European Union

France's transport ministry hit the brakes on an order for the nation's army of motorbikers to get their machines tested every two years, after President Emmanuel Macron got wind of the plan.

The European Commission will next month present legislation to establish a common charger for mobile phones and other electronic devices within the 27-nation bloc, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday (12 August).

Blazes raged across northern Algeria on Thursday (12 August) as the country observed a national day of mourning for dozens of people killed in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean.

The European Commission has rejected a Spanish request to change the rules that underpin member states' electricity markets as power prices in the country hit record highs, Spain's Energy and Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said on Thursday (12 August).

Turkish police detained dozens of people on Thursday (12 August) after a mob of angry men smashed up shops and cars believed to belong to Syrian migrants in the capital Ankara.

European Commision vice-president for values and transparency Vera Jourová slammed Poland's planned new media law on Thursday and called for an EU act to protect press freedom.

The European Union's top diplomat on Thursday called on the world's biggest economies to set tougher climate targets - including a commitment to eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions - in time for a global climate summit in November.

Roughly 45 Afghans employed by Denmark in the conflict-hit country will be offered temporary asylum as international troops withdraw, with other Nordic countries set to follow suit.

Six days after Italy made the Green Pass mandatory for many activities, people started protesting throughout the country, Il Corriere della Sera writes. The six largest trade unions also reacted to the fact teachers needed a Green Pass to teach at schools, calling it "a unilateral choice" and a "diktat". In Turin, 650 employees went on strike calling the need for a Green Pass for restaurants discriminatory.

The Italian island of Sicily may have registered the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe - 48.8°C (119.8°F), the BBC writes. Regional authorities reported the reading, which needs to be verified by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), near Syracuse on Wednesday. According to the WMO, the current official record in Europe is 48°C, registered in Athens, Greece, in 1977.

Denmark said it would buy 280,000 doses of Novavax's potential Covid-19 vaccine for a total price of 37 million Danish crowns (€4.97m), or roughly €17.8 per dose as part of a European Union agreement with the US company, Reuters reports. The European Commission had approved a supply contract with Novavax to buy up to 200 million doses, which is yet to be approved by the EU's drugs regulator.

Poland has caused fresh harm to its international image by voting to dismantle a US media firm and, separately, to block property claims by Holocaust survivors.

Latvian border guards turned back dozens of migrants into Belarus overnight under a new state of emergency designed to stem a flow of arrivals the European Union says is orchestrated by Minsk, Reuters reports. The pushback, witnessed by Reuters, occurred just hours after Latvia declared an emergency to prevent illegal migrants, mostly from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, from crossing into the EU state from Belarus.

Three new conditions reported by a small number of people after vaccination with Covid-19 shots from Pfizer and Moderna are being studied to assess if they may be possible side-effects, Europe's drugs regulator said, Reuters reports. A form of allergic skin reaction; a kidney inflammation; and a renal disorder characterised by heavy urinary protein losses, are being studied by the safety committee of the European Medicines Agency.

A British man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia, the BBC writes. German federal prosecutors said the man - named only as David S - worked at the British embassy in Berlin. He allegedly passed documents to Russian intelligence "at least once" in exchange for an "unknown amount" of money. The German foreign ministry said it is taking the case "very seriously".

What we can learn from the history of the Baltics states is that the reimposition of an older constitution would serve as societal 'glue', enabling Libyans to finally put the memories of a most tumultuous decade behind them.

Last week, six EU countries, including Germany, and the Netherlands, said forced returns must continue despite violence in Afghanistan. Now they have changed their mind. Belgian Greens are also criticising the decision.

Polish lawmakers advanced a bill on Wednesday (11 August) that the opposition says aims to silence a US-owned news channel critical of the government, leading to a swift denunciation from the United States, one of Warsaw's most important allies.

Lithuania's ambassador to China says she has been asked to leave the country, one day after Beijing demanded that Vilnius recall its envoy over allowing Taiwan to set up an office under its own name in the EU member state.

Iraq has repatriated 370 of its nationals from the Belarus border with Lithuania, a government source said Wednesday (11 August), after accusations that Minsk has been encouraging unauthorised arrivals of migrants to the EU.