European Union

The UK government has announced plans to allow foreign butchers to enter the UK on six-month temporary visas in its latest attempt to address supply shortages. Butchers in abattoirs and meat processing plants dealing with pigs will be able to...

In his maiden foreign visit, newly inaugurated Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg travelled to Brussels to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel, outlining the main priorities of his administration. Schallenberg, who worked in Brussels...

The practices of businessman Vincent Bolloré represents “a real danger for press freedom, but also for democracy,” according to a documentary called “System B” released Thursday by NGO Reporters Without Borders and shared on social media. The documentary denounces the...

Britain will offer six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull, after farmers complained that an exodus of workers from abattoirs and meat processors had left the pork sector fighting for survival.

As the Social Democrats, business-friendly liberal FDP and the Greens are due to enter complex coalition negotiations, their youth wings may have one thing in common: a desire to legalise marijuana. “The prohibition, criminalisation and stigmatisation of cannabis has failed,”...

Polish MPs voted Thursday to let officials immediately expel asylum seekers who entered Poland irregularly, in what would be illegal pushbacks under international law, and to build a €350m wall on the Belarusian border, where police found the body of a sixth dead refugee. Up to 150 people a night were now also arriving from Belarus to Eisenhuettenstadt, a German migrant camp near the Polish border, local authorities told Reuters.

Estonia is having second thoughts about the pro-nuclear statement made by nine EU countries backing France. Initially considering the joint statement as “premature”, Estonia now says it is not ruling out the use of more nuclear power in its energy...

Chinese prime minister Xi Jinping will not personally attend the 'COP26' climate summit in Scotland, UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been informed, British newspaper The Times reported Thursday. The no-show might mean China would not submit a 'nationally defined contribution' (NDC) on CO2-cuts either, British officials feared. Just half of the world's 'G20' wealthiest countries have filed NDCs so far, amid a supply crunch in oil and gas markets.

Wednesday's murders "appeared ... to be an act of terrorism" Norway's 'PST' intelligence service said Thursday, noting that the killer, Danish national Espen Andersen, had been a "known" threat. Andersen was a Muslim convert and extremist, but might also have had psychiatric problems, Norwegian police said. Norway's terrorism-threat level was "moderate", the PST added, while monitoring the risk of "follow-up actions, revenge actions" by either "extreme Islamists" or "right-wing extremists".

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to tear down wind turbines in France if voted president. "If I am elected, I will put a stop to all construction of new wind parks and I will launch a big project to dismantle them," she said on RTL radio Thursday. "Mme. Le Pen would cause blackouts," French environment minister Barbara Pompili said, as wind-power creates 8 percent of France's electricity.

MEPs in the legal-affairs committee have urged the EU Parliament president to sue the EU Commission for failing to use its new rule-of-law powers.

MEPs at committee level are seeking greater protection against lawsuits aimed at silencing and intimidating journalists and civil society in Europe.

African countries are seeking EU help on waiving vaccine patents to combat the pandemic at an upcoming meeting in Rwanda.

Andre Ricard is the man behind many of the most iconic European designs of the 20th century - from ashtrays to perfume bottles, municipal litter bins to the Olympic torch.

Neo-fascist groups are planning new protests in Rome after last weekend's riots, in a heady climate in which the pandemic and immigration have fuelled extremist feeling.

Fatih Birol said high gas prices will end up hurting the industry, but warned climate negotiators and lawmakers they need to up their climate investments by 300 percent if they want to meet climate targets.

The Arctic is warming up to three times as fast as the rest of the planet, putting increasing pressure on Greenland's ice sheet and livelihood in this region, scientists have warned

Slovenian PM Janez Janša, the current EU presidency-holder, Thursday tweeted a picture of 13 MEPs whom he accused of being "puppets" of Hungarian-born, American-Jewish philanthropist George Soros. Several of the MEPs no longer serve in parliament, while one recently died. Janša also exchanged barbed tweets with the Dutch prime minister and EP president over his Soros claims, while EU Council chief Charles Michel called for leaders to show "mutual respect".

A court in Naples sentenced the captain of the Asso28 tugboat to a year in prison for disembarking over 101 rescued migrants in Libya's capital city Tripoli, reports Avvenire.it. It is the first such sanction in Italy and in Europe, noted the media outlet. The tugboat was owned by an energy firm and used by oil platforms located near the Libyan coast.

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki will take part next Tuesday in the European Parliament's debate about the EU's concern on Polish adherence to EU rule of law. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will also take part in the debate, while MEPs will vote a resolution Thursday. "how far will European nations retreat before this usurpation by some EU institutions," Morawiecki told MPs in Poland Thursday, setting the scene.