European Union

In response to the violent protests in Kazakhstan, the first units of a Russian-led so-called peacekeeping force of the CSTO military alliance have now arrived in the country. Not all commentators see this initiative as a sign of strength.

Poland's government allegedly used Pegasus software to hack the phones of members of the opposition in the run-up to the 2019 parliamentary elections. Among those spied on was then head of the liberal-conservative Civic Coalition, Krzysztof Brejza. At the time, manipulated text messages sent by Brejza were published in PiS-affiliated media and he was forced to step down in the ensuing scandal. Brejza is convinced that without Pegasus the elections would have had a different outcome.

Serbian tennis player and world number one Novak Djokovic has been holed up in a hotel in Melbourne since Wednesday. He was travelling to the Australian Open using a controversial exemption from Covid vaccination requirements, but was detained by border guards for not having had the jab. The player has lodged an appeal and the decision is expected on Monday. Not all media are on his side.

Rare diseases are very serious conditions that affect around 30,000 people in the European Union. Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic, neuromuscular disease affecting approximately 1 in 3,900–16,000 live births in Europe. In general, as rare diseases affect...

Two studies published in Lancet underlined the negative effects of air pollution, which resulted in 1.8 million excess deaths and nearly 2 million asthma cases among children worldwide. In Europe lowering levels of pollutants did not result in better health.

Progress has been made regarding the Iran nuclear talks, although time is running out, France's foreign minister said on Friday (7 January). Indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed on Monday.

Sweden's security strategy would be entirely undermined if NATO agreed to refrain from expanding further and curb some of its activity in Europe, as Russia has demanded, Sweden's top military commander told daily Dagens Nyheter.

The leader of Poland's ruling conservative party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, admitted in an interview that the country had bought the controversial Pegasus spyware. However, he denied that it had been used against political opponents, AP reported on Friday. "It would be bad if the Polish services did not have this type of tool," Kaczynski said. The comments follow reports revealing that the phones of Polish opposition figures were hacked several times.

The cliché of the big bad wolf continues into the present day. In places like Finland deeply-entrenched cultural anxieties fuel unfounded fears that they will attack innocent children on their way to school.