EU member states are increasingly integrating climate change concerns into their dietary guidelines, but economic and cultural differences among countries continue to stand in the way of an EU-wide consensus on sustainable and healthy diets. 

The left-wing Sumar platform, a junior partner in Spain's Socialist-led government, suffered an ideological split this week after its former leader and current Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz called for the "recognition of the results" of Venezuela's contested elections, against the will of many other platform members.

The European Investment Bank (EIB)’s €5 billion wind package kickstarted with the first €500 million counter-guarantee deal with Deutsche Bank, as part of a financial effort set to strengthen the European wind industry.

Ursula von der Leyen is facing an unfortunate and unnecessary challenge to her plans to increase investment as part of her second term as European Commission President. The political guidelines for her second term set out to “turbo charge investment”, promising to “unlock the financing needed for the green, digital and social transition.”

As the annual Rule of Law Report highlighted the deterioration of press freedom in Italy, the head of the country's largest journalists' union accused Prime Minister Georgia Meloni of shifting the blame.

The European Commission has started moving ahead with efforts to facilitate data centres for artificial intelligence (AI), needed to boost the EU’s competitiveness globally.  

Venetians and visitors alike welcomed new rules introduced on Thursday (1 August) to limit the size of tourist groups in the latest effort to reduce overcrowding.

Top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Iran's regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to discuss potential retaliation against Israel after the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran, five sources told Reuters.

The United States on Thursday (1 August) recognised Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's opponent and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of Venezuela's disputed presidential election, rejecting Maduro's claim of victory.

French President Emmanuel Macron has opted to take a back seat during the Olympic Games after weeks of domestic political turmoil, heading to his Mediterranean holiday residence and leaving Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to oversee proceedings in Paris.

The European Union on Thursday (1 August) demanded Hungary respond to fears that a decision by Budapest to relax visa rules for Russian and Belarusian nationals heightens the risk of spying in the bloc.

Russia freed US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday (1 August) as part of the biggest prisoner exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War.

Sweden favours creating a compulsory rule for companies to apply for medicines pricing and reimbursement in any member state requesting it. A minority of EU countries currently support this approach, but pharma package talks continue.

The European Parliament is close to finalising a split of its environment and health committee (ENVI) and upgrading the current subcommittee on public health (SANT) to a standing committee, parliamentary sources tell Euractiv.

The Lancet’s latest worldwide report on dementia prevention, intervention and care finds that around 45% of cases of dementia are potentially preventable through addressing 14 risk factors.

Noyb sued the Hamburg data protection authority on 1 August in a bid to overturn its recent decision that German newspaper Der Spiegel "pay or okay" model was lawful.

Industrial activity in the eurozone continued to contract in July, a closely-watched business survey confirmed on Thursday (1 August), as Europe’s economic woes showed little sign of abating despite growth data slightly above analysts' forecasts earlier this week.

Turkey will continue to block NATO-Israeli cooperation, insisting Israel is violating NATO's core principles, said Turkish President Erdogan.

Bulgaria's counter-intelligence service (SANS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission have launched an investigation into health rights activists advocating for the establishment of a state-run children's hospital. The move provoked an intense backlash.

The European Commission has deemed sanctions imposed by Ukraine on Russian oil producer Lukoil to be of no risk to the oil supply for Hungary and Slovakia, as they do not affect the transit of oil via Ukraine to Hungary.