Euobserver.com

Young people in the Nordic countries are among the most privileged in the world - yet many of them feel miserable. The Nordic Council is concerned and aims to find out why.

For many, the white paper on the future of Europe was one of the best papers of the Juncker Commission.

Denmark has arrested three members of an Iranian Arab opposition group on suspicion of spying for Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports. The three are members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) which fights for more independence of the Arab Ahvaz region in Iran. They were on the radar of the Danish security services for supporting an attack on Iran in 2018.

Migrants and refugees on the island of Lesbos in Greece mounted a second day of protests over the deplorable living conditions and in reaction to a recent asylum law enacted earlier this year by the Greek government. The protesters, numbering in the hundreds according to Reuters, came after women and children were teargassed by Greek riot police on Monday.

European Union diplomats agreed to impose travel bans on two Turkish nationals and freeze their assets in retaliation for Ankara's gas prospecting in disputed waters near Cyprus, officials told Bloomberg. Despite pressure from Cyprus, the measures will not affect Turkish companies. However, they do signal further escalation between the EU and Turkey on the illegal drilling in Cyprus' waters.

The EU's foreign policy branch (European External Action Service, EEAS) on Tuesday issued a statement criticising US president Donald Trump's decision to re-authorise the use of anti-personnel mines by US military forces outside of the Korean peninsula. An EEAS spokesperson said the US move "undermines the global norm against anti-personnel mines", noting that the majority of mine victims are children.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell rejected the US plan floated by Donald Trump's son-in-law to settle the decades-long dispute between Israel and Palestine. The EU says the US proposal does not meet the terms for a negotiated two-state solution, based on 1967 lines, with equivalent land-swaps, agreed between the parties. "The US initiative, as presented on 28 January, departs from these internationally-agreed parameters," said Borrell.

British prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday promised "urgent action" against climate change, after adviser and ex-minister Claire O'Neill accused him of "huge lack of leadership and engagement" over the UK's role hosting the UN climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow this year. O'Neill, who was in charge of COP26, said the UK is "miles off track" and that promises of action "are not close to being met", the Guardian writes.

A Chechen blogger and critic of Chechnya's president Ramzan Kadyrov died of multiple stab wounds in an attack at a hotel in northern France last week, AFP writes. Imran Aliev, a 44-year old, lived in Belgium where he had political asylum. Several of Kadyrov's critics have been killed in suspicious circumstances in recent years. Last August, a Chechen rebel commander was shot and killed in Berlin.

The EU rules on mobile phone roaming charges will stop applying in respect to the UK, the EU Commission has said. "When traveling to the UK, the situation will be similar to that of traveling to Switzerland: roaming changes may apply," it said. EU rules will stop applying in the UK after the end of the transition period in December 2020.

New regulation of online targeting systems, which collect users' data to promote and recommend content like posts or adverts, was recommended by the UK government's advisory body on artificial intelligence (AI) ethics on Tuesday. New rules should also request the creation of publicly-accessible archives for 'high-risk' adverts, such as political adverts, and encourage long-term wholesale reform of online targeting, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) suggested.

Following a preliminary hearing on Monday, a Belgian court will decide on the possible extradition of the former head of the Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, and his former minister, Toni Comín, on 18 February. The Belgian public prosecutor argued that the arrest warrant should be suspended, while the European Parliament considers Spain's request to waive the immunity of the two MEPs, according to the daily Catalan News.

The former head of the UK foreign office warned Tuesday of the British government's "disturbing" opening gambit in the new Brexit trade negotiations. Simon Fraser, formerly the most senior civil servant in the foreign office, said the UK government's statement was "antagonistic", "disturbing" and used "misleading language". "We should be concerned about where this is heading", he warned.

One Belgian national has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the Belgian minister of health, Maggie De Block, confirmed in a statement. On Sunday nine Belgians came back from the Wuhan province in China and were tested in the military hospital of Neder-Over-Heembeek. Eight tested negative, but "one person seems to infected by the new coronavirus", De Block said.

The EU wants to prevent the UK undercutting its firms and businesses. It offers a "highly ambitious" trade deal in exchange for sticking to the rules. British PM Boris Johnson's response: no way.

While the numbers of coronavirus cases keep rising worldwide, EU authorities insist that the situation in Europe is "under control" - although 21 cases have been registered, across six member states.

The mayor of the Romanian city of Targu Mures has said that the state should screen would-be parents for proof of a stable workplace, financial resources, basic education and the legal minimum age required to care for children.

The EU's largest political family decided to continue with the suspension of its Hungarian member, prime minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party. The centre-right group is still divided over Fidesz, and will hold a congress on its vision of the future.

Some steps have been taken but there is so much more we can still do for the sake of our planet and our own continued existence.

Ahead of the EU's new climate law proposal, a study published on Tuesday by the Ecologic Institute analyses climate legislation in eight EU countries and identifies a set of common elements that help to ensure effective governance. The report indicates that any climate law needs clear quantitative and long-term targets, mandatory climate planning, annual reporting, assigning responsibilities to institutions, scientific advice and public participation.