Author: staff

Looking at the many heatwaves crippling large parts of Europe during the first summer weeks, the findings of July’s climate bulletin published by the European Union’s climate service Copernicus will not come as a surprise. Last month was the fourth-warmest July on record in Europe, with average temperatures reaching 21.12°C, 1.30°C above the 1991-2020 average for July. “There were some regional contrasts, as is often the case in Europe,” Julien Nicolas, Senior Scientist at Copernicus, told Euronews. The month started extremely hot in most of Europe, particularly the western part. “As the month progressed, temperatures cooled and conditions became wetter…

“The sequencing of the steps is important,” she said in a statement. “First, an unconditional ceasefire with a strong monitoring system and ironclad security guarantees.” That sentiment was echoed in the EU leaders’ statement on Tuesday. Kallas further promised to work on a new package of sanctions while pledging to continue to support Kyiv financially and press ahead with its bid to join the EU. Such demands show Europe is growing more comfortable in putting its positions forward on the resolution of Russia’s war against Ukraine, with views that have recently been more pro-Kyiv than Washington’s under Trump. Chief EU…

The injured male tusker, unable to return to the nearby Amchang Reserve forest, has been seen in the village at least twice a day, sometimes blocking traffic and raiding shops for something to eat. Locals have installed steel fencing and concertina wire to protect their homes and kiosks, while also providing the animal with food and water. Wildlife officials say the animal has faced resistance from other elephants when trying to rejoin a herd. Assam, home to over 5,000 wild Asian elephants, has seen rising human-elephant conflict as expanding towns and farms reduce forest habitats. Conservationists are calling for protected…

Published on 12/08/2025 – 9:42 GMT+2 The decline in payroll employment in the UK eased in July, with employers cutting headcount by 8,000, compared to a month-on-month drop of 26,000 in June. July’s figure marks the smallest decline in headcount since a modest rise in January, offering a glimmer of hope for the sluggish UK job market. The early estimate of payrolled employees for July 2025 decreased by 164,000 on the year, added the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Tuesday’s data “tallies with some of the business surveys which suggest hiring appetite has begun to improve after a torrid spring”,…

However, the unions remain divided on Israel and hesitant to support them, and protesters are unsure of the possible legal and professional consequences, according to four people familiar with the matter. Some protesters, the people said, believe striking might pass legal muster if they argue they are merely trying to push the EU to comply with its fundamental international human rights obligations that civil servants are bound to uphold. An internal letter seen by POLITICO sent last month to EU leadership by internal pro-Palestinian solidarity group EU Staff for Peace said some forms of protest have been subject to “intimidation”…

And last month, we finally witnessed the opening skirmishes of this battle: Just before parliament went into recess, the AfD created a dangerous split between the CDU and SPD, making the most of its sophisticated online supporters who pump out “news” of dubious veracity. The issue at stake was Judge Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf’s proposed nomination to the Constitutional Court. With more liberal views on abortion than is currently permitted under Germany’s comparatively restrictive legislation, Brosius-Gersdorf was demonized online, leading some frightened CDU members of the Bundestag to suggest they’d no longer back her. Her nomination was eventually pulled. But even such…

CAMEX Airlines “oppose use of force[d] labor in any type, shape, or place,” he said. “As per our knowledge and research none of our cargo comes from Xinjiang Province itself,” Seturidze explained, noting clients send cargo to Ürümqi airport via land from China’s eastern and southern cities, “so their airfreight rate is lower.” While they ship e-commerce, clothes, and electronic goods, he said, “the cargo is not originated from Xinjiang.” Some cargo carriers say they are in the dark about what they’re carrying. “We do not have direct visibility into, nor knowledge of, the specific contents, precise origin (beyond the…

Life expectancy has been rising across the EU in recent decades and with that retirement ages are increasing in many countries, meaning people are spending more years on the job. In 2024, the average expected working life in the EU was 37.2 years, according to Eurostat. This represents an increase of 2.4 years, or 7%, compared to 2014, when it was 34.8 years. Within the EU, expected working life ranges from 32.7 years in Romania to 43.8 years in the Netherlands. When EU candidates and EFTA countries are included, it varies from 30.2 years in Turkey to 46.3 years in…

Fico is banking on the stigma of a bribery conviction, handed down to Kažimír just before his term ended, eventually forcing Hlas to drop its support for him. A judge found that while Kažimír was finance minister in 2016, he offered a bribe to a tax official to hasten the tax audits of companies owned by an acquaintance. The judge sentenced him to pay a €200,000 fine or serve a year in prison. Kažimír has always maintained his innocence and has called the charges politically motivated, noting in a recent op-ed that the judge had offered him immunity if he…

Published on 12/08/2025 – 6:30 GMT+2 Europe’s sidelining from the Alaska meeting of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin means the continent’s been frozen out of a meeting critical to its security, according to EU law professor Alberto Alemanno. The proposed Alaska meeting will be the first in-person meeting between the US and Russian presidents since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. But there are no plans for European leaders to attend, raising questions about the heft of EU diplomacy on the world stage. For Alemanno, EU law professor at HEC in Paris,…