The EU design legislative reform package includes two texts amending Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 (the Community Design Regulation) and, in parallel, recasting Directive 98/71/EC (the Design Directive) to align the design protection system in the EU with the digital age and make it more accessible and efficient for applicants. In terms of digitalisation, the update of the requirements for representing designs will allow applicants to file new digital design types (e.g. by using 3D printing technologies). In terms of efficiency, the reform package aims to make application procedures cheaper and simpler and registration procedures faster, while also ensuring greater predictability and legal certainty for stakeholders looking for design protection in the EU. Within the European Parliament, the files were assigned to the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), with Gilles Lebreton (ID, France) as rapporteur. The EU design legislative reform package was published in the EU's Official Journal on 18 November 2024; the two texts entered into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal. The Community Design Regulation will apply from 1 May 2025 (with a few articles applying from 1 July 2026), whereas Member States will have to transpose the Design Directive into their national legal systems by 9 December 2027. Fourth edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Road safety has improved significantly in the EU, with the number of road fatalities falling by more than 60 % in the last 20 years. However, improvements in road safety fell short of the EU goals of decreasing the number of road deaths by 50 % between 2001 and 2010, and by an additional 50 % between 2011 and 2020. Directive (EU) 2015/413 facilitating cross-border exchange of information on road safety-related traffic offences – the Cross-border Enforcement (CBE) Directive – is one of the pillars of the policy framework to improve road safety in the EU. It aims to help improve road safety by tackling the relative impunity of non-resident drivers. The revision, announced in the European Commission's sustainable and smart mobility strategy in 2020, seeks to address key shortcomings in existing rules. According to Commission estimates, 40 % of cross-border offences are committed with impunity, either because the offender is not identified or because the fine is not enforced. The Commission tabled its proposal to revise the CBE Directive on 1 March 2023 as part of the road safety package. In the European Parliament, the file was assigned to the Committee on Transport and Tourism (rapporteur: Kosma Złotowski, ECR, Poland). Following interinstitutional negotiations, the Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional agreement on the final wording of the text on 12 March 2024. The Parliament approved the agreed text on 24 April 2024. The Council adopted the new rules on 16 December 2024 and the final act was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 30 December 2024. Fourth edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Irregular migration is hard to define and to measure. Several EU datasets provide indications of a range of aspects of irregular migration, such as attempted irregular crossings of EU external borders, detected irregular stays, loss of regular status and removals of irregular migrants. However, these datasets are often incomplete, inconsistent, and insufficient to capture the complex issues of irregular migration and return. Despite its shortcomings, data on irregular migration is highly consequential for EU policy making and contributes to the ongoing politicisation of migration in the EU. For example, the widely shared figures showing increasing numbers of people crossing into the EU irregularly, and scores of irregular migrants unwilling or unable to return to their country of origin, fuel a narrative of a long-standing migration crisis in the EU. Such figures also trigger renewed efforts to reinforce EU measures seeking to deter, criminalise, and return irregular migrants. By identifying relevant EU datasets on irregular migration and return and discussing key gaps and limitations, it can be concluded that the available data provide only a partial and sometimes misleading picture of irregular migration in the EU. New official data sources, expected to be available in the future, may alleviate some of the existing issues. However, these need to be complemented with additional indicators and approaches that focus on other important dimensions of migration and return policies, such as compliance with fundamental rights, efficiency, and policy coherence. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

In recent years, the European Union has faced a significant number of asylum applications, with over 513 000 applications received in the first half of 2024 alone. Women and girls make up a substantial proportion of asylum seekers, with one in three asylum-seekers being female. In international law, the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention is the main instrument regulating asylum. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Istanbul Convention provide a framework for protecting the rights of women who seek protection. The EU has developed a common European asylum system that has gradually incorporated gender-sensitive elements in legal texts such as the Qualification Directive, the Asylum Procedures Directive and the Reception Conditions Directive. These directives offer special protection to vulnerable individuals, including women and children. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has played a crucial role in advancing a gender-sensitive approach in EU asylum law, acknowledging the specific experiences and circumstances of women and other vulnerable individuals seeking protection in the EU. The CJEU has recognised gender-based violence as a form of persecution and grounds for asylum or subsidiary protection. It has also acknowledged the importance of considering the individual circumstances and experiences of asylum seekers, particularly women and girls, who may face persecution or harm owing to their adherence to certain values or lifestyles. This aligns with a more gender-sensitive approach in EU asylum law and policy in recent years. Nevertheless continued progress is needed to address the human rights challenges faced by women and girls in asylum procedures. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Evolving from informal police cooperation in the 1970s to a fully fledged European Union (EU) agency, Europol has seen its mandate continuously strengthened in recent years. In 2016, the agency was given a new legal basis (Regulation (EU) 2016/794), which strengthened Europol's data management and protection rules and provided for enhanced scrutiny: (i) political scrutiny – by a new parliamentary oversight body made up of representatives of the European Parliament and Member States' national parliaments; and (ii) scrutiny of its data processing operations – by the European Data Protection Supervisor. Furthermore, the regulation reformed the framework for Europol's cooperation with partners such as third countries and international organisations, which also allowed for a strengthened role for the European Commission and the European Parliament. In 2022, on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2022/991, Europol was given new powers to cooperate directly with private parties, process large and complex datasets and take on a larger role in research and innovation. In 2023, the Commission proposed further changes to Europol's mandate that would strengthen its role in fighting migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings. Europol's mandate is to support actions by EU Member States' law enforcement authorities and ensure their cooperation for the purpose of preventing and combating serious crime affecting two or more Member States, terrorism, and forms of crime that affect a common interest covered by a Union policy. The agency is empowered to tackle more than 30 forms of serious crime and related criminal offences, including terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation, and trafficking in arms and ammunition. To fulfil its objectives, Europol carries out a series of tasks, including the core activities of acting as the EU's criminal information exchange hub and providing operational support and expertise to Member States' criminal investigations. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

[Nile Post] With the 2026 general elections fast approaching, Uganda faces mounting concerns over its electoral readiness, as financial and logistical gaps threaten to derail the credibility of the process.

Ashley Parham claims in a lawsuit that she was gang raped by Diddy and his associates in March, 2018.

The child, who was reportedly Moroccan, and adult were slain in Schontal Park, located in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg, Germany , at around 11:45am.

Here FEMAIL reveals all the fashion messages that were hiding in plain sight during Trump's inauguration celebrations in Washington DC this week.

The 14-year-old teenager being held after a 12-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham is also being held over an assault on a woman in her 80s, police have said.

Two teenage girls were groomed to become 'sex slaves' for Asian men in Rochdale, including Mohammed Zahid, a market trader known as 'The Knickerman', a jury heard today.

The head of state noted that there should be no imbalances in the credit sphere because the decline of activity in this sector may create risks for economic development on the whole

The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan man, has been detained

Key macro indicators are in the positive zone owing to calculated and responsible action of the government and the business community, the president said

Leonid Slutsky recalled that at the talks in Istanbul, settlement agreements were reached and «initialed by the head of the Ukrainian delegation David Arakhamia»

«I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin,» the US President wrote

At the Mahakumbh, the Jal Jeevan Mission's exhibition highlights the transformation in Uttar Pradesh villages through the 'Har Ghar Nal' project. Students from Prayagraj learned about its impact on water-scarce areas and engaged in activities promoting water conservation and safe drinking water. They pledged to save water after touring the informative displays.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar raised concerns over the misuse of judicial access, calling it a threat to India's governance and democracy. He criticized institutions for overstepping their jurisdiction and questioned the parliamentary provision of party discipline, citing it as a restriction on representatives' freedom of expression. Dhankhar also lamented the declining standards of parliamentary decorum.

The 14-year-old teenager being held after a 12-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham is also being held over an assault on a woman in her 80s, police have said.

[New Times] Morocco has been confirmed as hosts of Window three of the 2025 AfroBasket qualifiers scheduled to take place from February 21-23.

[VOA] Yaoundé -- Civilians in Gabon are being encouraged this month to register to vote in presidential elections scheduled for August 2025, as ordered by transitional President General Brica Clotaire Oligui Nguema.

[Capital FM] In the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province, an environmental catastrophe is unfolding at a rapid pace. The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site once home to some of Earth's rarest species, is being systematically destroyed by Chinese mining operations.

Mogadishu (HOL) – Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received the African Presidential Leadership Award on Tuesday at a ceremony hosted by Africa House in Davos, Switzerland.

FEMAIL takes a look at New York University student Barron Trump's style evolution, as he trades in casual outfits for debonair blazers and shirts.

The Scottish businessman, 42, is launching House Of Unicorns in a bid to find a startup company with promising potential to invest in.

Dans le cadre d'une opération conjointe menée récemment à Lambaréné, les équipes de la Direction de la Lutte Contre le Braconnage (DLCB), de la Direction Provinciale des Eaux et Forêts du Moyen-Ogooué, et de la Police Judiciaire (PJ), appuyées par l'ONG Conservation Justice, ont procédé à l'arrestation de quatre individus pour trafic d'ivoire et de peau de panthère. Durant l'opération, une personne identifiée sous les initiales P.O. avait en sa possession les dix défenses d'ivoire et la (...) - SOCIETE / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON