Browsing: EU Featured

The man accused of stabbing four toddlers and two adults at a playground in a French town last week has been moved to a psychiatric hospital, sources said on Wednesday.

A sharp democratic backsliding has been observed in Tunisia since a 2019 power grab by President Kais Saied.

The Green Deal, described by Ursula von der Leyen as “Europe’s man on the moon moment,” is about to undergo a litmus test.

Silvio Berlusconi was honored Wednesday with a state funeral in Milan’s Duomo cathedral and a day of national mourning, as his legacy — positive or negative — was being hotly debated among Italians.

The European Commission accused Google on Wednesday of abusing its dominance of the online ad market and recommended the US company sell part of its ad services to ensure fair competition.

EU lawmakers voted Wednesday to adopt a key text forming the basis of a future law regulating artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, while aiming to foster innovation in the technology.

At least 59 migrants drowned early on Wednesday and more were feared missing when their boat capsized and sank off Greece, the country’s coast guard said.

Members of the European Parliament endorsed on Wednesday a blanket ban on AI-powered facial recognition in public spaces.

The European Commission President toured countries in the region this week, as she looked to get backing for the long-delayed trade agreement.

President Vladimir Putin claimed Tuesday that Ukraine was suffering massive losses in its long-awaited counter-offensive against Russian forces in Ukraine, saying Kyiv’s casualties were ten times higher than Moscow’s. His assessment came hours after Russia asserted having captured Western armoured vehicles from Kyiv’s forces on the battlefield and following deadly Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian leader’s hometown. FRANCE 24’s Catherine Viette tells us more about this attack.

FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Gulliver Cragg, explained that immediate worries that the draining of the resevoir would lead to a nuclear meltdown were quickly put to rest, because the plant does not need cooling; it is not generating electricity at the moment. On the other hand, if there were to be an accident, it would have been handy to have a reservoir of water nearby.

Some countries argue the deal does not go far enough.

The winds of change are blowing through the European Union’s foreign policy – but they may not be enough to cause a storm.

Kylian Mbappe told Paris Saint-Germain on Monday that he would not be taking up an option to extend his contract until 2025, raising the spectre of him following Lionel Messi out of the club this summer.

With Erdogan re-elected, he no longer has an electorate to impress. With Sweden appearing to want to acquiese to some of Turkey’s demands, another major barrier is gone. FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Stockholm, Sweden, Paul Rhys reports.

The Swedish government decided Monday to extradite a Turkish citizen resident in Sweden who had been convicted in 2013 of drug crime in Turkey.

Belgium and Germany have joined Austria, Greece and Malta in allowing 16 and 17-year-old to vote in the European elections.

Canada and the Netherlands have taken Damascus to the International Court of Justice over allegations of torture, the tribunal said Monday, in the first case at the UN’s top court over Syria’s brutal civil war.

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman who dominated Italy’s political landscape for decades, died on Monday aged 86, drawing tributes from leaders across the world. Italy has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for Berlusconi, when a state funeral will be held for him in Milan’s Duomo cathedral.

Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media tycoon and four-time prime minister who brushed off a litany of legal battles and sex scandals to dominate Italian public life for more than two decades, has died in Milan aged 86.

In this week’s Focus, we turn to the tense frontier between Russia and Finland. The rapport between these neighbouring nations has soured significantly in the wake of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Historically, their mutual border has been a theatre of confrontation and conflict. Currently, Finland is taking drastic measures by erecting a formidable barbed wire fence along this boundary. According to authorities in Helsinki, the intention behind this undertaking is twofold: ensuring the nation’s protection and enhancing scrutiny over entries from Russia.

NATO launches its largest-ever aerial drill in Europe on Monday, coordinated by Germany, in a show of unity from the military alliance against potential threats – notably from Russia. Ukraine said on Sunday it had made territorial advances on three villages in its southeast, marking the first liberated settlements since its military launched a counteroffensive this past week. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last month announced it would lay off nearly 10 percent of its global staff and roll back dozens of its operations across the world. Although the ICRC’s crisis can partly be blamed on the war in Ukraine and resulting inflation, it also reflects a much more worrying problem plaguing the world’s humanitarian aid groups: with the world more in need of humanitarian action than ever before, donations are failing to keep up with demand.

Scotland’s former leader Nicola Sturgeon insisted on Sunday that she had done nothing wrong after police arrested her as part of an investigation into the finances of the country’s ruling party.

Hundreds of residents of the French town of Annecy gathered Sunday to honour the people who rushed to stop a man accused of stabbing six people, including four toddlers, at a playground last week.