German left-wing leader denies links with Turkish paramilitary organisation
The leader of Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) in North Rhine-Westphalia has denied he has links to a radical Turkish paramilitary organisation.
Society
Latest reporting and analysis on society.
Banning Quran-burnings would not impede free speech, Danish PM claims
A Danish Government ban on Quran-burning protests would not represent any kind of assault on freedom of speech, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen,…
Italian PM sues Placebo rocker for allegedly calling her a ‘racist, fascist piece of sh*t’
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is suing British rock-band Placebo’s lead-singer Brian Molko for defamation after he allegedly insulted her during a concert…
AFP news agency sues Twitter over copyright issues in EU
The French international news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP) has pressed charges in a copyright case in France against social media giant Twitter, recently rebranded…
Delhaize denies European Parliament shop is breaking Belgian law
The Delhaize Shop & Go in the European Parliament in Brussels refuses to take cash, despite a Belgian requirement that all shops do so.
Conservatives are ‘evil’, UK bank staff say in leaked messages
Leaked messages from a British online bank have shown staff members deriding Conservatives as being "evil", a report in the British press has claimed.
Thousands gather as Pope Francis visits Lisbon
Thousands of Catholic pilgrims have gathered in Lisbon over the week starting August 1 hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis.
No more ‘with distinction’ degrees in the Netherlands ‘because they cause students stress’
Universities in the Netherlands are ditching the “cum laude” (with distinction) title for the best-performing medical graduates in the hope of reducing pressure…
Drug violence engulfs Brussels: ‘we are at point of no return’
In a report in Belgian news outlet Le Soir, senior police admitted violent crime in Brussels is now rampant: severed fingers, abductions, torture with irons, injury-ravaged…
Free-speech defenders warn against a Breton EC presidency bid
Thierry Breton, the EC's current internal market head, is now reportedly using his status as a champion of the bloc's pro-censorship Digital Services Act to spearhead…
Trumpist Republican senator J D Vance has a new fan: Chancellor Scholz
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz admitted he was "moved to tears" by the novel Hillbilly Elegy, written by a US politician and supporter of former US President…
Irish justice minister told to resign amid violent crime spike
Helen McEntee, Ireland's Minister for Justice, has been told to resign amid a rapid rise in crime in the country's capital Dublin.
Twitter takes legal action against Center for Countering Digital Hate
Twitter, now branded X, has pressed charges against an organisation that claims to fight online hate but is, according to the platform’s US billionaire owner Elon…
German Green party co-leader ‘would not visit Berlin drug park’
German Greens party co-leader Ricarda Lang has said that she would not walk through a Berlin park infamous for drug trafficking, sparking outrage across German media…
Greens ban local cooperation with Germany’s AfD after ‘first-name terms’ beer outings
Ricarda Lang, the co-leader of Germany's Green Party, has banned cooperation between her group and the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) amid controversy…
Islamic states to lobby Brussels in bid to ban Quran burnings
The IOC is calling on the EU "to take the necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such criminal acts under the pretext of freedom of expression".
Farage ‘in talks to keep his Coutts account open’ but vows to fight ‘de-banking’
British private bank and wealth manager Coutts has extended an offer to former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage to restore his bank accounts.
Have Brussels zebra crossings been ‘hijacked’ by ideologues?
"A pedestrian crossing has one and only one objective: to secure pedestrian crossings," said one Brussels mayor.
Denmark considers banning Quran-burning protests
In response to security and diplomatic concerns, Denmark is contemplating banning protests involving the burning of the Quran and other religious texts.
German Green minister’s plea to opposition over ‘right-wing populism’
Green minister Robert Habeck has begged Germany's most popular opposition party to avoid embracing right-wing populism
German teacher ‘fired for views on mass migration’
A German special-needs school teacher in the university town of Landau has been stripped of her job by local courts over her opinions regarding migration, local…
Europe was made on the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela: you wouldn’t know it going off the current state of EU politics
The recent death of John Brierley, who through his guidebooks became a Camino de Santiago institution, reminded me about the various, intriguing ways in which the…
New French education minister says school uniforms will help ‘restore authority’
Gabriel Attal, the new French education minister, wants to re-introduce school uniforms in a bid to "restore authority" in educational establishments and combat…
Commissioner insists EU online censorship law ‘is compatible with free speech’
Under the incoming law, certain social media firms that fail to censor speech the EU disapproves of will face being banned from the bloc within a matter of hours,…
Niger coup ‘no done deal’, France insists, even as support grows
The military coup in Niger has not yet succeeded, the French Government has insisted, while stating it is “illegitimate” and “deeply dangerous” for the region.
Swedish Prime Minister ‘extremely worried’ about rise of Quran burnings
A growing number of Swedes are requesting permission to burn Qurans, causing consternation among the Swedish police and increasing outrage in the domestic Muslim…
Brussels ‘hellhole’ video goes viral
A sharp rise in crime around the Brussels-Midi train station has gained public attention in Belgium after a video of a family left stranded there on the night of…
WAKEY WAKEY! Finland celebrates ‘National Sleepy Head Day’
Finland is celebrating its "National Sleepy-Head Day" on July 27 in a tradition dating back beyond the Middle Ages and which can be something of a rude awakening…
UK opposition party chief opposes gender self-identification
The UK’s Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has stated that gender self-identification "is not the right way forward".
Twitter encryption rules ‘dangerous and concerning’, MEP tells EC
Twitter's new rules surrounding the encryption of private messages have been called "dangerous and concerning" in a letter penned by an MEP to the European Commission.