Totalitarian sanctions: Is the EU crushing press freedom?
The European Parliament hosted a conference called EU Sanctions: Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights under Attack, organised by MEPs Ruth Firmenich, Michael von der…
Society
Latest reporting and analysis on society.
Why the European Right keeps rising
The four-and-a-half-hour interview that Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia and enfant terrible of German domestic politics, gave to the German podcaster…
Austria and Switzerland probe Jewish ritual circumcisions following Belgian precedent
Authorities in Austria and Switzerland have reportedly launched probes into Jewish ritual circumcisions, echoing a high-profile investigation in Belgium that has…
European Parliament think-tank suggests VPN crackdown amid online age-verification push
Europeans officials are increasingly turning their attention to virtual private networks (VPNs) as concerns grow that the technology could be used to bypass the …
Think taxes are too high in the EU? You must be a conspiracy theorist, according to the EC
The European Commission is being ridiculed for a meme portraying people critical of the European Union’s development as conspiracy theorists.
Finnish MP convicted for hate speech over ‘anti-Lgbt pamphlet’ appeals to top EU Court
Finnish MP and former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen has announced that she will appeal against the judgment of the Supreme Court of Finland at the European…
Germany: Censorship row erupts after AfD’s Höcke interview
A fierce free-speech controversy has erupted in Germany after senior Social Democrat leader Saskia Esken called for what she described as an effective “blacklisting”…
Sweden plans electronic bracelets to monitor children at risk of gang recruitment
Criminal gangs in Sweden have increasingly recruited children and teenagers to carry out murders and other violent acts.
Greenland PM condemns ‘indecent’ US cash offer for annexation petition
Jens-Frederik Nielsen has condemned as "indecent" reported attempts by a US national to pay locals $200,000 (€186,000) each to sign a petition calling for Greenland…
An empire that cannot speak its name
There is a parlour game popular among European commentators that consists of arguing whether the United States is doomed.
Rubio meets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican amid US-Holy See tensions
The visit by Washington's top diplomat come after US President Donald Trump's extraordinary criticism of the Pope.
Belgian health minister calls tobacco industry ‘criminal’ as court derails his anti-smoking policy
Belgian health minister Frank Vandenbroucke has branded the tobacco industry a "criminal" sector with "no future".
Men ‘bad for the planet’, new academic paper declares
A new academic paper has declared that male behaviour is damaging the planet, with elite white Western men singled out as a particular obstacle to action on climate…
Armenian activists accuse EU of “hypocrisy” over biased human rights stance favouring pro-EU allies
“It is hypocritical for the EU to support democracy, human rights, and a dignified life for Ukrainians in their own country, but not for Armenians.
‘European Commission’s housing plan will worsen the crisis’, scholars warn
As the European Commission moves to tackle the housing crisis through joint meetings with the European Parliament and European mayors, scholars have warned that…
The anti-fascists are now funding fascists
In recent weeks, I keep coming across new items that need constant double-checking, because they are so absurd that at first glance they appear made up.
Swedish Government drops concept of ‘Islamophobia’
Sweden’s Government has formally abandoned the term “Islamophobia” in its official communications and policy documents, describing the concept as problematic…
University of Vienna cancels award for famous mathematician due to his criticism of gender studies and climate change
The University of Vienna in Austria has abruptly cancelled an award ceremony for one of the country’s most prominent authors and mathematicians, Rudolf Taschner.
Berlin SPD wants to set up ‘rental police’ to combat exorbitant rents
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the German capital of Berlin has announced plans to set up a special investigative unit to examine thousands of rental contracts…
Anti-whites bar in Berlin received €662,000 subsidies
A Berlin café and "intersectional" co-working space that explicitly bars white people from entry has received more than €662,000 in German taxpayer subsidies…
France’s domestic intelligence agency monitors ‘masculinist threat’, reluctantly
France’s domestic intelligence agency, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure (DGSI), is facing internal pushback over government pressure to elevate…
Disbelief as Polish liberal paper prints call for ‘beating and murder’ of opponents
A Polish liberal magazine has published an opinion piece saying journalists and readers of a right-wing papers are only fit for "beating and murder".
Mohamed tops baby name charts in Andalusia as immigration reshapes the Spanish region
Spain's most populous region is the latest European territory to reach a milestone already recorded in England and Wales, Belgium and parts of Germany and France.
Tech has broken our entire world model, but we are in denial
Geopolitics is in flux, history has “returned”, there is war, political upheaval and technological disruption everywhere: These matters command an overwhelming…
EP votes to replicate Spain’s consent rape law – which freed more than 100 convicted sex offenders
The Spanish act, within months of coming into force, saw 978 sex offenders benefit from reduced sentences and 104 walk free from prison.
‘Mini Islamists’ and forced conversions: Youth charity sounds alarm on German schools
A children and youth charity from Berlin is warning that radical Islam is increasingly making inroads at German schools.
Spain’s housing market shifts from single-home ownership to wealth accumulation
Spanish society is slowly splitting into two groups: Those who own everything and those who own nothing.
‘Human rights lawyers’: Leave them naked in a frozen prison cell
If Lord Richard Hermer were well-known in any other European country, it would probably be as a traitor, and he would now be manacled to the wall in an ice-cold…
Polish world record fundraising stream highlights Tusk’s broken promises on health
Poland’s influencer Patryk “Łatwogang” Garkowski emerged after a nine day fundraiser for the Cancer Fighters foundation as the most successful charity streamer…
Neither bombs nor reformist illusions will deliver freedom in Iran
The Iranian situation is as dangerous as it is misunderstood. A fragile ceasefire hangs by a thread. The region remains volatile.