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The US on Wednesday imposed fresh sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, accusing him in a statement of corruption and threatening the stability and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegoina, Reuters reports. The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on a TV station, Banja Luka-based Alternative Television, saying Dodik had acquired it in order to control its agenda. The Treasury designations freeze any of Dodik and ATV's US assets.

Sweden has created an agency to combat disinformation ahead of the country's September election, AP reports. The new Swedish Psychological Defence Agency is to "defend our open and democratic society and free opinions by identifying, analysing and responding to inappropriate influences and other misleading information directed at Sweden or Swedish interests." No specific countries were named. The general election is on 11 September.

Poland's government, led by the Law and Justice party, is facing claims it purchased and used the Pegasus spyware against opponents, Euronews reports. Liberal newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported this week that Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau bought the Israeli-created software in 2017. Pegasus allows users to remotely hack into phones. Last month, AP reported that the phones of Polish opposition figures was hacked dozens of times.

The German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock warned in Washington that "it is out of the question, and let me make this very clear - there cannot be a decision on the security in Europe without Europe."

Gas prices in Europe rose by 30 percent on Tuesday raising concerns over the impact on vulnerable households' bills, The Guardian reported. A pipeline that usually delivers gas from Siberia to Europe was sending flows from Germany to Poland for a 15th successive day, instead of the usual westward flow. Russian gas has subject to scrutiny for months amid concerns over price manipulation.

Kosovo's government on Tuesday presented a ban on cryptocurrency mining in an attempt to curb electricity consumption. The country faces the worst energy crisis in a decade due to production outages, amid European gas prices rising 30 percent. Cheap power prices allowed many people in Kosovo to mine crypto in recent years, but authorities were forced to introduce power cuts last month.

A Nato official confirmed on Tuesday that secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has scheduled a special meeting with allied ambassadors and Russian diplomats on 12 January in Brussels, Reuters reported. The meeting will take place amid tensions over Russia's military build-up around Ukraine. Nato foreign ministers are expected to meet via videoconference on Friday to prepare for the meeting. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Ukraine's frontline this week.

After initial enthusiasm, the Czech Republic signalled it wants to modify the new EU rules on nuclear and gas.

Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday accepted the resignation of his government, after declaring a two-week state of emergency in the central Asian nation's biggest city Almaty and in the western Mangistau province where fuel protests have turned violent, The Guardian reports. The state of emergency includes a nighttime curfew and ban on mass gatherings, following a protest by around 5,000 demonstrators in Almaty, the former capital, according to AFP.

French president Emmanuel Macron has revealed he wants to 'piss off' those still refusing to be vaccinated against Covid, with further restrictions on their access to public spaces. In an interview with Le Parisien on Tuesday, Macron said it was "only a very small minority who are resisting. How do we reduce that minority? We reduce it – sorry for the expression – by pissing them off even more."

A new EU ban on certain types of tattoo ink came into force on Tuesday, prompting outcry from the industry, the BBC reports. The restrictions, part of updated EU regulations on chemicals, known as Reach, were agreed by member states in 2020. The ban covers 4,000 chemicals including isopropanol alcohol, a common ingredient in tattoo inks, although officials say substitutes are already available. The aim is to reduce adverse reactions.

In Hungary, Fidesz has barricaded itself behind a thick net of legal rules and captured institutions. If there are controversies about the April's election result, we may have a full-blown crisis in the middle of the EU.

A World Health Organisation official said hospitalisations and death rates linked to the spread of Omicron tend to be lower than with previous strains. The more transmissible variant appears to affect mostly the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms.

A record number of more than 28,000 migrants crossed the Channel from France to the UK in small boats last year, the PA news agency reported Tuesday, based on its analysis of government data, France24 writes. At least 28,395 people reached the UK, more than triple the figure for 2020. Such crossings ended tragically for many, with at least 27 migrants drowning off France on November 24.

A total of 4,400 migrants were lost at sea when trying to reach Spain in 2021, making it the deadliest year on record, according to a report of the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras released on Monday, Reuters reported. The number of victims represents a 103-percent increase compared to 2020. The majority of those missing or dead were en route from Western Africa to the Canary Islands. 

The European Commission has been accused of undermining public scrutiny of its plans to label natural gas and nuclear as a "green" investment - after it published its long-awaited proposal on New Year's Eve when "nobody was watching".

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will visit Ukraine's frontline this week in a show of support for Kyiv in the face of Moscow's military buildup on its border, The Moscow Times reports. Borrell — who will meet Ukrainian officials in Kyiv during his visit from Tuesday to Thursday — has insisted that "any discussion about European security must happen in coordination with and participation of EU."

Dozens of French MPs say they have received death threats, ahead of a vote in the French parliament on Tuesday on making a vaccination pass mandatory for entry to various public spaces, Euronews reported. Under the proposed new rules, citizens will not be allowed to show a negative test result to enter bars, restaurants, or use long-distance public transport.

Turkey's annual inflation rate has soared to a 19-year high, the BBC reports, underlining worries about the country's lira. Prices rose more than 36 percent in December as the cost of transport, food and other staples ate into household budgets. Turkey's Central Bank has lowered interest rates, amid a collapse in the value of the currency. The lira lost 44 percent of its value against the dollar in 2021.

New laws on the minimum price for alcohol in Ireland came into effect on Tuesday, the BBC reports. The new law, part of a public health measure, will affect alcohol sold in off licences, shops and supermarkets. Under the new measures, a bottle of wine cannot be sold for less than €7.40 and a can of beer for less than €1.70. Scotland introduced a similar law in 2018.