Western security officials suspect Russia was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes bound for North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia says it has launched an investigation into alleged vote-rigging in last weekend’s parliamentary election, which officials said was won by the ruling party and the opposition denounced as illegitimate.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen strongly denied committing any wrongdoing at a Paris court Monday as she and her National Rally party stand trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds.

Paris Paloma will be performing at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit on a 15-city headline tour across North America.

Residents of a tiny village in western Serbia don’t care if their government has agreed with the European Union to open a lithium mine in their sprawling valley: They say it is never going to happen.

Far-right parties from 12 countries, including France’s National Rally and Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, have joined forces to form a new bloc in the European Parliament.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has visited Moscow for a rare meeting by a European leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed peace proposals for Ukraine.

Slovakia’s Parliament has approved a package of legislation meant to boost security for leading politicians and others following an assassination attempt on populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the EU elections.

While Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni adopts a reassuring Western-allied foreign policy, cultural wars at home are preserving her far-right credentials heading into European parliamentary elections.

Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office says police have searched the residence of an employee of the European Parliament and his office in the Parliament’s building in Brussels over suspected Russian interference.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is fighting for his life after he was shot by an assailant following a political event.

EU leaders on Thursday sealed a deal to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros ($54 million) to shore up its economy ravaged by a nearly two-year-old war with Russia, The aid package, which was approved after Hungary dropped weeks of threats to veto it is not intended to fund arms and ammunition.

Ireland’s government says it is taking legal action against British authorities over a controversial law that gives some immunity from prosecution for offenses committed during three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Polish and U.S. officials have signed an agreement in Warsaw to move forward with the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant.

European regulators have slapped TikTok with a $368 million fine for failing to protect children's privacy.

Estonia’s strongly pro-Ukrainian prime minister is under increasing pressure to resign, after Estonian media revealed her husband’s role in a company that indirectly did business in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

China’s Foreign Ministry has condemned a resolution passed by the European Parliament concerning Hong Kong's shrinking rights to free speech.

Bulgaria’s parliament has formally approved the new government proposed by two main political rivals — the GERB party of ex-Premier Boyko Borissov, which won the April general election, and the runner-up, the pro-European liberal coalition “We Continue the Change — Democratic Bulgaria.”.

European Council President Charles Michel has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression “for as long as necessary,” adding that EU leaders will “massively ramp up” ammunition production to send to the war-torn country.

Hungary's foreign minister says the West’s steady criticism of his country on democratic and cultural issues makes the right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia.

Spain’s parliament has dismissed an attempt by the far-right Vox party to topple the governing leftist coalition by voting overwhelmingly.

Tunisia’s government is seeking to allay growing international concerns about a surge of discrimination against people from sub-Saharan Africa.

The major political group embroiled in a massive European Union corruption scandal will seek this week to insulate itself from further fallout in the cash-for-influence affair linked to Qatar and Morocco.

A senior Turkish official says Sweden and Finland are unlikely to be able to join NATO before June.

The president of the European Parliament has launched an urgent procedure for the waiver of immunity of two lawmakers following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities investigating a major corruption scandal rocking EU politics.

Judicial officials have told The Associated Press that a Greek European lawmaker charged with corruption in an alleged plot tarnishing EU institutions will remain in detention until at least Dec. 22 after her hearing by a judge was postponed.

China says leader Xi Jinping has urged negotiations on a political solution to the Ukraine conflict in talks with visiting European Council President Charles Michel in Beijing.

Poland says it has chosen the U.S. government and Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant.

Why is it so hard to build a metaverse avatar — a visual representation of ourselves in the digital world — that walks on two legs.

A high-ranking representative from the Biden administration is set next week to make his first official trip to India since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine is fueling fears of a natural gas emergency in Europe.

The head of the European Central Bank says it will move gradually to combat soaring consumer prices with interest rate hikes in July and September but will keep its options open to “stamp out” inflation if it surges faster than expected.

A small conservative opposition party whose support is seen crucial in attempts to form a majority government In Estonia following the break-up of the governing center-right coalition earlier this month said on Saturday that it will start power-sharing talks with two other parties.

President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen make a joint statement

Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has been detained in a nationwide police operation following probes of the EU prosecutor’s office.

Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing from war by crossing their borders to the west in search of safety.

Surging energy prices and fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are making European leaders think hard about energy security — particularly their decades-old reliance on Moscow for natural gas.

Hundreds of people in Istanbul have marched to the Greek consulate to protest the deaths of 19 migrants near Turkey’s border with Greece.

The Czech government has decided to cut isolation restrictions for those testing positive for COVID-19 from 14 to five days, and also similarly shortened quarantine time for close contacts of infected people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia and Belarus will hold joint war games early next year.

The Dutch government has ordered elementary schools to close a week early for Christmas holidays as authorities battle to rein in coronavirus infections amid concerns about the swift spread of the omicron variant.

Senior officials from the Slovak Republic are in Taiwan for talks on deepening ties with the island in the highest-level visit by the EU-member country since it opened a representative office in Taiwan in 2003.

Portugal’s interior minister has resigned after a series of gaffes and missteps that could have made him a political liability for his center-left Socialist Party ahead of elections for a new government on Jan. 30.

Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced a three-week partial lockdown amid surging COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands.

The European Commission says it has issued its inaugural green bonds, raising 12 billion euros ($13.8 billion) from a sale that attracted strong demand from investors.

Stefan Lofven, Sweden’s Social Democratic prime minister since 2014, is stepping down as head of government and the party in November.

Firefighters in Turkey are battling for the sixth straight day to control wildfires that are tearing through forests near some of the country's top beach resorts.

Thousands of Poland's judges and prosecutors have signed an appeal urging state and justice authorities to heed recent rulings by Europe's top court and immediately suspend a chamber disciplining judges.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended clearing Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 17, the first time the shot has been authorized for people under 18.

The Dutch public health institute says that coronavirus infections in the Netherlands skyrocketed by more than 500% over the last week.

The Dutch leader has apologized for what he calls “an error of judgment” in relaxing the Netherlands’ coronavirus lockdown.

The Iranian government has expressed anger over the appearance of senior European and U.S. politicians at a rally in support of an opposition group that has long sought to overthrow Iran’s theocratic rulers.

A top EU official says that the potential closure of the only remaining border crossing through which humanitarian aid can enter parts of Syria held by anti-government insurgents would have “dramatic” consequences for millions of civilians.

Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has put Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on its list of “predators.”.

The World Bank is upgrading the outlook for global growth this year, predicting that COVID-19 vaccinations and massive government stimulus in rich countries will power the fastest worldwide expansion in nearly five decades.

European affairs ministers gathered in Brussels Tuesday to assess progress in discussions with EU lawmakers about a virus certificates scheme to boost travel and tourism during the summer season.

The European Union’s drug regulator says it has started a rolling review of China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to assess its effectiveness and safety, which is a first step toward possible approval for use in the 27-nation bloc.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi is presenting a 222.1 billion euro ($268.6 billion) coronavirus recovery plan to Parliament.

A U.S. health panel says it’s time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots.

In a stinging rebuke to pharma giant AstraZeneca, the head of the European Union's executive arm has announced plans for a major contract extension for COVID-19 vaccines with Pfizer stretching to 2023.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s center-right GERB party appears the likely winner of parliamentary election, with several exit polls pointing to it finishing first.

FILE- In this March 19, 2021, file photo, a patient from the Paris region and affected by the COVID-19 virus is taken out a plane at the Biarritz's airport, southwestern France. France's president say he has nothing to be sorry about for refusing to impose a third virus lockdown earlier this year, even though his country is now facing surging infections that are straining hospitals and more than 1,000 people with the virus are dying every week. Families of French COVID-19 victims say, however, that Macron has turned a blind eye to their suffering. The measures kept France's infection rate steady for a while, but it's been rising markedly again this month. We’re not an island, and even the islands who’d protected themselves sometimes saw the virus come back,” Macron said.

(AP Photo/Bob Edme)BRUSSELS – First, France abruptly halted AstraZeneca vaccinations. That could come as soon as Thursday, when the European Medicines Agency releases initial results of its investigations into whether there is a connection between the vaccine and the blood clots. The suspensions by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and others have fueled doubts about the oft-maligned AstraZeneca vaccine, and vaccination efforts in general, as the world struggles to vanquish the pandemic. “We’re going to fall behind the virus again.”AdEven before Thursday's announcement by Europe's medicines watchdog, the president of the European Commission made it clear that the AstraZeneca vaccine will remain a pillar of the EU’s vaccine strategy. The company says there have been 37 reports of blood clots among the more than 17 million people who have received the vaccine across the EU and Britain.

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 file photo, frozen vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are taken out to thaw, at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium. The European Commission has secured an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech for an extra 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to tackle a surge of coronavirus clusters that have prompted border restrictions. The doses are expected to be delivered before the end of March. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)The U.S. has reached a milestone for COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, surpassing the 100 million dose mark on Friday afternoon. Biden campaigned on 100 million doses in his first 100 days.

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 file photo, frozen vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are taken out to thaw, at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium. The European Commission has secured an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech for an extra 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to tackle a surge of coronavirus clusters that have prompted border restrictions. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)BERLIN – The German government said Wednesday it expects the supply of coronavirus vaccines to rise steadily in the coming months, hitting a peak of almost 10 million doses a week in July. Germany's vaccine campaign has lagged behind far behind countries such as Britain and the United States. Since the outbreak began, Germany has recorded more than 2.5 million confirmed cases and 72,489 COVID-related deaths.

FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, July 18, 2020, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. The Netherlands is holding a general election over three days starting March 15 2021 because of fears that busy polling stations could spike infections, which comes after Prime Minister Mark Rutte has spent more than a decade in power. The pandemic is casting a long shadow over other issues in the countdown to three days of voting that start on March 15. A group representing nonfood retailers across the country went to court Monday seeking an order allowing them to reopen to the public. And on Tuesday the country's umbrella organization for the hospitality industry is launching separate legal proceedings over delays in the payment of government support to businesses hit by the lockdown.

Plastic surgeon Daniel Suver receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine from Andrea Castelblanco during a vaccine clinic on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage is averaging about 60 new COVID-19 cases a day, said Dr. Janet Johnston, the epidemiologist for the Anchorage Health Department. More than 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Japan. Ad___SACRAMENTO -- California reported its second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths — while the rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to drop. ___ALBANY, N.Y. — New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands.

(Peter Meecham/New Zealand Herald via AP)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Travelers returning to New Zealand will face stricter rules at quarantine hotels as health authorities investigate how up to three people got infected with the coronavirus while isolating at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel. The record increase of 65 deaths is three more than the previous one-day record reported on Jan. 6, according to health department records. The university and county health department are asking students to limit leaving their residence to going to classes, getting food, work and other necessary in-person activities. The health department said in the news release that if the case counts continues to rise, stricter measures will have to be applied. The previous one-day record of 62 was reported Jan. 6, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas leaves from an EU summit in Brussels. Ratas has handed in his resignation, Wednesday Jan. 13, 2021, after a corruption scandal investigated by the police and prosecutors in his Center Party led to key party officials resigning, while Ratas said he personally has not done anything wrong. Ratas has led a majority coalition of his left-leaning Center Party, the nationalist EKRE party and the conservative Fatherland party since April 2019. As the largest political party in Tallinn, the Center Party controls the office of mayor and has final say over how to develop public infrastructure projects such as roads and transport in the capital. In 2015, Hillar Teder was a suspect in a corruption case case involving former Tallinn Mayor and Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar.

North Macedonian epidemiologist Dragan Danilovski compared the current vaccine situation in the Western Balkans to the inequalities seen during the 1911 sinking of the Titanic. Serbia is the only Western Balkan nation to receive vaccine shots so far, getting deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine. However, Serbia does not have enough doses to begin mass vaccinations, as only 25,000 shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 2,400 of the Russian vaccine have arrived. “Throughout the pandemic, the EU has shown that we treat the Western Balkans as privileged partners,” said EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. “I trust (the Russian vaccine), I don’t trust the commercial narratives that are coming from the West,” Milorad Dodik, Bosnian Serb's leader, declared before he was hospitalized with coronavirus.

A nurse prepares a vaccine prior to the vaccination of elderly people at a nursing house in Athens, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. (Louisa Gouliamaki/Pool via AP)BRUSSELS – The European Commission defended its coronavirus vaccination strategy Monday amid growing criticism in member states about the slow rollout of COVID-19 shots across the region of 450 million inhabitants. As part of its strategy, the EU has sealed six vaccines contracts, with Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Pfizer-BioNTech and CureVac. But only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for use so far in the 27-nation bloc. With the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the commission has an option for an extra 100 million doses that will bring the total to 300 million shots.

“Despite everything I caught this virus — perhaps, doubtless, a moment of negligence, a moment of bad luck, too," he said. A fellow European leader who spent time with Macron at an EU summit last week, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic, tested positive for the virus Friday. Ten other leaders at the EU summit have since tested negative; others either aren’t getting tested or haven’t released results. Several White House aides and members of Trump's campaign staff tested positive after he did. The French health minister suggested that Macron might have been infected at the EU summit in Brussels last week, but Macron had multiple meetings in Paris as well.

A Dutch parliamentary commission issued a damning report Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 into a scandal in which thousands of parents were wrongly labeled fraudsters by government officials assessing claims for child benefit payments. The report titled Unprecedented Injustice was issued following an investigation by a parliamentary committee and public questioning of officials up to and including Prime Minister Mark Rutte into the scandal. “The Committee established that in the implementation of the child care allowance fundamental principles of the rule of law have been violated,” the report said. Over several years, thousands of parents had their child care benefit payments stopped or were ordered to repay money amid fraud investigations. Committee chairman Chris van Dam called the system “a mass process in which there was no room for nuance.”It was the latest condemnation of efforts to root out fraud by parents claiming benefit.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. Von der Leyen confirmed that the major sticking points had been reduced to just two — fair competition in the EU market and fishing rights for EU vessels in U.K. waters. “The clock puts us in a very difficult position," said von der Leyen. Von der Leyen said that “it sometimes feels we will not be able to resolve this question." “We must continue to try finding a solution," von der Leyen said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to impose a tough lockdown Monday night in a speech to the nation as coronavirus infection rates in the Netherlands rise sharply despite a two-month "partial lockdown." (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte imposed a tough new nationwide lockdown Monday, saying schools, nonessential shops, museums and gyms will close down at midnight until Jan. 19. “The Netherlands for five weeks is going into lockdown,” a somber Rutte said in a televised address to the nation. Lines formed Monday afternoon at shops, museums and even pot-selling coffee shops as people tried to beat the lockdown. And earlier Monday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that London and surrounding areas will be placed under the highest level of coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday in a bid to slow sharply rising infection rates.

Britain left the EU on Jan. 31 but remains in its economic structures until the end of the year. That means a serious economic rupture on Jan. 1 that could be chaotic if there is no trade agreement. The two leaders had hoped to inject political momentum into trade talks that have become hopelessly deadlocked on fishing and other key aspects of the future relationship. Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure there are no tariffs or quotas on trade in goods on Jan. 1, although there would still be new costs and red tape for businesses. Months of trade talks have failed to bridge the gaps on three issues — fishing rights, fair-competition rules and the governance of future disputes.

Johnson’s office confirmed the two leaders would hold a dinner meeting ”to continue discussions on the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU." Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure there are no tariffs and quotas on trade in goods on Jan. 1, although there would still be new costs and red tape for businesses. Britain claimed its Internal Market Bill was needed as an “insurance policy” to protect the flow of goods within the U.K. in the event of a no-deal Brexit. EU officials suggested negotiations could continue past Jan. 1, even as the two sides tumbled into a no-deal trading relationship. The U.K. government sees Brexit as about sovereignty and “taking back control” of the country’s laws, borders and waters.

With less than one month to go before the U.K. exits the EU's economic orbit, talks are continuing, and U.K. officials have said this is the last week to strike a deal. U.K. officials briefed media outlets that the EU had set back negotiations by making last-minute demands — an allegation the bloc denied. Any deal must be approved by lawmakers in Britain and the EU before year’s end. If there is no deal, New Year’s Day will bring huge disruption, with the overnight imposition of tariffs and other barriers to U.K.-EU trade. That will hurt both sides, but the burden will fall most heavily on Britain, which does almost half its trade with the EU.

The German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its U.S. partner Pfizer say they have submitted an application for conditional approval of their coronavirus vaccine with the European Medicines Agency. Any approval granted by the European regulator will be conditional on companies submitting further information to confirm the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks. The date now being eyed would be later than some European countries had hoped. The two companies have already submitted data to regulators in the United States and Britain, and approval might come from them first. In the EU, countries typically accept EMA approval for vaccines and drugs unless there is a specific issue the country wants examined further.

Last month, EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions on six Russian officials and a state research institute over the incident. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that retaliatory sanctions against “senior staff of the offices of the leaders of Germany and France” have already been approved. It disregards international interest in this case being cleared up and it takes a Russian problem into bilateral relations with Germany and France.”Asked whether German officials know who is being targeted by the Russian sanctions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said they know nothing beyond Lavrov's public comments. The Kremlin denied involvement and says that before Navalny’s transfer to Berlin, Russian labs found no sign of poisoning. Lavrov charged that Navalny may have been poisoned in Germany or on a plane that transported him from Russia to Berlin.

But no matter who wins, fundamental disputes that erupted — or in some cases, merely worsened — under Trump may not be quick or easy to resolve. And that is fraught with with consequences for the 16 million workers on both sides whose jobs are supported by transatlantic trade, the biggest such relationship in the global economy. Matters could escalate if the EU imposes tariffs on U.S. products in retaliation for tax breaks given in the past to Boeing. There are hopes Biden would take a more rules-based approach based on the World Trade Organization, an international forum for resolving trade disputes. The EU and the U.S. "are a couple with a lot that's invested in a good relationship," said Chase.

(AP Photo/Channi Anand)NEW DELHI — India has reported 48,648 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend in infections even as the country’s caseload has crossed 8 million and is only behind the U.S. The country confirmed 808 new cases on Thursday, bringing the cumulative COVID-19 cases to 100,334, including 712 cases found on a cruise ship earlier this year, according to the ministry figures. About one-third of the cases come from Tokyo, where 221 cases were confirmed Thursday, bringing a prefectural total to 30,677, with 453 deaths. Italy added a record number of new confirmed cases Thursday at more than 26,000. ___LONDON — The World Health Organization says Europe had a record 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the last week and has reached 10 million of the 44 million global cases.

The European Commission on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020 launched an EU-wide system devised to link national COVID-19 tracing apps together in its latest effort to slow down the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)BRUSSELS – The European Commission on Monday launched an EU-wide system devised to link national COVID-19 tracing apps together in its latest effort to slow down the coronavirus pandemic. According to the European Commission, these three apps have been downloaded by around 30 million people, the equivalent of two-thirds of all tracing app downloads in the EU. Tracing apps have been developed to break contagion chains by alerting people if they’ve been near someone who has been infected. In total, the commission said tracing apps from 20 member states could be linked via this system.

This would be very bad news for everyone, for the EU and even more so for the United Kingdom." Speaking after a meeting of EU ministers that he chaired, Roth added that “it's now up to the U.K. to make the decisive steps." He said U.K. negotiator David Frost would brief the prime minister before EU leaders meet about whether recent intensive talks have made a deal possible. Johnson says the EU must shift its position if it wants a deal, and insists the U.K. is quite prepared to walk away without one. France warned, that could cost the U.K. the unfettered access it wants to the huge and wealthy continental market.

LONDON – The European Medicines Agency says it has started a safety review after some patients taking the coronavirus drug remdesivir reported serious kidney problems. The approval for the drug was fast-tracked with the understanding that more evidence would be submitted after a license was granted. Remdesivir is one of the few licensed treatments for the coronavirus, in addition to the generic steroid dexamethasone. The agency said “enhanced safety monitoring” is in place to detect potentially worrying and unexpected side effects from remdesivir through monthly safety reports. Early studies testing remdesivir in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 found that those who received the treatment recovered quicker than those who didn’t.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the EU Commission, speaks at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, following the informal talks of the EU Trade Ministers on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. And we will need definitely to have more discussions between us.”Following two decades of negotiations, the trade pact was announced last year by the European Commission, the executive body that negotiates trade agreements on behalf of EU countries. The preliminary deal, which needs to be ratified by all EU countries, was struck with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Speaking after the meeting, EU Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis confirmed that several member states expressed concerns relating to the Paris agreement and deforestation, especially in Brazil. Dombrovskis added that the trade deal is still in the process of undergoing legal revision and that the EU Commission will decide on the ratification procedure at a later stage.

The Belgian government has reacted with shock on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, to released images of a fatal 2018 police intervention in which a Slovak man died after he was put in detention. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)BRUSSELS A top Belgian police official stepped aside Thursday after a video of a fatal 2018 police intervention in which a Slovak man died after he was put in detention at Charleroi airport was made public. The government itself reacted vigorously after the video from an ongoing investigation emerged Wednesday and Justice Minister Koen Geens said it was unseemly and totally shocking." 2 federal police official, Andr Desenfants, stepped aside after he saw the video, a police official told The Associated Press. The Slovak man, Jozef Chovanec, had been prevented from boarding a plane after he didn't show a ticket and was disruptive.

FRANKFURT The European Central Bank has left its monetary stimulus programs unchanged ahead of a key meeting of EU leaders on a recovery plan meant to help the economy bounce back from the coronavirus shutdowns. The ECB held off providing new measures Thursday after unleashing in recent weeks massive doses of monetary stimulus that have helped keep borrowing costs for companies and consumers at roughly pre-pandemic levels. There is also interest in whether the ECB could increase the 1.35 trillion euros figure for the pandemic emergency purchases if needed. Average borrowing costs for big eurozone governments rose during March but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels. The ECB left its other stimulus settings unchanged on Thursday.

BRUSSELS The European Union's executive forecasts that the bloc's economy will contract more than previously expected because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused lockdowns on business and public life that are only slowly being eased. The 27-nation EU economy is predicted to contract by 8.3% this year, before growing 5.8% in 2021, according to the latest predictions released Tuesday. The road to recovery is still paved with uncertainty," EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told reporters in Brussels. In the previous forecasts released in May, when most of the continent was under lockdown, the blocs GDP was forecast to contract by about 7.5% this year, and to bounce back by 6% in 2021. In May it had forecast a 7.8% decline this year, and growth of 6.3% in 2021.

More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. The EU said China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity, meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in. Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers. European Union countries hastily slapped restrictions on who could cross their borders in February as the virus spread in Italy. The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January.

ATHENS Greece's central bank says the country could avoid a major recession if it makes good use of emergency EU support funds and does not suffer a major renewed outbreak of COVID-19, but the pandemic is likely to compound long-term financial problems. In a 210-page report published Monday, the Bank of Greece said its main forecast for 2020 is for an economic contraction of 5.8% followed by a recovery of 5.6% next year and 3.7% in 2022. But if there is a second wave of COVID-19 and the economy does worse, GDP could shrink 9.4% in 2020. The pandemic, it said, would reverse progress made on Greeces major long-term problems, including high unemployment and public debt as well as the countrys huge stock of non-performing loans that only recently dropped to below 40% percent of the total. The Bank of Greece said it expects a major drop in tourism revenue which topped 18 billion euros ($20.3 billion), about 10% of the countrys annual output.

BRUSSELS The EU competition chief said Friday that she is not creating extra hurdles" for Lufthansa after the airline balked at accepting a 9 billion-euro German government rescue package because of what it said were tough EU conditions. Margrethe Vestager said that EU rules require bailouts to include measures that would maintain a level playing field. We very often have a discussion about slots when it comes to airlines and competition," Vestager said. Vestager said the EU wants to find a solution in the Lufthansa case and that the EU Commission remained in close contact with German authorities. The package conditions would also let the government block the possibility of an unwanted takeover.

BRUSSELS The European Commission unveiled plans Wednesday to protect biodiversity across the 27-nation bloc while building a more sustainable food system, insisting on the need to both reduce the use of pesticides and promote organic farming. The commission also wants to plant at least 3 extra billion trees over the next ten years. The use of antimicrobials, which include antibiotics, should also be reduced by 50% for fish and animal farming. The commission also estimates that investing in organic farming will help create 10-20% more jobs per hectare than traditional farming. Farmers alone must not bear the brunt of the costs of further environmental and climate protection," said COPA president Joachim Rukwied.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the headquarters of Iceland Foods in Deeside, Wales, Friday Nov. 8, 2019. Johnson pushed hard for the early election, which is coming more than two years ahead of schedule, after Parliament thwarted his plans to have Britain leave the EU on Oct. 31. The figure is based on assuming a Labour government would implement every policy it has adopted in principle. Labour says not all those pledges will be in its official election platform. Labour economy spokesman John McDonnell said the Conservative figure was "an incompetent mish-mash of debunked estimates and bad maths."

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has challenged Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to come up with a new plan for Brexit in 30 days. "We always said we would find a solution in the coming two years," Merkel said. Johnson said he welcomed the "blistering timetable" and that the "onus is on us" to find a practical solution to the political deadlock. Merkel held a fairly strict line throughout, but made a point to reiterate the friendship between the two nations. A spokesman for the French government told CNN that the EU's position on Brexit is unified and unchanged.