The European Commission is to propose additional sanctions on Israel over its actions in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a spokeswoman announced. The measures are to include the suspension of certain trade benefits that are part of an agreement between the European Union and Israel, she told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday. Whether the proposal will receive the required support by EU member states is unclear. A previous proposal to suspend research funding has so far failed to receive sufficient backing. Germany is opposed to the move. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had for...

Nearly 1 million people have been infected by water-borne diseases in Pakistan’s central and southern regions after catastrophic floods, officials and aid workers said on Tuesday, as water started receding after weeks of devastation. As many as 473,149 people have been treated at the temporary medical camps set up by the national disaster agency in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, a statement said. More than half a million people, most with skin allergies, stomach ache, dysentery and diarrhoea were treated by charities, according to statistics compiled by Pakistan’s biggest charity, Al-Khidm...

The European Commission of President Ursula von der Leyen will face two motions of no confidence in the European Parliament in October, sources told dpa on Tuesday. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has informed lawmakers that the two motions have received the required backing. According to the parliament's rules, a motion of censure requires the support of at least one tenth of the 719 EU lawmakers, before a debate and a vote can take place. Two political groups, the Left and right-wing Patriots for Europe, had announced the motions last week, hours after von der Leyen delivered a...

Europe is facing a bleak economic future with mounting challenges, according to former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, who previously served as president of the European Central Bank. "Our growth model is fading, vulnerabilities are mounting and there is no clear path to finance the investments we need," Draghi said in a speech to the European Commission in Brussels on Tuesday. Energy prices remain too high, he said, while too few companies are working with artificial intelligence and European businesses are falling behind in microchip production. Draghi also addressed problems in the aut...

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the fate of the hostages following the start of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City. "War criminal Netanyahu" bears full responsibility for the lives of "his prisoners in the Gaza Strip," the group said in a post on Telegram. Hamas refers to the hostages abducted from Israel, many of whom are civilians, as "prisoners." In addition, the post said the US government bears "direct responsibility for the escalation of the brutal war of annihilation in the Gaza Strip." The US, it ...