Europe

Earlier in April, Italian judges ordered the release of at least two mobsters over the age of 70 and placed them under house arrest amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Scores of mafia bosses currently behind bars could be freed all across Italy due to coronavirus pandemic-related risks, The Guardian reports. …

Two asylum seekers have been hospitalized with light injuries after gunshots were fired into Greece’s largest migrant camp on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, police said on Wednesday. The unknown assailant or assailants evaded arrest, while the two injured migrants were taken to the island’s hospital as a …

Face masks will now be compulsory in Germany as the country continues its battle against coronavirus. The decision comes after Bremen became the last of the 16 federal regions to support the proposed measures with confirmation expected to arrive on Friday. The move, which could be rolled out on Monday, …

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Thursday to show endurance and discipline to get through the coronavirus pandemic that is “still at the beginning”, and called for a bigger European Union budget to support economic recovery in the bloc. Merkel is worried that Germans are relaxing their social distancing efforts …

The coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions that came with it have severely reduced the supply of illegal drugs entering France, sending prices skyrocketing and users turning to cheaper alternatives. The go-to land routes for drug traffickers crossing into France from the Netherlands and Spain have largely been closed off, …

Wildfires have been ravaging the marshes of the Biebrza National Park in northeastern Poland, home to moose, beavers and unique wetland birds, since Sunday, as the country faces the severest drought in decades. Hundreds of firefighters are tackling the blaze, which has spread to around 6,000 hectares. The area of …

Spain says its police forces have arrested one of Europe’s most wanted fugitive Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the southern town of Almeria. Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday that a detainee is an Egyptian man who has appeared in gory propaganda pictures of Daesh crimes. “The …

People in Barcelona hunker down for the fifth week in a row in fear of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 4,000 people across Catalonia. In Spain, the death toll has reached a staggering 20,000 while the number of confirmed cases has exceeded any other country in …

Today, Sunday, the deaths of the “Covid-19” epidemic in Europe exceeded the 100,000 mark, after a number of countries, including Spain and Belgium, announced new deaths from the deadly virus. And revealed the “WorldMeter” website, which specializes in monitoring the developments of the epidemic, which is currently spreading around the …

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the coronavirus pandemic is under full control in his country, adding that Moscow has all the necessary resources to protect people’s health and support the economy under these circumstances. “All levels of power are working in an organized, responsible and timely way,” Putin said in …

An entire Italian town has been placed under strict quarantine measures after a large crowd turned out for the mayor’s funeral during the coronavirus crisis. More than 200 people gathered in the streets for the funeral procession in Saviano, near Naples, during Italy‘s lockdown over the pandemic. The town has …

Spanish children have been kept at home since 14 March, under strict measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Now Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to relax the rule on 27 April so they can “get some fresh air”. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who has young children herself, this week …

Swedish Princess Sofia joined the ranks of health care crews in Sweden after three days of intense training in the midst of the new Corona Virus crisis, according to the royal palace. The 35-year-old princess, the wife of King Gustav’s son, has since Thursday been a volunteer healthcare assistant at …

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will not celebrate her 94th birthday in any special way and has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark the occasion because it would not be appropriate while the country battles a deadly coronavirus outbreak. Britain is at or near the peak of an outbreak …

Unsurprisingly, yet soberingly, the European tourism sector is reeling. According to a recent UBS analysts’ note – which cited data from Planet, the VAT refund provider – tourist spending across Europe in March fell 68.4% year-on-year. “Chinese spend in Europe was down -84.6% y/y, with all other nationalities also declining …

Apocalyptic-looking scenes were aplenty on Friday in the Ukrainian capital when smoke from wildfires and dust borne by strong winds briefly lent Kiev the label of the world’s most polluted city. Kiev’s skies remained grey in the morning, and residents had to shut their windows to keep out the nauseous …

The weekly tradition of applauding Britain’s National Health Service workers who are fighting the coronavirus outbreak has brought the nation closer together – though perhaps too close, as eyewitness video shows. Firefighters and police gathered on Westminster Bridge to send well wishes to their colleagues on the frontline in a …

Some European countries have announced plans to ease restrictions on social life, transport and cross-border travel imposed since mid-March to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus. AUSTRIA Austria allowed thousands of shops to reopen on April 14, becoming one of the first countries in Europe to loosen the lockdown. …

A third of the sailors on France’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – 668 out of nearly 2,000 – are infected with coronavirus, the navy says. The ship returned to the French port of Toulon early from Atlantic exercises. Twenty sailors are in hospital, one of them in intensive care. …

Germany wants to extend social distancing rules by an additional two weeks until May 3, according to a draft proposal agreed between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of the country’s 16 states seen by Reuters. The proposals include reopening schools gradually starting May 4, with priority given to primary …