European Union

In a public hearing at the European Parliament on Wednesday (5 September), two US attorneys said they were confident they would win further legal cases against Monsanto, following a landmark San Francisco trial in August that ordered the US company to pay plaintiff Dwayne Johnson $289 million in damages.

The European Parliament will vote next week on a proposal to trigger Article 7 against Hungary. Hungarian civil society leaders threw their weight behind the proposal on Wednesday (5 September), saying it was the last chance to defend democracy in Hungary.

European decision-makers and regulators are progressing towards an EU approach for dealing with cryptoassets, digital assets that use cryptography such as Bitcoin and represent a booming market still viewed with concern by financial supervisors.

The EU’s revision of the Drinking Water Directive is the perfect opportunity to ensure that we will all have healthy and affordable drinking water now and for future generations.

The Syrian regime and Moscow are apparently set to carry out an offensive against the last major rebel stronghold, Idlib. Damascus has gathered its troops and the Russian air force carried out preliminary strikes on Tuesday. The UN has warned that the operation could result in a humanitarian catastrophe in view of the roughly three million civilians living in the province. Commentators ask how such an outcome can be avoided.

In the run-up to the Swedish parliamentary elections on 9 September polls are pointing to a deadlock. Neither the left nor the conservative Alliance winning a majority because the Sweden Democrats look set to garner almost 20 percent of the vote. Journalists take stock of the right-wing populist party's growing popularity.

Rival militias have been engaged in heavy fighting around Tripoli for more than a week. The internationally recognised national unity government under Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj has declared a state of emergency but has been unable to stop the hostilities. Commentators argue that France and Italy share some of the responsibility for the escalation.