As the European Union prepares to assess the first application to sell cultivated meat across the 27-member bloc, companies in the alternative protein sector grapple with the challenge of securing the investment needed to scale up production.

German exporters are vacillating between hope and pessimism over the prospects of the EU striking new trade deals during the European Commission's upcoming five-year mandate, with the country's top export-driven sectors warning that the bloc must change its approach towards global partners or risk being left behind.

The European Parliament's spokesman, Jaume Duch, will be the new regional minister for the European Union and external action in the newly formed progressive Catalan government, sources told Euractiv's partner EFE.

German Green politicians have published an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for the EU to stop German border checks, which they see as a violation of the Schengen area.

X was hit with eight data protection complaints across Europe on Monday, just days after it said it will suspend the processing of some EU users' personal data for AI training.

A Vienna-based privacy campaign group lodged complaints in eight European countries against Elon Musk's X on Monday (12 August) over "unlawfully" feeding the personal data of users into its artificial intelligence technology without their consent.

Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of starting a fire on the grounds of Europe's largest and now Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Sunday (11 August), with both sides reporting no sign of elevated radiation.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Belgrade on Saturday (10 August) demanding a halt to Rio Tinto's lithium project in Western Serbia over fears it could pollute nearby land and water.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to "restore justice" and pressure Moscow's forces, in his first acknowledgement of Kyiv's surprise offensive into the western Kursk region.

Movie star Tom Cruise rappelled from the roof of France's national stadium and received the Olympic flag on Sunday (11 August), bringing a heavy dose of Hollywood to the closing ceremony of the Paris Games.

Residents fled their homes on Sunday (11 August) as a fast-moving wildfire outside Athens fuelled by hot, windy weather burned trees, houses and cars and sent smoke clouds over the Greek capital.

Belarus sent more troops to reinforce its border with Ukraine on Saturday (10 August), saying Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace in the course of Kyiv's military incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

Donald Trump's US presidential campaign said on Saturday (10 August) some of its internal communications were hacked and blamed the Iranian government, citing past hostilities between Trump and Iran without providing direct evidence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to "strengthen our Ukrainian spiritual independence", suggesting that the country's leadership was moving towards banning the branch of the Orthodox Church that has links to Moscow.

Rescuers in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on a religious school housing displaced Palestinians killed 93 people on Saturday (10 August), sparking international condemnation despite Israel's insistence that it was targeting militants.