EU

The European Union prepared to slap sanctions on Iran on Monday over a human rights crackdown and several ministers warned of separate, new sanctions if Tehran's involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine was proven.

The question of how, when and whether to cap gas prices is set to dominate another meeting of European Union countries on Wednesday, as they pursue a joint plan to target high gas prices - a compromise that has eluded them for weeks.

Britain and the European Union made some progress last week on their long running post-Brexit trade row over Northern Ireland after talks resumed for the first time in over seven months, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Wednesday.

European shares fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, pressured by a rise in government bond yields globally, with investors worrying about a potential recession and the impact on corporate profits from a rapid rise in interest rates.

The European Union's securities watchdog has asked Britain about recent extreme moves in UK government bond yields and is monitoring for "spillovers" into the bloc, its chair Verena Ross said on Monday.

European Union countries will seek a November deal on more emergency measures to tackle high gas prices, officials said, although countries still disagree on what form those measures would take and whether they should cap gas prices.

The ongoing reform of EU fiscal rules could give governments more leeway in plans that combine debt cuts with investment and reforms, in exchange for greater accountability, the EU's Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday.

EU leaders meeting in Prague on Friday looked to bridge divisions on how to tackle soaring energy prices as they grapple with the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine.

A Dutch court on Thursday ordered the government to bring conditions in Dutch emergency asylum centres up to European Union standards and said vulnerable refugees should no longer be housed there.

EU lawmakers impose single charger for all smartphones

The head of the European Union's powerful lending arm has urged leaders not to backslide on climate targets amid the energy crisis and signalled a joint action plan from the world's top development banks at next month's COP 27 summit and on Ukraine.

European Union energy ministers met on Friday to seek agreement on ways to shield citizens from sky-high energy prices and prevent power utilities from collapsing as Russia has gradually turned off gas supplies to Europe in the standoff over Ukraine.

European shares fell on Wednesday, with miners leading losses, as investors fretted over global demand outlook for metals following lacklustre trade data from China, while Ubisoft slid as a deal with Tencent dampened its buyout prospects.

The European Commission will propose a price cap on Russian gas, alongside measures including a mandatory EU cut in electricity use and a cap on the revenue of non-gas power generators, the bloc's chief said on Wednesday.

New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday said she hoped talks with the EU could help resolve a dispute over post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday the grain leaving Ukrainian ports after a blockade that fuelled a global food crisis was mostly reaching Europe instead of developing nations and questioned the merits of the deal.

Europe's gas prices surged, its share prices slid and the euro sank on Monday after Russia stopped pumping gas via a major supply route.

The European Union signed a deal with war-torn Ukraine on Monday to release a further 500 million euros ($497 million) in planned aid.

The EU's drug regulator on Thursday approved Covid-19 vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna adapted for the Omicron variant.

Global warming, the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have driven energy prices to rise by 39.7% this year alone.

European shares dropped on Monday, while bond yields surged as comments from central bank policymakers heightened fears of aggressive measures to stamp out inflation amid rising risks of a recession.

European Union foreign ministers may agree to tighten the issuance of visas for Russians and start debate on a wider ban on tourist visas though there is no agreement on that.

Spain wants to become the new gateway for gas through an ambitious trans-Pyrenees pipeline and is hoping supply-starved Germany will pressure a reluctant France.

The European Union will urge the world's biggest economies to improve their targets to fight climate change ahead of this year's U.N.

European countries could stretch out limited supplies of the monkeypox vaccine by administering smaller doses of the shot, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday.

The European Union said Tuesday it was studying Iran's response to a "final" draft agreement on reviving a 2015 nuclear accord with major powers it presented at talks in Vienna.

The European Union is working to boost its presence in the Pacific through economic ties and new security commitments as geostrategic competition in the region intensifies.

The European Union is planning a five-fold increase in financial support to an African military mission in Mozambique, an internal EU document shows.

Iran will respond to the European Union's "final" draft text to save a 2015 nuclear deal by midnight on Monday, its foreign minister said, calling on the United States to show flexibility to resolve three remaining issues.

The TTC was born out of President Joe Biden's summit in Brussels in June