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European Commission delays decision on asylum seeker quotas

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European Commission delays decision on asylum seeker quotas

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The European Commission will not meet the deadline to adopt its report on migration in the EU over the previous year, which will serve as the basis for decisions on the matter at the bloc’s level, Euronews has learned.

“The Commission will take more time to fine-tune the report, which should be adopted soon, in the next weeks”, internal sources told Euronews, explaining that consultations with member states are still ongoing.

The EU executive was required, through new regulations, to adopt the migration report by Wednesday and to pass it to the European Parliament and the Council.

The European Annual Asylum and Migration Report should include an assessment of the overall migratory situation across EU countries, such as the number of asylum applications, the number of persons granted international protection, irregular entries, and reception capacity.

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It will designate some EU countries as being “under migratory pressure”, “at risk of migratory pressure” or “facing a significant migratory situation”. This designation would pave the way for a so-called solidarity mechanism, under which asylum seekers would be relocated to other member states.

Alongside the report, the Commission plans to establish an Annual Solidarity Pool to determine the total number of asylum seekers to be relocated and the amount each member state should allocate.

Together, the report and the solidarity pool would be the basis for developing the system of “mandatory solidarity” envisaged in the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the major reform of migration policy adopted in 2024.

This “mandatory solidarity” should be provided by each member state in proportion to its population and total GDP. This means that the most prominent and wealthiest EU countries are asked to do more to manage the EU asylum system.

According to this system, EU members’ governments could choose among hree options to meet the needs outlined in the solidarity pool: relocate a certain number of asylum seekers to their own territory, pay €20,000 per person they do not relocate, or finance operational support in member states under migratory pressure.

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According to the regulations, each solidarity pool should include at least 30,000 relocations and €600 million in financial contributions.

Once proposed by the Commission, the Annual Solidarity Pool must be approved by the EU member states, which can reject the proposal only with a qualified majority — meaning at least 15 countries out of 27 representing at least 65% of the total EU population have to say no.

Criticising the Commission’s failure to meet the deadline, German lawmaker Birgit Sippel, one of the leading MEPs in the negotiations on the migration pact, announced on social media that she is calling for an urgent meeting in the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

According to the mid-year review of the European Union Agency for Asylum, Germany lost the top spot among EU countries for the most asylum requests in the first half of 2025. France (78,000) and Spain (77,000) both received more applications than Germany, which has been the leading destination for asylum seekers in recent years.

Spain is the EU country that has granted the highest number of protection status to asylum seekers in the second quarter of 2025 (16,060, 24.4% of the EU total), ahead of France (14,220, 21.6%), Germany (13,450, 20.5%), and Italy (7,360, 11.2%).

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Video: Humpback Whale Stranded Off German Coast Is Freed by Rescuers

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Video: Humpback Whale Stranded Off German Coast Is Freed by Rescuers

new video loaded: Humpback Whale Stranded Off German Coast Is Freed by Rescuers

In a last-ditch effort, rescuers were at last able to free a 40-foot humpback whale that had been stuck in shallow waters near the coast of Germany for four days.

By Axel Boada

March 27, 2026

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Russian man who assaulted woman during Barron Trump FaceTime call sentenced to 4 years

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Russian man who assaulted woman during Barron Trump FaceTime call sentenced to 4 years

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A Russian man convicted of assaulting a woman in London in an attack witnessed by Barron Trump, President Donald Trump’s youngest son, on a video call was sentenced to four years in prison by a London court on Friday. 

Matvei Rumiantsev, 23, an MMA fighter, was convicted by a jury on Jan. 28 of assault with bodily harm but was acquitted of rape and choking charges. He was also convicted of perverting the course of justice stemming from a letter he sent the woman from jail asking her to retract her allegations.

After the assault, Rumiantsev admitted he was jealous of his girlfriend’s friendship with the 19-year-old son of President Donald Trump.

BARRON TRUMP REPORTEDLY SAVED WOMAN’S LIFE AFTER WITNESSING VIOLENT ASSAULT ON FACETIME CALL

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Barron Trump attends inauguration ceremonies in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty Images)

“Your lack of insight and empathy was apparent at trial,” Justice Joel Bennathan said. “You continue to try to blame the complainant for everything that has happened.”

Trump told investigators he had placed a late-night FaceTime call to the woman, whom he had met on social media, and had been startled when the call had been briefly answered by a shirtless man on Jan. 18, 2025.

“That view lasted maybe one second and I was racing with adrenaline,” Barron Trump said. “The camera was then flipped to the victim getting hit while crying, stating something in Russian.”

BARRON TRUMP SPOTTED ON NYU CAMPUS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE INAUGURATION

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Barron Trump looks on ahead of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2025. (KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Barron Trump called the police in London.

“It’s really an emergency … I’m calling from the U.S., uh, I just got a call from a girl, you know, she’s getting beat up,” he told an operator. 

Police responded to the address and arrested Rumiantsev, a London-based receptionist.

At his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Rumiantsev was acquitted of rape and choking related to the attack, as well as a separate rape and assault allegation from November 2024.

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His attorney, Sasha Wass, said that Trump wasn’t aware the woman had a boyfriend and questioned how much he could have seen in just a few seconds of video. 

Barron Trump watches as his father, President Donald Trump attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

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Trump never testified in the case. However, the judge praised him for his quick-thinking actions. 

“Mr, Trump properly and responsibly, despite being in the United States, made sure the emergency services here were called, and he told them what he had seen,” he said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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EU Parliament unblocks key political hurdle in digital euro talks

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EU Parliament unblocks key political hurdle in digital euro talks

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EU lawmakers have overcome a key political hurdle in the negotiations of digital euro, making the project closer to approval, according to a draft text seen by Euronews.

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The Parliamentary rapporteurs involved in the legislation have found an agreement on the design of the digital euro, which will be able to function both online and offline.

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The digital euro would be an electronic form of cash issued by the European Central Bank, designed to sit alongside banknotes and the payments services offered by commercial banks.

It has taken on new political weight as economic tensions between the EU and the US sharpen the debate over Europe’s reliance on American payment giants, such as Visa and Mastercard.

Under the European Commission’s proposal, digital euro users would have a wallet for both online and offline payments, with transactions designed so they are not trackable.

The situation in Parliament changed on Wednesday evening, when the centre-right politician Fernando Navarrete, who is the leading rapporteur on the file, announced the withdrawal of his position to reduce the scope of the digital euro to offline use only.

His position blocked the advancement of negotiations for months, jeopardising the whole legislative process, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations.

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The political deadlock has pushed EU leaders to accelerate progress on the digital euro. At the European Council meeting on 19 March, they set a goal to have the digital euro legislation approved by the end of 2026.

With the Council, representing EU countries, having already adopted its position, the European Parliament is now the only institution left to advance the law.

“Thanks to our amendments and firm stance, we have finally broken the political deadlock on the digital euro. The distinction between online and offline has been removed, and it is now established as a single payment system,” Pasquale Tridico, the rapporteur for The Left, told Euronews.

However, lawmakers still need to agree on two key aspects: the “hold limits” and the “compensation.”

The hold limits determine the maximum amount a user can store in a digital euro wallet, while compensation sets out a model for reimbursing commercial banks that provide digital euro services.

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Although negotiations are not yet complete, the text is expected to be voted on in the Parliament’s economy committee before the summer, according to a source familiar with the matter.

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