European Union

The pandemic aggravated the declining birth rates in rich countries, with Italy seeing the sharpest decline in 2020. There were 16,000 fewer births and the country saw its birth rate reduce by 9.1%, according to a study of the Bocconi...

Alar Karis, the only candidate nominated in Estonia’s presidential election has failed to get the votes in the parliament needed to become the republic’s ceremonial president. In the first round of voting on Monday, Alar Karis, the director of the...

A citizens’ initiative to ban sexual orientation and gender identification conversion therapy is moving forward to being considered by parliament after it gathered the needed 50,000 signatures within only a month. In all likelihood, such therapies will be prohibited and...

Faced with a nosedive in the polls, German chancellor hopeful Armin Laschet (CDU) has decided to lift the veil on his future cabinet. The move comes amid calls from within his conservative party for Laschet to take a step back...

France will abolish support measures for businesses on 30 September and introduce a new compensation scheme from October for the sectors still affected by the health restrictions, covering 70-90% of the fixed costs not covered by revenue, Economy Minister Bruno...

The European Commission has reiterated its threat to withhold EU budget funds from companies, such as Agrofert, clandestinely controlled by Czech billionaire-prime minister Andrej Babiš due to fears that he breached conflict-of-interest rules. The Commission "will interrupt any future payment claims in respect of such companies pending the implementation of system improvements to address this risk," a spokesman said Monday. The European Parliament, in June, also urged a grant freeze.

Alphabet Inc's Google unit, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp are the three biggest lobbying spenders in Europe in a battle against tough new laws aimed at curbing US tech giants' powers, a study released on Tuesday (31 August) showed.

The UN Security Council Monday failed to take up France's proposal to create a UN-controlled "safe zone" at Kabul airport for people trying to leave Afghanistan. It called for a "safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals," however. China and Russia abstained from the vote. Russia also called on the US to unfreeze Afghanistan's gold and foreign currency reserves at the Word Bank.

Maltese journalist Manuel Delia, a fierce critic of his government's handling of a notorious journalist-murder in 2017, has said he feels afraid to continue working after being targeted with a fake-email campaign designed to make him look corrupt and mentally ill. "If anyone tells you they are fearless, that none of this stuff affects them ... I'm not. I do feel fear," he said in The Times of Malta.

EU countries are preparing to stop Afghan refugees from potentially entering the EU en masse, amid fears of a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan would accept any Afghan migrants whose applications for asylum were rejected in Europe and they would then face court, an Austrian newspaper quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying on Monday (30 August).

The spokeswoman of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, one of his last close associates remaining in the country, has fled Russia, Interfax reported. Kira Yarmysh's reported departure comes amid a growing exodus of opposition-leaning journalists and dissidents that The New York Times calls "the biggest wave of political emigration" in Russia's post-Soviet history. Critics point to a widening crackdown on dissent and independent voices ahead of September's election.

In a statement published on the Telegram messaging platform, the IS-K group (IS-Khorasan) said that it had fired six rockets, targeting Kabul airport. The "Islamic State" affiliate in Afghanistan also said some people were injured in the attack, Deutsche Welle writes. The global coalition of countries against the so-called "Islamic State" condemned the attack.

Germany's foreign minister said €500m was "ready for immediate aid" to support Afghanistan's neighbouring countries as they receive Afghan refugees, Deutsche Welle writes. "We will support the countries of the region and the people in Afghanistan," Heiko Maas said in Tajikistan — part of his four-day trip to countries that could host Afghans seeking to flee.

US president Joe Biden will welcome Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity between the two countries, the White House said in a statement, Reuters reports. "This visit will affirm the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression," the White House said.

The World Health Organisation and Unicef have called on European countries to keep schools open despite the pandemic, by making teachers a target for vaccination programmes and implementing new anti-infection measures.

An EU Commission spokesperson called the situation's origins as "an attempt by a third county to instrumentalise people for political purposes, which we very firmly reject and described as a form of aggression".

The parliamentary elections set for 17-19 September could be an opportunity for democracy in Russia - amidst voter dissatisfaction over economic recession, growing inflation, environmental problems and an unfolding health crisis.

I’ve been involved with the renovation of buildings for more than a decade. I’ve campaigned for policies to put renovation at the top of public agendas and I’ve worked on hundreds of retrofit sites across Europe. Barry Lynham is Managing...

Celebratory gunfire echoed across Kabul as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn following the withdrawal of the last US troops, ending 20 years of war that left the Islamic militia stronger than it was in 2001.