The AI Act’s entry into force ignites a conversation on its compliance costs. The Act promotes trustworthy AI adoption while tackling low uptake. Initiatives as EDIHs, TEFs, and sandboxes can help, however, a coordinated, sustainable, and future-proof strategy is needed.

US President Joe Biden, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (21 August), stressed the urgent need to conclude a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and pointed to upcoming Cairo talks as crucial, the White House said.

In Bulgaria, support for NATO membership has soared since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with approval rising from 28% to 40% over the past seven years, according to a recent survey, which also points to growing support for the EU and declining support for Russia.

Portugal's National Emergency and Civil Protection Agency (ANEPC) is to send 60 more people to help fight the forest fire raging in the Autonomous Region of Madeira for a week, the organisation's official source confirmed on Wednesday.

The 500,000 signatures needed to call for a referendum to repeal the Calderoli law on differentiated autonomy, which, despite giving more power to the regions, has been criticised for potentially increasing regional inequalities, have been collected, the Italian Justice Ministry has announced.

To ensure peace and prosperity, the EU needs a so-called "common fiscal capacity", Fabio Panetta, the president of the Bank of Italy and a former member of the European Central Bank's executive board, told Italy's highest-level annual Catholic summit in the city of Rimini on Wednesday.

Sweden, Norway and Denmark want to step up regional cooperation to combat gang violence, the countries' justice ministers announced at a meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday, as a surge in the involvement of minors in Swedish gang activity has the Nordic leaders concerned.

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which opinion polls make favourite to win the country's general election on 29 September, presented its campaign manifesto on Wednesday (21 August).

The Ukraine war is a dominant issue for voters in two state elections scheduled for 1 September in the East German states of Thuringia and Saxony, despite having little sway in foreign policy, lead candidates of multiple parties said on Wednesday (21 August).

Britain's decision to issue dozens of new oil and gas exploration licences is being challenged in court by a marine conservation organisation, which argues ministers unlawfully failed to consider the impact on marine life.

The FBI earlier this month searched the homes of two Americans with ties to Russian state media, including a former United Nations weapons inspector and an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Amid a deeply divided National Assembly, France's new government leaders will face tough negotiations on the 2025 budget, with European Commission financial penalties looming if the country's public finances do not improve.

Internet personality Andrew Tate's home near Bucharest was raided by law enforcement on Wednesday (21 August), a Reuters witness said, as Romanian police launched four searches in an investigation into crimes including human trafficking and sex with a minor.

US vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has pledged to fight "price gouging" on grocery shelves, and the EU wants fairer pay for farmers as experts call for more transparency in the food chain.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is a powerhouse in the EU, wielding influence over financial supervision, foreign exchange reserves, and economic forecasts. The ECB’s main goal is to keep inflation at 2% by adjusting interest rates. Its massive quantitative easing program from 2015 to 2022 aimed to tackle low inflation with trillions of euros.

Hungary responded to Brussels' request for an explanation over its easing of entry requirements for Russian and Belarusian nationals on Wednesday (21 August), dismissing concerns about potential security risks to the bloc's Schengen border-free travel zone.

Several animal diseases made a comeback across the European Union this summer, forcing authorities to impose transport restrictions and the culling of thousands of livestock amid financial losses for farmers and concerns about the potential impact on the bloc’s exports.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority closed its investigation into Google and Apple app stores on Wednesday (21 August), but new laws that would give it more power to control the dominance of big tech companies could ensure that scrutiny continues.

Bartłomiej Ciączyński has resigned from his post as Polish deputy justice minister after it emerged that he used an official car for a private holiday in Slovenia and fuelled it with public money.

Spanish prosecutors are stepping up investigations into hate crimes on social media after the country's two main far-right parties - SALF and VOX - stepped up their bashing of African migrants following the murder of an 11-year-old boy over the weekend, although police later identified the perpetrator as Spanish.