Euractiv.com

Norway's data protection agency said on Tuesday (8 August) it would start fining Facebook and Instagram owner Meta nearly $100,000 per day for defying a ban on using users' personal information to target ads.

Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC announced on Tuesday (8 August) it will invest over €10 billion in Germany in return for €5 billion in subsidies, with German economy minister Robert Habeck calling the move “proof” of Germany’s competitiveness.

The EU Chips Act, a new-generation industrial policy tool for the European Union, is producing appreciable results, but not those expected by its early advocates, writes Mathieu Duchâtel.

Russia's lack of ships and Western grain traders' shrinking appetite for business with Moscow are adding to rising costs of moving Russian wheat, at a time when the war in Ukraine has spilled perilously close to vital Black Sea supply routes.

Amid an economic downturn which has prompted fears of deindustrialisation, German economy minister Robert Habeck emphasised the strengths of the German economy and said that major investments of around €80 billion are in the pipeline. 

The French current account deficit shrank by €29.7 billion in the past six months, from -€39.3 billion to -€9.6 billion, primarily due to a fall in energy prices, which have made goods importations cheaper.

Advertisements offering an immediate payment of over $5,000 for joining the Russian army have began popping up on the screens of Kazakh internet users amid the escalating Ukrainian conflict.

With the 2024 European elections and the reorganisation of European Commission jobs looming, Brussels must hurry to conclude crucial negotiations on sustainable and diversified EU trade by the end of 2023.

Russian missiles struck the centre of Ukraine's Pokrovsk twice on Monday night (7 August) killing eight people, including five civilians, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement.

West African leaders scheduled a summit for Thursday to discuss the Niger junta's rejection of an ultimatum to reinstate the ousted president, as the United States sent a top official to Niamey to push for a return to democracy.

Hundreds of firefighters scrambled on Tuesday (8 August) to put out a blaze raging in southern Portugal that has scorched thousands of hectares of land and forced the precautionary evacuation of around 1,400 people.

Russia said Monday (7 August) it plans to launch a lunar lander this week after multiple delays, hoping to return to the Moon for the first time in nearly fifty years.

Britain began moving some migrants on to a large residential barge on its southern coast on Monday, as part of plans to save money and remove what the government called the "pull" of hotels for those arriving in small boats.

The death toll from days of heavy rains and flooding in Slovenia has climbed to six, police said Monday (7 August), as clean-up operations continued with help from neighbouring countries.

Spain's conservative People's Party (PP) said on Monday (7 August) it believed it could break a political deadlock and form a government after the hard-right Vox hinted it will not insist on being part of a coalition in exchange for its support.

An elite group of North Korean hackers secretly breached computer networks at a major Russian missile developer for at least five months last year, according to technical evidence reviewed by Reuters and analysis by security researchers.

Iceland has used its lobbying power vis-à-vis the EU to shelter Alexander Moshensky, a Belarusian oligarch close to Alexander Lukashenko, from sanctions, with Hungary also using its veto in his favour, fresh analysis from a consortium of investigative websites has revealed.

The German far-right AfD, whose party congress this weekend asserted that the EU has “failed”, is “founded on hatred” and looks to “destroy what already exists”, French EU minister Laurence Boone said on Monday (7 August).

The German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has called the EU a "failed project" and called for it to be re-established as a 'Confederation of European Nations', the party said in its EU election programme that was adopted on Sunday (6 August).

A senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday that talks in Saudi Arabia towards a peaceful settlement of the war with Russia had been productive, but Moscow called the meeting a doomed attempt to swing the Global South behind Kyiv.