Headlines from the last seven days
1 THE UBER FILES
EU seeks clarification over lobbying revelations
The EU executive said it would write to its former vice-president Neelie Kroes “for clarification” following revelations that she secretly helped Uber lobby the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and a string of other politicians.
The European Commission faced calls to open an inquiry and “defend the EU’s integrity” in the wake of the reports, which showed that Kroes called Dutch government authorities about Uber less than six months after leaving her post as the top EU official on internet policy.
The calls were part of the growing fallout from the Uber files, a trove of 124,000 documents exposing ethically questionable practices that allowed the cab-hailing company to barge into new markets around the world.
The leak shines a light on Kroes, who promised to help the company arrange a meeting with a senior European Commission official, despite a ban on lobbying her former colleagues at the time.
Kroes denied any wrongdoing and said she did “not have any formal nor informal role” before May 2016, when it was announced she was to chair the company’s public policy advisory board.
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2 UNITED STATES
Biden acts to protect reproductive healthcare
Joe Biden has signed an executive order offering protections to millions of American women denied the constitutional right to abortion. The move signals the start of a White House fightback after the supreme court last month struck down Roev Wade, its landmark ruling that legalised abortion for almost 50 years.
In a White House address last Friday, the president condemned the court’s decision as “an exercise in
