In July, France banned children under 15 from using social media. But the measure was struck down a month later. France’s secretary general of the Digital Council from 2021-2025, Jean Cattan, breaks down why, and what other countries should be wary of.

The EU wants to raise more of its own money, but who should pay? From polluting companies and smokers to crypto investors, millionaires and air travellers, a range of new levies are on the table as the bloc faces billions in recovery fund repayments and growing spending ambitions.

As a result, renters end up effectively subsidising homeowners: all taxpayers, regardless of whether they own capital or a home themselves, help fill the gap left by this scheme. A data story by Toon Vos.

The Netherlands (-0.9%) breaks the scale by giving away more tax breaks for homeowners than it collects via household capital income tax. That tax relief increases people's borrowing capacity for a mortgage, leading to higher housing prices.

Some countries, like France and Luxembourg, raise a relatively high portion (4.5%) of their tax revenue this way. Others, like Slovakia (0.4%) and Malta (0.3%), rely less heavily on taxing household capital to fill their treasury.

Governments tax the money a household makes from what it owns – its capital income, which includes returns on savings and investments, and rental income, among other things.

“Tax the rich” is a rallying cry for some to raise government revenue, but the Netherlands actually loses money on its household capital income tax.

Beneath our feet lies a vast, largely invisible network of fungal threads, stretching an estimated 110 quadrillion kilometres if laid end to end.

Since 7 October 2023, Palestine solidarity demonstrations have accounted for around 12% of all protests in the EU, but 29% of state interventions. But the effects of tighter protest rules can extend far beyond one cause, with climate and workers’ rights demonstrations also facing new restrictions.

A new Transport & Environment analysis says 20 planned airport expansions across Europe could add 225 million tonnes of CO₂. All 20 would exceed their estimated carbon budgets, with cleaner fuels and more efficient planes unlikely to offset growing air traffic.

“Fewer planes, more life”: protesters in Barcelona are pushing back against airport expansion as Spain’s aviation emissions rise above pre-pandemic levels.

- Sponsored by PPTA - What does 1,200 plasma donations actually look like? For some patients, that’s what it can take to provide just one year of treatment. The number changes depending on the condition, but the message is the same: plasma medicines depend on people choosing to donate.

What’s behind the divide, and why is it widening in some of Europe’s most gender-equal societies? Read the full piece by Julius E. O. Fintelmann on our website!

Young men are moving right. Young women are moving left. Across Europe, a growing political gender gap is emerging, driven by changing attitudes towards gender equality, economic insecurity and increasingly, social media.