Friday

29th Mar 2024

Ticker

French cement factory in Syria 'used by western spies'

A French cement plant in Syria accused of financing terrorism was used by western intelligence agencies to gather information on hostages held by Islamic State, sources connected to the operation have said. A Jordanian intelligence officer who was central to the spying effort has confirmed the story to the Guardian. The Lafarge cement company is under investigation for having paid €13m to IS in order to keep functioning.

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Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

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