As Italy goes through an epidemic of African swine fever (ASF) that is putting the production of ham under stress, the Commission warns that the bloc is not close to finding a vaccine against the disease.

Journalists and citizens are left in the dark as the halls of the Berlaymont whisper little about the EU’s next collective leadership. But could this secrecy be more of a deliberate design than a flaw in the European system?

The EU’s biggest islands, according to geography, are Ireland, with 84 thousand square kilometres, Sicily (25,000 sq. km), and Sardinia (24,000 sq. km). But it can be argued that the EU’s biggest islands are three other, much bigger territories.

Despite coming third in the snap legislative elections on 7 July, the far-right Rassemblement national (RN) holds new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's fate in its hands and could decide at any moment to bring down the future government.

Russia would be rooting for US Democratic candidate Kamala Harris over Republican candidate Donald Trump to win the November presidential election for her "infectious laugh," President Vladimir Putin joked on Thursday (5 September) as worries over Moscow's US election interference grow.

The new European Commission must set a bold EU emissions reduction target for 2040 to ensure climate neutrality by 2050, a 90% reduction target is essential to keep the EU on track for a fossil-free future, write researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday (5 September) voted to appoint a new foreign minister, and two new deputy prime ministers as part of a major government overhaul.

The Spanish government is working against the clock to come up with a temporary 'strategic plan' to alleviate the severe migration crisis in the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta (in North Africa), while the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has encouraged Madrid to formally ask for help to contain the humanitarian emergency.

Germany’s GDP growth forecast was downgraded to zero percent by a leading think tank on Thursday (5 September), amid growing fears that weak productivity and a sustained weakness in manufacturing could lead to weak growth becoming entrenched in Europe’s largest economy.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has made a series of recommendations to the ECDC, the EMA and the European Commission to better prepare for future pandemics, set out in a critical report.

At long last, President Emmanuel Macron has picked former EU Brexit negotiator and French presidential candidate Michel Barnier to become France’s prime minister on Thursday (5 September).

German police shot dead a man in an exchange of fire near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi history museum in Munich on Thursday (5 September), state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said.

The Treaty has been watered down to exclude the private sector, thanks to pressure from non-EU countries like the US.

French and German industries have similar carbon intensities, despite a largely decarbonised French electricity supply, according to a La Fabrique de l’industrie and McKinsey report published Thursday (5 September).

The Spanish energy minister and designated Commissioner Teresa Ribera says connecting EU countries’ grid would further the European project, meaning that France may have to abandon its obstruction of power links across the Pyrenees.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Swedish foreign minister resigning from his post, Bulgaria's pro-Russian party advocating for Bulgaria to join the BRICS, and so much more.

The US filed money-laundering charges against two employees of Russian state media network RT for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 presidential election.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range US missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday (4 September) not to joke about Russia's "red lines".

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he intended to discuss a gas supply contract with Serbia that expires in March 2025 with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin.

The former prime minister turned MEP Beata Szydło disagreed with her PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński's approach to finding a candidate for next year's presidential election, marking an unusual show of defiance towards the powerful politician.