Euractiv.com

After a turbulent start to 2020, in the second half of the year the EU will embark on a range of ambitious initiatives in the digital arena, some of which will be directly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and its knock-on effects.

A car used by the team of an investigative journalist whose reports had raised the hackles of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was burned near Kyiv, following allegations of wiretapping of the journalist's home.

The Trump administration announced on Monday (17 August) it will further tighten restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co, aimed at cracking down on its access to commercially available chips.

Declines in production, cancelled orders, closed borders - the food industry has been faced with major logistical problems due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, many companies are planning to expand internationally, according to a study published on 11 August. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU leaders will hold an emergency video summit on Wednesday (19 August) to discuss the crisis in Belarus, where protests are swelling against the disputed re-election of longtime President Alexander Lukashenko.

More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting “down with dictatorship” and “the country belongs to the people” rallied in Bangkok on Sunday (16 August) in by far the biggest anti-government demonstration since a 2014 coup.

Belarusians chanting "Step down!" filled the centre of the capital Minsk on Sunday (16 August) in the biggest protest so far against what they said was the fraudulent re-election a week ago of longtime president Alexander Lukashenko.

US Democrats stepped up pressure on Sunday (16 August) against a cost-cutting campaign by President Donald Trump’s appointed Postal Service chief that they fear will hold up mail-in ballots in November’s election.

Europe's transport sector, already hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak, faces a crucial and possibly defining end to 2020. EU and global targets will start to bite, while new technologies will face a challenging acid test.

To help bring you up to speed after the summer holidays, EURACTIV's policy experts have put together a series of streamlined overviews of the most important issues in all policy areas, from agriculture and transport to energy and digital.

With the EU's new food policy launched this spring, policymakers will now turn their attention back to the long-delayed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the staple of the bloc's farming industry and the biggest item in its budget.

Italy is to shut discos and clubs and make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas during the night-time in the first reimposition of restrictions as cases of coronavirus pick up across the country.

The European Union urged Turkey on Sunday (16 August) to "immediately" stop exploring for gas in a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean, as tensions rise with other countries in the region.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday (15 August) all but dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate.

Vladimir Putin has offered to help ensure Belarus's security, according to its president Alexander Lukashenko, as pressure builds on the strongman leader and opposition protesters prepare for a show of force Sunday (16 August).

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko faced mounting opposition on Friday (14 August) to his disputed re-election as factory workers joined popular protests and the European Union moved to impose new sanctions on his regime.

Russia on Friday (14 August) announced the safe return of 32 of its citizens after Belarus detained them saying they were mercenaries sent to destabilise the country ahead of Sunday's presidential election.

EU foreign affairs ministers agreed on Friday (14 August) to draw up a list of targets in Belarus for a new round of sanctions in response to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's post-election crackdown.

French President Emmanuel Macron will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week at his Mediterranean holiday retreat to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, the post-election protests in Belarus and growing tensions with Turkey, the presidency said Friday (14 August).

Greece has been lucky – 17 migrants, all from Somalia, are safely isolated at Kara Tepe camp in the island of Lesbos, a show-case reception centre on the island. But at the overcrowded Moria camp on the same island the...