European Union

The European drugs regulator could soon give the go ahead for an extra sixth dose to be extracted from Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine vials, lifting the number of available shots at a time when supplies are short.

Additional red tape and customs declarations means electricity will no longer flow as smoothly as it used to when the UK was a full member of the European Union, leading to “increased costs of energy trading,” an EU spokesperson told EURACTIV.

US Democrats unexpectedly won both Senate-seat races in the state of Georgia, a former Republican stronghold, giving them a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Victories by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock give president-elect Joe Biden more power for possible reform. However, the victories were overshadowed by violence from supporters of outgoing president Donald Trump in Washington the same day.

Portugal's interior minister Eduardo Cabrita has held talks with Greece on a new EU migrant-sharing accord, prior to holding similar discussions with Malta, Italy, and Spain, where most asylum seekers arrive, as well as with EU states with Poland and Hungary, who refused to help take care of them in the past, Reuters reports. EU "solidarity cannot be voluntary", Portugal, which took over the EU presidency on 1 January, said.

Leaders from all over Europe expressed disbelief and serious concern over events unfolding in the continent's main political, economic, and military ally.

Some 1,041 people infected with Covid died in the UK on Tuesday and 62,322 new cases were reported, the British government said on Wednesday. The daily death toll was the highest since 8 April, when 1,445 people died in 24 hours. The numbers made Britain Europe's worst corona-hotspot, ahead of Italy. The British government recently imposed a new lockdown, but its handling of the pandemic has faced severe criticism.

France, Germany, and the UK have said Iran's recent decision to enrich uranium to near weapons-grade, "risks compromising the important opportunity for a return to diplomacy with the incoming US administration". The US abandoned an EU-brokered nuclear non-proliferation deal on Iran in 2018, but the incoming administration of president-elect Joe Biden has signalled interest in rejoining the pact. Experts saw Iran's move as a "reversible" negotiating tactic with Biden's team.

World leaders and governments on Wednesday (6 January) expressed shock and outrage at the storming of the US Capitol in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Europe should share corona-vaccines with former Soviet countries on its eastern flank, for health and "strategic" reasons, according to 13 EU foreign ministers.

The EU has demanded China cooperate with the international community to understand better the pandemic, after Chinese officials blocked the arrival of a group of World Health Organization (WHO) researchers investigating the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

Belarus started this week a coronavirus vaccination drive using the Sputnik V jab, becoming the first country outside Russia to use the vaccine developed by Moscow, the Moscow Times writes. Belarus, with a population of around 9.5 million, has registered more than 188,000 cases of coronavirus infections and nearly 1,400 deaths. Belarus' health minister said health workers and teachers would be among the first to be vaccinated.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will remain in custody in Britain, while the US appeals a court decision to block his extradition to face charges there for leaking secret documents, a judge in London ruled on Wednesday. Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who on Monday refused to grant his extradition, said that, if released, there were "substantial grounds" to suspect Assange would "fail to surrender" for future appeal hearings, AFP reported.

The Netherlands on Wednesday began its Covid-19 vaccination program almost two weeks after most other EU countries. Frontline hospital workers will be first in line. Prime minister Mark Rutte told MPs on Tuesday that authorities had focused on the easy-to-handle vaccine made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which has not yet been cleared for use in the EU, and not the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was approved first.

One little-discussed outcome of Berlin's six-months stint in the EU presidency hot seat is the reactivation of intra-EU consultations among France, Germany... and Poland.

German health minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday defended his country's handling of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out, saying Germany has "more than enough" vaccines for its 83 million citizens. He added that the newly-approved Moderna jabs are expected in the coming week. Spahn, who came under criticism for the slow roll-out of the vaccine, said the vaccine is "scarce" globally. Since late December, German inoculated 367,331 people, DPA reported.

A journalist who had demanded the EU postpone its trade deal with Vietnam until human rights improved has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. The EU Commission says it first needs to conduct a detailed analysis before responding.

In the gravest assault on the symbol of American democracy in more than 200 years, hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday (6 January) in a stunning bid to overturn his election defeat.

The US House of Representatives and Senate were forced to delay their proceedings to certify the November presidential election after armed protestors breached the Capitol building on Wednesday (6 January). The building is now on lockdown with politicians instructed to remain in their offices.

Thousands of Romanian Orthodox Christians crowded into the harbour of the Black Sea port of Constanta on Wednesday (6 January), breaking social distancing rules to celebrate an Epiphany service. Similar gatherings took place in Burgas, Varna or Sofia, in Bulgaria.

The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US company Moderna - while the EU is involved in a blame-game over a sluggish vaccine rollout across member states.