Author: Hristos Xenilis

EU’s pasta production increased by 20% in 2022 with Italy unsurprisingly leading the production, consumption, and exports. Italy loves pasta. Penne, linguini, ravioli, fusili, capellini – the list goes on and on. Made from unleavened dough with ground durum wheat and water, many believe the modern Italian pasta to be a descendant of ancient Asian noodles. While it is difficult to trace the exact beginnings of pasta, it is firmly established that pasta has now become synonymous with Italy. The southern European country produced more than 4 million tonnes of pasta in 2022, according to the latest numbers released by…

Egypt’s Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Samir met with the Bulgarian Ambassador to Cairo Deyan Katratchev to discuss how to enhance the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. They also talked about other topics of mutual interest. Samir said that they reviewed the outcomes of the exploratory mission that the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry led to Bulgaria on 19 and 20 September 2023. The mission included representatives from various sectors, such as electricity, renewable energy, transport, the Suez Canal Economic Zone, investment and free zones, and industrialization. The mission aimed to attract investment opportunities and increase…

For the summer of 2024, FlixTrain plans to further increase the number of trips between cities in Germany, and will serve new destinations. Thanks to a more frequent timetable and longer trains with more seats, the company is expanding its long-distance transport offering by 25 per cent. The 2024 timetable also adds some new destinations. As of the timetable change on December 10th, FlixTrain will also transport travellers to and from Bremen, Bensheim, Elsterwerda, Mülheim (Ruhr) and Müllheim (Baden) as well as Schönefeld in the immediate vicinity of Berlin Brandenburg Airport. FlixTrain is also back in many cities that had…

Germany will send around 150 soldiers to Kosovo in April next year as a contribution to the UN’s KFOR mission there, a spokesperson for the defence ministry said in Berlin on Friday. The spokesperson stressed that the decision had nothing to do with current tensions in northern Kosovo and instead was taken to compensate for the withdrawal of Austrian troops. The additional troops will not increase the overall size of KFOR, added the spokesperson. About 3,400 soldiers in total are currently stationed in Kosovo as part of the KFOR mission. Germany’s Bundeswehr army has 71 soldiers there currently, according to…

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Poland to clarify allegations of a visas-for-bribes scandal, airing concerns that it could be adding to his own country’s migration struggles. Just one month before a key general election in Poland, the government is grappling with allegations that operatives in consulates may have handed out thousands of Polish temporary work visas, and EU access, in return for bribes. “I don’t want people from Poland to simply be waved through, and then have a discussion about our asylum policy afterwards,” Scholz said Saturday at a rally of his Social Democratic Party. He called for…

Pope Francis on Saturday hammered home his message that European governments must do more to care for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, saying “those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome”. Closing a meeting of bishops and young people from around the Mediterranean in the French port city of Marseille, he added that migration is “a reality of our times, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise foresight, including a European response”. The pope’s remarks – given in front of President Emmanuel Macron, whose government plans tougher…

Sweden on Monday said a Swedish citizen in his 30s was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year and called for his immediate release. The Swedish government didn’t identify the man, but the New York Times said he was Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps. Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said Floderus was arrested on a private trip to Iran for possible use by Tehran as a bargaining chip in efforts to seek concessions from the West. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that he had no…

The Nigerian government has expressed its desire to collaborate with Spain and other countries of the world in the field of sports, with a view to ensure that her huge sporting potentials are tapped for the socio-economic growth and development of the nation The minister of sports development, Senator John Owan Enoh stated this when he received the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Juan Ignacio Sell in his office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja Enoh in a press statement signed by Mohammed Manga, Director of press and public relations, Federal Ministry of Sports Development, said Spain was undoubtedly…

Piraeus Bank’s market cap is now around €4bn, compared with €1bn just a year ago. CEO Christos Megalou says he is determined to do everything in his power to ensure it stays there. Anita Hawser reports. When Christos Megalou became CEO of Piraeus Bank in 2017, he knew he would be taking on the biggest challenge of his more than 30-year banking career. At the time, non-performing loans (NPLs) accounted for 54% of the bank’s loan book. It was familiar territory for the former investment banker who spearheaded the restructuring and recapitalisation of Piraeus’s competitor Eurobank in 2013 following the…

Greece is among 13 EU member-states that have requested loans through the European Recovery Fund’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF), the European Commission announced on Friday. August 31 was the deadline for submissions of loan requests from the NextGenerationEU fund’s resources. The fund, set up after the coronavirus pandemic, contains 750 billion euros, of which €385.8 billion is earmarked for support in the form of loans. The European Commission forwarded the loan disbursement requests to the European Parliament and Council for the final review, in a three-page document titled “Final Overview of Member-States’ Loan Requests Under the RRF.” According to…