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In this week’s edition: All you need to know about what will shape the discussions in 2024 as we take a look at our EU foreign policy crystal ball.

Ukraine and Switzerland on Sunday (14 January) are expected to host around hundred national security advisors in the Swiss resort town of Davos, the latest push to rally support for Kyiv's peace plan.

With war fatigue threatening and half the world's population heading to polls this year, European defence faces a fight for a place on top of 2024's agenda.

A large protest was held in Tbilisi on Saturday (13 January) to demand harsh punishment for a woman accused of defacing a religious icon depicting Soviet dictator Josef Stalin which was recently-installed in the Georgian capital.

Taiwan's president-elect Lai Ching-te could face a tough four years in office with no parliamentary majority, an opposition which wanted to re-start a vexed service trade deal with China and the ever present threat of military action from Beijing.

As Davos deliberates on the world's economic future, the call from Kyiv is resolute: put an end to Russian oil and gas, and you will not only end the war in Ukraine but also slow the spread of autocracy and speed up the global energy transition, write Svitlana Romanko and Oleh Savytskyi.

As Taiwan goes to the polls on Saturday (13 January) to elect a new president and parliament amid increasing tensions between the self-governing island and China, Europeans mull over how to navigate ties with Taipei.

The United States carried out an additional strike against Yemen's Houthi forces on Friday (12 January), after President Joe Biden's administration vowed to protect shipping in the Red Sea.

Israel on Friday (12 January) rejected as false and "grossly distorted" accusations brought by South Africa at the UN's top court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against Palestinians.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited wartime Kyiv on Friday (12 January) to sign a new security agreement and announce an increase in military funding for Ukraine to buy drones, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones.

Italy's hard right government is scrapping the crime of abuse of office, setting Rome on a collision course with Brussels over a law supporters say is essential to fighting corruption.

The Brussels agri-bubble is on hold, in a kind of suspended animation. As business picks up after the winter holidays, the question on everyone's lips is when the 'structured dialogue' announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address on 13 September will start.

The French government reshuffle on Thursday (11 January) marked the end of the pairing of the Ecology and Energy Ministries, with commentators suggesting this marks a shift to an industrial conception of energy primarily focused on the relaunch of France's nuclear industry.

According to NATO codenames, Soviet submarines of the S-363 type were called “Whiskey class”. When one such submarine got stranded close to the Swedish coast in October 1981, the English-language press worldwide humorously called the incident “Whiskey on the rocks”.

The EU should support more funding initiatives targeted to deep tech and quantum technologies, according to founders and strategists working within the quantum field in France.

EU member states are expected to discuss a potential new naval operation, which would aim to re-establish security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, as Yemen’s Houthis continue to attack ships in the vital international trade route.

France's draft 'energy sovereignty' law, recently unveiled by the government, has caused quite a stir for its apparent dismissal of renewable energies, which are placed at the bottom of the list of low-carbon energies, behind nuclear.

Last month, a coalition of EU countries blocked the provisional agreement on the Platform Workers Directive. But while the Belgian EU Council presidency wants to use the political deal as the starting point for future discussion, Paris wants a more comprehensive file reshaping.

Since Brexit, the UK Competition and Markets Authority has regained its status as a prominent competition enforcer. As the British Parliament is set to adopt a bill that will increase the CMA’s powers and introduce new obligations on tech companies.