According to EU data, EU and member state support to Ukraine as of January 2024 totaled roughly €71 billion in military, financial, humanitarian, and emergency assistance; when €17 billion in EU funding to help Ukrainian refugees in member states is added, total EU support reaches over €88 billion.

Few topics were as influential in shaping social discourse last year as migration. It was also a perennial political issue within the EU, and things will likely be no different in the new year.

Jacques Delors helped shape the European Union. As the father of the currency common to 20 EU member states, he has left his legacy in the pockets of millions of people across the bloc.

In this edition we focus on Poland, where opposition parties have won enough seats in the parliamentary election to oust the ruling conservative Law and Justice party after eight years in power. To analyse this major shift and what it means for Poland's place in the EU, we speak to Danuta Hübner, a member of the main opposition Civic Platform party. She's a former Europe minister for Poland and a former European commissioner who's now an MEP in the European Parliament.

We look at what the press has to say about the latest migration crisis unfolding on the Italian island of Lampedusa. We also take a look at reactions to the sexal abuse and rape allegations levelled against British comedian Russell Brand. We finish with concerns in the United States about "gerontocracy"... and about an atypical missing object.

EU states have agreed long-stalled reforms to migration and asylum rules. Critics say Europe is shirking responsibility.