“Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatised: be it because of whom they love, because of their age, their ethnicity, their political opinions, or their religious beliefs.” President Ursula von der Leyen, (European Parliament, 7 July 2021)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has stepped down nearly nine months after he was tasked with forming the crisis-ridden country’s next government. On Thursday, Hariri told reporters that President Michel Aoun had not accepted his latest Cabinet lineup less than 24 hours after the three-time prime minister submitted the proposal. …

In the margins of Greece’s booming IVF industry, women trade their eggs and clinics gamble with ethics while the state looks the other way.The working week was a grind but the weekends back then made it seem worthwhile. On Friday nights, between waitressing or whatever job she had taken to …

Production pressure, lax safety and outdated equipment are costing lives in Serbia’s arms industry. Yet those in charge are rarely held responsible. For residents of Cacak, a town in western Serbia, it was like a blast from the past – two explosions two weeks apart at the state-run Sloboda arms …

As the latest election fails to resolve the political deadlock that has gripped Bulgaria since April, the country is heading into uncharted territory. For the second time in just over three months, Bulgaria has seen parliamentary elections. While the April 4 vote resulted in a surprise, Sunday’s poll was hardly …

Aleksandar Vucic is never happier than when presenting awards – but who the real star of the show is on these occasions is another question. The awarding and receiving of medals has become one of the favourite performances of Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic. For each holiday, the head of state …

Iran has indicated that it will not return to talks aimed at a U.S. return to the 2015 nuclear deal until after a new government headed by President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes office next month, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The United States and its European partners had been awaiting word from …

The explosion of a Hezbollah warehouse near a school, should it happen, would be half the size of the Beirut explosion of last year. The Israeli military on Wednesday shared intelligence of a possible target belonging to Hezbollah in the southern Lebanese village of Ebba in the Nabatieh Governorate. According …

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul says, “President Biden should not enter into any deals with Iran without an end to these assaults on our citizens.” The Biden administration and some Republicans in Congress are at odds over the Iran nuclear deal negotiations following an alleged Iranian intelligence plot to kidnap …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed full support on Wednesday for visiting Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate Saad al-Hariri in his efforts to form a cabinet and resolve a crippling economic and political crisis. Lebanon is battling an economic meltdown dubbed by the World Bank as one of the deepest depressions in …