Source: Council of the European Union (video statements)
From a coffee machine assembled across Europe to your music streaming account following you across borders, the EU single market shapes everyday life in countless ways, and it is one of Europe’s greatest success stories
It lets goods, services, people and money move freely across borders, powering a market of nearly 450 million consumers.
But the potential of our single market is not fully used. National barriers still fragment the market. We must break them down to better compete globally.
So, in this video, we explore how the single market works and why strengthening it is crucial for Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and strategic autonomy in a rapidly changing world.
00:00 How the EU single market shapes our everyday life
00:39 How it all begun…
01:09 A market of nearly 450 million consumers
01:36 Securing strong trade deals with the rest of the world
02:01 Completing the single market: challenges ahead
03:30 END
On 14 February 2026, from 10.00 CET onwards, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a keynote speech at the annual Munich Security Conference.
Follow us on:
-X: https://twitter.com/EU_Commission
-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/europeancommission/
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanCommission
-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-commission/
-Medium: https://medium.com/@EuropeanCommission
Some local radio stations in the Gaza Strip have resumed broadcasting after a suspension of nearly two years due to the war, in a move reflecting gradual efforts to revive the media landscape in the enclave, which has suffered extensive destruction to infrastructure and civilian institutions. Local radio remains critically important in Gaza as humanitarian crises persist, electricity outages continue, and access to traditional media remains difficult.
Addressing the Security Council, Lisa Doughten, Director of the Crisis Response Division of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported, “On January 29th, the de facto authorities again entered multiple UN offices in Sana’a without permission, commandeering equipment and vehicles. The de facto authorities have also continued to withhold clearances for UN Humanitarian Air Service flights to Marib. UNHAS flights into Sana’a resumed over the weekend following a month-long suspension caused by the lack of necessary clearances from the de facto authorities.”
She continued, “Such interference and impediments come at a time when the humanitarian situation is more desperate than ever. This year, 22.3 million people – or half the population – will need humanitarian assistance – an increase of 2.8 million from last year. Yemen continues to face the region’s most severe hunger crisis. Today, over 18 million people face acute food insecurity. Yemen is also the country with the largest number of people – 5.5 million – experiencing IPC Phase 4 emergency food security conditions or above.”
Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)
Changing weather patterns and recent floods in the spotlight as Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick quizzes the government in this question on Thursday 12 February.
➡️ See question in full and hear from other members at https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/c6b3b117-857f-4672-898d-019051f32a74?in=11:46:14
Catch-up on House of Lords business:
Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords
Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/
Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media:
Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, Liam Byrne MP, tells us what his Committee is calling for in its latest report on the challenges facing small and medium-sized enterpises (SMEs).
Read the report: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-and-trade-committee/news/211835/small-businesses-facing-pressures-comparable-to-the-pandemic-business-and-trade-committee-finds/
Press conference by Alexandre Zouev, Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, on the International Day to Prevent Violent Extremism.
"UN senior official for counterterrorism Alexandre Zouev said while seizing the opportunities of new and emerging technologies to prevent violent extremism, the risks with transparency and accountability in full respect for human rights must be managed.
The United Nations marked the fourth observance of the International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism, under the theme “Preventing Violent Extremism in the Age of New and Emerging Technologies”.
Acting Under-Secretary-General for Counterterrorism Alexandre Zouev briefed reporters in New York.
On artificial intelligence, Zouev said, “this technology holds real promise for prevention, from early detection of harmful narratives to more targeted, community informed interventions. But they’re also being misused to amplify myths and disinformation, spread violent extremism content, and enable recruitment and radicalization to terrorism, especially of young people and teenagers.”
The UN top counterterrorism official also said, “We are expanding our practical support to help Member States navigate emerging risks in digital spaces. And that includes new workstreams on artificial intelligence and online gaming systems while reinforcing evidence-based, human rights-based prevention approaches.”
He added, “this complements ongoing capacity building efforts to strengthen strategic communications, empower young people and develop PCVE (Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism) policies ensuring coherence between traditional prevention approaches and technology driven initiative.”
Asked about repatriation and reintegration of former fighters, Zouev said that they should be investigated, adding “if they committed some crimes, they should be prosecuted according to national or international standards of prosecution and law.”
He pointed out that there is also the aspect of women with children, who are the former or current wives of the former fighters. He took Central Asia, the governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as example, who are “making a great effort to reintegrate and socially rehabilitate families of former fighters because they had also certain citizens of these countries recruited.”
Established by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 77/243, the International Day provides a platform for Member States, the United Nations system and all relevant stakeholders – including civil society, religious leaders, the private sector, academia and the media, to come together to strengthen the international community’s resolve to address the conditions conducive to terrorism, to raise awareness on the threat of violent extremism, and to renew collective action to prevent its spread.
The observance aims to promote inclusive, human rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to prevention, grounded in dialogue, partnerships and community-led solutions."
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
How do national accounts treat stolen goods? In this episode of The Economy – How Do You Measure That, we explore how theft is handled in GDP measurement. Host Jim Tebrake speaks with Thomas Alexander about why theft is treated as a transfer rather than production, how it affects balance sheets, and when value added from stolen assets may still be captured in official statistics.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General/African Union Summit
Yemen
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Kosovo
Ukraine
Bangladesh
Madagascar
International Days
Financial Contribution
SECRETARY-GENERAL/AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT
The Secretary-General is about to arrive in Addis Ababa. As we mentioned yesterday, he is travelling to Ethiopia to take part in the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit.
While there, he is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ethiopian authorities as well as heads of State and Government from the continent.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General has also been invited to take part in the Second Italy-Africa summit, organized on the sidelines of the African Union Summit. On Saturday Mr. Guterres will address the opening session of the African Union Summit. And he will hold a press conference, scheduled to take place at 3:00 p.m.
YEMEN
This morning, the Security Council met to discuss the situation in Yemen. The Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, addressed the Council remotely from Riyadh, where he recently met with Yemen’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Shaya al-Zindani, and members of the Presidential Leadership Council.
Mr. Grundberg underscored the need for an inclusive political process under UN auspices to reach a negotiated settlement capable of sustainably ending the conflict in the country. In this context, he also raised serious concerns regarding the continued detention of UN staff and others.
This week marks one year since the tragic death of a staff from the World Food Programme (WFP) while he was being held in arbitrary detention by the Houthis. Mr. Grundberg noted that no investigation has been conducted by the authorities.
Today, 73 UN personnel, along with civil society members and individuals linked to diplomatic missions remain arbitrarily detained. The UN continues to pursue every avenue, at all levels, in order to resolve this issue.
Focusing on the humanitarian situation, Lisa Doughten, the Director of the Financing and Outreach Division at OCHA said that over 18 million people face acute food insecurity in Yemen. Despite severe challenges, we and our partners are continuing to provide aid wherever we can.
She noted that next week, in Amman, donors, UN agencies, and international and national non-governmental organizations will convene to refine aid delivery and ensure the most vulnerable continue receiving assistance amid growing operational constraints.
She added that our partners remain active in areas held by the de facto authorities in Yemen and will assume a greater share of frontline operational work. Ms. Doughten urged the Council to actively support these efforts.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In a statement released today, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) announced that Vivian van de Perre, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission ad interim, has begun a visit to Goma as part of the Mission’s preparations to support ceasefire monitoring and verification, following consultations with Congolese national authorities.
The Department of Peace Operations confirmed that Ms. van de Perre arrived via Goma airport earlier this morning and is engaging with relevant counterparts to advance practical arrangements for the ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism.
The Mission stated that the visit marks an important operational step after the prolonged disruption of airtraffic in and out of Goma since January of last year.
Under Security Council resolution 2808 (2025), the Mission is authorized to support the implementation of a permanent ceasefire, including through technical and logistical support to the International Conference on the Great Lakes via the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus. The peacekeeping mission reaffirmed that such support will be provided within its mandate and in full respect of the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that yesterday they coordinated 10 humanitarian missions with the Israeli authorities. The movements were to areas where Israeli forces remain deployed.
These missions allowed UN teams to collect incoming relief items such as food, vaccines, fuel and health supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Kerem Abu Salem crossing, as well as the Zikim crossing.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-02-12
