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Jun 7, 2024 | 
bbc.com | Sofia Bettiza
The right could win big in Europe – thanks to young peopleBBCIn Belgium, and some other nations, the voting age for these elections has been lowered to 16As Europeans head to the polls in four days of voting across 27 countries to elect a new European Parliament, millions of young people will be casting their ballot for the first time.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza
The political rollercoaster that unfolded in Brussels this week was astonishing even for the most veteran watchers of European summits. As EU leaders met for the last time before the Christmas holidays, all eyes were on one man: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He is perceived as the Kremlin's closest ally in Europe, and is the only EU leader who met face-to-face with Vladimir Putin this year.
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Nov 24, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza
The killing of a young woman in Italy, allegedly at the hands of her possessive ex-boyfriend, has shocked the country and prompted a reckoning about violence against women. On 11 November - days before 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin was due to get her biomedical engineering degree - she went to buy her graduation outfit with her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta. Then, the couple disappeared. A few days later, CCTV footage emerged showing the final moments of her life.
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Nov 15, 2023 | 
news.nestia.com | Sofia Bettiza
Image caption, The EU's 27 member states will make a final decision on the proposed ban on Russian diamonds in the coming weeks By Sofia Bettiza BBC News, Antwerp Diamonds may be forever, but not when it comes to imports from Russia into the European Union. Russia is the biggest producer of rough diamonds cut from hundreds of mines beneath the Siberian permafrost, where a third of the world's diamond supply comes from.
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Nov 15, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza
Diamonds may be forever, but not when it comes to imports from Russia into the European Union. Russia is the biggest producer of rough diamonds cut from hundreds of mines beneath the Siberian permafrost, where a third of the world's diamond supply comes from. Now the European Commission has proposed extending to diamonds a series of sanctions imposed on Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Nov 8, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza
The European Commission has recommended that formal talks should begin with Ukraine on joining the European Union. The step takes Kyiv closer to the coveted prize of EU membership, five months after the 27 member states gave it candidate status. Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen praised its "excellent progress, even as it's fighting an existential war."She said talks should also start with Moldova and that Georgia should become a candidate, if it passed reforms.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
bbc.com | Sofia Bettiza |Robert Greenall
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Differences between EU leaders have been stark, with some like Hungary's Viktor Orban (L) closer to the Israeli positionBy Sofia Bettiza in Brussels & Robert Greenall in LondonEU leaders have called for "corridors and pauses" as a means to get badly needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. After more than five hours of talks at a summit in Brussels, a joint statement urged safe and unhindered access.
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Oct 25, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza
EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday for a summit overshadowed by Hamas's war with Israel and the EU's failure to project a united front. For weeks, the European Union's stance on the war has been clouded with mixed messages, diplomatic gaffes and conflicting national views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But after days of disagreement, EU leaders aim to project a united front. They are expected to back a call for humanitarian pauses in the fighting.
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Oct 23, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Sofia Bettiza |Beverly OchiengBbc Monitoring |Beverly Ochieng
The Nigerian government has won a case in a British Court that has overturned an $11bn (£9bn) arbitration award made to a firm following a dispute over a failed gas deal. The award, first made in 2017 then increased in 2019 to include interest, amounted to a huge chunk of Nigeria's foreign reserves. Monday's ruling is part of a protracted legal battle between British Virgin Islands-based firm Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) and the Nigerian government.
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Oct 23, 2023 | 
bbc.com | Sofia Bettiza
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Flowers were left at the scene of the shooting in central BrusselsA gunman who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels last Monday had escaped from prison in Tunisia. Belgian prosecutors say Abdesalem Lassoued had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in 2005, reportedly for crimes including attempted murder. He escaped in 2011, managed to board a small boat and arrived illegally on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
