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London: Up to 5,000 European Union citizens have joined Islamic State ranks, the head of European police agency Europol told British lawmakers on Wednesday.

"We're talking about 3,000, 5,000 EU nationals," Rob Wainwright told a parliamentary committee when asked how many foreign fighters had left from Europe.

"We're dealing with a large body of mainly young men who have the potential to come back and have the potential or intent and capability to carry out attacks we have seen in Paris in the last week," he said.

Up to 5,000 European Union citizens have joined Islamic State ranks, the head of European police agency Europol told British lawmakers on Wednesday.

Wainwright also called for greater scrutiny of the use of social media by jihadist groups.

"We have to have a closer, much more productive relationship between law enforcement and technology firms.

"One of the important evolutions we're seeing right now in the current terrorist threat is the way the Internet is used, clearly much more aggressively, much more imaginatively by the networks," he added.

The European Union's counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove estimated in September 2014 that around 3,000 European citizens had joined jihadists in Syria and Iraq. De Kerchove said that around 30 per cent have returned to their EU countries.

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About 5000 European Union nationals in Islamic State ranks, says Europol

Published January 14, 2015

A London taxi driver uses a bus lane on a bridge over the river Thames in central London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. The European Union court has handed London's embattled taxi drivers some good news _ they can keep their right to drive in bus lanes. Drivers of London's iconic _ but expensive _ black cabs face increasing competition from cheaper private cab firms and drivers from ride-sharing apps such as Uber. One advantage is a rule allowing them _ but not Uber drivers or private taxis known as minicabs _ to move around quickly by using lanes set aside for buses.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)(The Associated Press)

A London taxi driver uses a bus lane on a bridge over the river Thames in central London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. The European Union court has handed London's embattled taxi drivers some good news _ they can keep their right to drive in bus lanes. Drivers of London's iconic _ but expensive _ black cabs face increasing competition from cheaper private cab firms and drivers from ride-sharing apps such as Uber. One advantage is a rule allowing them _ but not Uber drivers or private taxis known as minicabs _ to move around quickly by using lanes set aside for buses. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)(The Associated Press)

A London taxi driver uses a bus lane on a bridge over the river Thames in central London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. The European Union court has handed London's embattled taxi drivers some good news _ they can keep their right to drive in bus lanes. Drivers of London's iconic _ but expensive _ black cabs face increasing competition from cheaper private cab firms and drivers from ride-sharing apps such as Uber. One advantage is a rule allowing them _ but not Uber drivers or private taxis known as minicabs _ to move around quickly by using lanes set aside for buses.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)(The Associated Press)

LONDON A European Union court has handed London's embattled taxi drivers some good news they can keep their right to drive in bus lanes.

Drivers of London's iconic but expensive black cabs face increasing competition from cheaper private cab firms and drivers from ride-sharing apps such as Uber. One advantage is a rule allowing the black cabs but not Uber drivers or private taxis known as minicabs to move around quickly by using lanes set aside for buses.

The private taxi firm Addison Lee argued that amounted to unlawful state support and gave the black cabs an unfair advantage.

But the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice court ruled Wednesday the bus-lane rule did not use state resources to confer "a selective economic advantage" on London cabs.

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European court gives London taxis a break, says it's OK to bar private rivals from bus lanes

Ukrainians Get Biometric Passports: New documents pave way for visa-free EU travel
As of January 12 Ukrainian citizens are able to get biometric passports. This was one of the criteria Ukraine had to fulfill to join the European Union and establish a visa-free regime. Check...

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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Ukrainians Get Biometric Passports: New documents pave way for visa-free EU travel - Video

THE European Union will double its aid to the Philippines for the period 2014-2020 to 325 million (P17 billion) from 130 million (P7 billion) to implement the bloc's development programs in the country.

In a statement, the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines said the EU and its member-states embassies launched on Tuesday the 2015 Joint EU-Philippines Development Report.

It will highlight their development cooperation programs implemented over the last three years while also setting out their priorities for the period from 2014 to 2020.

The 2014-2020 plan will focus on two key areas: the rule of law and inclusive growth through sustainable energy and job creation.

"The new strategy will address governance and climate change which are key areas of the new global sustainable development goals which are expected to replace the MDG's [Millennium Development Goals] this year," the statement said.

"The European Union will continue to direct a more than proportional amount of its assistance to Mindanao as part of its contribution to the peace process," it added.

To finance these "ambitious goals," National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Deputy Director General Rolando Tungpalan and EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux signed a letter to confirm the new seven-year EU support strategy.

"The significant increase in aid has been granted in the context of the progressive improvement of governance under the current administration. Emphasis will be on achieving concrete results and maximizing the impact of the EU funding provided to the benefit of Filipinos across the country," Ledoux said.

The decision to more than double EU's development assistance to the Philippines, which follows just weeks after the granting by the EU of GSP+ status to the Philippines in line with the EU's strategy to support poverty reduction using the tools of both aid and trade.

The granting of the GSP+ and its related tariff reductions in December 2014 will create many thousands of jobs for Filipinos in the Philippines directly contributing to poverty reduction.

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EU doubles development assistance to PHL

BRUSSELS: Environment campaigners are calling for curbs on mercury emissions from human cremations as part of pollution controls that EU authorities will debate this month.

Increased cremation as shortage of land makes burial expensive has coincided with a rise in emissions of the toxic metal from fillings in teeth. An average cremation releases 2 to 4 grammes of mercury, data compiled by US researchers shows.

Mercury is associated with mental development problems. After entering the air and then falling in rain it becomes concentrated in fish that, if eaten during pregnancy, can cause harm to unborn children.

Some 200,000 babies are born in the European Union annually with mercury levels harmful to their development, public health researchers have found.

The European Environment Bureau (EEB), which is coordinating non-governmental organisations in Brussels in an increasingly polarised debate on air quality, says crematoria should be included in new standards on incinerating waste.

One option would be removing teeth from corpses before cremation, although the campaigners acknowledge that may raise ethical issues.

"What matters is to deal with protecting the living environment from extremely hazardous pollutants," Christian Schaible, a senior EEB policy official, said.

Of the 28 EU states, so far only Germany has a mercury emissions limit, although the EU has regulated large coal power plants - the biggest source of mercury pollution. Sweden and Denmark have banned mercury in dental fillings.

Draft EU air quality legislation from 2013 included national ceilings for pollutants and emissions from medium-sized combustion plants (MCPs), theoretically including crematoria.

The new European Commission, the EU executive, last year proposed abandoning national targets and debate on MCPs, at the request of member states, excludes crematoria.

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European Union should curb mercury emissions from cremations, campaigners say