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When Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess’s strongest competitor, Elon Musk, parked his electric cars on the German group’s lawn by building a factory just 200km from its historic Wolfsburg headquarters, the Bavarian executive’s response was warmer than many expected. Publicly, Diess told anyone who would listen that Tesla was “paving the way” and “good for the

The World Health Organization has classified the worldwide monkeypox outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”, putting it on par with diseases such as Covid-19, Ebola and polio. It is the highest possible designation under international health regulations, and was last deployed for Covid-19 more than two years ago. The WHO does not

Ukraine accused Russia of firing missiles at its key grain exporting port of Odesa on Saturday, a day after Moscow signed a deal allowing Kyiv to resume grain exports in a bid to alleviate the growing global food crisis. Two Kalibr cruise missiles hit Odesa’s port and two others were shot down by Ukrainian air

It is human nature to prioritise the near term over the far off, and to care more about what is proximate than remote. For many of those in the west, the consequences of climate change, though known to be serious, have been something that were largely experienced by other people, or would be felt by

China has issued stark private warnings to the Biden administration about the upcoming trip to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, triggering alarm bells among White House officials who oppose her visit. Six people familiar with the Chinese warnings said they were significantly stronger than the threats that Beijing has

This article is an onsite version of our Europe Express newsletter. Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every weekday and Saturday morning. Welcome back. A record-breaking heatwave, the end of the Mario Draghi era in Italy, the Conservative party leadership race in the UK — it’s been quite a

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. In this week’s episode, we delve into the positions and policies of the two final candidates in the contest to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and UK prime minister. Who is likely to win the

British holidaymakers should expect more delays at the UK’s port of Dover this weekend after a ferocious Anglo-French row broke out over the management of post-Brexit border controls on the English Channel. The port declared a “critical incident” on Friday after French border police provided what Dover said was a “woefully inadequate” number of passport

Liz Truss, Tory leadership contender, vowed on Friday to review all EU law retained on the British statute book by the end of 2023, and to scrap measures deemed to be holding back the City of London. The foreign secretary promised a “red tape bonfire” if she became prime minister, including reform of the Mifid

Rishi Sunak, who wanted to leave the EU before that cause was popular, is trailing with the Conservative grassroots. Liz Truss, who campaigned with some vigour to remain, polls better among them. This oddity takes explaining. One theory cites his not being white. Another his reluctance to promise tax cuts. Yet a third his mutiny

As it became clear this week that Mario Draghi would resign as Italian prime minister, the hashtag #poveraItalia — poor Italy — trended on social media. Why, anguished Italians were asking, are we discarding a statesman of rare quality when our often misgoverned country is most in need of wise, efficient and principled leadership? Why

Marivi Wright’s “vacation from hell” began when Air France’s computer systems went down and staff had to check in passengers on her flight from New York to Europe by hand. She missed two connecting flights as she flew through Paris to Spain to visit her 83-year-old mother, landing in Malaga 12 hours late. Her luggage

A clash over tax and economic policy has dominated the early tussles between former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss in their bids to become Conservative leader and the next UK prime minister. As the second phase of the leadership contest got under way this week, with two candidates facing a vote by

Russia’s central bank has cut interest rates in a surprise move that it said was in response to a slowdown in inflation and an improved GDP forecast. The decision to cut rates to 8 per cent on Friday, from 9.5 per cent in June, suggests that the central bank believes Russia is weathering the storm

Volkswagen’s chief executive Herbert Diess, the architect of the German carmaker’s multibillion-euro push into electric vehicles, will leave the company within weeks after being forced out by union leaders. The 63-year-old, who took over in the years following the VW emissions scandal, will be replaced by Porsche boss and former VW manager Oliver Blume from

There is an irritating predictability to the way in which Elon Musk’s unsolicited bid for Twitter is unravelling. Some users might have been excited by the idea but tech commentators and investors in Twitter were sceptical from the start. Why wouldn’t they be? For the second time, Musk appeared to insert a 420 internet weed

The ancient Greeks pioneered a range of innovations to cool their houses during the summer, planting trees to provide natural shade and designing buildings to limit which spaces felt the full blast of the sun’s rays. Thousands of years later, their descendants are drawing upon the same kind of ideas to cool down the city

As a boy growing up in Southampton, Rishi Sunak helped his mother do the books in her pharmacy. That formative experience, coupled with his deep-rooted belief in a small state and his polished TV performances, should make him a dream candidate for the Conservatives. But the former chancellor is currently trailing Liz Truss among the

UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has indicated that Britain’s next prime minister will need to rule on Tata Group’s request for £1.5bn in government subsidies to safeguard the future of its Port Talbot steelworks. Kwarteng’s allies say the minister wants to help steelmakers including Tata, owner of the UK’s largest steelworks, to decarbonise the sector,

It’s such a well-known face, to anyone who grew up watching cultural television in Britain, and such a well-known voice to anyone who listens to BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time. And it’s a daunting prospect, to interview a man who has spent his working life over several decades interviewing many of the greatest cultural