Farmers are more bleary-eyed than most this week, as the arrival of the year’s 2.5m calves gathered pace, and the results of a history-making general election emerged.

Last December’s UK general election was really only about one thing: Brexit.

As Britain’s electorate endorsed just one Green Party candidate to sit in one of the House of Commons’ 650 seats, EU leaders promised to deliver a major economic plan to confront the climate emergency by making Europe the first carbon-neural continent within three decades.

Reacting to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decisive victory, European Union leaders said they are hoping for a quick British parliament vote on Britain's withdrawal.

The president of the European Council has said he expects a vote on the UK’s Brexit agreement “as soon as possible”, as world leaders commended Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s General Election success.

The changing of the guard at the European Commission and the European Council offers new opportunities as well as challenges for the EU.

Every six years, in tandem with the European parliamentary election, the EU changes the management of its top jobs.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has hailed the nomination of Ursula von der Leyen for the European Commission Presidency.

German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen has been nominated by EU leaders to replace Jean Claude Juncker to head the European Commission.

The European Commission has been accused of hypocrisy and double standards in pursuit of a trade deal with the South American group of Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Soldiers have shot dead a man in Brussels after he charged troops with a knife in what authorities said was a terror attack.

He sent a clear warning that Britain will not escape a hefty bill for its momentous decision that has shaken the bloc.

Minsters are at odds about revealing if Ireland helped Saudi Arabia get on a UN body protecting women, amid concerns the Government is turning a blind eye to human rights violations.

The bomb squad was brought in and the authorities raised security in the centre of town, in places where people normally gather.

IN the fullness of time, the motivation behind yesterday’s attack on London will become clearer. What is already clear, however, is that the democracy and freedoms we often take for granted are fragile flowers that require nurturing.

Update 12.18pm: The Belgian government has reached an agreement to back the free trade deal between the European Union and Canada.

The European Union and Canada have tried to remain upbeat about the prospects for their trans-Atlantic free trade pact despite a small Belgian region persisting in its refusal to back the deal.

A man who allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" while he attacked two female officers with a machete has died after being shot by police in Belgium.

A passenger train slammed at high speed into a slow-moving freight train in eastern Belgium, killing three people and sending 10 others to hospital.

Belgium’s prime minister lashed out at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for offering free train tickets to Amsterdam to lure passengers away from the bomb-crippled Brussels airport.

Pictures and plans of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel’s residence and offices were found on a computer discovered after a raid on a flat used by the men suspected of carrying out last week’s deadly bombings in Brussels, Belgian media reported.

The Belgian government warned at the weekend that there might be an attack after the security services captured their most wanted man. It came swiftly.

The most wanted fugitive from November’s Paris attacks was arrested after a shootout with police in Brussels yesterday, said Belgium’s prime minister.

After a four-month manhunt, police have captured the top fugitive in last year’s deadly Paris attacks in the same Brussels neighbourhood where he grew up.

Tensions between EU countries and Turkey threatened to unwind a complex deal to resolve the migrant crisis during long negotiations at a summit of EU leaders.

Belgian police killed a gunman after several officers were wounded yesterday in a raid on a Brussels apartment linked to investigating November’s Islamist attacks in Paris, public broadcaster RTBF said.

Soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels on the third day of a security lockdown, as a suspected explosive belt was found dumped near Paris and the mobile phone of a fugitive believed to have taken part in the attacks on November 13 was detected in two locations in the city.

Shopping centres and public transport were the most likely targets of terrorists planning attacks on Brussels, Belgium’s prime minister Charles Michel said as he announced the city’s lockdown would remain in force today.

With France still reeling from the attacks that killed 129 and wounded hundreds, France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has voted to extend a state of emergency for three months. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved.