European Union

An EU mission using Danish and French warships is to patrol West African waters in coming years to stymie piracy.

Text messages between European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer Albert Bourla should be made public, MEPs and NGOs demanded.

For one of the world’s largest football leagues, 2022 has been the stage of massive changes: the Bundesliga finally has a new CEO, Donata Hopfen, who must now tackle the massive tasks that await it.

A Corporate Europe Observatory research revealed on Tuesday that 613 lobby meetings took place between MEPs and tech representatives since the European Commission published the Digital Service Act on stricter rules for online platforms. Google (23), Facebook (16), Amazon (15) and Microsoft (12) had the most access to EU lawmakers. Tracking-based ads have emerged as one of the biggest issues. MEPs will vote for new rules on Thursday.

The new leaders of Bulgaria and North Macedonia agreed on Tuesday to improve relations between their countries, Reuters reported. Bulgarian prime minister Kiril Petkov, who took office last month, said he was a "big optimist for joint action" on finding solutions to issues that previously prompted Sofia to block accession talks between the EU and Skopje. North Macedonia's Dimitar Kovacevski said they will use "this new energy" for the negotiations.

Anders Breivik, who massacred 77 people in a bomb attack and gun spree in Norway in 2011, has appeared in Oslo court asking for parole, 10 years into his 21-year sentence. Breivik flashed a Nazi salute on arrival at the hearing, before giving an hour-long speech, according to the Guardian. Although prisoners are allowed a parole request in Norway, experts say he has almost no likelihood of being given one.

There were more politically-motivated crimes in Germany in 2021 than in any year in the two decades before, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said, DPA reported. The increase is six-percent on 2020, with a total of 47,303 offences in 2021. More than 17,000 cases could not be classified as left- or rightwing by police. Covid-19 pandemic tensions may have contributed to this, security officials said.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken will meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday in Geneva in hopes of securing a "diplomatic off-ramp" to the Ukraine crisis, a US official said Tuesday. Blinken is meeting Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on Wednesday, and he will also stop in Berlin on Thursday to meet with European allies, AFP reported. Talks last week failed to ease fears that Russia might invade Ukraine.

The revision of the European Union Blood, Tissues and Cells (BTC) Legislation brings an opportunity to strengthen its legal framework to encourage new approaches that will increase the collection of plasma across Europe.

A group of NGOs has urged the EU and broader international community to exempt humanitarian aid from sanctions imposed on Mali’s military government, warning that 1.2 million Malians face a food crisis.

US President Joe Biden's top diplomat will seek to defuse a crisis with Moscow over Ukraine when he meets the Russian foreign minister in Geneva this week following visits with Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv and European officials in Berlin.

The Saudi-led coalition killed 14 people in air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital, a medical source said Tuesday (18 January), after an attack by Huthi insurgents on the United Arab Emirates sent regional tensions soaring.

The first meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and his North Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovacevski concluded amicably as the two leaders announced their commitment to opening a new chapter while sidestepping concrete answers to thornier questions on history and...

Warsaw wants to build ‘a coalition of countries within the EU that object to the Fit for 55 climate package, which the government says will severely affect less affluent EU citizens. “We are now building a coalition of countries that...

The risk of poverty increased from 16.2% to 18.4% between 2019 and 2020, according to provisional data from Statistics Portugal (INE) reaching almost two million people and with increases among women, the elderly, and families. The at-risk-of-poverty rate increased by...

It is high time to review the COVID-19 restrictions, said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, citing the drop in the number of patients in intensive care units (ICUs). While intensive care admissions peaked at 82 on 6 January, numbers have...

Germany’s stance on the buildup of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border is clear, the country’s defence minister Christine Lambrecht said on Tuesday after meeting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin. Her comments came amid a series of course changes...

Slovenia and Taiwan are working on “exchanging representatives,” Prime Minister Janez Janša has announced, criticising China’s response to Taiwan’s decision to open a diplomatic representative office in Vilnius. The comments come as the EU is still struggling to find a...

Athletes travelling to next month's Beijing Olympics were warned on Tuesday (18 January) about speaking up on human rights issues while in China for their own safety by speakers at a seminar hosted by Human Rights Watch.

Three US lawmakers on Tuesday tabled the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, a proposal aimed at banning the use of personal data for targeted advertising.