European Union

The European Commission launched an "in-depth investigation" on Tuesday (4 August) into whether US tech giant Google's planned €1.7 billion purchase of smartwatch maker Fitbit would give it an unfair market advantage.

Europe's air safety watchdog has no firm date for Boeing's grounded 737 MAX to resume flights, it said on Tuesday (4 August), adding that the US planemaker had some more work to do before a 17-month-old safety ban could be lifted in Europe.

Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said it would not resume buying natural gas from Russia, suspended since late 2015, until Moscow offered it competitive prices and conditions.

The EU issued a declaration on the postponement of the Legislative Council elections in Hong Kong

Donald Trump is willing to refrain from banning the video app Tiktok if its US division is sold to a "very American company". Microsoft has been having related talks for some time. Tiktok belongs to the Chinese group Bytedance and has hundreds of millions of mostly young users worldwide. Commentators show keen interest in Trump's treatment of the platform.

Poland's Supreme Court has rejected a complaint brought by the opposition party Civic Platform (PO) and declared the results of the recent presidential election valid. The Court explained the decision saying that the PO had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the state apparatus, and in particular the public media, had favoured incumbent President Andrzej Duda. The ruling provokes outrage among some commentators but relief among others.

Spain's ex-monarch Juan Carlos I has apparently left the country and plans to live elsewhere in the future, as he states in a letter to his son and current monarch King Felipe VI published by the royal family on Monday. Despite his departure, Juan Carlos, who is under investigation for accepting bribes from Saudi Arabia, remains at the disposition of the Spanish judiciary, according to his lawyer. What are the repercussions of his departure?

According to the calendar, autumn begins in a month's time. Based on current knowledge, experts fear a surge in the number of cases because cool, humid conditions such as those in slaughterhouses promote the spread of the coronavirus. Commentators urge Europe to prepare both mentally and with concrete measures.