Europe News Pope meets homeless and undocumented in Brussels As part of his trip to Belgium, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to Saint Gilles where he met with homeless and undocumented people. 28/09/2024
Europe News Pope Francis criticised by students on visit to Catholic university in The students questioned why the Catholic church has so few women in top positions and why their intellectual contribution had often been disregarded. 28/09/2024
Brussels, My Love? Brussels, my love? Middle East horror unfolds from afar After the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell called the situation in Lebanon "extremely dangerous and worrying", is the world now witnessing another fullscale war? 28/09/2024
Europe News Women in Belgium travel to the Netherlands for later term abortions In Belgium abortion is legal 12 weeks after conception, with many women travelling across the border to the Netherlands in order to terminate pregnancies later. 27/09/2024
Green News Commission sees role for nuclear and CCS in 'clean' fuel production Trains, automobiles and even planes could be run on nuclear power or even natural gas while being treated as ‘green’ under proposed EU rules 27/09/2024
Health news Commission cautious on onshoring drug production to the EU Pandemic exposed EU states to worrying pharma supply shortages, leading to widespread calls for more home-manufactured pharma. 27/09/2024
Tech News Meta hit with €91 million fine for lax password safety Big tech company Meta is ordered to pay a €91m data protection fine for not having enough user password protection in place, the Irish data watchdog said. 27/09/2024
Belgium Pope Francis condemns Catholic Church's 'shameful' abuse in Belgium Earlier on Friday, Belgium's prime minister blasted the pontiff for the Catholic Church's horrific legacy, demanding "concrete steps" to come clean with the past and put victims' interests ahead of those of the institution. 27/09/2024
Tech News Cyber certificate debate to land on plate of incoming Commission New EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen will have to improve the adoption processes of certification schemes, her mission letter says. 27/09/2024
Belgium Pope makes hope-inspired trip to 'heart of Europe' amid abuse scandal While in Belgium, Pope Francis will have to face a backlash against local church authorities amid child abuse scandals. The Vatican hopes the visit will also help the EU "rediscover its roots". 27/09/2024
Health news EU disease prevention agency new chief seeks better public engagement New chief Pamela Rendi-Wagner says European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) should do more to combat disinformation and appeal to wider audience. 26/09/2024
Europe News Six EU countries call for tough DSA action against platforms like Shein, Temu Germany, Austria, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands and France call for a unified approach in enforcing EU-standards in e-commerce. 26/09/2024
Belgium Pope to face appalling Catholic abuse legacy on Belgium trip Revelations of Belgium's horrific abuse scandal have dribbled out in bits since 2010, when the country's longest-serving bishop was allowed to resign without punishment, after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew. 26/09/2024
Europe News Italy, Germany to propose rethink on petrol and diesel car ban Rome and Berlin are siding with the European automotive industry in calling for the EU to relax CO2 emissions standards for cars as the bloc aims to end the sale of new petrol and diesel models by 2035. 25/09/2024
Europe News European countries urge nationals to leave Lebanon Portugal, Spain, France and the UK have issued warnings to their nationals in Lebanon to return home while commercial flights remain available. 25/09/2024
Green News Uber calls on EU to ban combustion engines on ridesharing cars by 2030 Multinational ride-hailing company is also calling on binding targets for the production of electric vehicles in the European market along with adequate incentives to ease the climate transition. 25/09/2024
Europe News EU Parliament's left signals warning over Dutch Commission nominee The choice of former Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra to run EU tax policy has drawn attention from MEPs given previous links to tax havens, and the Netherlands’ status as a hub for corporate tax avoidance. 25/09/2024
Economy OECD: Belgium needs to cut public spending to reduce debt and deficit The debt keeps swelling and if no action is taken, the OECD warns, it could reach 200% of the GDP by 2050. 25/09/2024
Nature Wolves in crosshairs as EU governments agree to more hunting and culls Nature conservationists have denounced as ‘shameful’ a back-room agreement that saw all but two EU governments acquiesce to a European Commission proposal to ease protection for Europe’s burgeoning wolf populations. 25/09/2024
Business Google complains to EU over Microsoft cloud licensing practices Google files an antitrust complaint to the European Commission against its competitor on the cloud market. 25/09/2024
Tech News OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon among first AI Pact signatories The voluntary AI Pact aims to help companies comply with the EU's AI Act 25/09/2024
wellbeing Should the EU regulate burgeoning health influencers? With health content booming on social media, experts and lawmakers are mulling regulation of social media influencers, prioritising ‘credible’ content creators. 25/09/2024
Europe News 'Corrosive': Commission rejects greater revolving doors transparency The European Commission says it won’t immediately publish details of the restrictions placed on Henrik Morch, whose move earlier this year from its antitrust department to law firm Paul, Weiss drew protests from EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly. 25/09/2024
Europe News Lebanese ambassador: Israeli attacks are an existential threat to us In an interview with Euronews, Ambassador of Lebanon to Belgium Fadi Hajali called on Brussels to go one step further in imposing sanctions on Israel. 25/09/2024
Europe News Eva Kaili judge orders review of Belgian spies' role The ex-MEP, who has denied charges of corruption and money laundering, won her bid to examine whether the Belgian secret service played an illegal role in her 2022 arrest. 24/09/2024
Green News Commission insists no plans to delay anti-deforestation law Amid a growing backlash from trading partners and conservative lawmakers, the European Commission maintains it is working to implement new legislation that will ban from January the import of products linked to deforestation overseas. 24/09/2024