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The European Court of Human Rights on Monday ordered 33 European governments to answer to a climate lawsuit lodged by six Portuguese youth campaigners, AP reported. The applicants, aged between eight and 21, argued that government inaction to halt global warming jeopardised their futures and wellbeing. The countries, including Germany, France or the UK, have until the end of February to respond - unless a settlement is reached before then.

The US embassy in Budapest on Monday "strongly condemned" an opinion piece published by a Hungarian ministerial commissioner for culture "equating current debates in Europe with the horrific murder of millions of people during the Holocaust". Szilard Demeter later retracted the article, published in pro-government Origo, which had dubbed Hungary and Poland "the new Jews" in their rule-of-law disputes and Europe "George Soros' gas chamber", referring to the US-Hungarian billionaire.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon on Monday declined to rule out a new vote for Scottish independence next year and hinted she might go to court for permission to hold one if London tried to block it, Reuters writes. Scots narrowly rejected independence in 2014, but Brexit and the British government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis have increased support for secession, with most polls showing a majority now favour independence.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban on Monday evening travelled to Warsaw for discussions with Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki on their joint blockade to the EU's long-term budget and coronavirus recovery package. The two met in Budapest only last Thursday, and confirmed their opposition to linking EU funds to the respect for the rule of law.

Spain is dismantling a dockside migrant camp in Gran Canaria amid widespread criticism of conditions, including the lack of running water and only a few toilets. Some 2,600 people were housed at Arguineguin, dubbed the "camp of shame" by Spanish media. They are being transferred to empty tourist accommodation and a military camp. Around 8,000 people, seeking refuge and better lives, arrived by boat from West Africa in November alone.

Four officers are reported to have been charged in connection with the beating of music producer Michel Zecler, Deutsche Welle reports. The incident arose after arrests were made at protests over the new security law at the weekend. Video footage showed Zecler was repeatedly beaten by three officers and subjected to racial abuse. A fourth officer threw a tear gas grenade into the building.

"If the UK wants a deal here, there's a deal to be done. If the UK wants to use fish as an excuse not to have a deal, then that could happen too," Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney warned.

Emissions regulated under the EU's carbon market fell by 9.1 percent in 2019, although aviation emissions continued to increased. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to lead to "an unprecedented fall in emissions" in 2020.

The European Commission says Hungary can secure the Russian vaccine Sputnik V but only if it invokes national emergency measures. It must also remain within the territory of the country.

You are not likely to hear this story, because it does not fit into the environmental activist or media narrative about American clean energy and will come as a shock to the most enthusiastic boosters of the Paris agreement.

Telecoms providers must stop installing Chinese firm Huawei's equipment in the UK's 5G networks from next September, the government has said, reports The Guardian. The digital affairs secretary, Oliver Dowden, set out a roadmap to remove high-risk suppliers ahead of the telecommunications-security bill coming before parliament. Dowden said: "Today I am setting out a clear path for the complete removal of high-risk vendors from our 5G networks."

The EU recently signed a huge contract for a US anti-corona drug which, the WHO says, might not work, but there's little transparency on how the deal was made.

The EU and US ought to join forces on digital regulation, foreign investor screening, cyber-security, and corona-vaccine distribution to hold back China, according to an internal EU strategy paper leaked to the Financial Times. "As open democratic societies and market economies, the EU and the US agree on the strategic challenge presented by China's growing international assertiveness," the EU paper said, adding the new transatlantic alliance was a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.

Tens of thousands of people marched against a new law in France on Saturday, which forbids them to photograph or film police officers in future. Police in Paris used water cannon and tear gas amid clashes with hardliners, who set fire to buildings and injured 62 policemen. The demonstrations were fuelled by the publication of a video showing three white French policemen beating up a black music producer, Michael Zecler.

Police arrested some 300 people at 20 separate protests in Minsk on Sunday, the 17th weekend in a row of pro-democracy demonstrations after rigged elections in August. Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko said on TV Friday he would support amending the constitution, to reduce presidential powers, and that he would "not be president" after the changes were made, but he did not give any timeline for the process.

Denmark might exhume and incinerate the 10,000 tonnes of dead mink it culled in fur farms after finding a mutated form of coronavirus in the animals. Some 11 million mink were buried near a bathing lake and drinking water, prompting a health scare. Denmark's agriculture minister recently resigned after fudging the legal basis for the cull. And the Danish PM cried on TV while visiting a destroyed mink farm Thursday.

Serbia has tried to calm tension over a history dispute with Montenegro which showed the brittleness of Western Balkans politics. Montenegro first expelled Serbia's ambassador because he had told a congress of Montenegrin Serbs that a 1918 decision for Montenegro to unify with Serbia had meant their "liberation". Serbia then expelled Montenegro's envoy in return, but later rescinded the move to extend "the hand of cooperation and friendship", Belgrade said.

The EU has condemned the assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist in a shoot-out outside Tehran at the weekend. "This is a criminal act and runs counter to the principle of respect for human rights the EU stands for," the EU foreign service said. Iran blamed Israel and vowed retaliation, but the EU added that: "It's more important than ever for all parties to remain calm and exercise maximum restraint".

EU countries have begun talks on which names to hit first with new-model human rights sanctions.

Lithuania wants a new EU cyber-security centre to hang its flag in a historic TV tower in Vilnius, on one of Europe's modern front lines.