Euobserver.com

The president of the European Parliament David Sassoli said there have been hundreds of Covid-19 cases at the European Parliament. "Hundreds of cases of Covid have been detected in the parliament in recent weeks," he said on Wednesday. Sassoli made the comments following complaints that MEPs were no longer able to get their daily allowance of €323 after the parliament went into partial shutdown for health reasons.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she hoped EU accession talks could be launched with North Macedonia and Albania before her country's EU presidency finishes at the end of the year. Merkel - in a nod to Bulgaria, which has threatened to block Skopje's accession over historical claims - stressed the role the process has played in "reconciliation as well as overcoming historical tensions and the legacy of the past".

The deadline for a draft deal on Brexit is set when EU leaders meet at a summit on 19 November, reports the Guardian newspaper. The paper, citing an unnamed diplomat, says that if no deal is reached by then there are no other options left. The European Parliament had wanted to see the deal first in order to begin the ratification process amid plans to vote on it 16 December.

Fifteen pro-democracy lawmakers resigned from Hong Kong's Legislative Council on Wednesday in protest at four other legislators being expelled. They were the last remaining pro-democracy lawmakers, Deutsche Welle reports. Hong Kong's city executive earlier disqualified the four lawmakers for "national security" reasons. It came immediately after Beijing passed a new bill that allows the government to expel legislators without recourse to the courts.

Japanese officials have warned of an impending third wave of coronavirus infections amid a rise in cases blamed on colder weather and a government campaign to encourage domestic tourism, the Guardian writes. Cases are not only rising in Tokyo – the epicentre of Japan's outbreak with more than 33,000 cases – but also in prefectures with large urban populations. One governor said last week: "Effectively the third wave has arrived."

After the lack of coordination evidenced during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission put forward a set of proposals to strengthen the preparedness of members states in cross-border health threats.

Rights group say the government was targeting LGBTQ people to divert attention from "shortcomings" of the government's handling of the pandemic.

EU commissioner Ylva Johansson wants to send her officials to Croatia sometime this month to make sure authorities there are complying with fundamental rights following numerous allegations of violence against migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross into the country.

Should Big Tech and gig platforms push for a policy similar to Proposition 22 in Europe, workers' rights could quickly become a ceiling rather than a floor.

EU foreign relations chief Josep Borrell has said Europe will not attend a Russian-Organised conference on returning refugees to Syria, due Wednesday, because of ongoing violence there. "The EU and its member states will not attend this conference," because "the priority at present is real action to create conditions for safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their areas of origin," Borrell said.

European monitors are not invited to help enforce a new peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia's EU ambassador has told EUobserver.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday that Turkey is leading a "dangerous spiral" of confrontation with Europe and in the Mediterranean, adding that "everything is on the table" in terms of potential sanctions against the country, Greek newspaper Ekathimerini writes. "There is a meeting in Brussels in December. The 27 [member-states] had decided that, if Turkey did not change its position, action would be taken," he said.

US president-elect Joe Biden has spoken to the leaders of European allies, including German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron, and UK prime minister Boris Johnson, Deutsche Welle reports. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the pair had spoken about the importance of the trans-Atlantic partnership. "I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him on our shared priorities," Johnson tweeted after the call.

A massive right-wing rally is set to be held in Poland on 11 November, despite having been earlier cancelled given the pandemic. Organisers behind the so-called Independence March are now demanding people who plan to attend to arrive in vehicles rather than by foot. Past marches had attracted some 200,000 people. The latest rally follows another huge protest in defence of women's right to abortion.

Ultimately, the European Parliament managed to squeeze an extra €16bn in total - which will be financed with competition fines the EU Commission hands out over the next seven years, plus reallocations within the budget.

The European Court of Justice concluded Italy has been "systematically and persistently" exceeding daily and annual limits of particulate matter pollution permitted by EU rules on clean air.

In the coming weeks and months we will find out to what extent president-elect Joe Biden is willing to consider the transatlantic relationship as a vital US interest again, and put it at the heart of US policy.

At the very moment when an incumbent president across the Atlantic was carrying out staggering attacks on the foundations of democracy, the European Parliament obtained a historic agreement to protect the rule of law in Europe.

The scary thing about this election is, if Trump had even a minimum of political professionalism, if he had even tried to live up to the promises to the people who voted him into office, he might well have won.

EU regulators have accused Amazon of distorting competition in online retail, after concluding that the US tech giant has been using independent sellers' data for its own benefit, EU anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager announced on Tuesday. The decision ends an investigation into Amazon's dual role as both a marketplace and also a rival seller. The European Commission also launched on Tuesday a second probe into Amazon's e-commerce processes.