Euobserver.com

European companies with business in Iran appear caught in a tug of war between the European Union and Washington. The US demands they leave Iran or face sanctions. The European Union says remain in Iran or face penalties a home.

The EU plans to establish its own resources to battle forest fires, floods, earthquakes and the like, humanitarian aid commissioner Christos Stylianides said in Sweden on Monday. Negotiations are set to start in 'trilogue' in September, with a view to introduction next year. European emergency assistance currently depends on member states volunteering resources to each other. Sweden has been hard hit by wildfires in its hottest summer in 260 years.

Heatwaves in Europe have become twice as likely due to global warming.

Despite all that EU money, Greece seems to do a worse job educating asylum-seeker children than countries like Jordan and Turkey.

The number of Europeans with allergies has been growing extensively since the mid-1950s. Although some European countries have reached a peak, the overall number of citizens with allergic diseases continues to grow.

More than 200 Slovak celebrities have signed a petition demanding prime minister Peter Pellegrini takes action against the "scandalous" activities of the nationalist Russian 'Night Wolves' motorcycle gang, which has set up a base in Dolna Krupa, about 65km northeast of the Slovak capital, Bratislava. Footage from a drone flown over the compound showed ex-army tanks, other armoured vehicles, and anti-aircraft guns parked on the site.

The UK's former foreign minister, Boris Johnson, has said banning the burka "is not the answer", after Denmark became the fifth EU state to ban the niqab and burka in public. France, Belgium, Austria, and Germany have all implemented similar rules. Writing in Daily Telegraph, Johnson suggested the ban could increase tensions between Muslims and other demographic groups. Hundreds of people protested in Copenhagen against the ban last week.

Iran's national air line, Iran Air, on Sunday received five passenger airplanes produced by the Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR. The delivery took place on the eve of US sanctions against Iran, which would target ATR and other European companies doing business with Iran. EU countries have given European firms legal cover to continue operating in Iran, despite the US pullout from the nuclear deal in May. Sanctions resumed on Monday.

The chances of a no-deal Brexit are now "60-40", according to UK's pro-Brexit trade minister Liam Fox. In an interview with the Sunday Times, he said "I think the intransigence of the Commission is pushing us towards no deal." "It's up to the EU-27 to determine whether they want the EU commission's ideological purity to be maintained at the expense of their real economies," he added.

The secretary general of Germany's ruling CDU party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has launched a summer debate about reinstating military conscription for men and women, following recent online polls showed military conscription was popular among supporters of the competing rightwing AfD party. Former CSU defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg warned however of "exorbitant costs" in funding up to 700,000 young people serving the army. Germany scrapped general conscription in 2011.

The mandate for Operation Sophia, the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean sea, ends in December. Demands to change it, including new rules on disembarkation, are set to be agreed within the next few weeks.

Asylum and refugee policies came in second-to-last in the list of seven choices in terms of importance for Germans in a poll carried out by Infratest-Dimap "Germany Trend" poll for August. Only 39 percent rated it as "very important", compared to 97 percent for health care and care for the elderly, 95 percent for pensions and social benefits, and 90 percent for crime.

The British prime minister is meeting French president Macron in his seaside retreat. She will try to convince him that her plans for EU-UK relations are "mutually beneficial".

The EU and China are more on the same page when it comes to Iran, climate change and preserving the UN system than with the US.

The Spanish island of Mallorca has declared Matteo Salvini, Italy's far-right interior minister, persona non grata given his attacks against immigrants and minority groups like the Roma. A motion put forward by left-wing Podemos party to not welcome Salvini was approved by local authorities. A Podemos spokesperon told local media that Salvini was "distilling a very serious and worrisome xenophobia and an obvious disregard for human life and dignity."

EUobserver has obtained internal documents and emails from within the European Commission that outline questionable contracts with outside suppliers who appear to be overcharging for goods and services.

The number of people with foreign origins living in Germany increased by 4.4 percent in 2017, according to figures published Wednesday by the German statistics office. Some 19.3 million are either not born in Germany or have at least one parent who is not a German citizen, a record high. They represent 23.6 percent of Germany's population and 51 percent of them are German citizens.

Brexit negotiations are "heading for no deal by accident," UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned on Wednesday. A no-deal Brexit would be a "huge geo-strategic mistake," he said during a visit to Vienna, adding it would have "a profound impact" on EU-UK relations "for a generation". Prime minister Theresa May will meet French president Emmanuel Macron on Friday in an attempt to improve the process.

The European Commission says it is ready to boost spending in Morocco when it comes to stop migrant hopefuls from reaching Spain by boat. The money follows demands for help from Madrid as irregular arrival numbers spike in Spain.

A plan to charge journalists up to €100 a year to cover summits in Brussels has been rejected as a violation of press freedom. "We don't like it," says the EU executive.