EU court upholds tough tobacco restrictions

The European Union's top court dealt a blow to the tobacco industry Wednesday by approving sweeping new rules that will require plain cigarette packs, ban menthol cigarettes and regulate the growing electronic cigarette market.

Tobacco companies had protested a 2014 EU directive on the new rules, calling it disproportionate. But the European Court of Justice on Wednesday upheld the directive, arguing it's in line with efforts to fight smoking and protect public health.

The court said it is OK to ban menthol and other flavorings that make tobacco more appealing. The directive also requires standardized, plain labels that cover at least 65 percent of all cigarette packs with health warnings.

The rules will require warnings for e-cigarettes, limit their nicotine levels to 20 grams and restrict advertising and sponsorship by their makers.

The Independent British Vape Trade Association said in a statement that it is disappointed by the ruling and argued it could push some e-cigarette smokers back to tobacco.

Among those welcoming the decision was French Health Minister Marisol Touraine, who said plain cigarette packs will be required in France starting May 20.

"It's a victory for public health, a victory in the battle against lobbies, because in the fight against smoking ... the obstacles are numerous," she told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

The EU Commission has come under criticism in the past for failing to fully disclose information about its dealing with tobacco lobbyists.

Marc Firestone, senior vice president at Philip Morris International, which had questioned the directive's legality, said in a statement that the court didn't address whether plain packaging is legal or reduces smoking rates. He said the ruling "reflects the substantial deference that the Court of Justice often shows to the EU institutions."

European Central Bank to stop issuing 500 euro bill

The European Central Bank will stop issuing 500 euro ($575) banknotes towards the end of 2018 on concerns it could facilitate illicit activities but outstanding bills will remain in use indefinitely, the ECB said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The 500 euro note will remain legal tender and can therefore continue to be used as a means of payment and store of value,” the bank said.

“The 500 euro banknote, like the other denominations of euro banknotes, will always retain its value and can be exchanged at the national central banks of the Eurosystem for an unlimited period of time.”

The ECB has been looking to get rid of the 500 euro note, despite the objections of Germany’s central bank, due to concerns that it is also used by criminals and militants to finance their activities.

Turkish PM Davutoglu bows out in power rift with Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation as leader of the ruling AK party on Thursday. The decision effectively ends his premiership, handing another victory to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After a meeting of the party's executive committee, Davutoglu said in a speech in Ankara that under the current circumstances, he did not intend to run for the AKP leadership at an extraordinary congress set for May 22.

"I decided that for the unity of the [ruling party] a change of chairman would be more appropriate. I am not considering running at the May 22 congress," said the former academic-turned-politician.

The decision is not immediately effective, which means Davutoglu will continue to hold the premiership until the May 22 party congress.

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam charged with attempted murder in Begium

Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November’s Paris attacks, has been charged with attempted murder in Belgium during a police shootout in Brussels three days before his arrest, prosecutors said.

Abdeslam, who is due to be extradited to France in the next few weeks over his part in the attacks in Paris by Islamic State militants that killed 130 people, appeared before a Belgian judge on Thursday.

Four police officers were wounded and an Islamist gunman was killed in the shootout at a suspected militant safe house in the Brussels district of Forest on March 15.

Hundreds of migrants feared dead in shipwreck off Libya

The UN refugee agency said on Wednesday it feared around 500 migrants from Africa had drowned in the Mediterranean, in what could be one of the worst tragedies since the start of the refugee crisis in Europe.

Survivors who were spotted drifting at sea before being picked up by a passing merchant ship on April 16 told the UNHCR many migrants drowned when human traffickers tried to transfer people on to another, already overcrowded vessel somewhere between Libya and Italy.

The latest reported deaths come as Europe struggles to find a way of stemming the flow of people fleeing war, poverty and persecution in what has become the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Brussels bombing suspect Osama K. charged in Paris attacks

A main suspect in the investigation into the Brussels bombings has also been charged with participation in the Paris attacks four months earlier, Belgian federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Osama Krayem, who was arrested in Brussels earlier this month, might have been present in different safehouses used by the militant attackers, such as a suspected bomb factory raided in December, prosecutors said.

“He has been charged with terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” prosecutors said in a statement.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen to campaign for Brexit

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front (FN) party, is planning to visit the UK in the coming weeks to campaign in favour of Britain leaving the European Union.

The FN’s head of communication, Alain Vizier, told FRANCE 24 that “while no date has been set, she will definitely be going to London”.

Le Pen is an MEP whose party is virulently anti-Europe and anti-immigration. She has said she would organise a referendum in France on leaving the EU if she were to come to power. Her party has been monitoring the British referendum closely, hoping for a pro-Brexit vote that would give a boost to the FN agenda at home.