Belgium

28 Apr 2019; AFP: French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi on Friday said the European Medicines Agency had conditionally approved its anti-cancer drug Libtayo, the first drug of its kind to be authorised for use in the EU.

The tumour-reducing drug is aimed at patients with the second most common form of skin cancer -- cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) -- whose cancer is advanced, and who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.

28 Apr 2019; AFP: The European Union warned Saturday that US President Donald Trump's rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons trafficking.

"A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to combat the diversion of conventional arms," said the EU's chief diplomat, Federica Mogherini.

27 Apr 2019; DW: Around 10% of voters plan to use their vote in the European Parliament elections to back far-right or right-wing populist parties, according to a study published by the Bertelsmann Foundation on Friday.

Most other EU citizens will use their ballots to thwart parties they oppose rather than support a particular group. The researchers said this type of "negative" voting could benefit political movements on the fringes and make it more difficult to form a majority in Parliament.

BRUSSELS, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU), has dismissed the accusations regarding the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying the so-called China's debt trap "is not a suitable hat for China, nor for the BRI."

25 Apr 2019; DW: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday at the 26th annual EU-Japan summit.

The leaders agreed to closer cooperation on security, the environment and trade and pledged to pursue long-awaited reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

20 Apr 2019; DW: Angela Merkel will bid farewell to the chancellor's office in Berlin in 2021. The outgoing president of the European Commission thinks she is "a complete and endearing work of art" who would do well in Brussels.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Germany's Funke Media Group on Saturday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is "highly qualified" for a top European Union job.

MILAN (AP) — New car sales in Europe are continuing to fall for the seventh straight month, dropping by 4 percent in March.

The European carmakers’ association ACEA, based in Brussels, said 1.72 million new cars were sold last month, down from 1.79 million in March 2018. Italy led all five top markets in decline, with a double-digit drop.

The Volkswagen group gained market share, capturing 23.2 percent of sales with a mild 1-percent drop. Shares of its luxury brands were mixed, with Audi up by 1.7 percent and Porsche plummeting 19 percent.

13 Apr 2019; DW: The European Commission intends to publish a draft list of retaliatory tariffs on some €20 billion ($22.6 billion) worth of US imports next Wednesday, EU diplomats told multiple news agencies late Friday. The report came as French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin met in Washington.

BRUSSELS (AP) — As if Brexit hadn’t spooked Britain and the European Union enough over the past three years, the two sides agreed early Thursday to extend the deadline to Halloween.

The new, Oct. 31 cutoff date averts a precipitous and potentially calamitous Brexit that had been scheduled for Friday.

“Please, do not waste this time,” European Council President Donald Tusk pleaded. He said the EU was giving Britain six more months “to find the best possible solution” to its Brexit impasse.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Tough-guy France softened its stance Tuesday and showed willingness to accept yet another delay in the long-awaited Brexit, diminishing the chances that Britain would crash out of the European Union this week without any future plan.

But British Prime Minister Theresa May still has a rough day ahead of her as she heads to an emergency summit in Brussels on Wednesday to plead for a new Brexit extension — for the second time in three weeks. Such gatherings aren’t getting any friendlier.