Euobserver.com

EU nationals living in Britain have been harder hit by pandemic-linked job losses than natives and now make up 9 percent, or some 22,200 people, of those living on the streets, according to a study by charity group Crisis. About one-third of homeless EU nationals who did have jobs complained about exploitative working conditions, such as working without any contractual rights and being paid below the minimum wage.

Belarus has trained Afghan and Iraqi war veterans to carry out armed attacks on the Polish border, a former regime insider has warned.

The Missing Migrants Projects run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says more people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe have died so far this year than any year since 2018. It noted 2,457 deaths and/or missing persons in 2021, compared to 2,272 in 2020, 2,095 in 2019 and 2,344 in 2018. Most of the deaths took place along the Central Mediterranean Sea route.

Officials from the Czech Republic and Poland met for the first hearing at the European Court of Justice over the controversial coal mine in Turów - the first time in EU history one state sues another for environmental reasons.

An international group of 60 investors, representing around €9 trillion, has warned against including gas and nuclear in the new European taxonomy on sustainable finance.

In the draft report, MEPs worry about the "increasing financial dependence of European universities on China", and notes a need for Mandarin-speakers at the European External Action Service.

Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have introduced national laws, under states of emergency, allowing authorities to turn back people into Belarus. The European Commission is set to ask for some of those rules to be amended.

The core demand of Fridays for Future could not be less threatening: governments should implement the promises they made in the 2015 Paris Agreement. But there is much talk that the old institutions of representative democracy are not good enough.

The 'Waterloo'-era 1970s was indeed a positive and thriving time in Sweden, during which much progress was made in society. That progress, driven by the Social Democrats, with Olof Palme as prime minister, ensured a high-level welfare state.

The EU should press for the final declaration of the climate summit in Scotland to decry the "ambition gap" between national pledges on CO2 emissions-cuts and hopes of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Centigrade, according to a document by Germany's delegation to the 'COP26' event seen by Reuters. "There has hardly been any progress on the 17 points of negotiation over financial topics [aid for poor countries]," it added.

New European rules for big tech companies could become an international "game-changer for the online world", Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told MEPs.

New European rules for big tech companies could become an international "game-changer for the online world", Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told MEPs.

Turkish Airlines and FlyDubai could be blacklisted by the EU for flying migrants to Belarus after an attack on the Polish border blew up into an international incident.

Six human-rights activists, including a French and US citizen, working in the West Bank had their phones hacked using military-grade spyware made by Israel's NSO Group, according to a study by Front Line Defenders, a Dublin-based NGO. Three of the activists worked for NGOs which had received EU funding. Hungary's government, last week, admitted to having used the same spyware, but said it did not use it against its citizens.

The Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has been saved from collapse after press-bashing prime minister Janez Janša's government agreed to new funding which will "enable normal financing and thus the STA's activities this year, while we will also have something left for next year," STA acting director Igor Kadunc said Monday. EU values commissioner Věra Jourová had urged Janša in September not "to put ... pressure on media".

Widespread use of Titanium Oxide (TiO2) in anti-corona face-masks did not pose a cancer threat despite the chemical's known health risks, which were highlighted in a study by Belgian health body Sciensano in October, the EU Commission told Reuters on Monday. "It cannot be concluded that 'FFP' face masks or surgical masks, which may contain TiO2, may pose a risk to health," a commission spokesperson said.

Poland violated the rights of two judges whose job applications were blocked by a government-controlled panel, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled Monday. Poland's 'Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court' was "not a 'tribunal established by law'," the ECHR said, awarding the judges €15,000 each in compensation. The Polish government attacked the "bizarre" verdict, amid wider EU concerns on judicial independence.

The US expected a surge in international visitors on Monday, as foreigners who had been barred for nearly 20 months were allowed to enter. The US lifted a ban on travellers from 33 countries who can prove they are fully-vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the US or the World Health Organization. It is the first time since March 2020 that direct entry has been possible for non-essential travellers.

Germany's Covid-19 infection rate has risen to 201 per 100,000 - its highest level since the start of the pandemic, new data revealed Monday. The three political parties working to agree a coalition government by early December are expected to present proposals to combat a fourth wave. Plans include reintroducing free tests. Bavaria state premier Markus Soeder called for more decisive action in view of the new peak.

France's bishops on Monday agreed to sell part of the Church's extensive real estate holdings, to compensate victims of decades of child sexual-abuse by the clergy - during which 216,000 minors suffered sexual abuse by priests. The move comes a month after a devastating independent report confirmed serious levels of child sexual abuse by priests dating as far back as the 1950s, AFP reported.