Joanna Gill

Activists young and old, farmers, scientists and Indigenous peoples are filing a growing number of lawsuits against governments and fossil fuel companies to try to slow global warming. 

Dubbed "climate lawfare", the total number of such cases has more than doubled since 2015 to about 2,000 now, according to Climate Change Laws of the World, a database of climate change legislation and policies around the globe. 

As governments across Europe pursue policies aimed at deterring growing migration from Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries, rights campaigners say some measures could shut out or even criminalise refugees.

European Union lawmakers approved a major asylum policy overhaul on April 10 that the pro-EU political centre says would reduce irregular arrivals as it seeks to stem gains by the far-right ahead of the bloc's parliamentary election in June.

Puberty blockers, a contested treatment for children who want to transition gender, are back in the spotlight after England this month stopped routine use of the drugs among young transgender patients.

As more adolescents seek to medically transition around the world, parents, doctors and authorities are grappling with what treatment should be made available to them - and at what age.

Low pay, few labour rights and dangerous working conditions - for millions of European gig workers, it can be a rough job. But a deal thrashed out by EU ministers this week addresses one of their biggest headaches - management by algorithm.

Drivers and delivery riders for platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo say the opaque nature of algorithmic management can result in random job assignments and performance ratings, and even account deactivation - hitting their earnings and morale.

The employment rights of millions of European drivers and delivery riders at online platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo hinge on the outcome of last-ditch talks next week on rules aimed at making gig work fairer.

As digital platforms face scrutiny over gig workers' rights across the world, labour ministers from the 27-nation bloc are due to meet on Monday to try to agree a deal on draft employment rules for the sector, which have twice failed to win approval.

France has become the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution following a landmark vote by a special joint session of parliament.

The move was in direct response to a dramatic rollback of reproductive rights in the United States.

Flying in the face of a U.S. rollback on reproductive rights, France moved closer on Wednesday to making abortion a woman's constitutional right - a push hailed as a world first by supporters.

Lawmakers in the Senate overwhelmingly backed a constitutional amendment to grant women a "guaranteed freedom" to end any unwanted pregnancy up to 14 weeks. Final approval is expected in a special joint session of lawmakers due in the coming days.

Europe's farmers are angry, staging tractor blockades and noisy rallies from Spain to Belgium to protest an earnings squeeze they blame partly on green policies such as pesticide bans and nitrogen emissions curbs.

One of farmers' main complaints is high business costs - in part from the expense of complying with EU environmental targets aimed at cutting planet-warming carbon emissions and protecting nature. They also say price pressures and increasing competition from imports are hitting their income.

As Europe's cities seek to cut the emissions fuelling global warming and clear fume-filled air, one solution - restrictions on polluting cars - has sparked widespread protests, led to violent acts of vandalism and inflamed conspiracy theories. 

From London to Rome, the introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) and Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZs) has enraged some city residents, who say fines and charges imposed on the most polluting vehicles mean more hardship for society's poorest during a global cost-of-living crisis. 

If last year's COP28 climate talks signalled the beginning of the end for the production and use of fossil fuels, they also marked a coming of age for energy efficiency, hailed as the "first fuel" in the transition to a greener future. 

As well as committing to triple installed renewable energy generation capacity, nearly 200 countries pledged to double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. That would raise it from around 2% now to over 4%.