Belgium

BRUSSELS, May 13 (Xinhua): The Europeans Union (EU) and member states' foreign ministers told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any escalation on the military side with Iran, the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said.

13 May 2019; DW: German, French and British foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to find ways to keep the pact alive amid Iran's partial withdrawal. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making a surprise visit.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday that EU member states continue "to fully support the nuclear deal with Iran" ahead of a foreign ministers summit in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, May 10 (Xinhua): U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has for the second time this week canceled part of his travel plans in Europe, cutting short a trip that was supposed to shore up U.S. commitment and ties with traditional allies. Instead, he left a trail of disagreements that dogged the transatlantic relations.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Pompeo's first stop was about the Arctic, where the Arctic Council for the first time in 23 years did not issue a declaration that would also act as a guideline for the next chairing country.

BRUSSELS, May 9. /TASS/: The European troika of UN mediators (the UK, Germany and France) has rejected Iran’s ultimatum under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), according to a joint statement released on Thursday.

The Europeans also denounced new US sanctions against Iran. The UK, Germany and France pledged to continue work on creating the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) with Iran to bypass US trade sanctions.

9 May 2019; DW: The world would need 2.8 Earths if everyone burned through natural resources as greedily as the average person in the EU, according to a new study. Its authors say drastic action is needed to avert a crisis.

People in the European Union use up natural resources far more quickly than the rate at which nature can replenish those resources, a study by the World Wide Fund and Global Footprint Network found Thursday.

8 May 2019; DW: The World Health Organization has said more than 34,000 people across Europe caught measles in the first two months of 2019. Just this week, Germany proposed a fine for parents who don't vaccinate their children.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said there had been a sharp rise in the number of measles cases across Europe in January and February of this this year, with more than 34,000 people catching the disease.

BRUSSELS, May 6 (Xinhua): The recent discord over intensified sanctions against Cuba is putting relations between the United States and its allies including the European Union (EU) and Canada under strain.

Washington made the decision to activate the full weight of the Helms-Burton Act against Cuba last week, which authorizes U.S. nationals to file lawsuits over properties nationalized or confiscated by Cuba's government.

3 May 2019; DW: Jamal Khashoggi, Daphne Caruana Galizia, Jan Kuciak: Their murders are among the most serious attacks on press freedom and a symptom of a deep-rooted problem, says Christophe Deloire of Reporters Without Borders.

Almost one person in two in the world does not have access to freely reported news and information. As Europeans, we can count ourselves lucky that we enjoy "this freedom that allows us to verify respect for all the other freedoms." 

2 May 2019; DW: Poland should stop treating the European Union as a source of financing and start making more of a financial contribution to the bloc, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said on Wednesday.

"The EU is not just a money machine, a cow that you can milk. We are expecting a more substantial contribution from Poland for the future of Europe," Katainen told journalists in Warsaw.

2 May 2019; DW: The Trump administration will allow US nationals to file lawsuits against foreign companies operating on properties that were seized from Americans during the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

The major policy shift, first announced in April but implemented on Thursday, sets the stage for fresh economic disputes between the US and Europe. It also marks a new escalation in Washington's policy to hammer Havana over its support for Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro.