Euractiv.com

"Do you have your green pass?" Visitors across Italy were being asked the question on Friday as new coronavirus rules for museums and indoor dining came into force -- with those answering 'no' left frustrated.

The head of Poland's Supreme Court on Thursday partially froze a disciplinary chamber for judges at the heart of a deepening dispute with the European Union over judicial independence that could see Warsaw face fines or even an eventual loss of funding.

It is crucial that the EU beefs-up its presence in South Caucasus more broadly, particularly on security and conflict related issues, write Amanda Paul and Iana Maisuradze in an analysis of the situation in Georgia 13 years after the 2008 war which depleted the country of 20% of its territory.

Germany, France and Israel will go ahead with plans to administer COVID-19 vaccine boosters, disregarding an appeal by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people are vaccinated around the world.

Hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took the oath of office before parliament on Thursday (5 August), with the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad.

Poland accused Belarus of sending a growing number of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw's decision this week to give refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.

Rwandan forces in Mozambique, deployed less than a month ago to help battle jihadists, said Thursday (5 August) they have scored successes in driving out the militants wreaking havoc in the country's gas-rich north.

A record number of migrants crossed the Channel From France on a single day this week, the British government said on Thursday (5 August), pushing annual figures well beyond last year's numbers.

More than 70 percent of fires that have swept Italy this summer are caused by human action, aided by climate change, a government minister said Thursday.

The European Union on Thursday condemned the Taliban's latest deadly attacks in Afghanistan and demanded "an urgent, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire".

The EU diplomatic service has summoned Belarus's representative in Brussels to demand an end to the "instrumentalisation" of migrants crossing into Lithuania, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

New President Ebrahim Raisi takes the oath before parliament Thursday, with Iran facing an economy battered by US sanctions, a grinding health crisis and thorny negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal.

Without pricing CO2 emissions from buildings and transport, Europe will miss its -55% emissions target, but it must be introduced bearing in mind the political and societal risks, particularly in countries like Poland, writes Joanna Maćkowiak-Pandera.

President Joe Biden picked Mark Brzezinski, a Democratic-aligned foreign policy official with ties to Poland, as his ambassador to the European country regarded as a key Western bulwark against Russia.

The United States, which closed its borders to much of the world as the pandemic took hold, plans eventually to begin allowing fully vaccinated foreigners back in, a White House official said Wednesday (4 August).

Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was the first to arrive in Argentina in December 2020 with the promise of relief for Latin American countries low on the waiting list for shots developed, and approved, in the West.

The UK government said late Wednesday (4 August) it will ease English entry rules requiring arrivals from France to quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated, following its latest review of travel curbs.

An international donor conference collected hundreds of millions of dollars in urgent aid for Lebanon on Wednesday (4 August), exceeding an initial target, co-hosts France said.

The European Commission has approved a supply contract with U.S. firm Novavax for the purchase of up to 200 million COVID-19 vaccines, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Fire-fighting resources from EU nations are on their way to Greece, Italy, Albania and Northern Macedonia to help fight forest blazes, the EU crisis management commissioner said on Wednesday.