Europa / Europe and the EU + EEA

Our investigation found that a factory owned by a former Czech prime minister should have been the prime suspect in an environmental disaster. But authorities looked elsewhere.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/39533977

EU officials who were unhappy about Europe's handling of the Gaza War should file internal grievances instead of going public, the EU Commission has indicated.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar9ef26836

A 19-year-old Syrian refugee in Germany has been hailed as a hero after he pinned down an assailant at Hamburg’s main railway station, helping to halt an attack in which 18 people were injured.

Police on Friday said a 39-year-old German woman had been arrested at the scene of the attack and that she was believed to be in a state of psychological distress. The 18 people injured were later reported to all be in stable condition, while the woman was placed in psychiatric care.

He watched as people began running away from the woman. “I decided to run in the other direction and stop the woman,” he told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

As he made his way, he saw another man, whom he described as Chechen, kick the woman in the knee, causing her to fall to the ground. “I held her [down] and pressed her hands against her rucksack so she couldn’t get up,” he said. “The woman didn’t scream, she didn’t resist.”

Police arrived a few moments later. As they pointed their weapons towards them, Muhammad moved away from the woman slowly, his hands raised in the air.

Original post in Swedish: https://feddit.nu/post/11247971

In the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) today, all parties, with the exception of the Social Democrats who want to see a broader expansion, voted in favor of expanding the prohibition on sex purchases.

The amendment, which comes into force on July 1, 2025, means that the sex purchase prohibition will now not only cover physical sexual services, but also makes it a criminal offense to provide a person compensation for performing sexual acts remotely – for instance, video material purchased per order or live via platforms such as OnlyFans. The expansion also applies to the Swedish legal definition of pimping – i.e., those who promote or unduly profit from a person having temporary sexual relations in exchange for compensation.

The Swedish Riksdag has previously also supported a motion to exempt the purchase of sexual services (now sexual acts) from the principle of dual criminality. This has not yet resulted in any concrete legislative proposals, but could potentially lead to these acts becoming punishable globally for Swedish citizens and those domiciled in Sweden in the future.

The text above was written by me, originally in Swedish. There is also an article in swedish at TV4's website.

More than 100,000 people gathered Sunday in The Hague to protest the Dutch government’s stance on Israel and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, in what organizers called the Netherlands’ largest demonstration in the past 20 years, according to NOS.

Participants wore red clothing to symbolically draw a “red line,” a message aimed at the Dutch government, demanding it take action against what they described as Israel’s continued violations of international humanitarian law. “Prime Minister Schoof refuses to draw a red line. That’s why we’re doing it,” organizers stated.

The Intercept was able to uncover the suppression of audible discontent with Israel at last year’s Eurovision by examining various feeds sent out by the competition organizers for broadcast across the globe.

When the local host country’s national broadcaster — in last year’s case Sweden and SVT, respectively — produce Eurovision, they collect multiple audio feeds: such as one for the performers, one for the audience, and one for announcer voices. The broadcaster then does a live mix of the three audio feeds into a single stereo mix.

The stereo mix is beamed up to a satellite using a multichannel format which Eurovision has been experimenting with since 2004. The video feed is also sent on a separate channel. The system allows a streamlined approach for local broadcasters around the globe to access the feeds and put the program on their stations.

The audio feeds were compared using the time encoding that allows broadcasters to sync up the sound and picture. On the audience feed, cheers swell up from time to time, along with whistles and other noises of audience approval. These swells and other noises correspond between the audience feed and the stereo mix.

Notes of crowd disapproval, however, are present on the audience feed but completely absent from the stereo mix. At one point in the feed at the start of Israel’s performance, scattered boos well up on the audience feed, while the corresponding timestamp in the stereo mix has no audience sound. Likewise, at the start of the performance, an audience member can be heard prominently shouting “Free Palestine!” The cry is not on the stereo broadcast mix.

For the popular vote the top 10 were as follows (bottom to top):

• 97 pts. - Italy, Lucio Corsi – Volevo Essere Un Duro

• 108 pts. - Finland, Erika Vikman – ICH KOMME

• 126 pts. - Greece, Klavdia – Asteromáta

• 139 pts. - Poland, Justyna Steczkowska – GAJA

• 158 pts. - Ukraine, Ziferblat – Bird of Pray

• 178 pts. - Austria, JJ – Wasted Love

• 195 pts. - Sweden, KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu

• 258 pts. - Estonia, Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato

• 297 pts. - Israel, Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise

Personally I'm partial to KAJ for no particular reason (ehem nationality bias ;) and we love our Swedish Finns) but it was fun to see a whole lot of non-english songs making both the finals and top rankings!

Did you guys have any particular favourites and if so why?

In today’s edition of The Capitals, read about why the EU's defence pact with the UK makes sense, Spain’s rail system struggling despite billions in EU funding, and so much more.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/38016771

BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) - Social media app TikTok was charged by EU tech regulators on Thursday with breaching EU online content rules, putting its owner ByteDance at risk of a fine of as much as 6% of its global turnover.

Nature and climate protection takes another major hit in EU proposal to “simplify” agricultural policy

The stop killing games campaign’s slated goal is to prevent game publishers from intentionally destroying their games after official support ends.

Sign it: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home

Read it: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007

More questions?: https://www.stopkillinggames.com/faq Giant FAQ on The European Initiative to Stop Destroying Games!

https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works #StopKillingGames

Greece faces a media freedom crisis as a result of actions and failures by the Greek government, threatening democracy and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

• The pervasive and deliberate constraints on journalism in Greece are creating an environment in which critical reporting is stifled, and self-censorship becomes the norm.
• Journalists face state surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by pro-government actors, and abusive lawsuits by politicians, all of which threaten democracy and the rule of law.
• The EU Commission and the EU as a whole need to monitor the situation carefully and ensure that genuine progress is made on media freedom in Greece and core democratic values are upheld.

The report: From Bad to Worse: The Deterioration of Media Freedom in Greece