Author: staff
The EU is also looking at its existing laws, evaluating the current rules against organized crime and the existing Framework Decision on drug trafficking by 2026. The EUDA’s new European drug alert system, launched a couple of weeks ago, will also help issue alerts on serious drug-related risks, such as highly potent synthetic drugs; while its EU early warning system will help identify new substances and quickly inform the capitals. Europe is grappling with a surge in the availability of cocaine, synthetic stimulants and potent opioids, alongside increasingly complex trafficking networks and rising drug-related violence, particularly in Belgium and the…
Friedrich Merz, the federal chancellor of Germany, will travel to Brussels on Friday to meet with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a bid to unblock the reparations loan to Ukraine. The three will gather on Friday evening for a private dinner at the Berlaymont building, a Commission spokesperson confirmed to Euronews. A spokesperson for Merz also confirmed the trip, noting the last-minute change of plans had prompted the cancellation of his trip to Norway. The sudden move represents Merz’s most forceful intervention to make the bold proposal a reality and…
China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues like Russia’s war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of G7 next year. French President Emmanuel Macron met with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday morning as part of a three-day state visit focused on trade and diplomacy. The French leader is seeking to involve Beijing in pressuring Russia towards a ceasefire with Ukraine after a recent flurry of diplomacy around a US-led peace proposal. “We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the international order that brought peace to the world for decades,…
A highly publicised study on the catastrophic costs of climate change has been retracted, following heavy criticism of its methodology. The economic commitment of climate change, which was published in Nature in April last year, has been accessed more than 300,000 times and was cited in a slew of publications, including Forbes and Reuters. However, yesterday (3 December), researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) admitted that data errors had led them to slightly overstate their findings, adding that the changes are “too substantial” for a correction. It marks the sixth paper to be retracted by the…
Published on 04/12/2025 – 13:57 GMT+1 Russia has blocked Apple’s FaceTime, the country’s communications watchdog reportedly said on Thursday, which comes as part of a clampdown on foreign tech companies as Russia alleges some are being used for criminal activity. Euronews Next can confirm that FaceTime calls could not be made to users in Russia on Thursday. Russian media reported that media regulator Roskomnadzor said in an emailed statement: “According to law enforcement agencies, FaceTime is being used to organise and carry out terrorist attacks in the country, recruit perpetrators, and commit fraud and other crimes against Russian citizens.” The…
Anthony Hughes, who chaired the public inquiry into Sturgess’ death, said the attack was “expected to stand as a public demonstration of Russian power” and “amounted to a public statement, both for international and domestic consumption, that Russia will act decisively in what it regards are its own interests.” He said there were “failings” to adequately protect the Skripals, but acknowledged CCTV cameras, alarms or hidden bugs would not have stopped a “professionally mounted attack with a nerve agent.” The government believes the Russian president personally approved the poisoning on Skripal. The ex-Russian spy lived in an easily accessible property and…
Published on 04/12/2025 – 13:55 GMT+1 The European Commission has presented a legislative package aiming at fighting drug trafficking, a criminal business that is more and more affecting European citizens’ lives in the form of violence, corruption, environmental pollution, and the exploitation of the legal economy. Illegal drug use is increasing dramatically in the EU, with the situation reaching “a crisis point”, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner declared on Wednesday. Some 7,500 people die in Europe a year because of drug use, he said. 419 tonnes of cocaine have been seized across Europe in 2023, and 500 synthetic drug…
Published on 04/12/2025 – 14:08 GMT+1 Turkey has been hit by a second courthouse theft just days after a court clerk stole nearly 150 million Turkish lira (€4.4 million) worth of gold and silver from a vault in Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece Courthouse before fleeing to the UK. This time, the incident unfolded on one of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands, where 12 firearms were reported missing from the property and evidence unit of the Adalar Courthouse. According to Turkish authorities, an internal inspection revealed that the weapons had disappeared from the evidence storage facility of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Istanbul’s Princes’…
Meta says it is starting to remove the accounts of teenagers under the age of 16 ahead of Australia’s world-first social media ban. Under the new Australian law, which goes into effect on December 10, children under 16 will be unable to create or keep accounts on platforms such as Facebook, X, Threads, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, X, Reddit, and Google-owned YouTube. If these platforms are found to violate the law, they could face stiff penalties of 50 million Australian dollars (€28 million). On December 4, Meta saidin a blog post that it will begin removing Instagram, Threads and Facebook…
It’s crunch time for the Eurovision Song Contest, whose organizers are meeting today and tomorrow to tackle a divisive issue: Should Israel be allowed to participate in the 2026 competition? The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the competition, is holding a general assembly, with many countries calling for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza and alleged interference in contest voting, following controversy this year surrounding Israel’s second-place finish. The meeting comes after anti-Israel protesters attempted to disrupt the 2024 and 2025 contests in Basel and Malmö, citing their…