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In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Romania tripling its annual culling quota for bears, culling, NATO’s Stoltenberg against Poland shooting down missiles over Ukraine’s skies, and so much more.

Some lawmakers in France's left-wing bloc said they should focus on winning the speaker's role to show they have command over parliament even though they are well short of a majority and are struggling to form a government after a snap election.

The EU announced sanctions on Monday (15 July) against five Israeli individuals and three entities, describing them as responsible for "serious and systematic human rights abuses" against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Waving flags and dressed in Spain's red and yellow colours, tens of thousands of people jubilantly greeted the country's triumphant Euro 2024 men's football team on Monday during a parade in Madrid.

The EU has to assess its priorities, as well as enact institutional and budgetary change to achieve its defence goals, writes the Charlamagne Group. 

For the first time, the European plastics industry is united to redesign the plastics system and achieve net zero emissions. Learn why ‘the Plastics Transition’ roadmap is being considered as a profound cultural shift for the plastics industry.

Romanian MPs approved a law to manage the country's bear population in Monday’s extraordinary session, agreeing to triple the annual culling quota after one killed a young woman in the Carpathian Mountains last week.

There is a real risk that Bulgaria will lose money under the EU Recovery Plan, Bulgarian Commissioner Iliana Ivanova said in an interview with bTV on Monday, citing the lack of a stable government.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposed the idea that Poland could shoot down Russian missiles over Ukrainian regions close to the Polish border, as requested by Kyiv.

In a surprise move, recently re-elected Czech MEP Martin Hlaváček (ANO, PfE) announced Monday that he would not seek a second term in the European Parliament.

Europe and Africa will only be relevant on the international stage if they join forces to balance the rising influence of the Indo-Pacific region, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said on Monday.

Opposition parties in Italy are up in arms over the decision to rename one of the country's most famous airports, Milan Malpensa, after late former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Germany will not provide fighter jets to Ukraine, the government made clear on Monday after Friedrich Merz, leader of the main opposition party, suggested as much.

The Spanish government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) should declare a state of "migratory emergency" in the whole of Spain and not just in the Canary Islands - the region currently hardest hit by the influx of irregular migrants from West Africa - the main opposition centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP) said on Monday.

Ministers from agricultural powerhouses Spain and Germany spoke out against Hungary's stance on "novel foods" at the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) in Brussels on Monday (15 July).

Seeing the military patrol handing out call-up papers on the outskirts of Kyiv, one man slipped into a nearby store. Another refused to even stop for the officers. Others, however, quietly obliged.

Former US president Donald Trump on Monday (15 July) picked controversial Republican Senator JD Vance, who has openly spoken out in favour of isolationist foreign policies, as vice presidential running mate for his White House bid.

Euractiv's Transport Brief brings you the latest on the transport sector in Europe.

Israel struck the southern and central Gaza Strip on Monday (15 July) to put more pressure on Hamas, following a weekend strike targeting the militant group's leadership, which killed scores of Palestinians who had sought shelter in a makeshift camp.

The "arc of conflict and instability" threatening Europe's borders will be the focus of the upcoming European Political Community (EPC) meeting near London, the UK's new government said on Saturday (13 July).