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European Council President Charles Michel's surprise announcement over the weekend that he would step down by July is likely to force the pro-European forces' to speed up negotiations over the EU's top jobs following the elections in June.

EU Council President Charles Michel will run in the election for European Parliament in June and will leave his post mid-July if he gets elected, he said in an interview with Belgian newspaper De Standaard published on Saturday (6 January).

The European Union's foreign policy chief met a political official of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Beirut on Saturday (6 January), as part of a push to avoid Lebanon being dragged into the Israel-Hamas war.

Somalia's president has signed a law "nullifying" a contentious agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland in a largely symbolic gesture of his government's displeasure over the deal to grant port access.

Spain has agreed to recognise passports from Kosovo, having previously been one of five EU states not to do so or to recognise the Balkan state, the latter's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said Saturday (6 January).

US regulators on Saturday (6 January) temporarily grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliners for safety checks following a cabin panel blowout that forced a new Alaska Airlines jet carrying passengers to make an emergency landing.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1, has reached its destination within the anticipated four-month timeframe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday (6 January).

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Europe's senior diplomat Josep Borrell began a new diplomatic push on Friday (5 January) to stop spillover from the Gaza war into Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

China said Friday (5 January) it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union, as commercial tensions flare between the two trading superpowers.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday (5 January) praised former finance minister and European Union leader Jacques Delors at a state funeral, saying he had "reconciled Europe with its future".

EU citizens with a migrant background are perceived as ‘outsiders’ in European society, and therefore tend to stay away from politics, voting, or standing as candidates in the next EU elections, an association dealing with migrant EU citizens told Euractiv in an interview.

The German public health sector has taken a step towards digitalisation, making electronic prescriptions obligatory, however, the way into the European Health Data Space is still far away.

Welcome to Euractiv’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. Following the winter holidays, this issue provides an overview of the main developments since the Christmas break. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

Can the EU be a truly global player? In 2023 it surely attempted to do so, with limited success, as it had to grapple with the challenge of juggling multiple crises while looking to project its influence to neighbours and partners.

In a bid to soothe farmers protests, the German government has announced changes to its hard-won budget compromise, which will see some subsidies for farmers kept and a fund for marine protection slashed.

Ukraine said on Thursday (4 January) its air force conducted a strike on a Russian command post near the occupied city of Sevastopol more than 200 km from Kyiv-held territory, and hit a military unit in a separate strike on the Crimean peninsula.

The Ukrainian embassy in Italy asked the city of Modena on Thursday (4 January) to withdraw its approval for the use of a civic hall to host an event about Russia's reconstruction of the war-wrecked city of Mariupol.

With Aline Blankertz, Policy and Public Sector Officer at Wikimedia, we have a look at the big events that happened in the areas of data policy and competition in 2023 and discuss the EU's future and biggest challenges for 2024.

President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Thursday (4 January) allowing foreign nationals who fight for Russia in Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship for themselves and their families.

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday (4 January) for two explosions in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani.