Spain's prime minister defended the country's record on tackling irregular migration amid criticism of its mass regularisation plan, while Ursula von der Leyen called for full implementation of the EU migration and asylum pact.

The call took place at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pope is recovering well from surgery, on the same day he celebrated his first Mass since the operation.

In an interview with Euronews, Romanian President Nicușor Dan warns that Black Sea security is under growing pressure as drone attacks hit commercial vessels off Romania and Bulgaria.

EU leaders ended their Brussels summit with no deal on the budget, a new €70bn Ukraine funding gap, open clashes over energy and migration, but fresh resolve to create new trade defence tools to battle China.

Police said 160 people were detained following violent incidents on Thursday evening.

Global timekeepers have voted to end the practice of adding extra seconds to UTC, citing risks to computer systems and the prospect of the first-ever negative leap second.

The Commission and Ukraine launched a joint task force meeting twice a week to speed up accession reforms on the rule of law and anti-corruption, after Hungary lifted its veto and two more negotiating clusters were opened.

President Christodoulides said the high-level meeting would focus on resuming negotiations over Cyprus and advancing EU-Turkey relations.

Vatican Media has released the first images of Pope Leo XIV since his hospitalisation, showing him celebrating Mass at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital as he recovers from lung cancer surgery.

After a week of tensions between Washington and Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Trump was still easier to deal with than Putin, despite the US president’s calls for new leadership in Ukraine and criticism of the Ukrainian leader.

The Vatican has released the first images of Pope Leo XIV since he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung.

UK Counter Terrorism Policing said Natland had been operating under orders from someone in the Foxtrot Network, an international criminal gang based in Sweden.

Under the agreement, carmakers would be required to cut their CO₂ emissions by 90% by 2035, without having to offset the remaining 10%, as initially proposed by the Commission.

Hajduk Split, who won the game 2-1, in a statement apologised to UEFA and Ajax who "witnessed scenes which we do not want Europe to remember", while the Croatian football federation also condemned the incident.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused Madrid of doing “almost the exact opposite” of that adopted by other EU countries, intensifying tensions with her fellow Socialist, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The move is set to be discussed at a council meeting on 21 October. There are currently three companies operating in the sector in the Portuguese capital: Bolt, Lime, and Bird.

Hungarian PM Péter Magyar held talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the European Council, seeking to normalise ties after Kyiv passed a minority-rights law and Budapest dropped objections to EU accession clusters.

Russia’s heavy bombardment of the power grid before winter sets in has been an annual feature of the war, aiming to wear down Ukraine’s appetite for the fight by denying civilians heating and running water.

EU leaders are trying to counter soaring energy prices, with some arguing that carbon pricing is hurting the bloc's competitiveness.

Bernd Lange's comments come as the Brexit debate has once again reignited across the UK after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for the country to readdress its relationship with Brussels.