Daliai profsąjungų kritikuojant teisingumo ministrę Ritą Tamašunienę dėl problemų bausmių vykdymo sistemoje ignoravimo, premjeras Mindaugas Sinkevičius ją ir kitus ministrus ragina palaikyti dialogą su darbuotojams atstovaujančiomis organizacijomis.

Ukrainos prezidentas Volodymyras Zelenskis trečiadienį pranešė, kad aplankė karius fronto linijoje netoli Lymano – Ukrainos rytuose esančio miesto, kur pajėgos vykdo kontrpuolimą prieš Rusijos kariuomenę.

Ukraine's remaining steelworks, a vital part of its economy, have all but ground to a halt because of relentless attacks.

The ban is part of a number of proposals that must be approved in parliament within 30 days.

A typical household faces an annual gas and electricity bill of £1,999 from January, based on a key forecast.

AI needs "rigorous" testing and safeguards to contain risk, Andrew Bailey says.

BRUSSELS — Six people appointed by the EU institutions will start discussing on Thursday whether the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations should be banned as a European party and lose funding, according to an internal note seen by POLITICO. The Committee of Independent Eminent Persons is tasked with advising the watchdog for EU political parties — the Authority for European Political Parties and Foundations — on alleged breaches of European values. Committee members were selected through a combination of political horse-trading, EU countries pushing their candidates, and European Commission officials selecting former peers — raising eyebrows among the parties and foundations they are now expected to scrutinize. “We hope that the Committee of Independent Eminent Persons will exercise the legally required neutrality, even though people with clear political affiliations … have been appointed,” said Alexander Sell, vice president of the Europe of Sovereign Nations, and the president of its foundation. The ESN is the European home of the Alternative for Germany party. “In a true democracy, party representatives should not be involved in decisions regarding the funding of their political rivals,” Sell said. In July, the European Parliament green-lighted the process to deregister and defund ESN after the authority alleged breaches of EU values, including anti-immigration, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric, as first reported by POLITICO. The ESN party is a separate legal entity from the ESN political group in the European Parliament, which is home to 27 MEPs. Political groups are parliamentary factions, while parties are broader alliances of national parties that are funded through the EU budget. The ESN political group doesn’t face sanctions. The committee will have two months to issue an opinion once it gets all the documentation, and then the authority will make a final decision. Choosing the eminent members From the Council side, only two candidates were put forward by individual member states, said an EU official, granted anonymity to speak freely about the selection process: German professor of European law Pia Lange and Lithuania’s Linas Kontrimas, who ran to be an MEP in 2019 for a party affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists. The Commission’s secretariat-general put forward former commissioner Martine Reicherts and former Commission Secretary-General Alexander Italianer, who is now also working as an EU affairs adviser at a law firm. After a political deal in the European Parliament between the conservatives and social democrats, EU lawmakers appointed Luca Vanoni, a professor who specializes in law and religion, and who has been a visiting professor at the Viktor Orbán-linked think tank MCC. They also chose Anna Pacześniak, who sits on the Scientific Council of the European Social Democrats’ Foundation (FEPS). Spokespeople and officials from the three institutions insisted that all the appointments were in line with the rules, as the law only forbids sitting EU officials, commissioners and MEPs from being committee members. In the case of Pacześniak, the law only forbids current or former employees of political foundations from being committee members but leaves ample room for people who have other types of affiliation. The rules also do not call for any cooling-off period before taking a committee role, according to the Parliament’s press services. Pacześniak said her work at FEPS does not involve any remuneration. “FEPS’s practice is to invite to this group people who can critically analyze the current political situation, and not only those who share social-democratic opinions,” she said. Kontrimas, who ran to be an MEP on the list of the Lithuanian Farmers and Green Union, told POLITICO that in 2019 he was invited to run as an independent candidate. “I did not belong to the party and do not belong to it now,” he said. Italianer said the consultancy he works for applies “strict rules to avoid conflicts of interest in accepting assignments.” In the case of Council and Commission, their nominees had to sign a declaration vowing not to have any conflict of interest. In Parliament, nominees “are required to provide the information necessary to assess their eligibility and independence,” the press service said. Members do not get paid for their participation in the committee, but expenses are reimbursed.

BRUSSELS — The European Union will open its vast economy to countries waiting to join its ranks, provided they agree to stand with the bloc against hostile states and industrial rivals, according to a draft European Commission proposal obtained by POLITICO. Candidate countries — some of which have been waiting decades to become EU members — will be offered unprecedented “gradual integration” into the single market, including frictionless trade and access to research programs, while their applications are being worked on, according to the draft plan. “The single market is the first priority for economic convergence,” reads a review of the “pre-enlargement” benefits to be offered to candidate countries. “Earlier integration would open opportunities for Union businesses, strengthen European value chains and reduce strategic dependencies. The Commission will identify where verified regulatory alignment and enforcement capacity allow deeper participation in research, innovation and industrial cooperation, and wider market access. Priority should go to opportunities that advance accession preparations and meet shared economic and strategic needs.” The review, overseen by top von der Leyen advisor Alexandre Adam — a former aide to French President Emmanuel Macron — would radically overhaul the EU’s approach to countries in its neighborhood. At present, almost all economic benefits of closer cooperation are reserved for members, but no new state has joined since Croatia in 2013. As part of Adam’s package of measures, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro will be offered “road maps” designed to speed up the process of joining in the coming years. Others, like North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey, have seen the process drag on — with fears growing that they will become disengaged or gravitate closer to Russia or China. Under the Commission’s plan, economic benefits offered to candidate countries will depend on their support for the EU’s foreign policy objectives, with single market access hinging on them not sharing key technologies with hostile states and trade rivals. “As industrial and market integration deepens, participation in sensitive sectors must be accompanied by cooperation on investment screening, export controls, sanctions implementation and the protection of sensitive technologies,” the review document reads. “Assessments of access should consider strategic alignment, critical dependencies and the capacity to manage risks to infrastructure and supply chains. Where those conditions are not met, the scope of participation should be adjusted under the applicable instrument.” Among the areas being considered for closer cooperation are semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and space. In the waiting room Von der Leyen touches down in Albania for talks on Wednesday as part of her tour of the Western Balkans. She’ll also visit Kosovo and North Macedonia, which will miss out on an expedited pathway to join the EU under the new plan, and will use her visit to demand economic benefits of closer alignment. “Gradual integration should be tangible for our citizens and businesses,” Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, told POLITICO. “We want greater access to the EU single market, European funding and financial schemes, and joint programs in areas such as energy, digitalization, research, education and infrastructure.” “We support gradual integration, but it must be a pathway to full EU membership, not a parallel process or a substitute for it. Kosova is ready to do its part,” Kurti added. According to the review, the ultimate goal of candidate countries should be becoming full EU members. “Accession, however, takes time: candidate countries must complete a rigorous, merit-based process and deliver far-reaching and lasting reforms,” it reads. “That time should be put to full strategic use to both prepare the Union for a larger membership and deepen gradual integration in areas of mutual interest.” However, the benefits will depend on the countries doing their part: “Where these obligations are not fulfilled, participation must remain reversible. Access should be suspended or withdrawn where warranted,” the proposal warns. Internal changes Current EU members have expressed concern about the prospect of admitting new countries to the bloc that could then renege on their commitments and upend key policies. Under its former prime minister, Viktor Orbán, Hungary used its veto to block sanctions on Russia and support for Ukraine. Adam’s review — due to be presented to top officials on Oct. 6 when von der Leyen returns from the Western Balkans — will propose new conditions on those that join the bloc to ensure they don’t backslide on democracy and the rule of law. “The accession process must establish more than legal alignment,” it reads. “Institutions must work in practice and reforms must endure. Monitoring, incentives and enforcement should therefore form a continuous framework extending beyond accession.” But the EU will also change to accommodate a broader membership, going far beyond the club of wealthy Western European democracies it was initially conceived as. The bloc can change its rules to be less vulnerable to individual members’ whims, the review concludes, without having to reopen fundamental articles of EU law and potentially triggering national referendums across the bloc. “The Commission supports Treaty change where necessary, but it considers that measures already available under the Treaties should be taken forward now,” it concludes. Among the options being considered is a move to ensure more decisions can be made with a qualified majority of member countries on board. “Qualified-majority voting is already the general rule under the Treaties, but unanimity remains in several strategically important areas. As membership grows, the risk of delay or blockage will likely increase,” it reads. So-called passerelle clauses, which allow decisions to be taken by majority vote rather than unanimously, could be used to smooth the passage of sanctions, responses to human rights crises and the deployment of civilian missions to conflict zones, the review says. However, these clauses require unanimous support of member countries to be activated in the first place. Leaders from across the EU will be asked to weigh in on the discussion about how to bring new members into the bloc — and what to offer those still waiting — at a two-day summit in Brussels from Oct. 15. Von der Leyen’s enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, has said that the new proposals, combined with support from capitals to accelerate the process, offer the chance for an “autumn of enlargement” in which unprecedented changes can be made. Zoya Sheftalovich contributed to this report.

Iraq’s security forces held parades in Baghdad and Najaf to celebrate ‘Sovereignty Day’ as US troops withdraw.

Crude flows through Hormuz have recovered, but tanker insurance costs and geopolitical risks remain barriers to a return to normality.

Prime minister says ‘going all the way’ is a possibility as government reviews relations with 27-country bloc

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on the second day of a two-day state visit.

The Israeli government believes an incident on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals on Wednesday, may have been an attempted "terror attack" by one of the pilots. France 24’s Shirli Sitbon takes a look at what we know about the incident so far, with many of the details still emerging.

The UN Environment Programme says food loss and waste generate an estimated 8 to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Benjamin Daniel, known as Ben Dancer, danced non-stop for 176 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds between September 22 and 29, in an attempt to break the world record for the longest individual dance marathon.