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Updated: 20 hours 48 min ago

[Ticker] Turkish TV to censor US basketball game over anti-Erdogan player

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 21:30
Turkish TV has announced that they would not broadcast the NBA Western Conference Finals in the US on Tuesday night between Golden State Warriors and Portland Trailblazers because a Turkish NBA star and fierce critic of Turkish president Erdogan, Enes Kanter, plays for Portland Trailblazers. Turkish TV presenters also said they would not be able to broadcast the NBA final if Portland Trailblazers reached the US final.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Ombudsman's new probes into member states' secrecy

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 15:56
The EU's Ombudsman on Tuesday launched two new probes to open up the decision-making process in the council of member states. One looks at how the EU handles documents of the Eurogroup, the key decision-making body of the eurozone. The EU watchdog's other inquiry highlights the lack of transparency around national ministers' annual decision on fishing quotas, that are done completely behind closed doors.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] US begins Russia-deterrent military drills in Europe

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 12:21
US forces in Europe have begun a series of military drills to "deter Russian aggression and support a Europe that is stable and secure", American general John Healy said Tuesday. The first exercise, in Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia, is to run to 30 May. The remaining drills will end in September, taking in also Nato states Bulgaria, Germany, Iceland, Italy, and Romania, as well as Nato partners Georgia and Ukraine.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Johnson would not be bound by customs deal with Labour

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 12:21
The UK former foreign secretary and 'Leave' campaigner, Boris Johnson, signed a letter on Tuesday confirming he would not be bound by any Brexit deal with a customs union with the opposition Labour party. His intervention is significant as he is one of the favourites to replace Theresa May as prime minister. May is currently in talks with Labour on some form of compromise Brexit deal.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] EU caps phone call prices between member states

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 09:58
From Wednesday (15 May) the price for phone calls across EU member states can not cost more that 19 cents-per-minute and text messages six cents each, excluding VAT, according to new limits introduced by Brussels. "European consumers are now comprehensively covered against bill shocks when calling any European number, both at home and abroad", said Mariya Gabriel, commissioner for the digital economy and society.
Categories: European Union

Romania warned of EU wrath over corruption

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 09:17
Romania could face a barrage of EU sanctions if it created "de facto impunity" for corrupt officials, the European Commission has warned.
Categories: European Union

EU urges US not to start war with Iran

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 09:06
Europe's top diplomats have said US actions risked triggering a conflict with Iran, as America makes plans to pour troops into Middle East in echoes of Iraq war.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Petition against EU 'veggie burger' hits 10,000 names

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 09:00
In just one day a petition set up by the campaign group ProVeg on Monday to stop EU legislation banning the use of words such as "veggie burger", "vegan sausage", and "milk alternative" in relation to plant-based foods had received close to 10,000 signatures by Tuesday. The European Parliament's agriculture committee included the name ban in a package of food-labelling regulations to avoid consumer confusion.
Categories: European Union

[Opinion] Armenia's 'Velvet Revolution': A contribution to the Eastern Partnership

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 08:56
Armenia's "Velvet Revolution" last year was an important victory for peaceful change and stands out as an affirmation of European values and ideals.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Markets slide as EU-US-China trade worries mount

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 08:56
Global equities saw the heaviest fall since 2019 on Monday after China said it would raise tariffs on US imports in retaliation for additional American tariffs on Chinese goods from 1 June. Meanwhile the European Union is preparing a list of American goods to target with retaliatory tariffs should US president Donald Trump not delay a 18 May deadline for tariffs on cars imported from the EU.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] US court hits Germany's Bayer with third Roundup fine

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 08:55
A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2bn [€1.78bn] to a couple who claimed Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller caused their cancer. It is the third verdict against Roundup, with more than 13,400 US lawsuits pending over the weedkiller's alleged cancer risk. American agrochemical Monsanto was acquired by German chemicals giant Bayer AG last year. Bayer said on Monday it was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Trump welcomes 'respected' Orban to White House

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 08:50
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban was praised by US president Donald Trump on Monday during a visit to the White House as "respected all over Europe" and having been "great with respect to Christian communities". The invitation is among several that Washington has recently extended to central European heads of state and government signalling that the US aims to re-engage with the countries of the region.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] UK Brexit negotiator back in Brussels for last-minute talks

Tue, 05/14/2019 - 08:49
UK prime minister Theresa May's chief Brexit negotiator, Olly Robbins, will be in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss changes to the non legally-binding political declaration on the UK's future relationship with the EU, in a bid to meet key Labour demands. Labour wants a customs union with the EU and possibly a second referendum. Cross-party negotiations broke up on Monday night with both sides signalling no substantive progress was made.
Categories: European Union

EU warns Hungary over Afghan refugees

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 17:11
Budapest tried and failed last week to deport three families to Afghanistan, and is accused of denying food to others stuck in its transit zone. The European Commission says it is taking the allegations "quite seriously."
Categories: European Union

German voters most pro-European and pro-migrant

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:28
German voters have emerged as among the most pro-European and migrant-friendly ones in a new survey - but most Europeans want to keep out refugees.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] US politicians criticise Hungarian leader ahead of White House visit

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:25
Strained US-EU relations could become visible when Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban visits the White House on Monday. In a letter to US president Donald Trump ahead of the visit, senior Republican and Democratic Congress members urged Trump to raise issues of "democratic trajectory" in the talks. They expressed concerns over Orban's relations with Moscow, deplored decline of press-freedom in Hungary, and urged Orban to return to "democratic roots".
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Lithuania PM concedes defeat in presidential elections

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:12
Lithuania's prime minister Saulius Skvernelis conceded defeat in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, while senior economist Gitanas Nauseda and former finance minister Ingrida Simonyte continue to a runoff scheduled for 26 May. Two-term president Dalia Grybauskaite could not stand again. Skvernelis had said during the campaign that he would resign in July if not making it to the second round.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Kaczynski reacts after Polish church child abuse film

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:09
A Polish documentary film about paedophile priests on Saturday (11 May) had reached nearly seven million views by Monday on YouTube and forced the leader of the country's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczynski, to promise harsher sentences for child abuse at a party convention on Sunday. The film "Just don't tell anyone" by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, confronts elderly priests with their victims.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Pompeo cancels Moscow visit for Iran talks in Brussels

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:03
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo cancelled a visit to Moscow on Monday in order to hold talks with European officials in Brussels about "Iran and other issues", Reuters reported. EU foreign ministers will also discuss the Venezuela political crisis and the threat of US law suits against European firms doing business in Cuba on Monday. Last week Pompeo skipped meetings in Berlin and Greenland.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] 180 UN nations agree on export of plastic waste

Mon, 05/13/2019 - 09:01
180 UN countries agreed on Friday to amend the 1989 Basel Convention regulating trade of hazardous wastes, to include plastic waste. The US is not a party to the convention, while the Nordic governments in April became the first in the world to formally call for a global treaty to tackle plastic waste in oceans. An estimated eight million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the oceans each year.
Categories: European Union

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