Romania and Bulgaria are left frustrated, while Croatia is cleared for the Schengen area

Romania and Bulgaria are left frustrated, while Croatia is cleared for the Schengen area

The European interior ministers have today given the green light to Croatia’s accession to the Schengen Area. This was announced by the Czech presidency of the European Union on Twitter. From then on, Croats can travel between most European countries without a passport or other requirements. To their great frustration, Romania and Bulgaria need to exercise even more patience. Croatia will join the Schengen Area on 1 January next year. It is the first time in more than a decade that the European Space will expand without internal borders. For…

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Europe’s decrepit buildings are leaving millions in energy poverty and a climate in crisis

Europe’s decrepit buildings are leaving millions in energy poverty and a climate in crisis

Past failures to address Europe’s climate and energy poverty crises have left citizens at the mercy of escalating energy prices and destructive climate disasters. Europe’s politicians may be about to repeat the same mistakes by dismissing the opportunity for bold action to fix one of the root causes of energy poverty: Europe’s leaky, cold and inefficient housing, writes Laia Segura, energy justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe and co-ordinator of the Right to Energy coalition. As the days get shorter across Europe, and energy bills increase, households across…

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Belgium’s World Cup Is Over; Morocco and Croatia Advance

Belgium’s World Cup Is Over; Morocco and Croatia Advance

he Belgians had chance after chance to win, but never scored against Croatia. Morocco cruised past Canada to win the group. After the final whistle of a scoreless draw between the golden generations of two small European nations’ soccer teams, the end came for one of them. Eras in soccer last only so long, injuries and age catching up to all. The tie was enough for Croatia to advance to the knockout stage of this World Cup. Its players, several of whom were on the field when Croatia lost the…

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Belgian yellow vest revival fails to gain traction

Belgian yellow vest revival fails to gain traction

The Belgian Yellow Vest (gilet jaune) movement, which once rallied thousands in the streets of France and Belgium against a drop in the standard of living, has faced yet another stumbling block in its revival. On the eve of massive protests against reduced purchasing power in Brussels, a Liège Yellow Vest rally mobilised less than 50 people on Saturday morning, in front of the Palais des Princes-Évêques (Palace of the Prince Bishops), RTBF reports. The occupation of roundabouts and roads in previous years, with hundreds of protests, seems a distant…

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Eurocommerce CEO sentenced: forgery and bankruptcy fraud

Eurocommerce CEO sentenced: forgery and bankruptcy fraud

Ger Visser, former CEO of real estate company Eurocommerce, must serve a prison sentence of four years and three months for forgery in writing and bankruptcy fraud. His wife and son were also sentenced to eighteen months in prison in both cases. Ger Visser must serve a prison sentence of four years and three months for forgery in writing and bankruptcy fraud. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that there is sufficient evidence that Visser forged rental agreements in order to obtain financing. Visser also allegedly smuggled money…

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Twitter will have a view counter for each post

Twitter will have a view counter for each post

Twitter will soon show users how often their tweets have been displayed, new Twitter owner Elon Musk has announced. This allows Twitterers to track how popular their posts are on the social network. According to Musk, this would apply to tweets the same as to videos, on which the number of views can already be seen. Now Twitter users can only determine from the number of comments, retweets and likes whether a tweet is popular. Musk has been communicating on Twitter about developments within the company. At the end of…

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Thousands of new satellites to join Starlink orbital group

Thousands of new satellites to join Starlink orbital group

SpaceX will expand its Starlink network to include 7,500 new satellites. The company had asked permission to launch thirty thousand artificial moons, but the US regulator FCC did not want to go that far. The Starlink network now consists of 3,177 satellites. There will be an additional 7,500 satellites in the near future. SpaceX is currently launching a cargo of about fifty artificial moons almost every week. Through the Starlink network, customers can connect to the internet from virtually anywhere in the world. The speeds are comparable to fixed broadband…

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Colruyt employees save up to 90 minutes a day with shelf provisioning

Colruyt employees save up to 90 minutes a day with shelf provisioning

Colruyt employees put the new Product Finder technology into operation this week. All 16,000 shop assistants of the Colruyt Group received a smartphone some time ago that supports them in their daily work. This week, a test started with a very special new application on this smartphone: when store employees scan an item with a barcode scanner connected to their device, the light of the electronic price tag flashes on the shelf and they know where the item belongs. Stocking the shelves takes up to 90 minutes less daily. The…

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