European Union

In Afghanistan, the Taliban captured five provincial capitals on the weekend, including Kunduz, an important trade hub near the border with Tajikistan. The advance was to be expected after the withdrawal of the US and Nato troops, commentators note, and warn against further inaction by the West.

The Council of State, France's highest court for administrative issues, has fined the state 10 million euros for doing too little to combat air pollution in the first half of 2021. Although maximum particulate matter values have been in force for more than ten years, several cities continue to exceed the limits. A number of environmental protection organisations have filed suits against the state. Commentators disagree over the extent to which the judiciary should help shape environmental policy.

Poland said it would introduce changes in September. Kaczyński said the move would test if the EU had a "semblance of goodwill".

Protesters took to the streets in France and Italy in opposition to Covid-19 measures that they say infringe on their civil liberties but which officials argue are needed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Deutsche Welle reported. The protests come as European countries double down on efforts to get wide portions of their populations vaccinated in the face of the spreading Delta variant.

Officials on Greece's second-largest island of Evia have urged for more firefighting support as blazes prompt locals and tourists to flee, Deutsche Welle reported. The fires ripped through Evia's dense forests, cutting off escape routes on land and prompting rescues via sea. Air turbulence and surging wind from the fires on Evia are making it difficult for water-bombing planes and helicopters, said Civil Protection chief Nikos Hardalias.

Italy's former prime minister Giuseppe Conte has been officially elected leader of the 5-Star Movement, ending months of uncertainty and division since he was first asked to lead the troubled party in February, Reuters reports. 5-Star is the largest group in Italy's parliament following the 2018 elections when it took 32 percent of the vote. Its support has since ebbed due to infighting and policy U-turns.

Hungary ordered shops on Friday to sell products, including books, seen as "promoting homosexuality" in "closed wrapping", spelling out restrictions that have set prime minister Viktor Orban on a collision course with the EU, Reuters reported. The decree, issued last Friday included books seen as promoting gender change and containing "explicit" depictions of sexuality. It also banned any sale of them within 200 metres of a school or a church.

No one believes Ukrainian activist Vitaly Shishov killed himself in Ukraine, so who benefitted from his murder?

The EU has blamed Iran for a drone attack on a merchant ship off Oman in July that killed a Romanian and a UK national. "All available evidence clearly points to Iran," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Sunday, adding: "Such reckless and unilateral actions ... need to stop". The attack took place amid EU-led talks on an Iran nuclear non-proliferation deal, but Borrell did not link the two.

A truly sustainable economy will need to re-align the financial system around planetary boundaries, not ‘green growth’, writes Lily Tomson, head of networks at ShareAction. The European Environment Agency recently joined the growing list of organisations to acknowledge that there...

Europe has threatened further sanctions against Lukashenko after a year of intensifying brutality, which has begun to spill across the EU border.

The EU issued a declaration condemning in the strongest terms the unlawful attack committed on the merchant vessel Mercer Street, off Masirah Island in Oman, on 29 July.

The EU issued a declaration on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, celebrating the resilience and resourcefulness of indigenous peoples around the world.

The EU issued a declaration on the first anniversary of the 9 August 2020 fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus.