EU

France raises purchase taxes on heavier, higher-emitting cars

WORLD & POLITICS FRANCE

France will tighten its vehicle weight and CO₂ purchase-tax schedule from 2026, lowering the weight-tax exemption threshold and steepening progressive charges that can add tens of thousands of dollars to some internal-combustion models’ registered prices.

State Department builds a censorship-circumvention site aimed at Europe

WORLD & POLITICS USA

The U.S. State Department registered freedom.gov on January 12 as an online portal intended to let users access content blocked by governments in Europe and other countries.

US launches a strategic critical-minerals stockpile program

WORLD & POLITICS CHINA

In early February, the Trump administration unveiled Project Vault, a public-private partnership backed by $10 billion in EXIM financing plus $2 billion in private funds to buy and store 60 U.S.-listed critical minerals domestically.

X’s Grok deepfake imagery draws GDPR enforcement scrutiny

LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY EU

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission opened a “large-scale” GDPR inquiry into X/xAI over Grok’s creation and publication of sexualized AI-generated images involving EU user data.

European Parliament restricts AI chatbot use on official devices

LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY EU

The European Parliament’s IT department has blocked lawmakers from using built-in AI tools on their work devices over cybersecurity and data-privacy concerns tied to cloud uploads.

France lets a suspected Russian sanctions-evasion tanker depart

WORLD & POLITICS FRANCE

French authorities released the oil tanker Grinch on Tuesday after its owner paid a fine of several million euros tied to alleged EU sanctions circumvention.

Spain orders prosecutors to investigate major social platforms over AI child abuse content

LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY EU

Spain’s government directed prosecutors to open investigations into X, Meta and TikTok for allegedly distributing AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

France expands when farmers can shoot wolves to protect livestock

WORLD & POLITICS FRANCE

France will allow farmers to shoot wolves that attack livestock even when the animals are outside protected enclosures, with the change to be formalized by executive order in the coming weeks.

EU finance ministers form a fast-track group on capital markets union

WORLD & POLITICS GERMANY

Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain agreed to push ahead together on harmonising EU capital-market rules and accelerating work on the capital markets and savings-and-investment unions.

Germany keeps Schengen land-border controls in place

WORLD & POLITICS GERMANY

Germany’s Interior Ministry extended temporary checks at all German land borders beyond March 15 for another six months, running until at least September, and notified the European Commission.

US moves to form a critical-minerals trading bloc

WORLD & POLITICS INDIA

US vice-president JD Vance announced the US is seeking to create a new critical minerals “trading bloc.”

Russia and the EU move toward tighter crypto controls

WORLD & POLITICS RUSSIA

Russia’s finance ministry disclosed an estimate of ~50 billion rubles ($648 million) in daily domestic crypto transaction turnover and said a bill to bring parts of the market under licensing and compliance is expected in the spring State Duma session.

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