- Suarez extends Inter Miami stay with new deal
- Perfect Liverpool on top of Champions League, Dortmund also among winners
- Liverpool more 'up for it' than beaten Madrid, concedes Bellingham
- Aston Villa denied late winner against Juventus
- Mexico president hails 'excellent' Trump talks after US tariff threat
- Leicester set to appoint Van Nistelrooy - reports
- Coffee price heats up on tight Brazil crop fears
- Maeda salvages Celtic draw against Club Brugge
- Villa denied late winner against Juventus
- Dortmund beat Zagreb to climb into Champions League top four
- Mbappe misses penalty as Liverpool exact revenge on Real Madrid
- Brazil's top court takes on regulation of social media
- Thousands still queuing to vote after Namibia polls close
- Trump taps retired general for key Ukraine conflict role
- Canadian fund drops bid for Spanish pharma firm Grifols
- Argentine ex-president Fernandez gives statement in corruption case
- Mexico says Trump tariffs would cost 400,000 US jobs
- Car-centric Saudi to open first part of Riyadh Metro
- Brussels, not Paris, will decide EU-Mercosur trade deal: Lula
- Faeces, vomit offer clues to how dinosaurs rose to rule Earth
- Ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' up for auction
- Spain factory explosion kills three, injures seven
- US Fed's favored inflation gauge ticks up in October
- Defence lawyers plead to judges in French mass rape trial
- US says China releases three 'wrongfully detained' Americans
- New clashes in Mozambique as two reported killed
- Romania officials to meet over 'cyber risks' to elections
- Chelsea visit next stop in Heidenheim's 'unthinkable' rise
- Former England prop Marler announces retirement from rugby
- Kumara gives Sri Lanka edge on rain-hit day against South Africa
- Namibia votes with ruling party facing toughest race yet
- Spurs goalkeeper Vicario out for 'months' with broken ankle
- Moscow expels German journalists, Berlin denies closing Russia TV bureau
- Spain govt defends flood response and offers new aid
- France says Netanyahu has 'immunity' from ICC warrants
- Nigerian state visit signals shift in France's Africa strategy
- Stock markets waver as traders weigh Trump tariffs, inflation
- Tens of thousands in Lebanon head home as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes hold
- Opposition candidates killed in Tanzania local election
- Amorim eyes victory in first Man Utd home game to kickstart new era
- Fresh fury as Mozambique police mow down protester
- Defeat at Liverpool could end Man City title hopes, says Gundogan
- Indonesians vote in regional election seen as test for Prabowo
- Guardiola says no intent to 'make light' of self harm in post-match comments
- New EU commission gets green light to launch defence, economy push
- Opposition figures killed as Tanzania holds local election
- Taiwan Olympic boxing champion quits event after gender questions
- European stocks drop on Trump trade war worries
- Volkswagen to sell operations in China's Xinjiang
- FA probes referee David Coote over betting claim
First candidates grilled in parliament test for EU top team
Lawmakers began grilling would-be members of the next European Commission Monday, with a personal tale of bereavement bringing unexpected poignancy to the start of hearings to confirm Ursula von der Leyen's top team.
The hearings offer a rare opportunity for the EU parliament to flex its muscles against the bloc's powerful executive -- and the outside chance a candidate may stumble has kept Brussels on its toes.
But the process got off to a smooth start, with the first four commissioner-designates -- Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia, Malta's Glenn Micallef, Apostolos Tzitzikostas of Greece and Luxembourg's Christophe Hansen -- comfortably dealing with a three-hour quizzing.
Lawmakers quickly gave Sefcovic and Micallef, the first two up, the green light, according to parliamentary sources. The jury was still out for Tzitzikostas and Hansen but no surprises were expected.
Hansen, who is to take up the agriculture portfolio, became emotional as he recounted the recent death of his brother, a farmer, when responding to a question on the mental health pressures faced by farmers.
The brother "fell in the stairs" in what Hansen said was an accident that, while not directly caused by mental health, was linked to work stress.
"There are so many others that suffer accidents because they don't get to sleep, because they don't get to rest for a moment," he said.
Citing delays in the payment of subsidies, pressure from banks and the need for large investments, Hansen said his overworked brother had no time to seek professional help as he went through a divorce.
"It is unacceptable. And it's killing me," he said.
- 'Twist of fate' -
Earlier Sefcovic, who is to take over as head of trade and economic security, sailed through his hearing, while Tzitzikostas, who is to take charge of transport, vowed to put forward long-delayed plans for a "single booking system" for train travel in 2025.
"It's unbelievable that in 2024 we don't have that," he said.
Micallef, the most junior member of von der Leyen's team at 35 and relatively inexperienced, was seen as one of the most vulnerable candidates, but his hearing also went smoothly.
He started by telling lawmakers that in a "twist of fate" he began his European career as an intern at the very parliament that was now vetting his credentials, before composedly answering questions.
Asked by a right-wing lawmaker to define a woman and whether the EU wanted men to be allowed to compete in women's sports -- a nod to the hot-button issue of transgender rights -- he simply replied that sport was "for everyone".
The relatively calm start might signal that parliamentary groups are unwilling to turn the process into a political fight -- with a risk of chain reactions if they go too heavy on a candidate from a rival party.
"I do see the possibility that everyone is so afraid of each other that in the end we will keep the original proposal," Bas Eickhout of the Greens said ahead of the first hearings.
This week's hearings run until Thursday before a grand finale on November 12 when von der Leyen's six vice-president candidates will be heard.
- No 'kill list' -
Each EU state nominated one member for von der Leyen's 26-seat commission, with more than half hailing from the German conservative's European People's Party, the biggest force in parliament.
The centrist Renew Europe said it would examine each candidate on their merits, as did the Socialists and Democrats -- the second-largest group in parliament -- who insist they have no "kill list".
Still, some fireworks are expected next week for the auditions of Spain's Teresa Ribera and Italy's Raffaele Fitto.
Ribera, a socialist who has a vast environmental portfolio, will have to reassure sceptical right-wingers of her commitment to pair climate goals with growth.
Fitto, of Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, was handed a vice president role in a nod to the growing influence of the far right after their EU election gains -- angering lawmakers on the left and centre.
Among others seen at risk is Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's man in Brussels these past five years, who was caught on microphone calling lawmakers "idiots".
Last time, lawmakers knocked back France's Sylvie Goulard at the hearing stage, while the representatives for Hungary and Romania were axed during vetting for conflicts of interest.
Parliament is provisionally scheduled to vote on confirming the entire college of commissioners on November 27 and they would start a five-year term in early December.
M.Odermatt--BTB