faces fraud charges in his native South Korea.

The 34-year-old’s Terraform Labs created a cryptocurrency called TerraUSD that was marketed as a “stablecoin,” a token that is pegged to stable assets such as the US dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations.

Kwon successfully marketed them as the next big thing in crypto, attracting billions in investments and global hype.

He was flooded with praise in South Korean media, which described him as a “genius” as thousands of private investors lined up to pour cash into his company.

And in 2019, Kwon featured in Forbes’ 30 under 30 Asia list.

But despite billions in investments, TerraUSD and its sister token Luna went into a death spiral in May 2022.

Experts said Kwon had set up a glorified pyramid scheme, in which many investors lost their life savings.

He left South Korea before the crash and spent months on the run.

The crypto tycoon was arrested in March 2023 at the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, while preparing to board a flight to Dubai, in possession of a fake Costa Rican passport.

He was extradited last year from Montenegro to the United States.

South Korea police raid e-commerce giant Coupang over data leak


By AFP
December 8, 2025


Coupang is South Korea's most popular online shopping platform, serving millions of customers - Copyright AFP/File Ed JONES

Claire LEE

South Korean police raided the Seoul headquarters of e-commerce giant Coupang on Tuesday over a recent data leak believed to have affected almost two-thirds of the country’s population.

Coupang is South Korea’s most popular online shopping platform, serving millions of customers with lightning-fast deliveries of products from groceries to gadgets.

But the company suffered a massive data leak this year and was forced to alert customers that their names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and some order histories had been exposed.

Payment details and login credentials were not affected, it said.

Coupang had told authorities the personal information of 33.7 million customers had been leaked — almost two-thirds of the population of the country.

On Tuesday police in Seoul conducted a “search and seizure” operation at Coupang’s South Korean headquarters, describing it as a “necessary measure to accurately understand the incident”.

Seventeen officers from the force’s cyber investigation unit were deployed, with law enforcement vowing to “comprehensively investigate” based on the evidence obtained.

Last week, President Lee Jae Myung called for swift action to penalise those responsible for the debacle.

Seoul has said the leak took place through Coupang’s overseas servers from June 24 to November 8.

The company only became aware of it last month, according to police and local media, when it issued a complaint against the alleged culprit — a former employee who is a Chinese national.

The firm is now facing a class action lawsuit in the United States, where its global headquarters is based, over the leak, Yonhap news agency reported.

– Exposed –

And Seoul’s presidential office said Monday that the firm needed to provide answers over how it would compensate users who have had data stolen.

“Coupang must present clear measures outlining how it will take responsibility if damages occur,” presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said, according to Yonhap.

The case follows a major breach at South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom, which was fined 134 billion won ($91 million) in August after a cyberattack exposed data on nearly 27 million users.

South Korea, among the world’s most wired countries, has also been a target of hacking by arch-rival North Korea.

Police announced last year that North Korean hackers were behind the theft of sensitive data from a South Korean court computer network — including individuals’ financial records — over a two-year period.

And last month, Yonhap reported that South Korean authorities suspected a North Korean hacking group may be behind the recent cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, which led to the unauthorised withdrawal of 44.5 billion won in digital assets.

‘Democracy has crumbled!’: Four arrested in UK Crown Jewels protest


By AFP
December 6, 2025


A little-known, self-proclaimed civil resistance group called Take Back Power claimed responsibility - Copyright Take Back Power/AFP Handout

London police arrested four people Saturday after apple crumble and custard were thrown at a display case containing Britain’s priceless Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, in the latest direct action protest stunt.

The city’s Metropolitan Police said officers responded to “reports of criminal damage to a display case, containing the State Crown” and that “four protesters threw suspected food onto the case before two left the scene”.

“Officers worked closely with City of London Police and security officers and four people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage,” the force added. It noted they were in custody.

A little-known, self-proclaimed non-violent civil resistance group called Take Back Power claimed responsibility, saying its members had thrown the crumble and custard.

It is “demanding that the UK government establish a permanent citizen’s assembly… which has the power to tax extreme wealth and fix Britain”, according to statement posted online.

The group shared a video of the incident on social media showing a young woman planting a foil tray containing the crumble up against the glass pane, followed by a young man splattering custard from a tub on top of it.

The Imperial State Crown, worn by King Charles III at the end of his 2023 coronation ceremony and at formal occasions like the State Opening of Parliament, could be seen shimmering inside the case.



– ‘Britain is broken’ –



Both suspected perpetrators in the footage wore t-shirts with “take back power” and a logo emblazoned on the front.

“Democracy has crumbled!” the young woman yelled, as the custard-throwing man shouted “Britain is broken!”

“We’ve come here, to the jewels of the nation, to take back power,” he added.

The footage, filmed by another person close by, showed a female staff member with a walkie-talkie attempting to intervene, repeatedly shouting “excuse me!” as she radioed for help.

The incident is the latest example of so-called direct action demonstrations, targeting cultural, sporting and other sites in Britain and beyond.

Stunts have included targeting Vincent van Gogh’s glass-protected “Sunflowers” painting with tomato soup and daubing Stonehenge with orange paint powder.

Take Back Power targeted the Ritz Hotel on Wednesday, emptying bags of manure next to its Christmas tree.

The Crown Jewels were not damaged during its new stunt, the Historic Royal Palaces charity which manages the Tower of London said.

The Jewel House at the world-famous tower where most of the historic treasures are kept temporarily closed while police investigated, but reopened later Saturday.

The Crown Jewels are Britain’s most precious treasures, including regalia used at coronations of new monarchs.

Comprising more than 100 objects and over 23,000 gemstones, they are considered “of incalculable cultural, historical, and symbolic value,” according to Historic Royal Palaces.

The jewels are part of the Royal Collection, held in trust by the monarch for the nation.

Hong Kong university axes student union after calls for fire justice


By AFP
December 4, 2025


A woman takes a photo with her phone above barricades in front of the student union-run notice board, nicknamed “democracy wall”, at Hong Kong Baptist University 

 Copyright POOL/AFP KIM Min-Hee

A Hong Kong university ordered its student union to shut down after a message was posted on campus expressing condolences and urging justice for the victims of a major fire, according to a letter publicly shared on Friday.

The blaze that ripped through Wang Fuk Court in the city’s northern Tai Po district last week killed at least 159 people and was the world’s deadliest residential building fire since 1980.

The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) said it will “suspend the operations” of the student union acting executive committee with immediate effect and take over their facilities, according to a letter shared on social media by the union on Friday.

The school cited reasons such as a lack of representation and poor financial management, which the union called “unfounded and arbitrary”.

“The university’s irrational action raises concerns about potential ulterior motives behind this forced suspension,” the union said in a statement.

Social media users circulated photos on Tuesday of a message stuck onto a student union-run notice board, nicknamed the “democracy wall”, which expressed condolences for those killed in the fire.

The unsigned message continued: “We are Hongkongers. Urge the government to be receptive and respond to public demands so justice can be done.”

The wall was blocked off with tall barricades on Wednesday, an AFP reporter saw.

Kevin, a HKBU student who declined to give his surname, told AFP at the time he found the noticeboard message to be “positive” and said it drew attention from students walking by before it was sealed off.

The university did not respond to multiple requests for comment from AFP.

Authorities have warned against crimes that “exploit the tragedy” and have reportedly arrested at least three people for sedition in the fire’s aftermath.

Student unions at Hong Kong universities were once hotbeds of political activism and played a role in the city’s huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

They either shrank their operations or were shut down entirely after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong a year later, which critics say has curbed dissent.

Louvre trade unions call for rolling strike next week

By AFP
December 8, 2025


Storm clouds are gathering over the Louvre in Paris due to staff working conditions - Copyright AFP/File Ian LANGSDON

Trade unions at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Monday called for a rolling strike next week over working conditions, piling more bad news on the beleaguered institution.

The announcement came a day after the world’s most visited museum admitted to a major leak in late November and nearly two months after an embarrassing heist in which French crown jewels were stolen from its permanent collection.

In between those two incidents, it had to close a gallery containing ancient Greek ceramics over fears for the safety of a ceiling.

Three unions — the CGT, Sud and the CFDT — called for a rolling strike starting Monday December 15 which was voted for at a staff meeting of around 200 employees “with unanimity”, CFDT official Valerie Baud told AFP.

If followed widely by the Louvre’s 2,100-strong workforce, it could lead to the closure of the institution in the run-up to the Christmas holidays when Paris is full of festive holidaymakers.

The Louvre was forced to shut temporarily on June 16 this year after gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel organised a spontaneous walk-out over what they see as understaffing and overcrowding.

In a joint letter addressed to Culture Minister Rachida Dati on Monday, the unions wrote that parts of the Louvre were being regularly closed because of “insufficient staff numbers as well as technical failures and the building’s ageing condition”.

“The public now has only limited access to the artworks and has trouble moving around. A visit to the Louvre has become a real obstacle course,” they added, according to a copy seen by AFP.

On Sunday, the museum’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, said that an open valve in the heating and ventilation system had caused water damage to 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department.

The damaged items date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are “extremely useful” but are “by no means unique”, Steinbock added.

On October 19, a four-person gang raided the museum in broad daylight, stealing jewellery worth an estimated $102 million in just seven minutes before fleeing on scooters.

The incident has highlighted major security vulnerabilities and heaped pressure on government-appointed Louvre boss Laurence des Cars.

She has called it “an immense wound that has been inflicted upon us”.

Des Cars and unions had warned repeatedly before the break-in about conditions inside the Louvre and the cost of maintaining the vast former royal palace.

The home of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” welcomed 8.7 million people last year.

General strike hits planes, trains and services in Portugal


By AFP
December 11, 2025


Labour reforms sought by Portugual's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro set off the country's biggest strike since 2013 - Copyright AFP PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA

Thomas CABRAL

Widespread disruption hit Portuguese air travel and trains, hospitals and schools Thursday as the unions called the biggest nationwide strike action for more than a decade against government labour reforms.

Lisbon’s main train station was empty with most services cancelled and the TAP Air Portugal national airline called off about two thirds of its normal 250 flights.

According to unions, refuse collection was at a standstill along with hospital departments handling non-urgent cases. Schools and courts were also affected.

Unions have been infuriated by a law proposed by the right wing minority government that it says aims to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro insisted that the labour reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries”.

But the communist-leaning CGTP and more moderate UGT unions have lambasted the plans. And the walk-out is Portugal’s biggest since June 2013, when the country needed International Monetary Fund and European Union help to overcome a debt crisis.

CGTP secretary general Tiago Oliveira said the reforms were “among the biggest attacks on the world of work”. He told AFP the government action would “normalise job insecurity” and “make dismissals easier”.

– Support for strikers –



Out of a working population of some five million people, around 1.3 million are already in insecure positions, Oliveira said.

With Portugal set to elect a new president in early 2026, Oliveira said he considered the strike was “already a success” even before it started as it had drawn public attention to the labour reforms.

Public opinion is largely behind the action, with 61 percent of those polled in favour of the walk-out, according to a survey published in the Portuguese press.

On the eve of the strike, Montenegro said he hoped “that the country will function as normally as possible… because the rights of some must not infringe on the rights of others”.

Although his right-wing party lacks a majority in parliament, Montenegro’s government should be able to force the bill through with the support of the liberals — and the far right, which has become the second-largest political force in Portugal.

The left-wing opposition has accused Montenegro’s camp of not telling voters that workers’ rights roll-backs were on the cards while campaigning for the last parliamentary elections.

Although Portugal has recorded economic growth of around two percent and a historically low unemployment rate of some six percent, the prime minister has argued that the country should take advantage of the favourable climate to push through reforms.

Armindo Monteiro, head of the main employers confederation, the CIP, condemned the strike and told AFP the government’s draft law was only a “basis for discussion” aiming to correct the “misbalance” caused by labour changes made by a previous left wing government.

Nepal estimates millions in damages from September protests


By AFP
December 11, 2025


Nepal suffered losses of about $586 million in deadly anti-corruption protests in September, a report says - Copyright AFP/File PRABIN RANABHAT

Nepal on Thursday estimated that the country suffered losses of about $586 million in September’s deadly anti-corruption protests that ousted the government.

The youth-led demonstrations, initially triggered by anger over a brief government ban on social media, were fuelled by deeper frustration over economic hardship and corruption.

After a police crackdown killed young protestors, the riots spread and on the second day more than 2,500 structures were torched, looted or damaged.

The committee formed to assess the damage caused during the protest submitted its report to Prime Minister Sushila Karki on Thursday, the prime minister’s secretariat said in a statement.

The report said that a total of 77 people died during the movement, 20 people on 8 September, 37 on the following day and another 20 later.

“In terms of total physical damage, the committee estimates the loss to be equivalent to 84 arab 45 crore 77 lakh rupees ($586 million),” the statement said.

The report said that damage to government and public buildings accounted for half of the amount.

The unrest spread nationwide on its the second day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, resulting in the government’s collapse.

Within days, 73-year-old former chief justice Sushila Karki was appointed interim prime minister to lead the Himalayan nation to elections on March 5, 2026.

Karki’s cabinet formed the committee to assess the damage soon after.

The committee also submitted a reconstruction plan, estimating a need of $252 million.

Three months on from the September 8–9 protests, and with three months to go before elections, Nepal faces daunting challenges including rising unemployment and collapsing foreign investment.

Some of Nepal’s largest companies — major contributors to state revenue — suffered heavy losses, including Bhat-Bhateni supermarkets, the Chaudhary Group conglomerate and the telecom provider Ncell.

In Pokhara, one of Nepal’s key tourist hubs, Hotel Sarowar was set ablaze.

“The loss is immense,” chairman Bharat Raj Pahari told AFP in an interview earlier this month. “It has directly affected 750 family members.”

The World Bank in November revised its growth projections for Nepal, warning that due to the recent unrest and “heightened political and economic uncertainty, real GDP growth is projected to slow to 2.1 percent” in 2025, from an earlier forecast of 5.1 percent.

It also raised its poverty estimate to 6.6 percent of the population this financial year, up from 6.2 percent.

Kushner returns to team Trump, as ethical questions swirl


By AFP
December 11, 2025


Jared Kushner, seen with Ivanka Trump, played a key role in the Gaza ceasefire deal - Copyright POOL/AFP SAUL LOEB

Danny KEMP

His only official job title at the White House is son-in-law. But Jared Kushner has staged a remarkable — and sometimes controversial — comeback to President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Four years after Kushner left the White House, Trump has handed the husband of his daughter Ivanka a key role in the Gaza and Ukraine peace talks.

This week, the 44-year-old also emerged as an investor in a bid by Paramount to buy Hollywood giant Warner Bros., which if successful could mean the Trump family partially owning CNN, the president’s most-hated news channel.

Kushner and Ivanka served as special advisors in Trump’s first term. But after his 2020 election loss they decamped to Florida and Kushner vanished into the private sector, insisting he would not return for a second administration.

Since then, Kushner has founded an investment company largely funded by the same Middle Eastern countries that he dealt with in the first Trump term — and has become a billionaire, according to Forbes.

That has raised ethical questions about possible conflicts of interest, which Kushner has denied and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has branded “frankly despicable.”

But it has not stopped Trump, who has long mixed business and politics with family, from bringing him back in from the cold.

“We called in Jared,” Trump told the Israeli parliament in October after the Gaza ceasefire deal. “We need that brain on occasion. We gotta get Jared in here.”



– ‘Trusted family member’ –



The White House said that Kushner was giving “valuable expertise” while stressing that he working as an “informal, unpaid advisor.”

“President Trump has a trusted family member and talented advisor in Jared Kushner,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP, citing Kushner’s “record of success” in the Middle East.

Trump and his roving global envoy, businessman Steve Witkoff, “often seek Mr. Kushner’s input given his experience with complex negotiations, and Mr. Kushner has been generous in lending his valuable expertise when asked.”

The slim, softly-spoken scion of a property empire — whose father was jailed for tax evasion and later pardoned by Trump — Kushner faced accusations of inexperience when he joined Trump’s first team.

But he ended up playing a key role in Trump’s signature diplomatic achievement, the Abraham Accords that saw several Muslim nations recognize Israel.

During that time Kushner, who is Jewish, built enduring relationships with Gulf states like Saudi Arabia.

As Trump sought a Gaza ceasefire in his second term, he turned again to his son-in-law.

Kushner began to be seen around the White House again, and Trump dispatched him and Witkoff to negotiate with Israel, Hamas and Middle Eastern powers.

After the Gaza deal, Kushner said his role was only temporary — and joked that he was worried Ivanka would change the locks of their Florida mansion and not let him back in if he stayed on.

Yet the following month, Kushner turned up at the Kremlin with Witkoff to meet President Vladimir Putin. Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Kushner “turned out to be very useful.”



– Paramount bid role –



Kushner’s business interests hit the headlines again this week when it emerged that his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, was among the investors backing Paramount’s battle with Netflix to buy Warner Bros.

It added a political twist to the story, as not only has his father-in-law said he would get “involved” in approving any deal, but Trump also appears determined to clamp down on CNN, which is part of Warner.

Kushner founded Florida-based Affinity in 2021, with much of its funding coming from foreign sources, particularly the Middle Eastern governments he’d done business with.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) gave $2 billion in 2022, the New York Times reported. The Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi-based Lunate Capital together gave around $1.5 billion in 2024, Kushner said in a podcast last year.

Kushner’s firm now manages $5.4 billion, according to a press release in September.

A US Senate finance committee launched an inquiry last year into whether Affinity was effectively being used as a foreign influence-buying operation with the Trump family ahead of the 2024 election, saying it had won millions in fees from foreign clients without returning any profits.

Affinity Partners did not reply when contacted by AFP.

Kushner hasn’t commented on the Paramount deal, but he has previously rejected any suggestions of ethical breaches, particularly regarding his Gulf ties.

“What people call conflicts of interest, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships,” he told the CBS program “60 Minutes” when it interviewed him and Witkoff in October on the Gaza deal.

Mexico approves measure raising tariffs on Chinese imports


By AFP
December 11, 2025


China will be among parties bidding to build two new ports on the Panama Canal - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI

President Claudia Sheinbaum defended a tariff increase on goods from China and other countries with which Mexico has no trade agreements, saying the measure was intended to strengthen the national economy.

Beijing had reacted angrily to Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday approving a tariff rise on imports of automobiles, textiles, clothing, plastics, appliances and other products — primarily affecting Chinese goods.

The move would “substantially harm the interests of relevant trading partners, including China”, Beijing said Thursday.

“China… hopes Mexico will promptly rectify this erroneous practice of unilateralism and protectionism,” a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

The ministry also noted an ongoing trade barrier investigation China launched against Mexico in September, suggesting a possibility of retaliation.

The changing tariffs, spearheaded by Sheinbaum, will also affect South Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan and Brazil.

Sheinbaum must ratify the new tariffs — up to 50 percent on some goods, 20 or 35 percent for most — expected to take effect January 1, 2026.

She insisted Thursday the measure sought only to strengthen the Mexican economy, highly dependent on the United States.

US President Donald Trump has accused Chinese producers of bypassing tariffs by sending goods northward over the Mexican border, and many have interpreted Sheinbaum’s tariff hike as a capitulation to her powerful northern counterpart.

“Our interest is not to generate conflict with any country in the world; we have great respect for China and very good relations with them,” Sheinbaum told reporters Thursday.

“The reason for these legal adjustments is to strengthen the national economy,” she said.

Beijing has previously said it opposes any “coercion” to impose restrictions on its exports, and Thursday’s statement urged Mexico to “act with prudence”.

Mexico’s Congress passed the measure in a late-night session with 76 votes in favor and five against.

Thirty-five senators abstained from voting, arguing the bill was hastily drafted under pressure from Trump at a time Mexico and Canada are preparing to renegotiate their USMCA free-trade agreement with the United States.

burs-mlr/md

Mexico’s Sheinbaum holds huge rally following major protests


By AFP
December 6, 2025

 - Copyright AFP Alfredo ESTRELLA

Arturo ILIZALITURRI

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered Saturday in Mexico’s capital to support President Claudia Sheinbaum, as the leftist leader sought to demonstrate her continued popularity following a month of political pushback and major protests.

“Let no one be mistaken,” Sheinbaum told the huge crowd, many of whom had arrived by bus from across the country. “The vast majority of young people support the transformation” of public life in Mexico, she stressed.

Authorities said around 600,000 people gathered in Mexico City’s Zocalo, the main square home to the National Palace where Sheinbaum lives and works. They chanted “You are not alone!” and “Claudia, listen, the people are in the fight!”

The killing of mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November, with protesters setting fire to public buildings.

Weeks later thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies.

That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in late November over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.

At the rally Saturday, 24-year-old Jose Perez, a craftsman of Otomi descent, said he came out to support Sheinbaum because he feels Indigenous people “are more visible” under her government.

Sheinbaum took office in 2024 following the six-year tenure of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.

Though Sheinbaum has earned high approval ratings in her first year, they dipped slightly in recent months — from 74 percent in October to 71 percent in early December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.



– ‘Reshape the narrative’ –



Analysts told AFP the president faces scrutiny not only from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.

The rally is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.

Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.

Sheinbaum’s party has advocated for social justice through policies to aid the underprivileged, but prominent party members have been involved in overspending scandals.

Despite the recent slip in poll numbers, Mexico’s first woman president is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.

Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.

“She has been very prudent” in her relationship with Trump, said Ana Laura Jacome, a 42-year-old housewife who attended Saturday’s rally, using a cane to walk with fellow supporters.

Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries.

She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”

EU agrees recycled plastic targets for cars

By AFP
December 12, 2025


Vehicle manufacturing accounts for 10 percent of the EU's overall consumption of plastics - Copyright AFP ISAAC LAWRENCE

Car manufacturers in Europe will have to include more recycled plastics in new vehicles under new EU rules agreed on by the bloc’s countries and lawmakers on Friday.

European Union governments and parliament representatives reached an early morning deal to mandate that at least 25 percent of plastics used in cars, trucks and motorcycles has been recycled.

Carmakers will have to meet the mandatory target in 10 years, with an intermediate 15 percent goal in six years, according to the European Council representing member states.

At least 20 percent of the recycled materials will have to be sourced from old, scrap vehicles.

“This provisional agreement marks a significant step towards a circular economy for the European automotive sector,” said Magnus Heunicke, environment minister for Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

Vehicle manufacturing accounts for 10 percent of the EU’s overall consumption of plastics, and is responsible for 19 percent of demand for the bloc’s steel industry, according to Brussels.

The deal is provisional and needs to be officially endorsed by the European Council representing member states and the parliament before it is formally adopted.

It also instructs the European Commission to set future targets for recycled steel, aluminium, magnesium and critical raw materials and bans the export of old vehicles that are no longer roadworthy.

Around 3.5 million vehicles “disappear without trace from EU roads” every year and are exported, dismantled or disposed of illegally, according to the council.

The commission had initially proposed a much speedier implementation of the targets — pushing for 25-percent recycled plastic within six years — but member states and parliament won a delay during negotiations.

Concerns about sluggish European growth have taken precedence over green ambitions in Brussels over the past year, leading to a business-friendly drive to slash EU red tape and pare back a slew of laws.

“This deal is a textbook case of political backsliding under industry pressure,” said Fynn Hauschke, of environmental group EEB.

The agreement comes just days before the commission is set to review a landmark 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales.

On Thursday, Manfred Weber, a German EU lawmaker and the head of parliament’s largest group, the EPP, said the ban would be discarded in favour of a 90 percent emission reduction target.

“For new registrations from 2035 onwards, a 90 percent reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100 percent,” he told German tabloid Bild, after a meeting with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

“This means that the technology ban on combustion engines is off the table. All engines currently built in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.”

Commission officials stressed however that no final decision had been made.

Will EU give ground on 2035 combustion-engine ban?


By AFP
December 6, 2025


European automakers say the EU's push for electric vehicles is too rigid 

- Copyright AFP Ina FASSBENDER

Jana HEMMERSMEIER and Frederic POUCHOT

Europe’s embattled auto industry and its backers are ramping up pressure on the EU to relax its planned 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales — hoping for a decision by year end.

The European Commission is due to review the target on December 10 as part of a broader rescue plan for the sector but competing demands from member states and industry risk forcing it to push back the date.

The goal of switching all new cars to electric by 2035 was set in 2023 as a flagship measure of the EU’s environmental Green Deal and a key step towards the bloc achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

But two years on, calls are mounting to revise the target in the name of “pragmatism”.

“Our sector has received the most stringent target as it was perceived to be one of the easiest to decarbonise,” the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said in a policy paper.

“But the reality has proven much more complicated.”

Meanwhile, Chinese carmakers are flooding the European market with cheaper electric models, sparking fears of an unprecedented crisis among the bloc’s manufacturers, with mass layoffs and factory closures looming.

“The ground is slipping beneath our feet,” the head of France’s Plateforme automotive industry group Luc Chatel warned last month, saying the sector was the victim of “political and dogmatic choices, not technological ones”.



– Germany, Italy push for exemptions –



German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has emerged as a leading voice in support of carmakers, urging Brussels to allow sales of plug-in hybrids, range-extender vehicles and highly efficient combustion engines beyond 2035.

Italy wants new cars running on biofuels to remain legal after the deadline.

In the opposing camp, France wants to stick as closely as possible to the all-electric trajectory to safeguard massive investments already made by its carmakers.

“If we abandon the 2035 target, forget about European battery plants,” President Emmanuel Macron warned after an EU summit in October.

France is calling for EU support for battery production and proposing mandatory electrification of corporate fleets using European-made vehicles to avoid favouring Chinese brands. Germany opposes such fleet rules.

BMW chief Oliver Zipse argued in Brussels this week that making corporate fleets go fully electric would amount to bringing the combustion-engine ban “through the back door”.

Lucien Mathieu, of the Transport & Environment advocacy group, warned meanwhile that exemptions for biofuels “would be a terrible mistake”, citing their poor carbon record and unintended impacts such as deforestation.