Month: February 2023

Countering US subsidies: Is a ‘Made in Europe’ investment plan realistic? EU

For months, European leaders have sought a united response to the US Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA. That plan, announced by the White House last year, favours American-made climate technology through subsidies and tax credits. But EU chiefs say the policy discriminates against Washington’s closest partner, Europe. The panelists in this debate agree that that the IRA poses a major challenge to the European economy, but disagree on the way forward. “We need a major subsidy programme to re-industrialise Europe,” says MEP Martin Schirdewan. But MEP Christophe Hansen counters: “Fighting subsidies with subsidies is the wrong way. It will play big EU countries off against small ones, and damage the internal market, which is turning 30 years old,” he says.

Canary Islands: La Palma volcano goes silent, but anger rumbles on EU

After lying dormant for half a century, the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, in Spain’s Canary Islands, suddenly exploded in a river of fire on September 19, 2021. The eruption lasted for 85 days. No one was killed, but more than 1,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 70 kilometres of roads. Some 350 hectares of banana plantations were covered with lava. The eruption dealt a huge blow to the island’s economy. Almost a year and a half later, around 100 residents are still being housed in hotels and many continue to wait for the financial aid promised by the Spanish authorities. FRANCE 24’s C?line Schmitt and Armelle Exposito report.

Rupert Everett has the inside scoop on Harry’s first intimate foray in the bedroom (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Rupert Everett has claimed he knows the identity of the older woman to whom the Duke of Sussex lost his virginity.

In Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare, he wrote that the event took place in a field behind a ‘busy pub’ and that the woman treated him like a ‘young stallion’, but he did not reveal her name.

However, actor Rupert, 63, has now argued that Harry’s account is not completely true – and that the event didn’t actually occur in the UK.

In an interview with the Telegraph magazine, which took place on the day the memoir was released but was published on Friday, the actor said: ‘By the way, I know who the woman he lost his virginity to is.

‘And it wasn’t behind a pub. And it wasn’t in this country.’

Asked if he was suggesting the duke had purposefully tried to cover his tracks to protect the identity of the woman involved, My Best Friend’s Wedding star Rupert reportedly replied: ‘I’m just putting it out there that I know.’

In the book, released in January to much fanfare, Harry, 38, described the event of losing his virginity as an ‘inglorious episode’.

The actor reckons Harry’s recollection of his deflowering is incorrect (Picture: Getty Images for BFI)

He recounted how one of the royal family’s bodyguards, Marko, paid him a visit at the end of 2001 when he was still a pupil at Eton College in Windsor, aged 16 or 17, and told the prince he had been sent to ‘find out the truth’.

Harry writes: ‘I suspected he was referring to my recent loss of virginity. Inglorious episode, with an older woman. She liked horses, quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion.

‘Quick ride, after which she’d smacked my rump and sent me off to graze.

‘Among the many things about it that were wrong: It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub. Obviously, someone had seen us.’

Harry revealed his warts-and-all tales in his recently-released memoir, Spare (Picture: Getty Images)

Liz Hurley recently denied that she was the ‘older woman’ who gave Harry a ‘quick ride’ (Picture: Pablo Cuadra/WireImage)

The book reveals that the bodyguard was actually checking up on the young prince because Charles’s press office had been informed that a newspaper had evidence of him taking drugs, which Harry said was ‘all lies’.

In an interview with the Times in December, actress and model Elizabeth Hurley denied rumours that she had taken Harry’s virginity, saying: “Not me. Not guilty. Ha!”

Rupert also said the memoir had altered his perception of the duke, explaining: “It’s made me change my view. I was angry before, and now I just feel very sad – sad for Harry.

“I felt so sympathetic towards him for years and I still do now.

Have you read Prince Harry’s book Spare?Comment Now

‘Honestly! As someone who has put his foot in it quite a bit, I feel particularly bad for him about the Taliban thing. That changed everything and loses him the one group that still loved him.’

Another revelation within the memoir which has caused controversy was Harry saying he had killed 25 Taliban while serving as a soldier.

This prompted members of the armed forces to criticise the admission, with Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, calling the duke ‘very stupid’ for giving details of his Taliban kills.

Harry later denied he boasted about the killings in the book and cautioned against ‘very dangerous’ spin about his memoir.

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Harry and his wife Meghan, who have stepped away from the British Royal Family in a move that has been widely criticised, made a minor return to the spotlight this week.

The couple were spotted attending the surprise wedding vow renewal of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi, in what was their first public appearance since the release of the controversial memoir Spare.

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