‘Darkest chapter’: Record child violations in 2025, with national forces leading the way
This article is published in association with United Nations. For the first time, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups – and 2025 set a grim new record for the total number of child victims. The findings come in the annual UN report on Children and Armed […]
Navigating crises and delivering results with the EU Budget in 2025
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the College of Commissioners adopted the Annual Management and Performance Report for 2025 (AMPR). The AMPR highlights the key role the EU budget played in navigating multiple crises that year and shows that it continued to deliver for European citizens. The EU budget […]
Commission greenlights Slovenia’s sixth payment request for €41 million under NextGenerationEU
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Slovenia’s sixth payment request for €41 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. This is an important step in the delivery of the reforms and investments tied to this payment request, which aims to support Slovenia’s […]
Commission issues €8 billion in its sixth syndicated transaction of 2026
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has raised €8 billion of EU-Bonds in its 6th syndicated transaction for 2026. The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €3 billion tap 5-year EU-Bond,maturing on 14 October 2030 and a €5 billion tap of the 15-year EU-Bond,maturing on 12 December 2040. Building […]One Europe, One Market: from strategy to delivery – EESC, CoR and EP discuss the EU’s new roadmap for a truly unified market
This article is brought to you in association with the European Economic and Social Committee. Insufficient enforcement of common EU rules, threats to consumer confidence, excessive complexity for SMEs and a loss of competitiveness in the digital sector are among the greatest challenges facing the Single Market. The EU has a duty to protect it in […]
Commission adopts temporary adjustments to Basel III Market Risk Rules to safeguard EU banks’ competitiveness
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. To ensure that the EU banking sector benefits from a level playing field with international competitors, the European Commission has today introduced targeted, time-limited amendments to its implementation of the new market risk capital framework for banks. The measures will apply for three years […]
2026 Justice Scoreboard highlights importance of effective justice systems for EU competitiveness and Single Market
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission published the fourteenth edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard, an annual report providing comparative data on the efficiency, quality, and independence of the justice systems among EU Member States. The 2026 edition shows an improved perception of the independence and […]
Teen scientists are tracking plastic pollution across Europe’s rivers
This article was published in association with the Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine. Along a small stream in Spain, groups of teenagers are at work. One hovers around a black tarpaulin covered in wet pieces of plastic. Another stands on a small bridge, fishing with a net. Others sort small pieces of plastic, […]
The hidden biodiversity battle to save Europe’s forests
This article was published in association with the Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine. In the village of Suonenjoki, the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) stands surrounded by a forest of pine trees. The local soils are not fertile and pine is pretty much the only species that can grow there. But in a […]
EU to mobilise up to €25 billion for renewable energy and clean technology by 2035 through Pact for the Mediterranean initiative
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Union launches the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy and Clean Tech Cooperation (T-MED) – a flagship initiative under the Pact for the Mediterranean. T-MED aims to accelerate the development of renewable energy, hydrogen, clean technology manufacturing and modern electricity networks across the Mediterranean […]
AI’s environmental costs threaten water, land and climate
This article is published in association with United Nations. Artificial Intelligence is not only responsible for worrying amounts of earth-warming greenhouse gases: the technology’s environmental footprint is also expanding at a pace that could strain the planet’s natural resources. Data centres, the global infrastructure powering AI, could consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030 – […]
AI listens in to help protect wildlife
This article was published in association with the Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine. Strolling through a forest, you may notice that the air is filled with sound. Birds sing, insects and small mammals rustle through the undergrowth, and at dusk bats squeak as they communicate with each other. These soundscapes contain a wealth of information […]
Planting the seeds of sustainability through education
This article was published in association with the Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine. What if schools could do more than teach sustainability? What if they could test it, measure it and experience it in real time? Across Europe, students and teachers have been turning classrooms into small-scale laboratories for environmental change. Over the past […]
‘Darkest chapter’: Record child violations in 2025, with national forces leading the way
This article is published in association with United Nations. For the first time, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups – and 2025 set a grim new record for the total number of child victims. The findings come in the annual UN report on Children and Armed […]
Triple climate threats affect nearly half the world’s children
This article is published in association with United Nations. Drought, extreme heat and heatwaves are the most prevalent trio of hazards endangering millions of children globally, warned a newly released climate report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). About 1.1 billion children now face at least three overlapping climate hazards, threatening their health, education and survival, […]
Ukraine: Latest Russian attack kills civilians, damages cultural landmark
This article is published in association with United Nations. eral civilians were killed and dozens more were injured in the latest wave of overnight attacks in Ukraine that targeted the capital Kyiv, the city of Kharkiv and the country’s history and cultural heritage, the United Nations said on Monday. The Russian strikes damaged homes, schools and […]
Guterres welcomes US-Iran peace deal as ‘critical step’ toward ending conflict
This article is published in association with United Nations. UN Secretary General António Guterres welcomed on Sunday a new peace deal between the United States and Iran, calling it a “critical step” toward ending the conflict. According to a statement issued by his Spokesman, the agreement provides for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the reopening of […]
Three seafarers killed in Hormuz strike as UN warns of widening fallout
This article is published in association with United Nations. Three Indian seafarers were killed in an attack on an oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, as renewed hostilities in one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors once again heightened concern over food security, fuel prices and broken global supply chains. The latest […]
Refugee numbers drop for first time in a decade, but millions remain trapped
This article is published in association with United Nations. Global forced displacement has decreased for the first time in a decade, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Thursday, though the figure remains unacceptably high and tens of millions of people are still trapped in prolonged exile with little prospect of rebuilding their lives. UNHCR‘s flagship […]
Miles for Water: The Daily Health Burden of Climate Change on Women
This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Jasminy Musa Belotti Dessiyeh, a 19-year-old medical student at FACISB (Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde de Barretos), Brazil. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and […]
Children are dying as US sanctions push Cuba to the brink, warns UN human rights chief
This article is published in association with United Nations. Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicines, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a stark warning on Monday, calling for the immediate lifting of United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation that were causing “widespread harm”. “The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of […]
World News in Brief: Millions displaced in South Sudan, global meat supply quadruples, Middle East crisis deepens global hunger
This article is published in association with United Nations. Months of fighting and insecurity have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei State, triggering “one of the most severe conflict-related displacement emergencies in recent years”, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. Tweet URL Fighting between the […]
Lebanon crisis: Needs soar as UN launches new funding appeal
This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months since deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces. “Humanitarian needs are soaring with each day of the […]
Undeclared chemical weapons found in Syria, including type used in notorious Ghouta massacre
This article is published in association with United Nations. Chemical weapons inspectors have uncovered a significant cache of previously undeclared chemical weapons in Syria – including rockets of the same type used in the notorious 2013 Ghouta attack – in what the UN’s top disarmament official called a “momentous discovery” for international security. Izumi Nakamitsu briefed […]
Growing up with sirens: UN child rights envoy on the toll of the Ukraine-Russia war
This article is published in association with United Nations. Children in Ukraine have been profoundly impacted by years of war, sheltering in underground schools – or forced to study online – and living with the psychological strain of constant air raid sirens that could spell death for them and their families. But children on both sides […]
El Niño confirmed, set to fuel more extreme weather, says WMO
This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN urged all countries on Tuesday to bolster early warning systems after confirming the onset of El Niño, warning that the Pacific Ocean-warming phenomenon will bring above-average temperatures “nearly everywhere” and fuel more extreme weather. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), there is an 80 […]
UN deplores another wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine
This article is published in association with United Nations. Overnight attacks in three key cities in Ukraine have left several civilians dead, scores more injured, and homes, hospitals and shops destroyed or damaged, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said on Tuesday. Matthias Schmale condemned the large-scale Russian assault on the capital Kyiv, as well as Dnipro and Kharkiv, […]
DR Congo Ebola outbreak: Nurses discharged after full recovery
This article is published in association with United Nations. Four nurses who fell ill with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the often-fatal illness that sparked an international health alert. “More recoveries are expected, especially when people are diagnosed early and able to access care, and […]
Under fire, Kharkiv is already building for a peaceful tomorrow
This article is published in association with United Nations. Every day in Kharkiv begins with uncertainty: air raid sirens interrupt sleep; missiles strike residential neighbourhoods, industrial sites, and roads. Anxious citizens rush into metro stations during bombardments and children study underground. Yet amid the destruction, Ukraine’s second-largest city is doing something that may seem almost impossible […]
