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Conditions on the Dutch flagged Sea-Watch 3, an NGO boat with 32 rescued migrants onboard, continue to deteriorate - as EU states refuse to take them in. The youngest on board is a one-year old infant.

Just four months before the European Parliament elections, a Kantar Gallup poll published by Berlingske Tidende shows historic high Danish support for EU membership, with 66 percent wanting to remain compared to 54 percent before the Brexit referendum. While almost one-in-three (29 percent) wanted to leave the bloc in 2016 it is now only one-in-five (22 percent) who want Denmark out of the EU.

Hackers have posted online personal data from hundreds of German politicians, from MPs to MEPS, including credit card details, holiday pictures and mobile phone numbers, German media reported Friday. The data, published on a Twitter account, included addresses, chats between family members and copies of ID cards. All major German parties except for the far-right AfD are affected. The identity of the hackers were not known.

The EU should be "completely changed" by 2024 or Germany should consider leaving the bloc, the far-right Alternative for Germany's program for the European election sets out, Die Welt reported. It calls for the European Parliament to be reduced to 100 delegates, elected by national parliaments, scrapping European elections, and reintroducing national currencies. The AfD also wants to join parties in defending Europe from what they see as "Islamisation".

A leader of the 'Yellow Vest' movement was detained by police in Paris Wednesday, signalling a harder line from France's president Emmanuel Macron but sparking a wave of criticism. Eric Drouet, who already faces trial for carrying a wooden stick at a protest, was arrested for organising an unauthorised protest. He was released on Thursday. Economy minister Bruno Le Maire defended the arrest, saying rule of law must be respected.

Spain's far-right Vox party said it would pull its support for a People's Party (PP) and Ciudadanos coalition government in Andalusia, unless the parties agree to overturn domestic violence legislation which Vox said was pushed by "radical feminist associations", Euronews reported. A party spokesperson tweeted that Vox also wanted to cut grants to groups that support victims of domestic violence. Cuidadanos said it would continue to fight gender-based violence.

Almost 1,000 police officers from England and Scotland will be trained to deal with possible disorder in Northern Ireland in case a Brexit withdrawal agreement is not approved by the UK parliament and a hard border installed on the island of Ireland, the Guardian reported. British PM Theresa May has failed to win over the Democratic Unionist Party to back the deal, ahead of a crucial parliament vote in mid-January.

UK transport minister Chris Grayling has defended a decision to award a €15m contract to charter extra ferries to a firm which has never previously operated a similar service, as part of no-deal Brexit preparations. "It's a new start-up business, government is supporting new British business and there is nothing wrong with that," he told the BBC. The company plans to run freight ferries between Ramsgate and Ostend.

Decades of mismanagement appear to have caught up with Italy's Carige bank as the European Central Bank takes control in a move to stave off another banking crisis.

With the Brexit deal awaiting a vote in the British parliament, Theresa May is seeking further assurances from EU leaders - and Irish minister talks of emergency aid for Dublin to deal with a no-deal scenario.

The European Commission is pushing ahead with plans to end unanimity on tax, asking member states to respond before 17 January to a consultation on producing a plan of action in the first quarter of 2019, reports the Irish Times. EU countries have so far failed to agree on a joint digital sales tax on multinational internet giants, as individual states plan national taxes on such companies.

European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, chartered private jets for 21 out of 43 official trips between January and November 2018, a Daily Mail analysis has found. Travel costs for a 13-strong delegation one-night trip to Tunisia amounted to €36,000 and a dinner with world leaders in Finland before the European People's Party conference cost €26,000. 'Air taxis' should only be used when no suitable commercial flights can be found.

The year 2018 saw a new record in Spain for migrant arrivals by sea, at more than 57,000 - representing around half of all undocumented migrants making the Mediterranean crossing last year. According to the IOM, 113,145 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea last year (up to 19 December). Spanish coastguards rescued 401 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean over the first two days of the new year.

Danish police confirmed on Thursday morning that eight people were killed and 16 injured in the worst train accident in 30 years in the country. The accident happened on the Great Belt Bridge when debris from a freight train operated by DB Cargo, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, hit a commuter train during a heavy storm. Identification of the dead was still ongoing more than 24 hours after the accident.

Estonians spent most on alcohol per household in the EU (5.2 percent), followed by the other Baltic member states, Latvia (4.9 percent) and Lithuania (4.0 percent), according to 2017 figures from Eurostat. Spain (0.8 percent), Greece and Italy (both 0.9 percent) spent the least. In total, Europeans spent €130bn on alcohol, equivalent to 0.9 percent of EU GDP or over €300 per EU inhabitant.

As China's growth seems to be slowing, some observers see the country amid what the New York Times called a "severe downturn". As they mistake China's secular deceleration with cyclical fluctuations, they miss the rapid increase in Chinese living standards.

Ahead of a crucial year in the EU, with Brexit and European elections in the next few months, Germany's leader argued for protecting the multilateral world order, as the French president urged calm.

Romania holds the EU presidency for the next six months - with a possible clash brewing with the European Commission over corruption and the erosion of the rule of law.

During the New Year's Eve fireworks the London Eye was lit up in the EU's blue-and-yellow colours, as part of a message by mayor Sadiq Khan to Europe that the capital would stay "open-minded" after Brexit, angering hardline Brexiteers. One Conservative MP called it "a betrayal of democracy", while another politician likened it to displaying the Argentinian flag during the Falklands war the UK fought with the South American country.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban attended the inauguration of Brazil's new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia on Tuesday (1 January). Bolsonaro is the latest right-wing populist leader to be elected, and campaigned for the right to bear arms by every citizen and promised to fight corruption and crime. Orban, an icon for the far-right in Europe, was the only EU leader attending the event.