EU

Requiring vaccines can be seen as "necessary in a democratic society," the Strasbourg-based court said in its ruling on a law governing preschool kids.

From France to Germany to The Netherlands, citizens are venting frustration over the pace of the mass vaccination program.

"We have spent the last three years preparing for this moment," says an official in Calais, France, one of the world's busiest ports.

The agreement comes a week before the Brexit transition period ends. The pact averts a worst-case divorce that would have hurt the EU economy but damaged the British economy even more.

As the New Year's Eve deadline approaches, the two sides are still trying to negotiate a deal to avert major economic and trade disruptions. Here are some of the top issues at play.

Poland and Hungary had blocked the EU budget over a provision requiring each member nation to uphold the bloc's rule-of-law principles. The two nations are under investigation for not doing so.

Even as European Union leaders welcome more cordial U.S. relations, the trans-Atlantic partnership faces the tough test of handling China's expansion.

Despite pushback from Europe's largest farmer's association, the Parliament will allow vegetarian meat alternatives to use meat-like terms, including burger and steak.

It is "reasonable to conclude," the EU says, "that the poisoning of Alexei Navalny was only possible with the consent of the Presidential Executive Office."

Chief among the criteria for easing restrictions on foreign travelers: The epidemiological situation in their home countries "should be as good as or better than in the EU," a spokesperson tells NPR.

An annual survey by the watchdog Freedom House says authoritarian leaders and the influence of China and Russia are undermining democratic progress achieved since the end of the Cold War.

Even after Europe became an epicenter in the global spread of COVID-19, a number of leaders have had growing approval from their citizens.