Pope Francis kicked off a four-day visit to Luxembourg and Belgium Thursday (26 September) with an appeal for international diplomacy and negotiations amid flaring conflicts across the globe.

President Vladimir Putin has drawn a "red line" for the United States and its allies by signalling that Moscow will consider responding with nuclear weapons if they allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with long-range Western missiles.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the coalition of Prime Minister Robert Fico facing internal, parties in the Bulgarian parliament expressing satisfaction with Brussels' decision to block North Macedonia's EU accession, and so much more. 

Former US president Donald Trump is likely to renew its controversial pitch of a possible swift peace deal with Russia when he meets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (27 September).

Far from its native Champagne, prestigious French wine house Taittinger on Thursday inaugurated its new vineyard in south-east England, where climate change is making it increasingly easy to grow grapes.

China's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, a senior US defense official said on Thursday (26 September), a potential embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to expand its military capabilities.

A new international coalition to seek a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict was announced on Thursday (26 September) despite Israel's absence from the talks.

With cardiovascular diseases the leading cause of death globally, prioritising management of the condition and preventative measures is critical to enhancing quality of life. On World Heart Day we highlight small lifestyle and dietary changes to better manage heart health.

Parliamentary group leaders in Bulgaria have welcomed the EU's decision to open accession talks with Albania and to block North Macedonia until it includes the Bulgarian minority in its constitution.

The mounting rift between Slovakia’s ruling parties, SNS and Hlas-SD (NI), shows no signs of abating as parties air their differences in the media, and Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI) refuses to intervene publicly.

The Polish-Belarusian border has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and the situation is becoming more serious, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (PSL, EPP) said on Thursday.

Hungary's chief prosecutor has asked the president of the European Parliament to suspend the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Orbán's main political rival, MEP Péter Magyar, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday (26 September).

Portugal will introduce a new system for the return and expulsion of migrants staying in the country without authorisation and create the National Foreigners and Borders Unit within the police, the government announced on Thursday.

Italy has secured the support of nine EU countries for Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso’s proposal to bring forward the revision of EU car emissions legislation from 2026 to 2025, with the minister saying there are now enough EU member states ready to back Italy’s call.

The alarming rise of unregulated "shadow" tankers transporting Russian oil through the Baltic Sea—an increase of 30% last year—poses a serious threat to the region's environment and safety. Experts warn that if this trend continues, environmental disasters are not just possible—they are inevitable.

If we cross a number of echoes, there is no apparent unity among nuclear defenders behind the need for a specific EU regulation for nuclear energy, a "Nuclear act" as proposed by Thierry Breton before he left the EU Commission.

The future of EU telecoms rules had national regulators, the European Commission's competition directorate (DG COMP) and the EU executive's connectivity directorate (DG CNECT) battling it out at an event in Brussels.

Discussions about tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) are intensifying following a recent meeting of industry ministers in Brussels on Thursday (26th). Member states are split on supporting these tariffs, with undecided countries like Sweden and Germany potentially abstaining.

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is projected to tie for first place with the ÖVP at a historic 28% in Sunday's national elections, though hopes for a far-right chancellorship seem unlikely. 

While EU industry broadly agreed with former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s “valid” diagnosis of Europe’s economic ills, they remained deeply divided on Thursday (26 September) over how to fund the bloc’s bulky  investment needs.