Euractiv.com

The EU on Thursday (3 August) banned drone sales to Belarus and added prominent state TV presenters to its sanctions list over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Minsk's crackdown on opposition.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Thursday (3 August) called for a "credible" probe into a migrant shipwreck off Greece in June in which hundreds died, saying that contrasting accounts by the Greek coastguard and survivors "were extremely concerning".

German economy and climate minister Robert Habeck has expressed reservations regarding an EU-wide ban of “forever chemicals” (PFAS), despite the fact that it was first proposed by his own government, alongside other EU countries.

Both left- and ring-wing political forces have been “ambiguous” on their stances towards the EU, making them unfit to sit in the European Parliament after the 2024 EU elections, France’s Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (2 August).

While G7 nations must overcome a market efficiency gap, China must overcome a technology effectiveness one, write Jacob Gunter and Antonia Hmaidi.

The coup in Niger is mostly caused by the neocolonial relationship between France and the African continent, former French ambassador Gérard Araud told EURACTIV in an interview, slamming the EU’s lack of unity towards a clear Africa strategy.

Perched in the French Alps at the foot of Mont Blanc, the iconic town of Chamonix confronts global warming by encouraging tourism professionals to adapt to changing conditions and promote local culture.

A Russian government-linked hacking group took aim at dozens of global organizations with a campaign to steal login credentials by engaging users in Microsoft Teams chats pretending to be from technical support, Microsoft researchers said on Wednesday (2 August).

Tesla has had a red-carpet welcome from India for its proposal to invest in the country, while its largest rival in electric vehicles, China's BYD, has been stopped cold by increased scrutiny from New Delhi.

Mongolia will deepen cooperation with Washington to mine rare earths, the country's Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene said on a visit to Washington on Wednesday (2 August).

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday (2 August) he hoped a Ukraine "peace summit" could be held this autumn, and that this week's talks in Saudi Arabia were a stepping stone towards that goal.

Poland on Wednesday (2 August) adopted an amended version of a panel to probe "Russian influence", after an avalanche of EU and US criticism of the move, widely seen as targeting the opposition.

The European Union has warned developing countries that Russia is offering cheap grain "to create new dependencies by exacerbating economic vulnerabilities and global food insecurity," according to a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday (2 August).

Russia attacked Ukraine's grain ports in the early hours of Wednesday (2 August), including an inland port across the Danube River from Romania, sending global food prices soaring as Moscow ramps up its use of force to reimpose a blockade of Ukrainian exports.

Despite significant efforts, the number of applicants to join the German military has continued to dwindle this year, with the German defence minister stressing recruitment must be as high a priority as material procurement for the Bundeswehr.

With less than one year to go until next June’s European elections, the EU institutions and member states are facing a race against time to conclude negotiations on a raft of key laws before the pre-election purdah period starts next spring.  

The European Union needs to address curtailment wasting solar power potential and negative prices hitting the revenues of projects, a group of solar and renewable energy associations told the European Commission on Tuesday (1 August).

As Europe faces another summer of unprecedented floods, fires and high temperatures, it needs to strengthen and adapt societies against extreme weather, writes Janne Parviainen.

The European Union has been steaming ahead with its Green Deal for the past four years, but as it reaches the home stretch, a pushback on environmental legislation and shortcomings on industrial policy are set to slow it down.

Not all energy-intensive industries will be competitive in Germany and might therefore not be worth subsidising with a cheaper electricity price, experts say, warning that such a subsidy scheme could be a waste of money.