MEPs put brakes on driver medical exams, outraging safety advocates
Road-safety advocates slammed the European Union after MEPs rejected a proposal to make health checks mandatory across Europe for people renewing their driving licences.
Society
Latest reporting and analysis on society.
Oktoberfest tapped
Oktoberfest may still be a few months away, but it's never to early to prepare with our report of last year's event from James Jeffrey. “It’s tapped!
German Catholic Church plots ban on ‘right-wing extremists’ amid anti-AfD push
Organisations intimately linked with the German Catholic Church are plotting bans on so-called "right-wing extremists" amid an ongoing conflict with the populist…
Exclusive: Holocaust survivor content binned in Polish public TV ‘revolution’
A Polish TV interview with the UK's Lord (Daniel) Finkelstein recounting the rescue of his family members by Polish diplomats during the Second World War, has been…
Musk sues OpenAI for ‘stark betrayal of aim to benefit humanity’
Elon Musk, the US billionaire owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX, is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman.
MEPs green-light EU-wide digital ID system
MEPs have passed the implementation of a proposed European Union-wide digital ID system.
German Government culture chief slams ‘disgusting anti-Semitism on the Left’
Claudia Roth, Green party MP and Commissioner for Culture and Media in the German Government, has accused left-wing elements of anti-Semitism.
Committee of the Regions and European Parliament to raise EU elections awareness
Committee of the Regions, Brussels
AI-created fakery rears its ugly head in Russia as Kremlin elections near
Generative AI has made its first widespread appearance in 2024 in Russia, ahead of presidential elections in the country.
French President Macron promises to throw himself in river Seine
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to jump in the river Seine as he officially inaugurated the 2024 Olympic village and praised the legacy the Games will leave…
Is it OK for Big Tech to censor Donald Trump? What the US Supreme Court decides in a free-speech case could determine what Europeans can say on social media
Despite what the European Union's boosters may wish, Big Tech is still overwhelmingly headquartered in the US.
EC under fire over Boeing 737 MAX jet safety issues
The European Commission is under pressure regarding alleged safety issues to do with Boeing's 737 MAX series of aircraft.
Meta hit by privacy complaints from eight European countries
Meta Platforms was hit with privacy complaints as eight EU consumer groups asked watchdogs to act against the Facebook owner for alleged breaches of the bloc's privacy…
Italian Army General suspended and demoted over controversial book
Italian Army General Roberto Vannacci has been suspended from employment for 11 months over a "lack of a sense of responsibility" regarding a book he published last…
Hamfisted Macron moves to placate farmers
France has banned using terms such as "steak" and "ham" for plant protein products.
Rome unearths its ancient past
In Rome’s heart, where ancient and Papal pasts mix with modernity, lies a discovery—testifying to ancient history’s allure and urban development’s march.
Red Army Faction member arrested after years on the run
Daniela Klette, a member of Germany's notorious Red Army Faction (RAF) militant group, was arrested in Berlin after decades on the run from armed robbery and attempted…
Can Germany escape from Hobbiton? Berlin has had a long respite from the horrors of the twentieth century, but it must now be ready to rejoin the world
Despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s widely acclaimed Zeitenwende speech in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion, Germany remains stuck in its pre-war strategic…
Users keep attacking Google AI-tool, now over its text-only results
Asked who is worse, Elon Musk or Hitler, Google's new artificial intelligence tool Gemini cannot say.
Baltic cities win over UNESCO World Heritage List
The Latvian city of Kuldīga is the latest Baltic city to be added to the much-vaunted UNESCO World Heritage List.
Catholics cannot vote for Germany’s ‘ethnic nationalist’ AfD party, bishops declare
Catholics in Germany are not permitted to vote for the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party over its alleged "ethnic nationalist" views, the country's…
Pro-diversity EC still clueless about backgrounds of own staff
The European Commission needs to worry less about the number of "Muslim lesbians" it has working for it, especially given legal problems in accurately measuring…
Google stops new AI tool from generating people, after ‘woke’ backlash
Google has stopped its artificial intelligence tool Gemini from generating images of people, after the tool faced widespread criticism for refusing to show white…
If you want to understand what is happening in the United States, be sure not to read The Guardian or Sidney Blumenthal
It is with sadness and guilt bordering on shame that for the third consecutive week, my entire career as a contributor to this outlet, I must inflict upon readers…
Encryption and child sexual material: Brussels struggling to digest ECHR ruling
"It is clear that the EU should, of course, cease its efforts towards the statutory obligation to decrypt end-to-end communications," Mikuláš Peksa, Czech MEP…
US TV star Tucker Carlson ‘not a fair journalist’, MEP claims
Talking to Brussels Signal, Czech politician Alexandr Vondra criticised the former Fox News TV anchor's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin as being…
EP committee votes to tighten consumer fraud protections
The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) has voted in favour of tightening consumer protections against fraud.
EC launches DSA probe into TikTok over ‘radicalising minors’ concerns
The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into TikTok over fears the platform could be “radicalising minors”.
Don’t send Julian Assange to the United States. That would be a crime – destroying a few Picassos and Warhols is not
A Russian artist, who in the historic way of Russian artists manages to live in Paris, is threatening to destroy pictures by Picasso and Warhol if Julian Assange…
Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian nation to approve same-sex marriage
The Greek Parliament has approved same-sex marriage, despite strong objections from the Christian Orthodox Church.