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.

A second Trump presidency would likely force Europe to up its security spending, but the German government, which wants to take more responsibility in the EU amidst a looming global power vacuum, could be too paralysed to significantly increase its share.

Austria's conservative-led coalition government is nominating conservative Finance Minister Magnus Brunner as its next European Commissioner, Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement on Wednesday (31 July).

Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled upfront payments for volunteers to fight in Ukraine on Wednesday (31 July), a move aimed at facilitating military recruitment but likely to create imbalances in the overheated economy.

Olympians dived into the River Seine on Wednesday (31 July) after a pre-dawn notice informed teams that its waters were safe enough to proceed with the triathlon, sparing France the embarrassment of a central Paris 2024 promise being swept away.