French minister says foreign involvement not ruled out in rail sabotage
Est. 2minFrance's interior minister said he could not rule out foreign involvement in an attack that sabotaged signal stations and cables on the country's high-speed rail network, causing travel chaos on the opening day of the Olympic Games.
Polish MPs allow security forces to use arms with impunity
Est. 2minPolish lawmakers on Friday (26 July) voted to allow the security forces to use lethal weapons with impunity in response to active threats, including at the tense border with Belarus.
ESA ‘Juice’ spacecraft to swing by Earth, Moon on path to Jupiter
Est. 4minA spacecraft launched last year will slingshot back around Earth and the Moon next month in a high-stakes, world-first manoeuvre as it pinballs its way through the Solar System to Jupiter.
Venezuela opposition seeks to end 25 years of authoritarian power in Sunday vote
Est. 5minVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her coalition's candidate Edmundo Gonzalez have commanded enthusiastic crowds during their campaign to unseat President Nicolás Maduro and end 25 years of ruling party dominance.
Flotilla on Seine, rain and Céline Dion mark start of Paris Olympics
Est. 7minFrench President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday (26 July) after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.
EU adds neo-Nazi group The Base to its ‘terrorist’ list
Est. 2minThe EU on Friday (26 July) added The Base -- a neo-Nazi group founded in America and active in several other countries -- to its "terrorist" list, subjecting it to immediate sanctions.
France’s train network hit by arson attacks hours before Olympic ceremony
Est. 4minSaboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos and exposing security gaps ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony later on Friday (26 July).
Innovative treatment offers hope of ending AIDS by 2030
Est. 4minA groundbreaking medicine presented at the Munich International AIDS conference could be a game changer, but the cost is prohibitive.
The EU should call Orbán’s oil bluff
Est. 5minEurope can survive without Russian oil. Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia are no exceptions, even though they lobbied hard for exemptions from the EU's ban on Russian oil imports after Russia invaded Ukraine, writes Martin Dimitrov.
As Germany struggles to improve economy, it decided to go on a Gigabit offensive
Est. 5minThe German government is going on a telecom spending spree with a new telecom law, seemingly against industry stakeholders' views and its own decision to tighten the purse strings.
NGOs pressure Commission to include animal welfare in next vision of future of farming
Est. 3minEuropean Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has announced that her new Commission will unveil a ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’ in the first 100 days in office, but associations are calling for animal welfare to be included in it as von der Leyen did not mention the topic in her investiture speech in the European Parliament.
Europe’s national parliaments take on Hungary’s Council presidency
Est. 4minHungarian officials will face a dressing down and boycotts from the EU’s national parliaments at this weekend's meeting of COSAC, an oft-overlooked EU institution that national lawmakers see as one of the few tools to make their voice heard in Brussels.
Hungarian health minister says he will bring creativity to pharma package negotiations
Est. 4minAt the first Informal Health Council of the Hungarian EU Council Presidency on Thursday (25 July), State Secretary Péter Takács promised ‘creative thinking’ on the pending pharmaceutical package.
EU, US energy chiefs keep clean tech rivalry on friendly terms in Bucharest
Est. 5minThe European energy commissioner and the US energy secretary used a meeting of Central and Eastern European energy ministers in Bucharest this week to keep EU-US clean tech competition on a friendly footing.
EU Commission urges six member states to appoint authorities for DSA enforcement
Est. 2minThe European Commission has initiated infringement procedures for Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden, asking them to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), according to a Friday (26 July) press release.
Dissecting Apple’s compliance with EU digital competition rules from a civil society perspective
A group of digital rights organisation said that Apple’s plans to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) are ineffective in a submission to the European Commission.
Pornhub challenges natural names disclosure under digital rules at Europe’s highest court
Est. 4minAylo, Pornhub's parent company, is appealing to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to avoid having to disclose the natural names of users in its ad repository, as required by its Digital Services Act (DSA) designation.
Tension mounts in Europe over water use and storage for agriculture
Est. 5minWater management and storage systems raise questions in southern European countries, while a French movement is preparing protests over water reserves for farmers and aims to mobilise citizens up to the Venice lagoon in northern Italy.
Lie is truth, friend is enemy as Georgian Dream digs in with election campaign
Est. 8minAfter the adoption of Russian-style foreign agents law, the county's ruling Georgian Dream party, led by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, launched its election campaign with conspiracies, sowing discord, and detachment from reality.
EU gets first-ever request to authorise sale of lab-grown meat
Est. 3minIn an EU first, French company Gourmey has requested a pre-market authorisation for lab-grown foie gras in the 27-member bloc amid a heated debate among European governments over food innovation.
G20 agree to work on Brazil’s ‘billionaire tax’ idea, implementation seen difficult
Est. 3minThe world's 20 biggest economies (G20) agreed on Thursday (25 July) to work together to ensure the ultra rich are effectively taxed, in a declaration that seeks a balance between national sovereignty and more cooperation on tax avoidance.
Russian drone debris found in Romania, NATO says no sign of intentional attack
Est. 3minRomania said it found Russian drone fragments on its territory on Thursday (25 July) and NATO said it saw no sign of an intentional attack on the alliance's territory after Moscow troops fired 38 long-range drones into Ukraine overnight.
Jetmaking industrial problems overshadow orders at Farnborough air show
Est. 5minThe world's largest air show fizzled out on Thursday (25 July) with a solid new Saudi jetliner order unable to dispel the gloom over recent problems in producing planes fast enough to meet demand.
Kremlin signals readiness to talk to Ukraine while Zelenskyy is in power
Est. 3minThe Kremlin signalled on Thursday (25 July) it was open to negotiations with Ukraine on ending the conflict while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains in power despite publicly doubting his legitimacy to rule.