Euobserver.com

"We will never, ever accept a two-state solution. We are firm on that and very united," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Nicosia Thursday, referring to Turkey's proposal for how to solve a 40-year old frozen conflict on the island. "If they [Turkey] speak to one of our member states, like for example Cyprus, in whatever tone, they speak to the European Union," she also said.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Thursday it would not charge asylum seekers with offences, such as "illegal entry", because they had normally not broken any other UK laws and would "be better dealt with by removal" than criminal proceedings. The decision came after the Home Office tried to tighten anti-immigration laws in its Nationality and Borders Bill earlier this week, which made entering the UK without permission a criminal offence.

Jonathan Taylor, an oil-industry whistleblower, is free to go home to the UK after Croatia snubbed Monaco's request to have him extradited.

The UK government decided that British citizens travelling to amber-list countries will not have to quarantine on return if their NHS app is proving they are fully-vaccinated, but Britons living overseas will not be able to prove their vaccine status if they have been jabbed abroad, The Guardian writes. The move is likely to cause a significant backlash from UK citizens living abroad, especially those now fully-vaccinated.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has announced the end of Britain's military mission in Afghanistan, 20 years after the post-9/11 invasion that started the "war on terror", The Guardian writes. The prime minister confirmed to MPs that the intervention, which claimed the lives of 457 British soldiers, would end even as the insurgent Taliban were rapidly gaining territory in rural areas, as British, US and other forces withdrew.

The European Parliament in a resolution on Thursday condemned Hungary's anti-LGBTIQ legislation with 459 votes for, 147 against, and 58 abstentions. MEPs said urged the EU Commission to take legal action. MEPs also note that "these human-rights violations are part of a broader political agenda to break down democracy and the rule of law, including media freedom, and should be considered a systemic violation of EU values".

The European Commission has imposed a €875m fine on Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche for forming a cartel, restricting competition in emission-cleaning technology for diesel cars. "Over five years, the car manufacturers deliberately avoided to compete on cleaning better than what was required by EU emission standards…despite the relevant technology being available," EU anti-trust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday. This is separate from the previous 'dieselgate' scandal.

The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event, Reuters reports. Prime minister Yoshihide Suga said it was essential to prevent Tokyo, where the highly-infectious Delta Covid-19 variant was spreading, from becoming the source of another wave of infections.

The surge in Covid-19 cases across Europe due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant is making EU member states consider re-tightening travel restrictions for this summer.

Independence of courts in Austria, in Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherland and Denmark is seen as very, or fairly, good, according to a survey published with the EU Commission's annual justice scoreboard.

Thee international community needs to act to prevent the environmental destruction being orchestrated by Slovenia's populist prime minister, Janez Janša - especially now his country has the EU's rotating presidency.

This year's Prague European Summit will focus on three main topics - the post-pandemic recovery, EU external relations - especially in the Neighbourhood Policy - and future trends and policies, with a focus on the 'digital decade'.

in a fit of desperation, a young man from Tunisia threw himself over board. He was quickly rescued. But others have made similar threats, if no solution is found, including a 38-year old pregnant woman from Libya.

The coronavirus epidemiological curve is rising fast among young people in Spain and the country's regions are accelerating the implementation of new measures to contain the infections among adolescents and the 20-30 group, El Pais writes. Catalonia announced that it would be closing nightlife venues once more. Other regions are pushing for mass testing among young people. Castilla y León has opted to slow down its deescalation of anti-coronavirus measures.

Ethiopia's EU embassy has complained about EU Commissioner Janez Lenarčič's recent statement to MEPs, in which he said Ethiopia was laying "siege" to its rebellious Tigray region and using "starvation as a weapon". Lenarčič's "regrettable" comments "ignore the facts on the ground," the embassy told EUobserver in a letter Wednesday. Similar recent comments by EU envoy and Finnish minister Pekka Haavisto would also "not help alleviate the crisis", it said.

Belarus has expelled the head of mission at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk and the consul general in the town of Grodno, prompting Lithuania to take similar action, and leaving just one consular official from each country in place. "Regretfully [Belarus president Aleksander] Lukashenko chooses to close the door of diplomatic relations with Lithuania," Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said. The EU ambassador in Minsk was also recently expelled.

The EU is planning to create a new anti-money laundering watchdog in the wake of several bank scandals before the pandemic.

Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven on Wednesday returned to office - one week after he resigned - on the back of a parliament vote-of-confidence, in which 176 out of 349 MPs supported his leadership. The centre-left Löfven has held power since 2014 in a coalition with the Greens. He resigned after a clash with his political allies over housing policy and faces general elections next year.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that the EU economy is set to expand by 4.8 percent this year - around half a percentage point higher than provisions under the spring forecast. Growth is predicted to reach 4.5 percent in 2022. However, inflation is now forecast at 2.2 percent this year and 1.6 percent in 2022. From 2022, pressures on consumer prices should moderate gradually, the commission said.

Some 2,087 people died between January and June this year trying to reach Spain from Africa by sea, compared to 2,170 for all of last year, Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras has said, in what makes 2021 the deadliest year in the NGO's 14-year records. The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands was the most lethal, with 1,922 fatalities in 57 shipwrecks. The Alborán sea route also claimed 93 lives.