Europe

Boris Johnson has said the UK is “past the peak” of its coronavirus outbreak and is looking towards a lockdown exit strategy, as he led the British government’s coronavirus briefing for the first time since recovering from Covid-19. “We’re past the peak and we’re on the downward slope,” Johnson said. …

France experienced the most severe economic contraction since the Second World War in the first quarter of this year, in light of the Corona crisis, official data showed Thursday. The French statistics agency said that France’s gross domestic product contracted by 5.8% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to …

Criminals are using food delivery services as a cover to transport drugs and other illegal goods during the coronavirus crisis, which has seen countries around the world go into lockdown, said the Interpol police organization on Thursday. Interpol said it had received reports from police in Ireland, Malaysia, Spain, and …

A new antibody test to check whether someone has been infected with coronavirus, and said to be 99 per cent accurate, has been certified for use across Europe. Global diagnostics specialists Abbott, which has a UK base in Maidenhead, has said it is expecting to have shipped millions of the …

Prosecutors say Stephan Ernst had a ‘right-wing extremist hatred of refugees’ when he killed Walter Luebcke at his home. German prosecutors have charged a known neo-Nazi with the June 2019 murder of a pro-refugee politician. Federal investigators said 45-year-old Stephan Ernst drove to Walter Luebcke’s house in Wolfhagen, central Germany, …

British health workers are getting a taste of Iraqi cuisine whilst fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Philip Juma, the British-Iraqi chef renowned for his pop up supper clubs in London, closed his Borough Market spot last month due to the outbreak of Covid-19, but has kept his apron on and is …

The Hofburg, the official residence and workplace of Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen, has been evacuated after a bomb threat, a police spokesman said in a statement. Shortly after 3 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT), police started the evacuation and erected extensive barriers at the site. Bomb detection …

Two suspects have been detained following a stabbing incident near Frankfurt on Tuesday night, which left four people injured. Police have confirmed that five to seven men attacked members of the public in the city of Hanau, which is near Frankfurt. None of those injured are thought to be in …

The French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, has announced there will be no professional football in the country until at least September and the 2019-20 season in Ligue 1 and 2 will therefore end immediately. Matches in France have been suspended since the start of March because of the coronavirus pandemic, …

Two police officers in a Paris suburb have been seriously injured after they were rammed by a car, apparently on purpose. The driver has been arrested and authorities are investigating the possibility it was a terrorist attack. A BMW drove into two mounted officers and proceeded to crush one of …

Italy has outlined plans to ease the restrictions it imposed seven weeks ago to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the measures would be relaxed from 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives in small numbers. Parks, factories, and building sites will …

A baby girl and a three-year-old boy have been stabbed to death at a home in east London. The children were found injured at the house in Aldborough Road North, Ilford, at 5.30 pm on Sunday. A 40-year-old man was taken from the scene to hospital for treatment to knife …

Norway has come under fire from environmental groups who accuse it of caving to oil companies over a decision to shift an Arctic no-go zone. The Norwegian government on Friday proposed an extension southwards of the so-called ice edge boundary, which marks the edge of the Arctic beyond which firms …

Spanish health authorities announced today, Saturday, that 378 new deaths from the new Corona virus “Covid-19” have been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the epidemic to 22,902 deaths. During the last day, the Spanish Ministry of Health recorded 2944 new cases of coronavirus, bringing …

Italy announced plans Saturday to set price limits on face masks and ramp up antibody testing as it nears the end of the world’s longest active national coronavirus lockdown. The Mediterranean country is awaiting a fateful decision this weekend about which of its restrictions will be lifted when the current …

A fleet of robots on wheels that deliver shopping in the English town of Milton Keynes have seen their popularity surge as residents are stuck indoors due to the coronavirus lockdown. The robots, which come up roughly to an adult’s knee height and look like smooth white plastic boxes mounted …

Young German climate-strikers on Friday got creative with their social distancing, set up hundreds of cardboard cutouts to represent protesters taking part in the Fridays for Future demonstration. In March, Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, the founder of the Fridays for Future youth movement, called on fellow climate activists to move …

An Iraqi man went on trial in Frankfurt on Friday for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, on allegations that as an Islamic State member he was part of an effort to exterminate the Yazidi religious minority, and killed a five-year-old girl he purchased as a slave by chaining …

Spain’s daily coronavirus deaths fell to the lowest in more than a month on Friday, prompting the government to declare the most acute phase of the epidemic was over as it prepared criteria to ease one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. The 367 registered deaths in the previous 24 hours represented …

Armed police were scrambled after a gunman opened fire at a funeral in Manchester, England, attended by hundreds of mourners despite COVID-19 social distancing orders. The attacker was reportedly stabbed by some of the crowd. The shocking incident took place at Gorton Cemetery on Thursday, where family and friends were …