Italy could be in line for a prominent role in the next European Commission, said the leader of the conservative group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, citing the heavy support Italian government leaders received in the European elections.

The president of the influential farmers union, FNSEA, expressed regret over Paris's lack of involvement in shaping the new European Commission, urging French politicians to reengage actively in Brussels, in a press conference on Thursday (29 August).

Bulgaria's Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, which represents the country's Turkish minority, is trying to oust its co-leader, Delyan Peevski, who is facing US and UK sanctions for corruption.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in Paris on Thursday (29 August) to make the case for his "once-in-a-generation reset" with the EU, just a day after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

France's Health Innovation Agency (Agence de l'innovation en santé, AIS) plans to invest €170 million in innovations to improve preventative healthcare in eight fields, including children's health, mental health, chronic and rare diseases.

The German government is expanding bans on knives in public spaces in response to a terror attack in Solingen, boosting police competences and plans to speed up deportations of criminal asylum seekers and Dublin-cases.

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Instead of asking member states to reconsider their commissioner picks, von der Leyen is putting commissioners up for a vote in the European Parliament for lawmakers to separate the wheat from the chaff.  

China announced on 29 August that it would not impose provisional tariffs on EU brandy, signalling a potential easing of trade tensions with the 27-member bloc.

Ukraine on Thursday (29 August) intensified its push for Western approval to strike military targets deep inside Russia, urging allies to lift restrictions on the use of their donated long-range weapons.

Lasse Frimand Jensen invites you to Aalborg for the 10th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns, which we like to call #Aalborg2024. This year's conference marks thirty years since the first edition of the event, also held in Aalborg in 1994. We will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Aalborg Charter (1994) and the 20th anniversary of the Aalborg Commitments (2004).

French president Emmanuel Macron declared the Paralympic Games open on Wednesday (28 August) after a glorious ceremony in which competitors were celebrated by joyful volunteers and spectators on a sweet summer night.

Teenagers are using fewer condoms when having sex, a report commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) has found, warning of the risks of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones and armoured personnel carriers raided the flashpoint cities of Jenin and Tulkarm and other areas in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday (28 August), killing at least 10 Palestinians.

A French judge put Telegram boss Pavel Durov under formal investigation on Wednesday (28 August) in a probe into organised crime on the messaging app, but granted the entrepreneur bail.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about French President Emmanuel Macron hoping to sell Rafales to Serbia, businesses urging Slovakia not to destroy what businesses say is a successful recycling system, and so much more.

The Romanian government will start negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to acquire shares in the Giurgiulești International Free Port in Moldova.

Slovakia's Environment Ministry should abandon legislative plans that could jeopardise the country's highly successful Deposit Return System (DRS), which serves as a model for other EU countries, nine beverage packaging companies, including EUROPEN, the Brewers of Europe and Zero Waste Europe, have said in a joint letter.

The European Union’s current structure would not be appropriate if it were to include more than 30 members, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said after meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has signalled his willingness to hold talks with the opposition on irregular immigration, a hot-button issue that has reignited the country’s political landscape ahead of a crucial election weekend.