EU officials are currently in Washington to discuss coordination on new Russia sanctions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump

International News via Reuters:

The European Union is considering a faster phase-out of Russian fossil fuels as part of new sanctions against Moscow, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, following U.S. pressure to stop buying Russian oil.

EU officials are currently in Washington to discuss coordination on new Russia sanctions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump, seeking to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, told European leaders last week to stop buying oil from Russia, a White House official said. He has also urged the EU to hit China and India with up to 100% tariffs in order to pressure Moscow.

In her State of the Union address to the European Parliament, von der Leyen said that as part of the 19th package of Russia sanctions now being prepared, “we are particularly looking at phasing out Russian fossil fuels faster, the shadow fleet and third countries”.

The EU has already banned imports of seaborne crude oil from Russia – which covers more than 90% of its Russian oil imports – and imposed a price cap on Russian oil trade.

The bloc is now negotiating legal proposals to completely phase out imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028, starting with new purchases and short-term contracts next year.

Sanctions could bring forward these deadlines, but Hungary and Slovakia have so far opposed such measures on gas imports, which they say would raise energy prices.

EU countries agree sanctions by unanimity, while other legal proposals can be passed with support from a reinforced majority of countries.

As Russia’s most lucrative exports, fuel revenues have helped Moscow to fund its war in Ukraine.

Hungary and Slovakia import around 200,000-250,000 barrels per day of Russian oil, equivalent to around 3% of EU oil demand.

EU purchases of Russian gas remain far bigger. Europe is expected to purchase around 13% of its gas from Russia this year, down from roughly 45% before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to EU figures.

Reporting by Kate Abnett and Julia Payne; Editing by Jan Harvey

The bill, introduced by the government, had proposed a registration system to grant same-sex couples who had already sealed their union overseas to certain rights such as hospital visitation

International News via Reuters:

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed limited legal rights for same-sex couples who had registered their marriage or relationship overseas, drawing criticism from gay rights groups.

The bill, introduced by the government, had proposed a registration system to grant same-sex couples who had already sealed their union overseas to certain rights such as hospital visitation.

The government made the proposal after a judgment by Hong Kong’s highest court in September 2023 that partially approved a landmark legal push for full recognition of same-sex marriages.

Although the Court of Final Appeal didn’t grant the constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the five judges ordered the government to develop a legal framework to meet basic social needs of same sex couples within two years.

The bill had faced strong opposition from some pro-Beijing legislators and religious groups who say gay marriage erodes family values, and have demanded a postponement.

This was the first time Hong Kong’s legislature, after being revamped to only include pro-Beijing patriots in 2021, had vetoed a bill in the city’s legislature in its current term of office, with 71 lawmakers voting against, and 14 for the bill.

“Today is a disappointing day for Hong Kong,” advocacy group Hong Kong Marriage Equality said in a statement.

“(It) sends a troubling signal to both local and international communities — that court rulings may be disregarded and the dignity of individuals overlooked.”

The city’s leader John Lee said earlier that the government was legally bound to abide by the ruling, but also emphasized that “a lawful marriage in Hong Kong is between one man and one woman, and a monogamous and heterosexual marriage”.

Amnesty International and 30 gay rights groups in Asia had earlier issued a joint letter urging the government to “fully comply” with the top court’s ruling by “establishing a comprehensive legal framework that recognizes same-sex partnerships and allows all same-sex couples to enter into a local, legally registered partnership”.

It’s not clear how the government will now seek to comply with its constitutional obligation to establish a legal framework for recognising same-sex relationships, with some groups calling for the government to appeal for an extension of the deadline on October 27.

There was no immediate comment from the Hong Kong government to a Reuters request for comment.

Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Kim Coghill

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria is trying to raise $18 billion for its work from 2027-2029

International News via Reuters:

One of the world’s largest global health initiatives will shift more of its resources to the very poorest countries to help them manage cuts in foreign aid, its chief executive said, warning of widening health inequalities worldwide.

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria is trying to raise $18 billion for its work from 2027-2029. But it faces a challenging funding climate as many donor governments, led by the United States, have pulled back from aid. It has also already warned some countries their existing grants for 2025-2026 may be cut as a result.

“We’re skewing our resources even more to the very poorest countries… We are particularly concerned about places where there is really no alternative,” said Peter Sands, chief executive of the Global Fund, pointing to places like Sudan, which is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis after two and a half years of civil war.

He said some low-income countries have made huge progress on tackling infectious disease in recent years, and many are also now trying to mobilise domestic funding to cope with international cuts. But some simply do not have that option, he said.

“There are some parts of the world which are suffering from a kind of vicious combination of poverty, conflict, climate change and disease, and the idea that… we can leave those parts of their world to their own devices, is morally repugnant,” he said.

Sands was speaking to reporters in London ahead of the release of the Global Fund’s 2025 results report on Wednesday, which showed that record numbers of people had access to tools to prevent or treat all three deadly diseases in 2023. Since 2002, the partnership’s work has saved 70 million lives, the report said.

But Sands said future progress was at risk if funding dries up. The Global Fund had to warn countries this year that they may face an 11% cut on average to their existing grants, as it is unclear if donors will give all the money they initially pledged for work in 2024-2026. The gap is currently around $1.4 billion, he said.

Reporting by Jennifer RigbyEditing by Alexandra Hudson

Lecornu may then use his first speech to lay out how he will seek to reach consensus with an unruly parliament

International News via Reuters:

Sebastien Lecornu, the loyalist picked by President Emmanuel Macron to be France’s fifth prime minister in two years, took office on a day of sprawling anti-government protests on Wednesday that underlined the depth of the country’s political crisis.

Lecornu, a conservative Macron protege who most recently served as his defence minister, arrived at the prime minister’s residence at midday where he met with former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who was ousted by parliament on Monday over plans to trim the country’s outsized deficit.

Lecornu may then use his first speech to lay out how he will seek to reach consensus with an unruly parliament, split into three distinct ideological blocs, and pass a slimmed-down budget for next year.

Lecornu has to send a full draft of the 2026 budget to parliament by October 7, although there is some wiggle room until October 13, after which lawmakers will run out of time to pass the budget by year’s-end.

Reactions to Lecornu’s appointment on Tuesday underscored the challenge he faces. Parties broadly agree on the need to slash France’s deficit, which reached 5.8% of GDP in 2024, but not on how to do it.

While the hard-left said it would seek to topple Lecornu with an immediate no-confidence motion, the far-right National Rally (RN) signalled tentative willingness to work with him on the budget – as long as its budgetary demands are met.

“His budget will be RN or his government will not be,” RN lawmaker Laure Lavalette posted on X late on Tuesday.

The RN is France’s largest parliamentary party and as such a crucial factor in any potential no-confidence motion. Still, Lecornu is seen as the closest member of Macron’s circle to the RN, having dined with RN president Jordan Bardella last year.

‘BLOCK EVERYTHING’ PROTESTS

Lecornu’s other path to passing a budget involves uniting the Socialists, who want to water down budget cuts and tax the rich, with his former party The Republicans, who are dead-set against any tax rises.

Macron, in an unusual step, called Socialist party leader Olivier Faure on Tuesday to tell him he would not be appointing a leftist as prime minister. On Wednesday, Faure appeared to leave the door ajar to working with Lecornu, while also saying he would support a no-confidence measure if he felt the government didn’t take on board its budgetary priorities.

Thousands of people across France meanwhile took to the streets as part of the so-called “Block Everything” protests, an expression of broad discontent with Macron, proposed budget cuts and the entire political class.

Authorities deployed some 80,000 police nationwide to contain protesters who disrupted traffic, burned rubbish bins and at times clashed with security forces.

“Anger has been rumbling for months, even years,” said Daniel Bretones, a union member protesting in Marseille. “We’re on the fifth prime minister under Macron’s second term, and it has never changed anything.”

Reporting by Gabriel StargardterEditing by Frances Kerry

Meta and ByteDance’s TikTok sued the European Commission after they were hit with a supervisory fee of 0.05% of their annual worldwide net income

International News via Reuters:

Meta Platforms and TikTok on Wednesday won a legal challenge to the way EU regulators calculated a supervisory fee imposed on them under landmark tech rules, but will receive no money back while officials reformulate the levy.

Meta and ByteDance’s TikTok sued the European Commission after they were hit with a supervisory fee of 0.05% of their annual worldwide net income to cover the EU executive’s cost of monitoring their compliance with the Digital Services Act.

The size of the annual fee is tied to the number of average monthly active users for each company and whether each posts a profit or loss in the preceding financial year. The two companies said the methodology was flawed, resulting in disproportionate fees.

The Luxembourg-based General Court sided with Meta and TikTok, giving European Union regulators 12 months to fix their methodology using a different legal act.

“That methodology… should have been adopted not in the context of implementing decisions but in a delegated act, in accordance with the rules laid down in the DSA,” judges said.

They said regulators need not repay the 2023 fees paid by the companies for now, while they come up with a new legal basis for the methodology used to determine the size of the fee.

The Commission said the court had confirmed that its fee methodology is sound and sees no issue with the principle of the fee nor the amount.

“The Court’s ruling requires a purely formal correction on the procedure. We now have 12 months to adopt a delegated act to formalise the fee calculation and adopt new implementing decisions,” a Commission spokesperson said.

The DSA, which entered into force in November 2022, requires very large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their sites or risk fines as much as 6% of their annual global turnover.

Other companies required to pay the supervisory fee include Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, Google, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X social media platform, Snapchat and Pinterest.

The cases are T-55/24 – Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission and T-58/24 – TikTok Technology v Commission.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Jan Harvey