Rescue teams in Japan on Tuesday (2 January) struggled to reach isolated areas hit by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day, with reports of more than 20 people dead in a disaster that toppled buildings and knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes.

A slim majority of the members of Germany's Free Democrats have voted in a non-binding membership poll to stay in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious three-way governing coalition.

Debates and policymaking around agriculture and food are traditionally emotional and often highly polarised, but 2023 saw new levels of gridlocks and drama in EU agrifood policy.

Russian drones attacked a university and a museum linked to two of the most prominent 20th century defenders of Ukrainian national identity on Monday (1 January), leaving locals vowing to repair the damage.

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Monday (1 January), triggering warnings for residents to evacuate some coastal areas, knocking out power to thousands of homes and disrupting flights and rail services to the affected region.

Israel warned its war against Hamas will continue throughout 2024 as unrelenting strikes killed two dozen people in Gaza and the Palestinian militant group fired a rocket barrage at the stroke of midnight.

Ukraine's shelling of the city of Donetsk on Monday (1 January) killed four people, a Russian-installed official in the eastern region of Ukraine said, while Russia's air attacks on several Ukrainian regions killed at least one person, local officials said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for unity in the country in his New Year's Eve address Sunday (31December) as it prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games, after a difficult year for his government.

A long-awaited European Union's visa liberalisation scheme allowing Kosovo nationals to travel to Europe's borderless zone without a visa came into force on Monday (1 January).

The world welcomed 2024 with a mix of celebration and sombre reflection. Here's how places and people around the world bid farewell to 2023 and welcomed the New Year.

London's Big Ben on Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of its "bongs" to ring in the New Year being broadcast live across the world.

Thousands of protesters gathered Saturday (30 December) in Belgrade in the biggest of a series of rallies against alleged electoral fraud.

The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU succeeded late on Saturday 30 December 2023, one day before it passes the baton to Belgium, to move on with the Schengen enlargement with Bulgaria and Romania, after 12 years of negotiations.

At least four tankers transporting diesel and jet fuel from the Middle East and India to Europe are taking the longer route around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, ship tracking data show.

Poland summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires and demanded an explanation for the violation of Poland's airspace by a missile and an immediate halt to such activities, Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday evening (29 December).

Hundreds of Serbian protesters, mostly students, gathered Friday (29 December) in central Belgrade and blocked a key intersection in the capital to protest alleged electoral fraud.

Russia drew sharp criticism at the UN Security Council on Friday (29 December) for launching massive missile and drone attacks against Ukraine, after Kyiv and its supporters called for an urgent meeting of the 15-member body to address the strikes.

An AI chatbot is used to help answer hundreds of questions from patients every week in order to help ease the workload of already overstretched healthcare providers. The initial positive results mean the tool will be rolled out to other hospitals.

Three legal complaints have been filed against Bulgaria related to the failure of the vaccination campaign and the response of the authorities during the pandemic, which led the country to the highest death rate from COVID-19 in Europe, Euractiv has learned.

Flying drones with defibrillators to help cardiac arrest patients is faster than ambulances in two out of three cases, a new Swedish study shows.