The US, China, and Russia all resent the EU’s sharing of sovereignty among its states and want to undermine it.

The EU’s policy toolkit is not well suited for exercising power abroad, writes Daniel Gros

Europe has dithered for decades over whether or not to unify its armies, says Andreas Kluth

An open letter to European leaders, written by Christos Christou, MSF International President.

James Le Mesurier was found dead outside his home in Istanbul on November 11.

Polls before the Brexit referendum in 2016 showed a majority in favour of remain, but they also showed that most Britons were indifferent. The same is true today, says Bill Emmott.

The rain definitely played spoilsport when Mary and David O’Keeffe were married in St Finbarr’s Oratory, Gougane Barra nearly four decades ago. Despite exchanging vows in a church located in one of the most photogenic locations imaginable, you’d never guess it from their wedding album which is filled with indoor shots only.

HALF of Europe has been slammed by a massive heat wave in recent weeks, with many regions experiencing temperatures never before seen in June. But it may just be the beginning, says Marco Evers.

Cellos held sway in Bantry at the start of the week at the 24th West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Grammy-nominated Bulgarian composer, Dobrinka Tabakova was in town to hear her cello concerto delivered by Laura van der Heijden.

Visiting travel writers and explorers will shortly explore the theme of ‘extraordinary adventures’ at the 17th annual Lismore Immrama Festival of Travel.

Two cuts sent to visual Qualification for Euro 2020 gets under way this evening, and the big boys have been limbering up in their own inimitable way.

Tom Hanks would be proud. A charity shop is saving Private Ryan’s medals for his relatives after a chance discovery made in an old jacket handed into it.

George H.W. Bush was the last person elected president of the United States with any prior foreign policy experience.

In almost any other sport or competition, it would be anathema to a type of observer, especially Real Championship Man: The wretched dead rubber.

Persistent snow and freezing conditions from a Siberian cold snap has badly affected transport and caused a handful of deaths across a swathe of Europe from Britain to the Balkans.

Brokentalker’s play satirises our response to the influx of people from war-torn countries, writes Alan O’Riordan

A lawyer for General Ratko Mladic has said it is not certain the former Bosnian Serb military commander will appear in a United Nations courtroom when judges deliver their verdicts in his long-running trial for allegedly masterminding atrocities during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

And after 115 features, 34 documentaries and 116 shorts, the panel of esteemed judges had their work cut out for them.

American and Serbian paratroopers have held joint exercises in Serbia, watched with unease by Russia which is trying to increase its influence in the Balkans.

The events of this summer show a world in which nations seem notably closer than ever before to turning to force, writes Peter Apps            

Jose Mourinho is hopeful of winning the Uefa Super Cup despite Manchester United’s absentees, the stifling Skopje heat, and Real Madrid’s quality.

US Vice President Mike Pence has said the future of Europe's Balkan nations is in the West, reaffirming Washington's commitment to the region as Russia works to assert its historical influence there.

Latest:At least 100 tourists have been forced to evacuate from a coastal area in Montenegro that is being threatened by wildfires raging across the Balkans.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, from Crete, was known as ‘El Greco’ in Toledo. Now another Greek shares the famous nickname: ‘El Graeco’ is short for Graecopithecus freybergi. The dental records of this ape-like pre-human, who lived in the Eastern Mediterranean area, have put the cat among the anthropological pigeons. 

THE UN is in danger of becoming as irrelevant and ineffectual as the League of Nations that preceded it — able to condemn atrocities but not halt them. The chemical attack in Syria, most likely by government forces, is the most recent example.

It costs almost €2,800 per day to detain a juvenile offender in Ireland — almost 10 times as much as the European average — according to a Council of Europe report.

A new fence being built by Hungary to stop migrants from entering the country will be completed by May 1 and a state of emergency giving authorities additional powers to secure the borders has been extended by six months, government officials said.

Gardaí and Customs have made the biggest seizure of cannabis in 20 years and suspect the under-pressure Kinahan cartel were behind the shipment.

Millions of more people could suffer from hay fever as a result of climate change, a study has suggested.

The American military and industrial complex needs a new enemy to justify its massive budget and Vladimir Putin is the right person at the right time, argues Peter Van Buren.

Christopher R Hill says we may balk at the hyper-nationalism of North Korea’s regime, but nationalism is on the rise globally — just look at Donald Trump’s White House campaign

ON JUNE 20, 1631, ‘Barbary’ pirates raided Baltimore, taking 107 men, women, and children into slavery. It was the largest such raid on an Irish or British settlement since Viking times, writes Richard Collins

In this ‘Titanic enterprise’, Simon Sebag Montefiore is not afraid to suggest that something of what made the Romanovs powerful remains in the Russian psyche and Russian leadership today, writes Mary Leland.

Greece said yesterday it would speed up the creation of reception centres for up to 30,000 refugees to help cope with a sharp rise in numbers because of border closures in the Balkans that cut off the main migration route to wealthy western Europe.

Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood actress and special envoy for the UN’s refugee agency, said that the international community must address the root causes of the global refugee crisis.

A deal over Syria may be the most positive sign the world could overcome its many growing challenges, writes Peter Apps

Doctor Thorne, from Julian Fellowes, begins on UTV Ireland tomorrow at 9pm, starring Rebecca Front, Tom Hollander, Ian McShane and Stefanie Martini.

Former politician and diplomat Carl Bildt charts Britain’s relationship with the EU, from exclusion to integral to integration, and the ramifications of Brexit