Europe

Iraqi President Barham Salih affirmed, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, that Iraq is keen on peace-building in the region. The President received a phone call from his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron where they exchanged views on the rapid developments in the country and the region, according to …

Pope Francis has used his New Year message to denounce violence against women, hours after slapping a woman’s hand to free himself from her grip. “Women are sources of life. Yet they are continually insulted, beaten, raped, forced to prostitute themselves and to suppress the life they bear in the …

Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled that small-scale domestic cultivation of cannabis is legal, in a landmark decision triggering calls for further legalization from weed advocates and anger from the country’s conservatives. Called on to clarify previous conflicting interpretations of the law, the Court of Cassation decreed that the crime of …

Germans perceive US President Donald Trump as a greater threat to world peace than other top world leaders, according to a new survey from YouGov. The poll, commissioned by German news agency DPA, found that 41 percent of Germans feel Trump is the most dangerous of five globally important leaders, …

More than three in five shoppers say they intend to spend less, with “fast fashion” hit the hardest Environmental concerns are expected to see retailers take a £200m hit as consumers spend less than usual in the post-Christmas sales. A survey by Barclaycard found that 62% of shoppers intend to …

Italy’s education minister Lorenzo Fioramonti resigned after the government failed to provide the ministry with the extra €3 billion he asked in order to improve the country’s schools and universities. Fioramonti has been threatening to quit since just after the coalition government formed in September, following the collapse of the …

Hundreds of backers of Montenegro’s pro-Serb opposition took to the streets of the capital Podgorica on Thursday, rallying against a law they say would strip the Serbian Orthodox Church there of its property. Ahead of a vote on the draft Law on Religious Freedoms, expected later on Thursday or on …

A carbon monoxide leak at a church in Carlepont, in the northern French department of Oise, hospitalized at least 21 people who attended a Christmas Mass service, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported. According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, emergency services received a call to the Saint-Eloi church at …

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons. Speaking at a meeting with top military brass, Putin said that for the first time in history Russia is …

Russia has successfully tested Runet, a country-wide alternative to the global internet, its government has announced. Details of what the test involved were vague but, according to the Ministry of Communications, ordinary users did not notice any changes. The results will now be presented to President Putin. Experts remain concerned …

For the first time in more than 200 years, worshippers will not be able to attend Christmas mass at Notre-Dame cathedral, still being restored after a devastating fire. “There won’t be a midnight mass at Notre-Dame. The last time this happened was during the French Revolution. Since 1803, there have …

President Vladimir Putin on Monday opened a rail route linking Russia’s two biggest cities to Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and said it proved that the country could deliver on giant infrastructure projects. Putin inaugurated the passenger service by personally taking a train across the road and …

Protesters scuffled with police at the Gare de Lyon station in Paris on Monday and union leaders threatened to ramp up action at oil facilities as a nationwide strike against government pension reforms went into the 19th day. Riot police tangled with around 30 protesters at the Gare de Lyon, …

Multiple people have been injured in an explosion at a gas station belonging to the company Neskovic near the Sepak border crossing between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian Info reported. At least one person lost his life and about six-eight others were injured in the explosion near Sepak village, …

The European Union’s central interest in forging a free trade agreement with Britain is to agree common social and environmental standards and avoid a “race to the bottom”, the EU chief Brexit negotiator wrote in an opinion piece. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday there would be no …

At least one person has been killed after a gunman opened fire near the headquarters of Russia’s main intelligence agency in Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. At least five people were injured in the shooting near the Federal Security Service (FSB) building on Thursday, according to the …

The British parliament will vote on Boris Johnson’s deal to leave the European Union on Friday, a move the prime minister described as delivering on his promise to “get the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas” after his landslide election victory. After suffering several defeats in the previous parliament, Johnson …

London, UK – As with many large cities across the world, pollution is a key factor in the quality of life of Londoners, tainting the air which people breath on a daily basis. The UK has recently failed to meet a World Health Organisation standard that limited the amount of …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of corporate migration from Germany due to a shortage of skilled workers. Merkel said in her weekly televised message on the Internet Saturday: “We know many workshops and factories that are urgently searching for skilled workforce … So it is necessary that we seek …

Final results of the British general elections showed that the Conservative Party won 364 seats and the opposition Labor Party won 203 seats. In detail, the Conservative Party won 364 seats, or 43.6% of the seats, while the Labor Party won 203 seats, 32.2%. The Scottish National Party won 48 …